Top of the morning’s news
- Citizens concerned about dangerous pipelines running beneath their homes aren’t able to obtain government records about them thanks to a 60-year-old law backed by PG&E and other utilities, the Chronicle reports.
- Syracuse University fired assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine Sunday after a third man accused the coach of molesting him nine years ago. AP
- Gov. Brown named Jeffrey Callison of Capitol Public Radio in Sacramento as press secretary for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Current.org
- Tom Wicker, the esteemed former New York Times correspondent, editor and columnist, died the day after Thanksgiving at his home near Rochester, Vermont. Media Decoder
- The Chronicle’s Matier & Ross reported that Assemblyman Mary Hayashi (D-Castro Valley), who is facing shoplifting charges, was already on Neiman Marcus’ radar when she was arrested outside its Union Square store last month.
- Taking away cars and subsidized insurance for state politicians was meant to save money, but it turns out that a plan to reimburse lawmakers 55.5 cents a mile for use of their own vehicles could be even more expensive. LA Times
- A ballot measure effort is afoot by opponents of California’s “three strikes” criminal offender law to soften it as one way of easing prison overcrowding. Chronicle
"It will always be part of my story, but what I'm all about is running NBA teams and running the Golden State Warriors."-- Warriors President and COO Rick Welts, on his being the first openly gay top executive in the closeted world of the NBA.
Other news
- The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether a defunct investment firm run by former 49ers Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott and All-Pro lineman Harris Barton misled investors as it struggled to stay solvent in 2008. Bloomberg News
- Protests were expected this morning at the four spread-out locations for today’s UC Board of Regents meeting—at San Francisco, Davis, Los Angeles and Merced. Mercury News
- The Mercury News writes about former Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet, the man at the center of the bankrupt solar company’s demise.
- It’s turning out to be a great year for migrating monarch butterflies along the East Bay shore. The Argus
- The Raiders can thank Sebastian Janikowski’s prolific toe for Sunday’s 25-20 win over the Chicago Bears. BANG
- CHP says arrests were down over the holiday weekend, but there were more traffic fatalities than last year. Examiner
- After four break-ins in a month, parishioners at St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church have resorted to 24-hour stakeouts to protect their place of worship. Contra Costa Times
