Morning Splash

Over the objections of low-wage workers at the University of California who do physically demanding jobs, the UC regents voted Monday to delay the retirement age by five years for future employees and to immediately begin reducing UC's contribution to retiree health care.

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors is expected today to approve the city's bid to host the next America's Cup regatta.
Whether that proposal satisfies race organizers remains to be seen.
Race officials warned last week that San Francisco could lose sailing's premier event because its proposal doesn't "stack up financially." What's being considered today is a proposal that is largely unchanged since the city received that admonition, and a Friday deadline is looming for the city to come up with a deal that satisfies the organizers.

Thousands of BART riders may find out Wednesday that their EZ Rider smart cards are no longer accepted to pay fares as the rapid transit district phases out the old cards and urges commuters to switch to a new regional card called Clipper.

Oakland's community and economic development committee will decide today whether to spend a quarter of a million dollars in redevelopment money for a ballpark study.

The funds to pay for the environmental study of the proposed Victory Court ballpark site -- the location preferred by Major League Baseball -- would come out of money earmarked for a new parking garage at 21st Street and Telegraph Avenue.

Despite PG&E's earlier claims that he acted alone, a former executive who monitored online discussion groups by activists opposed to SmartMeters widely shared what he gleaned with other PG&E employees. Internal PG&E documents turned over to state regulators and made available to the Mercury News on Monday also reveal that PG&E went beyond mere online monitoring. A series of e-mail exchanges show that PG&E sent an employee to monitor a SmartMeter demonstration in Rohnert Park in October. The employee, whose name was redacted, took at least four photographs of protesters, writing in an e-mail, "This is fun no one said 'espionage' in the job description."

Yahoo Inc.'s holiday trimmings will include 600 to 700 layoffs in the Internet company's latest shake-up triggered by lackluster growth. Employees could be notified of the job cuts as early as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with Yahoo's plans. The person asked for anonymity because Yahoo hadn't made a formal announcement.

A state appeals court abruptly halted this week's scheduled sales of 11 state properties Monday, including the California Supreme Court and Public Utilities Commission headquarters in San Francisco, while it considers opponents' arguments that the deal is an illegal giveaway of taxpayer funds to private profiteers.

Alcoholic energy drinks marketed at younger consumers were available at several San Francisco liquor stores Monday, despite a federal deadline to remove the caffeine-infused beverages or face criminal charges. Plenty of cold, 23.5-ounce cans of Four Loko, a candy-flavored malt liquor, were on sale at White Palace Liquors on Silver Avenue until a reporter asked a worker if he was aware of the ban.

The San Jose City Manager's Office wants to take a hard line on medical marijuana, arguing that the City Council should ban all 100 or so cannabis clubs in town and start from scratch with new regulations. However, on Monday, council members said: "Not so fast." In an 8-2 vote, they put off for another day the burning questions of bans, caps on the number of cannabis clubs and even their basic legality. Instead, the council adopted a new 7 percent tax on dispensaries, as city voters approved last month.

Traffic citations have dropped citywide since July by nearly 50 percent compared to 2009 levels — a decline that started when a measure about pensions qualified for the ballot. Ingleside Police District Captain Louis Cassanego said last week that some of his patrol officers were reluctant to pull over and fine motorists because they were afraid the potential voters would support Proposition B, a proposal to have public employees contribute more to their pension and health benefits...Assistant Police Chief Jeff Godown said the department is conducting an internal investigation about Cassanego’s claims, but so far no correlation has been found between the drop in traffic citations and any political implications.

The proposed tax deal in Congress would fail to deliver about $2.7 billion in estate tax revenues California was counting on receiving this fiscal year and next, but some say the state should never have expected those revenues in the first place.