Merced

The state may soon break ground on the California high-speed rail system’s first Bay Area segment after the High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors certified the final environmental documents for the rail system’s Merced-to-San Jose section.

Authorities are offering a $3,000 reward in the search for a second suspect in the death of an 8-year-old Hayward girl. Sharon Katsuda reports.

Merced Police are looking for Dhante Jackson, who is wanted in connection with the death of a young girl from Hayward, and they’re now offering a reward. Bob Redell reports.

Merced police have offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of Dhante Jackson, who is wanted in connection with the death of a young girl from Hayward.

Merced Police are looking for Dhante Jackson, who is wanted in connection with the death of a young girl from Hayward.

The Merced County Coroner confirmed Tuesday the body found inside a Merced home last week belongs to 8-year-old Sophia Mason. Jaxon Van Derbeken reports.

The Merced County Coroner confirmed Tuesday the body found inside a Merced home last week belongs to 8-year-old Sophia Mason.

Family members of a missing 8-year-old girl from the East Bay say this situation could have been prevented. The body of a child fitting her description was found in a home in Merced. Police have arrested the mother and are now searching for her boyfriend, who is wanted for murder. Stephanie Magallon has the details.

The search is on for a man wanted in connection to the murder of a child in Merced. 8-year-old Sophia Mason from Hayward had been missing for several months, and the body found matches her description. The man in question is Dhante Jackson, Sophia’s mother’s boyfriend.

A manhunt was under way Saturday for a man wanted in the death of a child whose body was found inside a Merced home during the search for a missing 8-year-old girl.

The body of an 8-year-old child fitting the description of a girl who has been missing for several months, was found in a home in Merced. The mother is in the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on unrelated charges. Cheryl Hurd reports.

The body of a child fitting the description of a missing 8-year-old girl was found in a Merced home Friday, Hayward police said.

A body of a child has been found in a home in Merced, Hayward police said Friday.

Authorities say three young children have been found dead in a Merced County apartment and a woman has been hospitalized with apparently self-inflicted injuries.

An Amtrak train crashed into a truck in San Pablo Monday night.

An Amtrak train crashed into a truck in San Pablo Monday night.

Democrats have won two Republican-held California state Senate seats in the Central Valley, giving the party veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Vote totals updated since Election Day made winners Monday of Melissa Hurtado and Assemblywoman Anna Caballero.

Wildlife officials are asking California residents to report any sightings of nutria — an invasive rodent that eats so much aquatic vegetation that it threatens wetlands and marshes.

Although a tornado warning for parts of Stanislaus and Merced counties has expired, a funnel cloud was spotted Tuesday afternoon in Turlock, bringing heavy rain, lightning and even hail, KCRA reported.

An irrigation district in Central California’s prime farming region gave its employees free housing, interest-free loans and credit cards that the workers used to buy tickets for concerts and professional sports games, possibly breaking the law, state officials said Tuesday.