- The Giants' parade and rally in San Francisco Thursday was an emotional coda to the Bay Area's Summer of Giants' Love. From the Chronicle:
Hundreds of thousands of people jammed downtown San Francisco on Wednesday for the Giants' World Series victory parade, one of the largest gatherings the city has seen in years. They perched on building rooftops and stood 50 deep at some spots along Market Street, screaming themselves hoarse as the first San Francisco Giants team ever to win the world championship rode motorized cable cars from the Financial District to City Hall.
For an up-close account of the event, read KQED's live blog and peruse the Giants' Celebration Photo Gallery.
- Most of the dust has settled from Tuesday's election, but a few motes remain dangling in the air. Still on hold:
- In the California Attorney General race, Kamala Harris is up by almost 15,000 votes over Steve Cooley. But that's just 0.2 percent of all that were cast. According to the Chronicle, "tens of thousands of provisional, absentee and damaged ballots still have to be tallied, and both campaigns expect that it will be weeks before the final numbers are in."
- In Oakland, Don Perata leads the Gang of 10 candidates in the mayoral election with 35 percent of the vote. That's 11 percent more than the No. 2 vote-getter, Jean Quan. But because no single candidate drew more than 50 percent, the city's ranked-choice voting system will now take hold. From the Oakland Tribune:
The ranked-choice program tabulates the votes for all 10 candidates. Those with the fewest first-place votes are eliminated and the second-place votes redistributed until someone attains a 50 percent majority.
Quan could overtake Perata. Or, at-large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who trails Quan by 3 percentage points, could potentially leap over Quan if she receives enough second-place votes from five candidates who collectively received less than 8 percent of the vote.
It seems certain that Joe Tuman, a college professor and political analyst, is out of the running, despite receiving a respectable 12 percent of the votes cast.
But his supporters still have a voice. Reallocating their second-choice votes could give a major boost to Perata, Quan or Kaplan.
- Ranked-choice voting will also delay final results in the San Francisco supervisor races for three weeks, according to Elections Department Director John Arntz, as reported in the Bay Citizen.
- In California's 11th Congressional District, Jerry McNerney holds a 121-vote lead over Republican challenger David Harman, who is alleging voting irregularities. The Chronicle reports that "election officials have 28 days to complete their vote counting" and that "either candidate can demand- and pay for - a recount, but that decision must be made by Dec. 5."
Prosecutors say Mehserle should be sentenced for intentionally shooting Oscar Grant during an arrest on Jan. 1, 2009, at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland. The defense says he should be sentenced for a tragic accident that occurred when he confused his Taser with his gun.
How Judge Robert Perry resolves the disagreement could mean a difference of several years in state prison for Mehserle, or even prompt a sentence of probation only.
Of the 6,631 train stops the researchers observed, only 55 bicyclists were bumped. The researchers spotted a bump at 0.2 percent of stops they observed...
But members of the Bikes on Board project, which has been fighting for more space on trains, say they received reports of about 600 bumps from June through September. Being forced to wait for the next train can delay bicyclists by up to an hour.