Top of the morning’s news
- Members of the hacker group Anonymous filed into federal court in San Jose Thursday to plead not guilty to charges that they carried out a cyber attack on PayPal late last year in retaliation for the pay service’s cutting off service to WikiLeaks. Mercury News
- Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” viewership on Current TV ticked up a bit, but at 310,000 total viewers was still less than a third of his former audience at MSNBC. TV Newser
- The Washington Post announced it is closing all but two of its regional news bureaus. Romenesko
- Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, in the Grand Lake neighborhood to tout small businesses, instead got an earful from angry shop owners about parking enforcement. Chronicle
- Goodwin Liu was sworn in by Gov. Jerry Brown to the California Supreme Court. AP
“Oakland needs to be the tourist destination for cannabis. We felt like a street fair for the cannabis industry would help solidify that.”-- Medial marijuana advocate Salwa Ibrahim on what’s being touted as the nation’s first marijuana street fair in Oakland this weekend.
Other news
- A Spare the Air day has been declared for today, owing largely to elevated smog levels in the East Bay and Santa Clara Valley. Chronicle
- The long time vendor of the Stow lake boat rental and snack bar in Golden Gate Park will pack up and end operations after the Labor Day weekend, making way for a new operator. Chronicle
- As Cal prepares to open a season of home games to be played at AT&T Park, Berkeleyside looks at the impacts on Berkeley, including its hotels and restaurants, minus a fall without college football in town.
- Caltrans is repaving highways in the Bay Area and across the state at a pace not seen in years, thanks largely to federal stimulus money, state bonds and millions of dollars in savings from low bids. Mercury News
- Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals’ 414 union employees overwhelmingly rejected a proposed new contract, with the two sides expected to return to the bargaining table next week. Berkeleyside
- PG&E fired four inspectors for falsely claiming to have inspected some of the company’s underground electrical gear. Mercury News
- Meanwhile, another leaky PG&E gas line was blamed for an explosion that ripped through a Cupertino condo Wednesday moments after its owner had left for lunch. Chronicle
- Oprah Winfrey will visit Facebook in Palo Alto next Thursday to promote the company’s streaming interview channel. Mercury News
- A physical fitness professor at Cal State San Bernardino is wanted for arrest, suspected of leading a motorcycle gang and methamphetamine drug ring. AP
