In brief: Series of quakes shake California residents

SAN FRANCISCO – Two separate quakes at or near magnitude 4.0 hit Northern and Southern California on Sunday, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The second quake, measuring 4.0 in magnitude, struck Sunday afternoon less than 1 mile south of the Oakland suburb of Concord, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Geologists classified the shaking as weak to light.

Concord police dispatchers said they received no immediate word of damage or injuries.

A 2.7 magnitude temblor, classified as minor, rattled the same area a minute later, the geological survey said.

Both Northern California quakes occurred on the Concord-Green Valley fault, one of several in the area that seismologists say are capable of producing major earthquakes. The last large earthquake on the fault happened from 200 to 500 years ago, the Geological Survey said.

Farther south, a magnitude-3.8 earthquake woke residents in the greater Los Angeles area when it struck at 4:07 a.m.

The temblor was centered just north of the cities of Inglewood and Culver City, the Geological Survey said.

Woman, toddler die when car crashes into complex

LIVERMORE, Calif. – A car driven by a suspected drunken driver crashed into a Northern California apartment complex, killing a woman and her toddler and slightly injuring two other children as they all walked together outside, police said Sunday.

The crash occurred Saturday evening in Livermore when a driver lost control near a curve and smashed into the apartment complex. The vehicle struck a 40-year-old woman walking with three children on a path at the complex, Livermore police Officer Ryan Sanchez said.

The woman and her 14-month-old daughter were killed. Two other family members, 6- and 7-year-old boys, were treated for minor injuries. Police said the woman, from Seaside in Monterey County, was visiting relatives at the complex.

Police arrested Brian Jones, 35, of Livermore on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and another alcohol-related driving count, Sanchez said.

Investigators have evidence that Jones had been drinking at a wine festival hours before the crash, Sanchez said.

Also Saturday, another suspected drunken driver killed a 24-year-old woman and injured eight other people in the San Francisco Bay Area community of Bay Point.

The driver was driving in reverse in a full-size pickup truck in a crowded restaurant parking lot, authorities said.

Police arrested Martin Bretado-Munoz, 21, of Pittsburg, California, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony drunken-driving charges.

Climate change switch lands JFK courage award

BOSTON – Former U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Sunday for reversing his position on climate change despite the predictable political fallout that helped cost the South Carolina Republican his seat in Congress.

Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, presented the award to Inglis on Sunday at the JFK Library in Boston.

“My grandfather’s legacy is kept alive by Bob’s courageous decision to sacrifice his political career to demand action on the issue that will shape life on Earth for generations to come,” said Schlossberg, son of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg.

Inglis, a member of the House Science Committee and ranking member of its Energy and Environment Subcommittee, had opposed legislation on climate change, but said he changed his mind after briefings from scientists and encouragement from his five children.

He advocated for a carbon tax to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and was defeated in the 2010 primary for re-election to the 4th Congressional District seat he had held twice, from 1993-1998 and 2005-2010.

Slain trooper’s parents forgive suspected killer

TOBYHANNA, Pa. – The parents of a slain Pennsylvania State Police trooper said Sunday they have forgiven his alleged killer and are relying on their deep faith to get them through the loss.

Appearing at a church in the same Pocono Mountains region where Eric Frein spent 48 days on the run, Bryon and Darla Dickson said forgiveness has helped them move on and avoid becoming bitter.

“It doesn’t do you any good to hate somebody for whatever they have done to you, because all it does is eat you up. And in the end, what does it do for you? Absolutely nothing,” Bryon Dickson said.

Frein, 32, is charged in the Sept. 12 ambush that killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and critically injured Trooper Alex Douglass.

The alleged gunman, an anti-government survivalist, led police on a tense, six-week manhunt through the northeastern Pennsylvania woods before U.S. marshals caught him outside an abandoned airplane hangar about 30 miles from the barracks where authorities say he opened fire during a late-night shift change.

Frein has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Massive N.J. fire under control, mayor says

PASSAIC, N.J. – A massive blaze that started at a church and ripped through several buildings in northern New Jersey has been brought under control.

Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco told NJ Advance Media that firefighters were able to get the flames under control by about 11 p.m. Sunday.

The mayor said the fire appeared to start in the alley of a church and quickly spread to nearby buildings. He said two residential buildings and two garages were ignited by the blaze.

Police said at least one church and a three-story apartment building were involved.

Blanco said about 80 people were displaced by the fire, but no injuries were reported.

Fire officials are investigating.

All-female college to take transgender applicants

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Smith College, the largest of the all-female Seven Sisters schools, is changing its policy to accept transgender women.

The new policy, which takes effect for those applying this fall, followed a year of study. The women’s college had previously asked undergraduates to have consistently identified as female since birth.

Smith President Kathleen McCartney and board Chair Elizabeth Mugar Eveillard said in announcing the change Saturday that since Smith’s founding, “concepts of female identity have evolved.”

Smith will not admit students who were born female but identify as male.

Other women’s colleges, including Mount Holyoke and Wellesley, also have changed their policies to admit transgender women.