- The SEIU and the Schwarzenegger administration announced a tentative deal late last night, in what the LA Times' PolitiCal describes as "one of the last major hurdles" to lawmakers approving a budget. Highlights from The Fresno Bee:
Under terms of the pact, current workers would kick in an additional 3 percent of their pay toward their pensions. Union negotiators also agreed accept one day of unpaid leave per month for a year, which cuts employee pay and hours by roughly 5 percent per month. In exchange, workers covered by the agreement won't be subject to furloughs that lawmakers might impose during that period.
The California Report's John Myers reports on the conflict some legislators felt between wanting to get the agreement finalized and the side deals that they felt compelled to tolerate.
- The Chronicle says SF Mayor Gavin Newsom has tapped health department deputy director Barbara Garcia to replace current health head Mitch Katz, who's on his way to run the health department in Los Angeles. In his 13 years as SF health chief, Katz oversaw the city's universal health care initiative and a host of other programs. Los Angeles! That hurts. Though replacement Garcia seems to enjoy a good rep, L.A. could have at least offered a Competent Bureaucrat to be Named Later.
- A new post-nanny governor's race poll finds Brown leading Whitman 50-43. Perhaps more importantly, polling guru Nate Silver of FivethirtyEight.com (now a NY Times blog) makes the likelihood of a Brown win at 75%.
- The Daily Californian reports negotiations between UC and a union representing more than 12,000 academic student employees will resume Oct. 14. Talks had been stalled due to charges of unfair labor practices by the union, UC and United Auto Workers Local 2865.
And at UC Berkeley today: another student gathering, in concert with the call for a National Day of Action to defend public education. The Daily Cal is live blogging the event. As of 9:05 a.m., it reported 30 students participating.
- The Census Bureau reports that Berkeley, San Francisco, and Oakland have the oldest housing stock west of the Mississippi. From the Contra Costa Times:
"Of big cities with more than 500,000 people, only Boston, with 58 percent, had a higher rate of pre-1939 housing than San Francisco."
A Google image search shows just how prevalent Victorian houses in San Francisco are. Or browse around the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association site for more visual housing history.