A.M. Splash: SF City College May Boot Faculty Leaders; Commissioner Stalls on A's Ballpark; $2.5 Million Spent to Stop Richmond Soda Tax

Over the objections of labor leaders, trustees of the nearly bankrupt City College of San Francisco were expected to dismantle a long-standing system of faculty leadership on Thursday night to streamline governance and save $2 million. The move would send dozens of department chairs back to the classroom from the administrative positions they have held for years, earning extra pay for that work while being released from teaching. Deans would largely take their place, as is customary at other colleges.

Commissioner Bud Selig said there remains no timetable to make a decision on whether the A's can move to San Jose. Speaking before Game 2 of the World Series, Selig deflected most every question from a throng of reporters regarding the A's ballpark issue, which has dragged on more than 3 ½ years with no resolution. Selig declined comment on whether Oakland remains a realistic site for a new venue, whether he expects a resolution before he steps down as commissioner, or whether he'll consider it a failure if the A's don't get a new stadium during his tenure. "I don't feel any pressure," Selig said.

Campaign finance reports submitted late Thursday show that $2.48 million has been spent in recent months to try to defeat a ballot measure here to tax sugar-sweetened beverages. Measure N will be on the Nov. 6 ballot, and Richmond voters could be the first in the nation to impose a penny-per-ounce tax on businesses that sell soda and other sugary drinks. The Community Coalition Against Beverage Taxes, a campaign expenditure group funded by the American Beverage Association, reported the new spending total, up nearly $300,000 from earlier this month.

Three UC Berkeley graduate students have received a total of $12,500 in Dow Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge Awards in recognition of their research projects that addressed significant global concerns. Mozziyar Etemadi and Kayvan Keshari, who worked as a team, received the $10,000 grand prize for developing a method of harvesting biofuel from algae using fiber optics, which saves energy and space. Caroline Delaire received a $2,500 runner-up award for her study about the decontamination of waterborne pathogens and arsenic from water, focusing on the West Bengal area of India.

The top securities regulator in Massachusetts has fined Citigroup $2 million, charging that an analyst there leaked confidential information about Facebook's initial public offering. Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the charges Friday. Citi agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a deal for The Legend Of Conan, an action film that will star Arnold Schwarzenegger in one of his signature roles as Robert E. Howard’s mythic barbarian. The deal brings Conan and Schwarzenegger back to Universal, which released the first film that launched Schwarzenegger’s movie career back in 1982. Universal has world rights on the film.

More than 150 Occupy Oakland activists gathered downtown Thursday to mark the anniversary of the dismantlement of their encampment with chalk drawings, speeches and an evening march, and as the night deepened they had managed to maintain harmony between those calling for peace and those who don't mind violence. Several, particularly those wearing Black Bloc-style dark clothing and masks, said they would defy police by camping overnight in front of City Hall. City officials said nobody would be allowed to camp in Frank Ogawa Plaza, the spread of brick, concrete and grass in front of Oakland City Hall, but did not specify how they would react if people stayed past the plaza's 10 p.m. curfew.