Top of the morning’s news
- San Francisco’s election today will have the distinction of being the only California jurisdiction this year in which the state is sending monitors, following complaints of alleged voter manipulation. Examiner
- A plurality of respondents in a Pew Research Center survey believe media coverage of Herman Cain’s alleged sexual harassment has been fair.
- Elisabeth and James Murdoch, children of News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, reveal to New York magazine that they aren’t particularly fond of Fox News, although as a businessman James Murdoch is said to love the cable channel’s big profits. TV Newser
- A GOP congressman from the Central Valley who has been critical of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s water policies has begun running attack ads against her in the Fresno television market. AP
- The Chronicle’s C. W. Nevius says that elections chief John Arntz hopes to have a good picture of San Francisco’s mayoral results by Wednesday afternoon, after votes by mail and a preliminary ranked-choice report is available.
“Media scrutiny over insignificant stuff.”
-- Herman Cain, accused by four women of sexual harassment, when asked by Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly last night what had most surprised him about the 2012 campaign.
- A new USA Today/Gallup survey shows Cain tied with Mitt Romney at 21 percent among a nationwide sample of Republican and GOP-leaning voters, a survey taken after the first three alleged sexual harassment accusations against him but before a fourth accuser’s news conference yesterday.
- Occupy Oakland organizers say the next front in their protest may be the occupation of foreclosed or abandoned buildings. Chronicle
- Superior Court Judge Charles Haines flip-flopped Monday from an earlier ruling and refused to release a memo from the district attorney’s office that’s reportedly critical of San Francisco’s DNA lab. Chronicle
- Cal State’s faculty union voted to conduct one-day strikes at two campuses next week—East Bay and Dominguez Hills—to protest the lack of a pay raise. AP
- A federal judge ruled that a former Oakland police officer must pay $40,000 out of his own pocket to two men who were illegally strip-searched in public and have already been awarded at least $100,000 apiece in damages. Chronicle
- John Richard Fredrikson, 65, a former inspector with the Alameda County district attorney’s office, pleaded guilty to child molestation charges and will serve up to five years in state prison. Contra Costa Times
- Donors to the $40 million campaign that banned same-sex marriage in California aren’t entitled to the anonymity that the U. S. Supreme Court has granted to minor parties operating in a hostile environment, a federal judge has ruled. Chronicle
- The California Supreme Court this week takes up the issue of whether state lawmakers staged an unconstitutional raid on redevelopment agencies’ funds to help close the state’s budget deficit. Mercury News
- The Giants traded left-hander Jonathan Sanchez to Kansas City for outfielder Melky Cabrera. Mercury News
