Top of the morning’s news
- Higher temperatures, higher smog levels spell another Spare the Air day today in the Bay Area. Oakland Tribune
- Fox cut a taped comedy routine by Alec Baldwin from Sunday night’s Emmy Awards that included a joke about parent News Corp.’s phone hacking scandal. AP
- A new survey shows ABC, CNN and Bloomberg among networks with the most affluent viewers. TV Newser
- Bay Area anti-tobacco advocates are lobbying elected officials to press for a federal ban on the use of menthol in cigarettes and other tobacco products. Contra Costa Times
- The ugly aftermath of the legislative sausage factory: Gov. Jerry Brown has 600 plus bills to consider. BANG
- Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) is one of three co-chairs of a new Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus. Political Blotter
- Ron Paul won the straw poll among presidential aspirants at the state Republican Convention in Los Angeles over the weekend. Capitol Alert
- Latest GOP anti-Obama talking point: accusing him of inciting class warfare for proposing a new tax on the wealthy. LA Times
- The Chronicle’s John Wildermuth writes about the growing influence of Chinatown in San Francisco mayoral politics.
"I am open to meeting with anybody who wants to meet with me - protesters included."-- Grace Crunican, BART’s new general manager, in one of her first press interviews, with the Chronicle
Other news
- A body unearthed over the weekend near the Pleasanton-Sunol border suspected of being that of murdered nursing student Michelle Le won’t be identified until tests are conducted. Oakland Tribune
- California’s high speed rail system has more than just budget hurdles to overcome. Looming lawsuits from local cities and opposition groups still could delay, divert or derail the project altogether, California Watch reports.
- Los Gatos-based Netflix announced the spin-off of its decade-old DVD-by-mail service, to be called Qwikster, with the company’s streaming service to retain the Netflix name. SF Business Times
- San Francisco Unified School District’s special education classes are disproportionately filled with minority students. Examiner
- Could the 49ers’ loss to the Cowboys be a harbinger of how the season could unfold? Monte Pool thinks so. BANG
- Mark Purdy on why the Raiders have no one but themselves to blame for Sunday’s loss at Buffalo. Mercury News
- Redwood City is considering a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. San Mateo Daily Journal
