A.M. Splash: No Raid at Occupy SF; SF Voter Turnout Far Below Avg; Cal E. Bay Faculty Strike; Vallejo Officer Killed; New BART Seats in April

Everything is quiet at the Occupy SF camp on Justin Herman Plaza, where a police raid that protesters feared would take place overnight never materialized.

...Lee came out on top in the 16-person mayor's race with 30.73 percent of the first-pick votes under the system of ranked-choice voting, in which each voter got to select up to three candidates in order of preference...Turnout was 42.46 percent, far below the 50 percent average in the past 10 competitive mayoral elections.

It's good news for parents, but may be bad news for kids: Despite the prospect of massive cuts in education funding, the 2011-12 school year probably won't get any shorter...That's because school officials largely skirted a state law ordering them to ignore the possibility of dramatic midyear budget cuts when planning their finances earlier this year. And even though those cuts are a strong possibility starting Feb. 1, due to anemic tax revenue, many school districts built enough of a cushion into their budgets to absorb most of the blow.

Classrooms were empty at Cal State East Bay on Thursday, as hundreds of faculty members rallied over a pay dispute, budget cuts and frustration over university leadership. Marching and holding signs that read "Fewer Classes, Higher Fees, CSU Is Run By Thieves," the California Faculty Association led a peaceful protest, triggering none of the violent police confrontations seen in recent rallies at University of California campuses.

A 19-year veteran Vallejo police officer was killed Thursday afternoon following a high-speed pursuit of at least one bank robbery suspect in North Vallejo. Officer Jim Capoot, 45, died at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Vallejo, after he was mortally wounded while chasing at least one suspect on foot who had abandoned the apparent getaway vehicle near the 100 block of Janice Street.

In the biggest Occupy-related protest in the South Bay since the movement began, workers marched to San Jose City Hall on Thursday evening, chanting for job reform. While the protests around the Bay Area and country have been dominated by young people, many of them camping out on public plazas overnight, Thursday's march consisted of middle-aged, working class people ranging from nurses to laborers. All took time off between their jobs and families to clog a busy downtown intersection during the evening rush hour.

The BART Board of Directors voted Thursday morning to spend $1.9 million to replace some of the notoriously filthy cloth seats. The transit agency will begin installing the new seats on 100 cars next April.

Foes of a new law requiring California public schools to teach about the historical contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people failed to qualify for the ballot a referendum seeking to repeal the law. But now they have filed two proposed ballot initiatives challenging the statute. The new approach gives them more time to collect signatures – five months – than the 90 days under California's referendum law.

Yelp Inc. on Thursday filed to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. are leading the offering, according to the regulatory filing. The San Francisco company didn't disclose how many shares it will offer or at what price.

In the face of a repeal effort, about 150 people gathered Thursday at Railroad Square in Santa Rosa to rally support for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit commuter rail project.

Federal immigration agents took custody Thursday of a 36-year-old activist and Mexico native who was arrested during Monday's police sweep of the Occupy Oakland protest encampment, then released him pending a hearing in front of a judge.