Top of the morning’s news
- New questions emerged as to why the Obama administration kept giving troubled solar power start-up Solyndra taxpayer cash amid warning signs that the Fremont company was in serious trouble well before it went bankrupt. California Watch
- The venerable Associated Press Managing Editors, founded in 1933, changed its name to Associated Press Media Editors. Romenesko
- Regional transportation officials commissioned a nine-county poll to gauge voter support for a Bay Area gas tax of up to 10 cents per gallon that could be placed on the November 2012 ballot. Chronicle
- Still reeling from the Legislature’s defeat of his tax and jobs plan, Gov. Jerry Brown accused GOP lawmakers of an “unconstitutional delegation of power” and alleged they are controlled by the anti-tax Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Capitol Alert
“You’re in front of the camera all of the time, you’re bound to make some mistakes.”-- BART board president Bob Franklin, referring to the trumped up press event that besieged BART spokesman Linton Johnson was exposed as having tried to arrange.
Other news
- The oldest salt flat in the Bay Area, just south of the San Mateo Bridge and dating to the 1850s, became the region’s newest wetland known as Eden Landing as part of a restoration project completed Wednesday. Chronicle
- California is cutting its healthcare safety net more aggressively than almost any other state, despite billions of dollars in special aid from Washington, which could pose a big problem for President Obama’s healthcare reform. LA Times
- After using a substandard testing method to verify the safety of a major gas pipeline providing Northern and Central California with much of its gas, PG&E wants state regulators to accept the procedure or else jeopardize gas levels for millions of people this winter. Chronicle
- The Chronicle’s John King reviews plans for the proposed new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and yes, he rather likes it.
- Good news and bad news with Bay Area gas pump prices: They’re leveling off, but at about $4 per gallon. Mercury News
- The 49ers’ Braylon Edwards is suing a Michigan restaurant and three of its employees for more than $14 million for slander, extortion and malicious prosecution in connection with an altercation to which he was allegedly connected. AP
- A father and daughter from Antioch were charged with defrauding a 71-year-old San Francisco woman out of her home after she accepted their offer of financial help, prosecutors say. Chronicle
- Officials at SFO warned of an email scam in which perpetrators offer to sell or ship pets overseas through the airport. Chronicle
- Scaffolding collapsed on more than a dozen cars at the Tijuana border crossing Wednesday, injuring 11 people and halting all traffic entering from Mexico at the nation’s busiest entry point. AP
