A.M. Splash: 8 Washington Approval Stands; Amazon Sales Tax Deadline Approaches

San Francisco supervisors refused Tuesday to overturn their vote approving a high-priced waterfront condominium project, clearing the way for a 2013 citywide referendum that could kill the 8 Washington St. development. The vote was the same as the one taken June 12, before opponents of the 134-unit luxury project collected more than 31,000 signatures to qualify the referendum. Once again, eight supervisors supported the measure, with Board President David Chiu and Supervisors David Campos and John Avalos opposed.

The Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors decided Tuesday to put an additional 150 to 200 taxis on the streets over the next few months. The board, on a 6-0 vote, with Director Leona Bridges absent, approved the temporary full-time operating permits in an effort to improve the public's chances of getting a taxi.

An update on the condition of California Highway Patrol Officer Kenyon Youngstrom, shot by a suspect and left on life support after a traffic stop in Alamo Tuesday, is expected some time this morning, authorities said. Youngstrom was shot through the neck after pulling over a man driving a Jeep Wrangler, on the shoulder of southbound Interstate 680 near Alamo around 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, police said. Moments later, a second CHP officer who had pulled up behind the jeep shot the suspect in his vehicle and aided the injured officer until emergency medical crews arrived, said Contra Costa sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee. Youngstrom, a 37-year-old married father of four, was taken to John Muir Medical Center and was listed in critical condition as of Tuesday night with what KGO-TV described as a severed spinal cord.

Bay Area gasoline prices have soared nearly 9 percent in the one month since the disastrous fire at Chevron's mammoth refinery in Richmond -- but they have hardly changed in the last week. Prices for unleaded gasoline averaged $4.19 a gallon in the Bay Area on Tuesday, according to information compiled from the GasBuddy online site. That's 34 cents, or 8.7 percent higher than the $3.82 average the night of the Aug. 6 fire at the refinery owned and operated by San Ramon-based Chevron.

With the Internet retail giant set to begin collecting sales taxes on California purchases Sept. 15, [tech-savvy consumers are] trying to cram in some last-minute tax-free shopping. Depending on where they live, Californians pay 7.25% to 9.75% in sales taxes, so the savings are substantial — especially on big-ticket items such as electronics. But bargain hunters are also stocking up on inexpensive goods such as food, DVDs and carpet cleaner.

The cable company is set to complete the final stages of its digital transition this fall. Starting next week in certain communities, Comcast will begin delivering digitally the more than 30 channels that it previously delivered as analog signals...To continue to receive the soon-to-be digital stations, which generally are found on channels 2 through 34 and include KGO, KQED and C-SPAN customers will generally need to have a Comcast digital tuner.

Environmental groups and their supporters hoping for a new wave of green laws from the Legislature this year ended up with barely a ripple. From a statewide effort to ban plastic bags, to limits on foam food packaging, most of the top environmental bills of the 2012 session died.

Facebook's struggling stock got a small boost Tuesday from the news that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has no plans to sell his shares for at least a year, while the company plans to keep another 100 million shares from going on the market this fall. Two more insiders, board members Marc Andreessen and Donald Graham, plan to sell an undisclosed amount of stock to cover tax obligations but will hold onto their remaining shares, the company said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service planned to announce Wednesday that a rare plant thought to be extinct, then discovered by the former director of habitat protection at Audubon Canyon Ranch in Bolinas, will be listed as an endangered species. In October 2009, while driving in the Presidio in San Francisco, Daniel Gluesenkamp discovered a Franciscan manzanita plant not seen in 63 years. The lone Franciscan manzanita was revealed after crews cleared trees as part of the Doyle Drive reconstruction project, which presented a problem: The rare plant sat directly in the path of the $1.1 billion project. The plant was moved from the site, but kept at an undisclosed location nearby.

While San Jose's hopes for bringing the A's baseball team to a downtown ballpark remain in limbo, the city is toughening its stance toward opponents of the move from Oakland. The San Francisco Giants have openly opposed an A's move into the lucrative Silicon Valley market they claim as their territory. But San Jose officials have argued the Giants also are chief actors behind local efforts to block an A's downtown ballpark and are moving more aggressively to expose the team's role.