SF fire investigated

SF fire investigated

SAN FRANCISCO

Fire investigators were looking Wednesday into whether welding work was to blame for a massive blaze that barreled through an apartment-building construction site, threatening nearby structures and prompting evacuations as firefighters worked to prevent its spread through a San Francisco neighborhood.

City officials said a catastrophe was narrowly avoided in an up-and-coming area near AT&T Park, home of the Giants.

The exact cause of the blaze — one of the largest in the city in recent years — was under investigation. Fire officials were looking into preliminary reports that workers at the block-long site were doing torch work shortly before the fire was reported about 5 p.m. Tuesday, Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said.

FBI searches Hawaii for top terror suspect

SAN FRANCISCO

The FBI said Wednesday agents are hunting in Hawaii for the nation’s most-wanted domestic-terrorism suspect.

The FBI office in San Francisco said the agency received “credible intelligence” that Daniel Andreas San Diego might be on the state’s Big Island.

San Diego, 36, is suspected to be an animal-rights extremist. He is charged with exploding pipe bombs in front of two San Francisco Bay Area companies with ties to a lab that conducted animal experiments.

Ex-Manson follower paroled, faces snag

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.

A California board once again approved parole Wednesday for former Charles Manson follower Bruce Davis, but before he’s released, he’ll have to get past Gov. Jerry Brown — who chose to keep him in prison under the same circumstances just last year.

Davis, 71, made his 28th appearance before a Department of Corrections Board of Parole Hearings at the California Men’s Colony near San Luis Obispo.

He has been in prison for nearly 43 years, sentenced with Manson and others for the 1969 murders of musician Gary Hinman and stuntman ranch hand Donald “Shorty” Shea. He long maintained that he was a bystander in the killings, but in recent years he has acknowledged his shared responsibility.

Davis was granted parole by the same board in 2012, but Brown rejected it last March.

Three killed during unrest in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela

A university student, a National Guard captain and a third man were shot to death in separate incidents Wednesday as anti-government demonstrations roiled the central Venezuelan city of Valencia. Three National Guardsmen and several protesters were wounded.

Two of the deaths came in the opposition-dominated Isabelica neighborhood, where residents unhappy with the scarcity of basic items and rising unemployment from the closure of some businesses in the area have protested for weeks by blocking streets and throwing rocks at police. Valencia Mayor Miguel Cocchiola said a man was killed and six people wounded in Isabelica.

Brewer won’t run

PHOENIX

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer ended months of speculation about her political future Wednesday when she announced that she will not seek a third term in office.

The Arizona Constitution limits governors to two terms, but the Republican governor and her advisers have kept alive a scenario in which she might mount a long-shot legal challenge to seek another four years in office.

Brewer completed the term of former Gov. Janet Napolitano when she took a job in President Barack Obama’s administration in 2009. Brewer then won a full term in 2010.

Associated Press