- The National Transportation Safety Board has released a preliminary report on the San Bruno gas explosion that killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes. The Chronicle showed the report to a pair of pipeline experts who said a definitive cause of the blast has yet to be determined.
- Oakland officials will seek an injunction against the Norteños street gang, which operates in the city's Fruitvale neighborhood. If an Alameda County Superior court judge approves the injunction, alleged gang members will have to abide by a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. Oakland City Attorney John Russo said the Norteños have been involved in 35 shootings this year.
- Caltrans advises commuters who use the San Mateo Bridge to take an alternate route this morning due to repairs. KGO-TV reports that Caltrans is hoping the job will be finished by this afternoon, but check these hourly Dept. of Transportation updates before you throw caution to the wind.
- The Mercury News reports that some Redwood city residents gave the California High-Speed Rail Authority an earful yesterday on all the reasons they don't want the trains coming through their city.
Related:
-Video: California's High-Speed Rail (KQED Quest)
-Audio: A Bumpy Ride for High-Speed Rail (KQED Quest) - State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said he will try to restore nearly $1 billion in social service money that was cut from the budget via Schwarzenegger vetoes last week. "The governor's vetoes were misguided, cruel, unnecessary and preventable," he said. KQED's John Myers wrote about the vetoes on Capital Notes last week.
California gives its governor more power than many states when it comes to using the so-called blue pencil to unilaterally strike spending. And for the final few years of Schwarzenegger's tenure, the vetoes have been a final punch in his bloody brawls with the Legislature. The governor, both this year and before, has insisted that legislators send him a budget with a reserve of unused cash that's large enough to make a noticeable difference in the deficit that always seems right around the corner. Legislative leaders, on the other hand, have sometimes denounced Schwarzenegger's spending cuts as both arbitrary and punitive.
Also, from the LA Times article on Steinberg's announcement, one aspect that shouldn't come as a surprise:
GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman expressed little interest in rolling back Schwarzenegger's vetoes if elected.
"Sacramento politicians should be more focused on creating jobs, and less focused on protecting programs we can't afford," said campaign spokesman Darrell Ng.
- The forgotten race: Incumbent Democrat Debra Bowen and Republican Damon Dunn debated yesterday in Sunnvale. By the way, those are the Secretary of State candidates, in case that particular race has gotten lost in the maelstrom of political names and proposition numbers swirling around your election-addled brain... Dunn, by the way, a former NFL receiver, has voted only once in his life -- not necessarily an attribute for someone running for the state's No. 1 election official.
- Shares of Apple hit $300 yesterday for the first time. As of this morning they're hovering just over $301.
- Uh-oh.
Related:
-Live traffic cams (Caltrans)
-Real-time traffic reports (Mercury News)