A.M. Splash: Oakland Council Allocates Parcel Tax $; City Says May Shut Down Occupy Oakland Camp; PG&E Hires Former NTSB Head

The Oakland City Council on Tuesday night agreed to divvy up the first year's proceeds of a parcel tax vote already under way, though critics said the vote was tantamount to campaigning from the dais. Five council members agreed on a plan that would give 57 percent of the proceeds to the Police Department, particularly toward the hiring of police officers.

The family of Jerry Amaro, who died after he was beaten by as many as five Oakland police officers in 2000, settled a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city for $1.7 million. The City Council unanimously agreed to the settlement Tuesday.

City officials said Tuesday they may have to shut down the Occupy Oakland tent city in coming days because it is attracting rats, alcohol and illegal drug use. A pre-existing rat problem around Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, which public works employees are normally able to keep under control, has been exacerbated by the demonstrators' presence, said city administrator spokeswoman Karen Boyd. The problem "has gotten worse with all the food and people and couches," Boyd said.

San Jose police allowed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of bikers to leave the chaotic crime scene of the Hells Angel funeral killing at Oak Hill cemetery without searching or interviewing them. Tuesday news conference,

Two long-standing San Francisco AIDS groups announced Tuesday they plan to merge into one organization next month to streamline services for HIV prevention and care.

The Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors is open to the idea of letting children 17 and younger ride Muni for free - but with the big caveat of being able to find money to pay for it by going outside of the cash-strapped agency.

[Chiu's] bid for mayor has turned into a brutal political education that has left him shunned by his former progressive allies, abandoned by the business-friendly groups who backed his candidacy and relegated to the margins of a crowded field. A Bay Citizen/USF Poll released this week showed Chiu receiving just 3 percent of first-place votes.

A former lead federal investigator has been hired by PG&E to oversee a safety overhaul of its natural gas system, the company announced Tuesday during a congressional subcommittee hearing on pipeline safety. Former National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall is tasked with addressing the safety problems brought to light by a scathing NTSB report issued in the wake of the deadly pipe blast in San Bruno.

Santa Clara County supervisors effectively agreed that they would aid deportations only for serious felons, and only by holding them for 24 hours after their sentences if federal immigration agents request it and the government pays for the added costs -- something federal officials have said they won't do...Meanwhile, in Contra Costa County, which leads the Bay Area in deportations through Secure Communities, Sheriff David Livingston met with Latino leaders to explain why the federal-local partnership has deported more than 1,100 people from the county since April 2010.

Apple workers began gathering this morning at the company's campus in Cupertino for an employees-only memorial service for Steve Jobs, the company's visionary leader who died Oct. 5 after battling pancreatic cancer...Wednesday's service is the first one exclusively for Apple workers...Apple stores were also expected to close during the service so that workers could view a webcast of the program.

Disappointed with a new law that will soon bar them from bearing unloaded, unconcealed pistols in public, open carry advocates are bringing out the big guns for an event outside Bayfair Center on Saturday.