Top of the morning’s news
- Barring a last minute deal with Republicans, Democrats in the Legislature were poised to pass a state budget today that includes taxes on online purchases, higher car registration fees, higher local sales tax rates as well as some cuts and accounting gimmicks. LA Times; Chronicle
- Five boys ages 12 to 14 were charged with trying to rape two 12-year-old girls during a Redwood City school field trip.
- For the record, the White House pool reporters for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Bay Area visit yesterday were Oakland Tribune political reporter Josh Richman and Matt Krupnick, who covers higher education for the Contra Costa Times and the Tribune.
- Facebook hired Joe Lockhart, President Clinton’s press secretary during his second term, as its top public affairs officer. SF Business Times
- As expected, the Senate Armed Services Committee endorsed Leon Panetta’s nomination to be defense secretary when Robert Gates leaves at the end of the month. CNN (with video)
- Among the folks Berkeleyside’s Frances Dinkelspiel spied at yesterday’s Michelle Obama fundraising breakfast at the Claremont Hotel: Actress and Ben Affleck’s wife Jennifer Garner, and CBS News aviation analyst Sully Sullenberger.
- In case he doesn’t listen to President Obama, East Bay Democrats George Miller and Jerry McNerney each called on Anthony Weiner to resign from Congress. Political Blotter
- Just what a disgraced congressman needs: a company has introduced the Anthony Weiner doll. ABC 7 (with photo)
- Highlights of the Democrats’ state budget plan. PolitiCal
- PG&E could be stuck with $2.4 billion in costs from the San Bruno disaster that it won’t be able to pass along to customers, a research firm concludes. Mercury News
- An Oakland student attempting to make an anti-violence video was arrested for carrying a sawed-off shotgun. CBS SF
- Unrelated: A 12-year-old Oakland boy was arrested for allegedly breaking into a community garden in Alameda and killing 11 chickens with a shovel. Contra Costa Times
- Remember the challenge by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow to the addition of “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance? It quietly expired at the U. S. Supreme Court. Chronicle
- East Bay Municipal Utility District approved water rate increases of 6 percent per year for the next two years, starting July 1, in part to compensate for lost revenue after persuading customers to conserve. Bay City News
- San Jose’s city council approved a budget to bridge the city’s 10th straight budget deficit that includes laying off 100 police officers. Mercury News
- BART’s Livermore extension may be a decade or more away, but Livermore’s city council approved $250,000 for a consultant-led study on whether to adopt a measure to keep the proposed route on Interstate 580 or put it to a vote. Contra Costa Times
