A.M. Splash: Terrible Tangle of Traffic Feared From Downed Doyle Drive; SF Bicyclist Could Face Felony Manslaughter in Fatal Crash

(T)ransportation officials [are] concerned that motorists, including tourists and day-trippers, will ignore the warnings of this weekend's 57-hour closure and demolition of Doyle Drive and cause a terrible tangle of traffic on 19th Avenue and Highway 1, the San Francisco approach to the bridge that will remain open.

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón is preparing to file felony vehicular manslaughter charges against Chris Bucchere, the bicyclist who fatally struck a 71-year-old pedestrian in the Castro district last month.

The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters on Tuesday confirmed that an initiative to raise the minimum wage in San Jose has officially qualified for the Nov. 6 ballot. The proposed San Jose measure would raise the hourly minimum wage in the city from the current $8 state requirement to $10 with yearly inflation adjustments.

The San Jose City Council voted Tuesday to continue blocking bonus payments to retirees from a pension system they said is billions of dollars short of funds needed to cover benefits promised to the workforce. Tuesday's 8-3 vote concerned a supplemental benefit payment that provides retired city workers with an additional 13th pension check in years when pension fund earnings exceed targets. The payments are calculated under a formula that increases the amount for those retired the longest, a benefit added to help older retirees whose pensions had been eroded by inflation.

Under a bill that passed its first committee hearing Tuesday, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistants would be able to perform what is known as an "aspiration" abortion, which is the most common abortion procedure and takes place in the first trimester of a pregnancy.

South Bay officials are moving to crack down on payday lending in the coming weeks, saying they want to send a message to storefront operators that their businesses are viewed as danger zones for the working poor. In a meeting Wednesday night, San Jose's planning commission will consider a proposal to bar payday lenders from setting up shop in low-income neighborhoods.

Police Chief Howard Jordan called the city's 100-block crime-fighting initiative a success despite rising crime outside the targeted crime hot spots in East and West Oakland. "We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish. Now we need to adjust," Jordan said during a Tuesday new conference shortly before police unveiled their crime fighting plan to council members.

State Controller John Chiang cannot block lawmakers' pay based on his interpretation of the budget they pass, a Sacramento judge tentatively ruled Tuesday, handing the Legislature a significant win as it enters the busy season for budget writing.

Supervisor Susan Adams called it a last-minute "Hail Mary" to revive the Grady Ranch project, but Lucasfilm said the county's promise to clear regulatory hurdles comes too late.