Top of the morning’s news
- U. S. Navy divers today were expected to begin combing a sunken Mexican fishing vessel for the bodies of 7 Bay Area men missing from the disaster in the Sea of Cortez. Contra Costa Times
- In the aftermath of the Casey Anthony media circus, Court TV founder Steve Brill says of cable talker Nancy Grace: “I feel like I owe the nation community service for having hired her and put her on television.” AP
- The Chronicle’s Matier & Ross have the backstory on how the Picasso art theft video captured by a Lefty Odoul’s surveillance camera went viral.
- The Sacramento Bee’s Dan Walters gives Democratic legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown “credit” for making California’s already chaotic system for financing K-12 education even worse—after a secretive last minute deal on behalf of the teachers union was inserted in the state budget.
- The gloves start to come off among GOP presidential contenders, with Tim Pawlenty saying that Michele Bachman has a “nonexistent” record of accomplishment in Congress. LA Times
- A demonstration was planned for 4:30 this afternoon at the Civic Center BART station to protest the shooting death of Charles Hill by BART police on July 3, as well as the shooting of Oscar Grant III at Fruitvale station on New Year’s Day 2009. Examiner
- A United flight from San Francisco to Germany was diverted to Chicago early Sunday after a crew member discovered a sticker with a threatening message in one of the restrooms. Chronicle
- SFPD’s officers union overwhelmingly accepted a deal Saturday to allow them to receive past raises officers are owed and avoid layoffs for at least a year while agreeing to pay more into their pension fund. Chronicle
- A Vacaville motel clerk was credited with convincing a nude woman who walked into the lobby to put down her gun and surrender. Chronicle
- Santa Clara city manager Jennifer Sparacino recommended that the city council reject a deal being pitched by 49ers great Joe Montana for a ritzy commercial project next to the planned 49ers stadium. Mercury News
- The Bay Area housing market is all over the map, with widely divergent swings in value from community to community, including those next to each other. BANG
- San Francisco cabbies say they’re still planning a 24-hour strike Aug. 2 despite potential changes that could lower credit card fees and improve the city’s cab-tracking methods—issues they’ve been upset about for months. Examiner
- Another impact from all the snow in the Sierras over the winter: the beaches at Lake Tahoe are noticeably smaller because of the rising water level from runoff. AP
- A gunfight in a Richmond townhome that left three people dead stemmed from a drug deal gone bad, police say. Chronicle
- A Marin City woman was arrested after allegedly assaulting her husband with a barbeque fork. Marin IJ
- Cal State trustees vote tomorrow on a 12 percent tuition hike effective for a semester that starts in less than three months; UC Regents, meanwhile, are set to vote on a 9.6 percent fee hike Thursday that would be the ninth increase in eight years. Mercury News
