California Attorney General Bill Lockyer (pictured) has approved the sale of the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times to Dean Singleton’s MediaNews Group. But, according to the Sacramento Business Journal, Lockyer’s staff is still investigating Hearst Corp.’s plans to buy the Monterey Hearld and St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press and give them to MediaNews in return for a 30 percent stake in MediaNews Group’s holdings outside the Bay Area. Unlike the U.S. Department of Justice, Lockyer doesn’t have authority to stop any such deal, but he could impose penalties or conditions after the fact if he finds it violates state law. The Hearst aspect of the deal is also under investigation by the DOJ and will be the subject of a civil trial in Feburary in a suit brought by San Francisco businessman Clint Reilly.