Top of the morning’s news
- The Legislature approved a state budget that critics say contains accounting gimmicks by a simple majority vote Wednesday, meeting the constitutional deadline for just the second time in 25 years. Chronicle; LAT
- MediaNews Group’s talks with Freedom Communications to acquire the Orange County Register have broken off, at least for now. WSJ
- PaidContent’s Robert Andrews’ ideas for how Oakland-based music streamer Pandora should spend its newfound IPO millions.
- Rep. Anthony Weiner is telling friends he will resign from Congress. NYT
- Saying that “a decade of war is bankrupting our country,” Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) will host a peace rally at the San Rafael City Plaza Saturday. Marin IJ
- Now that the Legislature has given him the kind of budget he said he didn’t want, what does Gov. Jerry Brown do next? Capitol Weekly
- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was released from the hospital to continue her rehabilitation at home. The Hill
- Muni chief Nathaniel Ford’s negotiated departure as of June 30, announced Wednesday, will net the city’s highest paid public employee a $384,000 severance package. Chronicle; The Bay Citizen
- LA County Sheriff’s Department investigated allegations that Shaquille O’Neal was connected to a beating, robbery and kidnapping by gang members of a man claiming to have a sex tape of the basketball star, something O’Neal denied, the LA Times reports.
- Officials say a notorious smell emanating from Oakland’s Lake Merritt should dissipate once a large concrete aqueduct along the lake’s south shoreline is demolished. The Bay Citizen
- Police in Oakland arrested a parolee on suspicion of raping a woman who managed to shoot video of him using her cell phone. Chronicle
- A University of New Mexico football player and San Francisco native in town for the funeral of ex-high school teammate David Henderson was arrested at SFO after refusing to pull up his sagging pants as he boarded a flight for Albuquerque. Chronicle
- Bay Area foreclosures slowed again in May, down 13 percent from April and 20 percent from a year ago, RealtyTrac.com says. Contra Costa Times
- A 14-year-old Marin City girl was arrested for stealing her aunt’s Cadillac and crashing into another car during the getaway. Marin IJ
- Devaughndre Broussard, the confessed triggerman in the 2007 murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey, will be sentenced Aug. 12, a judge said Wednesday. Chauncey Bailey Project
- Lawyers for Barry Bonds asked a federal judge to set aside the home run king’s obstruction of justice conviction. Mercury News
- Opponents of a Target store planned for San Rafael submitted 3,000 signatures to city officials for a referendum vote in November. Marin IJ
- The Boston Bruins shut out Vancouver to claim the Stanley Cup and angry Canucks fans rioted in the streets. AP
