Morning Wrap: 8/1/11

Oakland shells out for its new city administrator, PBS looks to Britain, life after Harold Camping in the doomsday preacher market, why high school basketball wizzes leave the Bay Area, plus the Fillmore’s slow makeover, and more inside.

Top of the morning’s news

• A debt ceiling deal was said to be reached between the White House and congressional leaders of both parties, although House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was noncommittal, saying she would need to poll her caucus today. AP

Media

• PBS is considering starting a digital channel in Britain to show both current and older PBS programs there. Media Decoder
• The McClatchy newspaper chain, which includes the flagship Sacramento Bee, reported lower profits and revenue for the second quarter, with advertising revenue down 9.4 percent from a year ago. Sac Bee

Politics

• Cash-strapped Oakland’s new city administrator, Deanna Santana, is getting a $273,000 base salary with three weeks vacation plus a one-time bonus worth another $15,750. Chronicle

Other news

• The feds are considering new no-fly rules for tour aircraft over Muir Woods National Monument and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, including the Golden Gate Bridge. Marin IJ
• Bloomberg Business Week surveys the rapture prophecy market in the absence of stroke-stricken Alameda preacher Harold Camping and concludes the leading ministers all have a problem: they’re making more money than they can likely spend before when they say the world will end.
• If you missed it over the weekend, Sam Laird at The Bay Citizen explained why so many of the Bay Area’s star high school basketball players are being poached by programs elsewhere.
• The Examiner looks at San Francisco’s failed efforts thus far to transform the Fillmore district.
• AC Transit fares go up a dime today, and by $5 a month for youth passes.  Oakland Tribune
• In its effort to build big new stores in the Bay Area, Safeway is running into plenty of resistance, the latest in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood. Chronicle
• New, higher interest rates on some so-called Jumbo mortgage loans could further hamper the Bay Area real estate market at a time when home sales are already suffering. Mercury News
• Two groups have filed a lawsuit to prevent the 1959 North Beach branch library from being torn down and replaced. Chronicle
• The Raiders signed former Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards. Oakland Tribune
• The A’s dealt reliever Brad Ziegler to the Diamondbacks for first baseman Brandon Allen and reliever Jordan Norberto. Oakland Tribune