A.M. Splash: Fire Damages SF's Pier 29; 100 Arrested in Internet Contractor Fraud; Ellison Buys Hawaiian Island

A waterfront building being converted for next year's America's Cup yacht race was severely damaged Wednesday by a fire that spewed thick smoke over the bay and stopped traffic along San Francisco's Embarcadero for hours.

Assemblyman Bill Monning is warning consumers to beware of unlicensed contractors who use the Internet to market to unsuspecting and vulnerable homeowners. Monning joined the Contractors State License Board on Wednesday to announce the success of an undercover operation targeting the fraud. The organization last week partnered with contracting boards in Oregon, Nevada and Arizona to coordinate sting operations resulting in 100 arrests from eight cities in California alone.

Some people splurge on a trip to the Hawaiian Islands. Oracle co-founder and billionaire Larry Ellison splurges by buying one.

Facebook released results of its Social Landmarks study on Tuesday, revealing the locations where Facebook users check-in the most.

The family of a Berkeley resident bludgeoned to death outside his home, allegedly by a mentally disturbed man, filed a legal claim against the city Wednesday blaming police in part for the slaying because officers didn't promptly respond to his call for help.

In a San Mateo hotel ballroom Saturday, a group of scientists, fishermen and environmentalists will convene to debate whether to regulate several species of fish for which there is no market, but which could see increased demand from aquaculture and are increasingly seen as critical to the ocean's ecosystem... Some environmentalists see Saturday's meeting of the Pacific Fishery Management Council as a landmark in fishery policy - traditionally, regulators have stepped in when limits are needed to maintain a commercially popular fishery, not before.

A woman was killed and two others were injured in a two-alarm fire at a multi-unit Berkeley residence early Thursday morning, fire officials said.

A plan for two massive tunnels diverting water from the Delta has been scaled back 40 percent in size. The project would divert only 10 percent less water, however, and it remains to be seen if this proves less harmful to fish and their habitat.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee spared the city's Public Health Department from cuts in his latest budget proposal, which benefited not just health care consumers, but also a lobbying group that consumer advocates say works against them.

(Huffington Post)

San Francisco Pride, the Bay Area's 42nd annual LGBT celebration and parade, is just around the corner, and Occupy has wasted no time in joining the party. Running under the tagline "Community, Not Commodity," radical group OccuPride has planned a presence at the event, slamming the commercialization of the Pride festivities and parade.