Top of the morning’s news
- Foreclosures are rising sharply across California, driven largely by Bank of America, which has more than doubled its foreclosure pace in the western U. S., research firm ForeclosureRadar says. SF Business Times
- Tech info website Mashable announced it’s expanding coverage to include new sections for entertainment, U. S. news and world news, and is hiring a veteran technology editor to oversee all editorial content. Media DeCoder
- Former ESPN commentator Jay Mariotti pleaded no contest in Los Angeles to charges that he stalked and assaulted his ex-girlfriend. AP
- President Obama’s approval rating in California is at an all-time low of 46 percent, according to a newly-released Field Poll. Chronicle
- A new poll commissioned by City Attorney Dennis Herrera shows Mayor Lee’s lead of 20 percentage points has slipped to 12, with Herrera in second place ahead of a tier of others: state Sen. Leland Yee, former supervisor Michaela-Alioto Pier and Public defender Jeff Adachi. Chronicle
- Ex-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up at an elementary school in Hawaii to support after-school programs and, oddly, considering his violent movie persona, led a chant encouraging students to say no to violence. Chronicle Politics Blog
“I would love to run against Sarah Palin, I will say that.”-- President Obama’s campaign advisor Robert Gibbs, explaining that he expects the Presidential election to be “very, very close.”
Other news
- A 19-year-old man and three juveniles who allegedly killed an Oakland gardener for his gold necklace and iPod were charged with murder. Chronicle
- The Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park was capped off with a 64-ton copper dome, culminating a restoration that was begun nine years ago. Chronicle
- A new San Francisco State study projects potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in losses due to rising sea level at Ocean Beach and warned that the beach as we know it could be gone by the end of the century if nothing is done to protect it. ABC 7
- Now that the federal government has determined that the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians didn’t have historical connection to the land where the tribe and its sponsor wanted to build a casino at Richmond’s Point Molate, city officials are weighing options on what’s next for the property. Contra Costa Times
- A teenager was arrested in Novato after police found a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in the car he was driving. Marin IJ
- Walter Cohen, the head of Oakland’s economic development agency that was the subject of a scathing grand jury report in June for building department abuses, is stepping down, effective Oct. 28. Oakland Tribune
- San Jose’s lawmakers took a major step toward downsizing and regulating the city’s medical marijuana industry, approving a package of zoning regulations to sharply limit how and where pot collectives can operate. AP
- A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld a Southern California school district’s decision to order a teacher to remove classroom banners that included the phrases “In God We Trust” and “God Shed His Grace on Thee.” Bay City News Service
- A Novato woman whose husband’s body was found buried beneath a backyard barbeque pit she built about the time he disappeared and who never reported him missing will not face criminal charges, her lawyer said Tuesday. Chronicle
- A disgraced former Fry’s Electronics executive pleaded guilty to two felony charges in a wide-ranging IRS case and could face up to six years in federal prison when sentenced Dec. 8. Mercury News
