9 Stories You Should Know About Today: Tuesday, Jan. 13

Eight days ago, Kamala Harris took the oath of office for a second term as attorney general and delivered an inaugural address that talked about all she hoped to accomplish in the job over the next four years. What a difference eight days can make. Harris, 50, announced in a statement on her website Tuesday morning that she is a candidate for the U.S. Senate — news that comes after an intense flurry of speculation set off by the decision of Sen. Barbara Boxer to step aside when her term ends. Full story

Attorney General Kamala Harris may have a head start in her race for the U.S. Senate, and not just because she announced her candidacy first. Los Angeles County is home to more than 26% of all Californians. But when it comes to running for statewide office, being from Los Angeles may be more of an obstacle than a political advantage. While the people may be in Los Angeles, the largest chunk of the state’s voters – those who actually cast ballots — come from the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. Full story

Some 100 people gathered Monday night to march against gun violence from the Western Addition to Page and Laguna streets — the corner where four men were shot dead over the weekend while sitting in a car. District 5 Supervisor London Breed, community activist Mattie Scott, and the Rev. Amos Brown of Third Baptist Church of San Francisco led the evening's prayer vigil and march from the African American Cultural Center to Hayes Valley. Full story

A local union has put a host of prominent tech companies on notice that the drivers who ferry their employees to and from work want to organize. The Teamsters sent letters last week to the CEOs of Amtrak, Apple, eBay, Genentech, Yahoo and Zynga informing them that their contract shuttle bus drivers would like to join the union and urging them to show their support, said Rome Aloise, international vice president and secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 853. Full story

Ross Ulbricht, the 30-year-old Texan who prosecutors say was the mastermind of the drug trafficking website, has remained steadfast in his innocence since his arrest more than a year ago. Barring a last-minute deal, his fate will soon be in the hands of a jury. If convicted, he faces decades in prison. Full story

Martin Luther King Jr. Day happens a week from today, on Monday Jan. 19. But it's not a holiday for the loyal employees of Apple. They have to go to work. MLK Day is a federal holiday, meaning government offices are closed. Companies don't have to observe the holiday, but many do, if only because it seems like the right thing to do. In Silicon Valley, where companies have been taking heat for their incredible lack of diversity, observing the MLK Day holiday seems like a smart move if only for the sake of "optics," as they say. Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo all give employees the day off. Full story

A recent (and irritating) visit to Starbucks highlights the two most obvious downsides of Silicon Valley booms (and yes, we're in a boom, though it is far from benefiting everyone). Think of them as Newtonian laws of daily irritation. The first is that traffic gets worse -- much worse. The second is that customer service declines, particularly at places like Starbucks. Full story

A proposed project which would create a mini “pop-up village” in a parking lot by AT&T Park is scheduled to be considered by the San Francisco Port Commission on Tuesday. If approved, the project would feature an Anchor Steam beer garden and tap room as well as other food and retail shops and a waterfront view deck. Full story

Fog City lived up to its name Tuesday morning as daybreak revealed San Francisco swathed in clouds. Full story