Morning Wrap: 8/21/12

Peninsula pol blasts PG&E’s effort to stick customers for its “gross mismanagement,” federal lawyers deny misconduct in Jaycee Dugard case, Apple, Samsung CEOs scramble to try and settle before jury deliberates, more.

• Assemblyman Jerry Hill, a frequent critic of PG&E, said Monday that the utility’s customers shouldn’t have to pick up the $5 billion tab for the company’s “gross mismanagement” of its gas system, laid bare by the San Bruno disaster. San Mateo County Times
• The ex-San Jose State football player accused of breaking into the late Steve Jobs’ home and stealing thousands of dollars worth of electronic and other items appeared in a Palo Alto courtroom but did not enter a plea. Mercury News
• U. S. Justice Department attorneys denied they engaged in misconduct by persuading a critical expert witness to withdraw from testifying in kidnap survivor Jaycee Dugard’s civil suit against the government. Chronicle
• Macy’s signed on as a sponsor of America’s Children’s Holiday Parade in downtown Oakland Dec. 1. Oakland Tribune
• The CEOs of Samsung and Apple were said to be in talks to resolve the patent conflict between the companies before a federal jury begins deliberating the case. Bloomberg