Top of the morning’s news
- Thousands of protesters effectively shut down the Port of Oakland early Wednesday evening after a generally peaceful day of marches and demonstrations that preceded last night’s chaos and mass arrests. Chronicle
- A federal appeals court again threw out a $550,000 fine against CBS by the Federal Communications Commission for singer Janet Jackson’s so-called “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2004 Super Bowl. Media Decoder
- Audie Cornish has been selected to fill in next year for NPR’s “All Things Considered” co-host Michelle Norris, who is stepping aside to avoid a conflict after her husband accepted a high-profile role in the Obama re-election campaign. Media Decoder
- Yahoo News says it has hired PBS NewsHour’s political editor, David Chalian, as its Washington bureau chief. Current.org
- Rick Perry, in Silicon Valley on a fundraising swing, flatly denied suggestions that he seemed to be on medication or under the influence of alcohol during a speech in New Hampshire last week that some are calling bizarre and which became a YouTube sensation. Chronicle
- Gov. Jerry Brown has shut down the government transparency website created by his predecessor, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, as a repository for financial disclosure statements and other documents. Capitol Alert
“My doctor happened to come by. He looked at me and said, ‘What the hell are you doing?”’-- San Francisco mayoral hopeful Joanna Rees, explaining her decision to return to the campaign trail the day after having a complete hysterectomy a week ago.
Other news
- A great white shark that had been on display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium died last week soon after being released back into the wild, the aquarium said Wednesday. Chronicle
- Financially strapped Oakland spent more than $1 million in last week’s sweep of the Occupy Oakland encampment, which reestablished itself within days, Oakland’s police union estimates. Chronicle
- In court papers filed Wednesday, the Jerry Brown administration and lawyers for death row inmates agreed that the soonest they will finish preliminary legal battles in the long-running dispute to the state’s lethal injection procedures will be next September, meaning there are unlikely to be any executions in California at least through 2012. Mercury News
- The Warriors’ Stephen Curry was involved in a two-car accident near his hometown of Charlotte, N.C., last week but walked away from it unharmed. BANG
- Oakland-based Clorox reported quarterly earnings down 7.1 percent from a year ago, but said it was helped by being able to pass price increases on to customers. George Avalos
- Solyndra executives collected hefty bonuses even as the Fremont solar company careened toward bankruptcy this summer, newly filed bankruptcy documents filed in Delaware show. Mercury News
- Google pulled its long-awaited Gmail app for Apple mobile devices just two hours after it was released Wednesday after it was widely panned by users. Mercury News
- San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed wants to raise the tax on medical marijuana collectives from 7 percent to 10 percent to help pay for a citywide vote on whether to repeal newly-enacted pot regulations. Mercury News
- Tesla Motors, which opened a manufacturing plant in Fremont last year, lost $65 million in the quarter just ended and in a company letter to shareholders revealed it was trying to save money in a variety of ways, including buying low-cost desks from IKEA. SF Business Times
- San Rafael’s new minor league baseball franchise to begin play next year will be called the San Rafael Pacifics, the club announced. Marin IJ
