Morning Wrap: 5/16/11

More snow in the Sierras and rain in the Bay Area today, Brown’s new budget tact, Spanish-American war relic stolen from Oakland park, plus saving a 300-year-old tree named “Granny” near Menlo Park, and more inside.

• More crazy weather as snow in the Sierras for the first time ever forced the cancellation of the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race, with rain likely today in much of the Bay Area. Chronicle
• Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to try and reinvigorate his budget plan today by asking lawmakers to pass at least some of his tax increases and ask voters to approve them after the fact. L. A. Times
• Thieves stole a historic metal ring from the Spanish-American warship USS Maine from its concrete base in Oakland’s Lakeside Park, where it had been displayed for decades. Oakland Tribune; KTVU 2
• The U. S. Board of Geographic names rejected a bid to name a cove in Lake Tahoe for Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain’s real name. AP
• After seeing the death photos of Osama bin Laden, Senator Dianne Feinstein said she concurred with President Obama’s decision not to make them public. ABC 7
• More than 55,000 registered runners, tens of thousands of “bandits” in costume and a lot less booze and mischief during Sunday’s 100th anniversary Bay to Breakers 12 kilometer race. The Bay Citizen
• A 30-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries after falling three stories from a duplex in the Panhandle while trying to view Bay to Breakers. Chronicle
• House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) holds a fundraiser tonight at, of all places, Nob Hill’s Fairmont Hotel, once a favorite of a certain other former House Speaker from San Francisco. Chronicle 
• The L. A. Times has a piece on one set of state assets that haven’t been damaged by the bad economy: its great outdoors, at the center of California’s $95 billion tourist industry.
• A developmentally disabled 17-year-old girl who disappeared near the Bay to Breakers finish line Sunday morning returned home on her own Sunday night, her father said. Chronicle
• A birthday party brawl in a Bernal Heights public housing project led to the fatal shootings of two men and the wounding of a third. Chronicle
• The L. A. Times reports that some state workers are retiring with six-figure compensation checks from unused vacation balances.  
• Neighbors in the North Fair Oaks neighborhood near Menlo Park pledged to be out in force today to try and prevent a 300-year-old oak tree named “Granny” from being chopped down as part of a water pipeline upgrade. Mercury News
• In an overhaul to save money, the Oakland Police Department will disband its criminal investigation unit and transfer a still undetermined number of officers who probe murders and other serious crimes to patrol duty. The Bay Citizen
• The Sharks lost to Vancouver 3-2 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Mercury News