Top of the morning’s news
- It took PG&E 90 minutes to shut off the gas that fueled last week’s explosion in Cupertino because crews needed to dig a small hole in the asphalt to reach the pipe and cap the leak, the Mercury News reports.
- Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, whose stories helped spin the bogus Bush administration line about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is the new film critic for the Jewish magazine Tablet. HuffPo
- An influential group of Chinatown elders pledged to oppose City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s mayoral bid in retaliation for his opposition to the Central Subway project. The Bay Citizen
- Sen. Barbara Boxer says she will stand by environmental groups that may sue the Obama administration over its punting a regulation to curb smog-creating emissions until at least 2013. Politico
- Ron Paul is taking out ad buys in Iowa and New Hampshire blasting Rick Perry for his staunch support of Al Gore in 1988 and comparing this to Paul’s early support for Ronald Reagan in 1976. The Hill
- No formal Republican response in planned after President Obama’s jobs speech tomorrow. The Hill
"I am very sad to tell you that I've just been fired over the phone by Yahoo's Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward."-- Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, announcing her firing yesterday in an email to the staff
Other news
- Expected high temperatures and light winds have prompted authorities to declare today another Spare the Air day in the Bay Area. Contra Costa Times
- Tourism continues to be strong in San Francisco, with average nightly rates and occupancy up again in July for the seventh month of gains. SF Business Times
- The NFL has informed the 49ers that there will be no suspension of receiver Braylon Edwards for a DUI that occurred last year when he was a member of the Jets. Sac Bee
- Gov. Jerry Brown will now decide whether California should ban the sale of shark fin soup after a bill to ban the Chinese delicacy cleared the Legislature. Chronicle
- Stanford Hospital & Clinics terminated its insurance agreement with Anthem Blue Cross after locking horns over reimbursement rates. Palo Alto Daily News
- San Francisco’s leading industry by economic activity? Its hospitals, which inject $15.3 billion a year into the economy. Chronicle
- A federal appeals court dismissed a challenge by property owners to a voter-approved San Francisco law that prohibits landlords from coercing tenants to move out. Chronicle
- Levels of the banned pesticide methyl bromide remain nearly as high as they were a decade ago in some of California’s top strawberry-growing counties despite a mandated phase out. California Watch
