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Thirty-two teams will be running around the track at Pleasanton Middle School tomorrow in an American Cancer Society Relay for Life to celebrate those who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and to fight back against the disease. The opening ceremony is at 10 a.m. with the Survivors Lap at 10:30 a.m. Special laps take place throughout the day, with a Luminaria Ceremony at 9 p.m. After the running continuing throughout the night, the closing ceremony will be held at 8 a.m. Sunday.

This year's 32 teams, with 289 participants, have raised $62,000 so far for cancer research.

East Bay Regional Park police officers recovered about $1 million worth of marijuana plants early last Friday morning when they raided a growing operation in a remote area of Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, police said. About 3,300 plants were recovered in the raid, which was conducted at about 4 a.m. at an area between Castro Valley and San Ramon.

The growing operation had been found earlier during routine park patrols. An elaborate irrigation system tapped into the park's water supply was watering the plants.

Grow operations are of particular concern to the park district since the suspects remove areas of native vegetation and use fertilizer, poisons and pesticides around the marijuana plants, according to police.

The plants were taken to an undisclosed location and destroyed. Anyone with information about the growing operation is asked to call East Bay Regional Parks Police at (510) 881-1833.

A 9.6% tuition increase for University of California schools was approved last week by a 14-4 vote of the UC Regents Board, an attempt to close $650 million in state funding cuts. This is in addition to an 8% increase last November.

The increase will affect about 55% of current students, according to UC officials, because of financial aid options given to those whose family income is less than $80,000 per year.

Under the new tuition rates, California resident undergraduate students will pay $13,218 per year and out-of-state students will pay $36,096. Graduate students in academic programs will have their tuition raised by 9.6% to $12,824 for Californians and $27,926 for non-residents.