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Northridge earthquake kills 61 people and injures 9,100 in Los Angeles, buckling and closing major freeways, touching off scores of fires and knocking out power and phones in wide areas. Damage: at least $13 billion — twice the estimated damage from the 1989 Loma Prieta quake. — Jan 17
Smokers in San Francisco businesses were forced out of their buildings and onto the streets Tuesday, as a city ordinance banning smoking in all workplaces took effect. — Feb. 1
A court in Woodland, Yolo County, has dismissed charges against a woman whose loud snoring earned her a citation under Davis' noise law for keeping her neighbor awake. — March 12
Electronic mail may be the only piece of modern technology that resembles a cross between Victorian England and ancient Greece. Otherwise known as e-mail, it somewhat ironically has reinvigorated the dying art of written correspondence. — April 10
Seven Stanford athletes may face felony charges for allegedly defacing and seriously damaging the university's famed "Gay Liberation" sculpture on campus. — May 18
Guarded by some 60 riot-geared police and watched by a handful of unhappy students, San Francisco State University workers sandblasted a controversial mural of Malcolm X which critics say included anti-Jewish symbols. — May 26
Parishioners of nine Catholic churches that were closed by the Archdiocese of San Francisco maintained prayer vigils and fired off faxes to the Vatican in a last-minute bid to save their churches. — July 1
KJAZ-FM, for 35 years the Bay Area's all-jazz radio station, will switch to an all-Spanish format Aug. 1 after an unusual public fund-raising drive failed to raise enough money to head off the station's sale. — July 1
In a historic step prompted by a bitter labor dispute, the owners and acting commissioner of major league baseball on Wednesday canceled the remainder of the 1994 season and the World Series. — Sept. 14
The estranged wife of Barry Bonds will get $15,000 a month from the baseball superstar for her housing payments and will continue to struggle along on another $15,000 a month in spending money under a judge's ruling. Barry Bonds' attorney compared him to an unemployed worker. — Sept. 17
Porn king Jim Mitchell went to prison for killing his brother. He began his six-year sentence almost 4 years after gunning down Artie Mitchell and almost 3 years after being sentenced for the crime. — Oct. 27
Two-week newspaper strike ends: San Francisco newspaper workers were to begin returning to their jobs after seven of nine striking unions approved their contracts. — Nov. 14
Thousands jam Old Mint Museum at Fifth and Mission in final days before closure. — Dec. 31