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SAN FRANCISCO

Justices reject suit over racist San Francisco police texts

San Francisco can move forward with disciplinary proceedings against police officers caught exchanging racist and homophobic text messages after the California Supreme Court rejected the officers' case.

The high court on Wednesday unanimously declined to hear an appeal by the officers of a lower court ruling in May that reinstated the disciplinary proceedings.

A call after hours to the police union was not immediately returned.

The inappropriate text messages emerged during a 2012 federal corruption investigation of a former officer, but San Francisco police department administrators weren't notified of the texts until a jury found him guilty in December 2014.

A trial court judge cited a California statute of limitations law requiring that officers be punished within a year of their transgressions. An appellate court reversed that decision. SACRAMENTO

Uninsurance rate drops to 7.2 percent

California's uninsured rate ticked down in 2017.

Figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that 7.2 percent of Californians lacked health insurance last year. That's down from 7.3 percent in 2016.

The national uninsured rate was 8.8 percent.

California has embraced former President Barack Obama's health care law and the state Medi-cal program now covers one in three residents. The state has also expanded Medi-cal to young people with low incomes who are living in the country illegally. Many of the state's remaining uninsured people are not eligible for publicly funded health care because they're living in the country illegally. Others do not get an employer-sponsored health plan but don't make enough to qualify for large subsidies under Obama's health care law.

SANTA ANA

School districts promote unity after football game tensions

Two Southern California school districts say they are working together to promote unity and respect for diversity after tensions at a high school football game.

Santa Ana Unified and Capistrano Unified said Wednesday that officials are looking into the details of last week's game between Santa Ana and Aliso Niguel high schools and working to ensure these don't lead to division but rather “dialogue, collaboration and mutual understanding.”

Santa Ana's principal Jeff Bishop said students from his predominantly Latino school were greeted with posters such as “Trump 2020” and cheers of “USA” when their opponents scored. Aliso Niguel's principal said administrators removed political signs and the game was intended to be a patriotic celebration ahead of Sept. 11.

The events sparked tensions on social media. Aliso Niguel won 42-21.

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LOS ANGELES

County moves toward temporary rent control

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has given preliminary approval of a temporary limit on rent increases in unincorporated areas of the county.

The motion approved Tuesday on a 4-1 vote tells county attorneys to draft a rent stabilization ordinance that will come back to the board for a vote in 60 days. If approved, it would take effect 30 days later and be in effect for six months.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said rent stabilization helps deal with homelessness resulting from evictions.