Morning Splash: SF Students w/o Vaccinations Barred From Class; NRA Targets SF Gun Laws; Bachmann in San Rafael; Netflix Woes

Some 2,000 San Francisco students who still lacked proof of a whooping cough vaccination one month into the school year were barred from class Thursday and told not to return until they got the shot. A new state law requires all children in grades seven through 12 to have the vaccine by the first day of school this year, but districts struggling to get families to comply asked for and received a 30-day extension.

San Francisco is a target of the gun-rights lobby, which, armed with a pair of U.S. Supreme Court rulings, hopes to eliminate gun-control laws passed by cities, counties and states. The National Rifle Association and a longtime pro-gun lawyer in Sacramento have filed separate lawsuits in federal court that take aim at two San Francisco laws.

As another Monday approaches, so too does another BART protest. In hopes of stopping the civil actions sooner rather than later, transit agency officials are exploring different options. Possibilities include state legislation that would allow for misdemeanor charges against those arrested, preventing them from returning, or merely hoping the movement dies on its own. BART board members say they are now in a wait-and-see mode.

Mayor Ed Lee has gone on the offensive to counter a major television attack ad by rival candidate state Sen. Leland Yee. He's just doing it in a different language. In a move that spotlights the nuanced methods candidates are using to sway San Francisco's diverse electorate, Lee's campaign began airing a TV ad Wednesday on Cantonese-language stations in the city blasting Yee, who is accepting public financing for his campaign. (Lee is the only candidate who is not accepting public financing.)

A naturally occurring poison responsible for one of the nation's worst wildlife disasters a quarter-century ago is a looming problem in San Francisco Bay -- one that could worsen if aqueducts are built around the Delta, new research suggests. The aqueducts could channel more selenium at higher concentrations into the bay, a possibility that has been largely overlooked in lengthy debates about Delta water, a top scientist said.

San Francisco can go forward with the redevelopment of the Hunters Point Shipyard after a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled in favor of The City in an environmental lawsuit. Judge Ernest Goldsmith found that the report complied with California law. However, he said that if The City authorizes an early transfer of any property on the site from the Navy to the developer, further environmental review would be required. That leaves the Navy in charge of cleanup.

As part of a statewide effort to help people keep their homes, a group of community activists urged residents in San Jose's Tropicana neighborhood Thursday to get angry about the housing crisis -- and then do something about it...A coalition of community groups kicked off their "Refund and Rebuild California" campaign by releasing a report called "The Wall Street Wrecking Ball, What Foreclosures are Costing San Jose Neighborhoods" at a news conference in front of a foreclosed home.

The California Fish and Game Commission has ended the abalone season in Sonoma County, more than two months before its scheduled conclusion. The emergency decision Thursday follows the deaths of an untold number of shellfish, which began washing up on local beaches on Aug. 27.

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann repeatedly attacked President Obama's health care plan and spending record at a breakfast fundraiser in San Rafael Thursday morning, but mostly steered clear of criticizing her fellow GOP candidates. About 120 people paid $100 each to attend the fundraiser at Marin Tea Party activist Sally Zelikovsky's Peacock Gap home for a chance to see Bachmann, saying they were thrilled that a presidential contender was campaigning in oft-overlooked Marin — a Democratic stronghold where Republicans account for fewer than one in five voters. It was Bachmann's first Bay Area visit since she declared her presidential candidacy in late June.

Five Northern California postal processing facilities that together employ more than 1,000 workers face possible closure, the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday. The Postal Service included processing centers in Burlingame, Petaluma, Stockton, Eureka and Redding among 254 facilities nationwide that it will study for possible closure. The list includes more than half the service's 487 processing centers.

Arguing that California's newly drawn Senate districts are unconstitutional, a Republican Party-backed group filed a lawsuit Thursday asking the California Supreme Court to kill the new maps.

Netflix's decision to raise prices by as much as 60 percent is turning into a horror show. The customer backlash against the higher rates, kicking in this month, has been much harsher than Los Gatos-based Netflix anticipated. That prompted management to predict Thursday that the company -- the largest U.S. video subscription service -- will end September with 600,000 fewer U.S. customers than it had in June.

Jim Dunn, who brought Hollywood-style spectacle to the Mountain Play's outdoor musicals with airplane flyovers, vintage jeeps, tanks, stagecoaches and even live animals on stage, will end his 30-year run as the director of the annual extravaganza after next year's production of "The Music Man."