Man Finds $140K, Gives It Back

(NEWSER) - An animal rescue group in California is offering a $5,000 reward to catch whoever is shooting sea lions along the Los Angeles coast. Four of the animals have been shot since the start of the year, the LA Times reports. Fisherman occasionally kill the creatures to keep them away from fish, but this kind of spate is unusual. More»

Woman pulled her now-paralyzed friend from crashed car

(NEWSER) - Good Samaritans, beware: California's Supreme Court ruled today that a paralyzed woman can sue the friend who pulled her out of a crashed car. The victim contends that her friend, who feared the car was about to erupt into flames, pulled her out "like a rag doll" and contributed to her injuries. The court ruled that because the friend was not specifically providing medical care, she is not immune from a lawsuit, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

Laverne Everett takes a scary skydive in California

(NEWSER) - Octogenarian skydiving may not exactly catch on after this video goes viral. Laverne Everett was celebrating birthday No. 80 with her first skydive when she became reluctant to jump at the last second, Huffington Post reports. The man going with her pried Everett free, and the pair tumbled out over northern California—where she nearly came out of her harness. Her partner held on tight as the pair plummeted toward the Earth. More»

Eric Simons turned AOL campus into his personal office

(NEWSER) - A teenage entrepreneur found the perfect place to develop his new software: AOL's campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Only problem: No one knew he was also eating, sleeping, working out, and doing his laundry there, CNET reports. Eric Simons had invented his educational software, ClassConnect, in a new campus "incubator" program called Imagine K12. But when his money ran out, Eric figured he'd see if his campus security access still worked. And it did. More»

California locale tops annual survey

(NEWSER) - If you're yearning for a little beach time this summer, California's Coronado Beach is the place to be, according to an annual survey. The 1.5-mile stretch of sparkling sand wins top honors in the 2012 survey by a Florida professor known as "Dr. Beach," reports AP . Coronado's main drawback: The water is a bit chilly. The top 5 winners in the survey, which takes into account a host of factors including water quality and safety:

1. Coronado Beach, California
2. Kahanamoku Beach, Waikiki
3. Main Beach, East Hampton, New York
4. St. George Island State Park, Florida
5. Hamoa Beach, Maui