Top of the morning’s news
- The National Transportation Safety Board’s finding that PG&E was at fault for the San Bruno disaster is likely to complicate the utility’s efforts to defend itself against numerous lawsuits, experts say. Mercury News
- Longtime NPR morning voice and current Sirius XM radio host Bob Edwards is offering a free download of his memoir, “A Voice in the Box,” from now through Sept. 9, a week before the print version hits store shelves. Romenesko
- In a victory for health insurance companies, a measure that would give California regulators the power to reject health insurance rate hikes was pulled from consideration after its author, Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) said it was clear the bill would fail to muster enough votes in the state Senate. Chronicle
- Brian Dawson, 31, a town councilman in the East Bay community of Discovery Bay was arrested on suspicion of spousal battery. Contra Costa Times
- House Speaker John Boehner says no to President Obama’s planned speech to a joint session of Congress Sept. 7. It will take place Sept. 8 instead. AP
"If there are 14 million people unemployed, we want to see a targeted approach to everyone who is unemployed. This is a national emergency. I want to hear the president say that."
-- Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland)
Other news
- The state commission that figures to have the final say over the proposal to turn San Francisco’s Rincon Park into a waterborne parking lot for super-yachts for the 2013 America’s Cup takes a dim view of the idea. Chronicle
- The owner of Oakland’s Hotel Menlo downtown was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiring to have someone burn down the residential hotel to collect insurance money. Chronicle
- UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu’s nomination to the California Supreme Court was confirmed. Mercury News
- A San Jose police officer was arrested on charges that he had sex with two teenage boys. Mercury News
- The Giants Tim Lincecum has signed on to endorse his own clothing line. SF Business Times
- The worst cuts to San Francisco’s superior courts may be avoided under terms of a tentative deal worked out with the state body that oversees California’s court system. Examiner
- A group that wants to bring a minor league baseball team to San Rafael has dramatically scaled back its plans for Albert Park in a bid to appease neighbors and avoid an environmental study. Marin IJ
- BART’s newly-appointed general manager Grace Crunican steered clear of the brouhaha over the agency’s cell phone controversy during her first exchange with the media Wednesday. Examiner
- California’s top pesticide regulator dismissed safety guidelines suggested by her own staff scientists on grounds that they were too onerous for the pesticide manufacturer, California Watch reported.
