State, DAs Sue BP and ARCO; Judges For Barry Bonds' Appeal Picked; Ellison's Boat Rises Again and More News...

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley joined state Attorney General Kamala Harris and six other California district attorneys in filing a civil lawsuit Friday against BP West Coast Products, BP Products North America, Inc., and Atlantic Richfield Company for allegedly violating state laws governing hazardous materials and hazardous waste. The suit claims that the companies failed to properly inspect and maintain underground tanks used to store gasoline for retail sale at more than 780 ARCO gas stations in California.

Barry Bonds' felony obstruction of justice conviction is in the hands of three federal appeals court judges who were each appointed by a different Democratic president. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday unveiled its February schedule, which showed publicly for the first time the three judges assigned to Bonds' case. Senior judges Mary Schroeder and Michael Daly Hawkins along with Judge Mary Murguia will hear oral arguments Feb. 13.

A day after San Francisco 49ers fans got that sinking feeling when their team lost the Super Bowl, Larry Ellison's Oracle Team USA relaunched its newly-repaired boat Monday after a catastrophic capsize months ago while training for the super bowl of regattas -- the America's Cup. "It's a big day for the team," Grant Simmer, general manager for Oracle Team USA, said. "It's getting sailing again, getting our boat in after the setback of the capsize."

Close to a decade after a handshake deal fell apart for a prime piece of downtown real estate, the cities of Pleasanton and San Francisco have restarted talks over the land. Pleasanton city leaders and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, a department of the city and county of San Francisco, began negotiations Jan. 15 over a 3.3-acre parcel of land on Old Bernal Avenue, just west of the Pleasanton Public Library.

Remaking one of the city's busiest streets could involve banishing buses from downtown Mission Street and redesigning the thoroughfare to make travel safer and easier for the city's growing number of cyclists. The plan being studied by city officials is the newest of three alternatives for a $350 million Better Market Street project, which would remake the city's main boulevard into a designated transit corridor and transform the adjoining downtown sidewalks and plazas into inviting places for the hordes of workers, tourists and other visitors who jam into the area every day.

City officials took another tiny step toward dealing with huge private commuter buses jostling for curb space with Muni. The space race for pickup spots along busy corridors means that private buses often block Muni stops to pick up commuters bound for Peninsula companies like Google, Apple and Genentech. But the private buses have a new stop all of their own, the second one in the city, officials said.

Ask any small-business owner: Starting a new venture, getting in the black, growing and expanding — it’s not easy. And that’s without the risk of federal law enforcement swooping in at any time, seizing everything, shutting down the operation and then tossing the owners in prison for good measure. Yet there appears to be no shortage of entrepreneurs willing to risk all of the above and get into the once-stymied, now-growing-again San Francisco medical marijuana trade.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee wants to bring the Olympics to the city, and he's willing to go to great lengths to do it. The mayor told the San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board last week that he intends to create a permanent nonprofit group tasked with bringing large-scale sporting events, like the Olympics, to the San Francisco Bay Area.