A.M. Splash: Loosening of Landmark Calif. Environmental Law Possible; SJ Homicide Surge; Desley Brooks Campaign Violations

A proposal to loosen California's landmark environmental protection law is expected to be introduced at the Capitol as soon as Thursday, giving the public and lawmakers only about a week to debate and consider the controversial legislation's fate. Backers of the proposal, largely from the business community, say the California Environmental Quality Act passed in 1970 needs to be updated because it has become cumbersome, and some individuals and groups misuse the law to stop or delay development for non-environmental reasons.

...A historic streak of seven slayings in 10 days have been a shock for residents who lately haven't been able to go a day without learning about another homicide in their city. The latest occurred at the Safeway at Story and White roads Tuesday night, when fire paramedics responding to reports of a man thought to be in the midst of a seizure instead found a man dying from a stab wound.

...The proposal would expand the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary by just 1 percent. But the area isn't just any small patch of ocean water. It's the busiest, most high-profile section of Northern California's coast, a highway for oil tankers and fishing boats, a recreational haven and a backdrop for millions of photographs -- the waters directly west of the Golden Gate Bridge...If NOAA approves expanding the boundaries next year right up to the Golden Gate Bridge, the change could bring new rules affecting everything from fireworks shows near the bridge to a ban on personal watercraft such as Jet Skis off the Marin Headlands. It also could bring more protection for wildlife, higher international awareness for the sanctuary and more research dollars for everything from marine biology to explorations of 19th century shipwrecks submerged near the Golden Gate's rocky cliffs.

Councilwoman Desley Brooks has ignored campaign disclosure law for years, records show, making it impossible to know exactly what she has done with thousands of dollars in campaign donations and public matching funds. Brooks was fined $400 last month for failing to submit her 2011 campaign contribution disclosure reports -- her second campaign disclosure-related fine since winning office in 2002. But a review of her filings with the City Clerk's Office shows numerous violations for which city and state officials have never held her accountable.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission cleared Facebook's acquisition of Instagram on Wednesday, voting unanimously to close its antitrust investigation into the deal without taking any action. The move frees Facebook to complete its acquisition of the mobile photo application maker, the biggest acquisition in Facebook's history. The Menlo Park social network announced plans to acquire San Francisco-based Instagram in a cash and stock deal for $1 billion in April.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will reopen its bidding process for the construction of the Central Subway’s Chinatown station after a quartet of contractors failed to meet the agency’s requirements during the first round of solicitations.

Dogs could not be used to hunt bears or bobcats in California under controversial legislation passed Wednesday by the Assembly.

Attorneys seeking a federal takeover of Oakland's police department are demanding the city investigate who leaked allegations that the monitor overseeing police made sexual advances toward City Administrator Deanna Santana and pledging to fight any effort to stall the takeover push...Late last Friday, city attorneys filed a motion in federal court disclosing that an investigation was underway into potentially damaging allegations against the monitor, Robert Warshaw.