A.M. Splash: UC Davis Chancellor Apologizes for Pepper Spraying; New Occupy Oakland Camp; State Supreme Court Limits Local Govt Retiree Cuts

...On Monday, [UC Davis'] defining moment may have come as thousands of angry but polite students gathered on the quad to demand her resignation over the pepper-spraying of students by campus police last Friday. In a surreal scene, Katehi waded into the massive crowd and stood silently for about an hour listening as students – including several who were pepper-sprayed – denounced her for sending in the police last week.

Images of police dousing students with pepper spray at UC Davis and jabbing them with batons at UC Berkeley drew national condemnation and set off new protests Monday, as UC's president urged chancellors across the state to protect students' right to protest peacefully. The confrontations have led to soul-searching across the UC system and calls for UC Davis' chancellor to resign, extraordinary developments at college campuses that pride themselves on a history of activism and political dissent.

A day after police cleared the last of three Occupy Oakland camps, another popped up overnight, this time in West Oakland on a property that is reportedly in foreclosure. Protesters with 10 tents, awnings and camping gear put down stakes at about 7 p.m. Monday night on a large lot adjoining a home at the corner of 18th and Linden Streets.

More than 50 police officers and sheriff's deputies in riot gear moved in on the Occupy Santa Rosa site at City Hall early Tuesday morning and cleared out campers who had been on the site without permits. There were no arrests and no incidents of violence in the action, which began at 3:30 a.m.

The state Supreme Court put limits Monday on a local government's ability to cut health care benefits for retired employees, ruling in an Orange County case with implications for Bay Area pension disputes. The court said in a unanimous decision that a city or county that sets retirement health coverage at a certain level, and implicitly promises to maintain it, can't revoke that pledge later and reduce benefits for employees who have retired.

The latest congressional failure to agree on a plan for balancing the government's books could yield a surprising result: a sharp reduction in annual federal deficits, larger than anything contemplated by the special panel that reached its fruitless finale Monday. But the absence of an agreement also threatens to tilt the nation back into recession by raising taxes on almost everyone while reducing government spending on almost everything.

Shoppers in San Francisco will spend more than $10 million in bag fees next year if the Board of Supervisors approves legislation today imposing a charge on any bags provided to consumers by all businesses, according to the Controller’s Office. Under a proposal by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, consumers will have to pay a 10-cent fee for every shopping bag provided by grocery stores, restaurants or retail outlets. That amount could increase to 25 cents per bag in July 2014.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan has named City Hall veteran Anne Campbell Washington as her chief of staff. In a news release Monday, Quan called Campbell Washington, former chief of staff for former Mayor Jerry Brown, "a consummate professional." Campbell Washington also has held high-ranking positions in the city administrator's office, the budget office and, most recently, as assistant to the Oakland fire chief.

Closing the books on a year of upheaval for Hewlett-Packard, new CEO Meg Whitman warned Monday that HP expects lower revenue and profit in 2012, while promising more reliability and less "drama" as the venerable tech giant seeks to get back on track.