A.M. Splash: Caltrain Prices to Rise Jul 1; Protesters Rally Against Education Cuts

Beginning July 1, Caltrain riders will have to pay more to buy paper tickets and eight-ride discount passes. The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board approved the higher fares Thursday to not only generate additional revenue for Caltrain but also to encourage riders to switch to Clipper cards -- plastic passes that can be used on several Bay Area transit systems. The price of those cards won't increase.

The City Council this week unveiled a $500 million wish list of projects - from parks to pools, roads to recreation centers - for taxpayers to consider on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Throughout the Bay Area and state on Thursday, supporters of public education joined a national protest against school funding cuts and mounting tuition costs, holding student walkouts, marches and demonstrations. At UC Santa Cruz, hundreds of students blocked entrances to the campus, preventing cars and buses from entering, school officials said. At UC Davis, students staged a funeral for public education, complete with a coffin and bagpipes, according to Occupy Education organizers.

Six federal and state agencies on Thursday announced a final plan for spending $32.3 million to alleviate environmental damage caused by the 2007 Cosco Busan spill of more than 53,000 gallons of fuel oil into the San Francisco Bay. The money for the natural resources restoration comes from a $44 million settlement reached between the agencies and the container ship's owner, Regal Stone Ltd., and operator, Fleet Management Ltd., both based in Hong Kong.

The surprise loss of $3.6 million in funding has forced City College of San Francisco officials to cancel nearly 100 classes mid-semester and furlough some employees for up to 15 days.

The price to make Silicon Valley gadgets and computers in China -- the assembly line for the global tech industry -- is going up, forcing tech companies to rejigger supply chains to contain costs and to consider charging more for electronic devices. With millions of Americans out of work, some hope the soaring salaries and other rising costs across the Pacific will trigger a renaissance in low-cost manufacturing in the United States. That is not expected to happen any time soon, experts say. But there is mounting concern among tech executives in the fiercely competitive gadget and PC markets.

Marin's dry winter is forcing water officials to tap a reserve reservoir to boost water supplies, something they haven't done in two decades. On Thursday the Marin Municipal Water District began pumping water out of Phoenix Lake, a district reservoir seldom used for water supply.

When Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law last year drastically changing the rules for oversight of low-level felons upon their release from prison, plans for handling the influx of female parolees fell between the cracks, say many experts. "I've been screaming for a year, 'What are we going to do with the women?' " said Edwina Perez-Santiago, who on Thursday opened one of the few services in the state for assisting "AB 109 women." Her chief focus for the project, based in Richmond, is finding housing, a challenge heightened by laws barring felons from renting low-cost federal housing.