Morning Wrap: 10/26/12

George Mitchell offers to step aside as mediator in San Bruno case, doubters remain after state declares some sites on Treasure Island safe from contamination, hundreds march peacefully last night in Oakland to commemorate an Occupy anniversary, more.

• Amid accusations that he may have a conflict of interest, former U. S. Sen. George Mitchell and his law firm offered to withdraw as mediator between PG&E and state regulators over the utility’s San Bruno pipeline disaster obligations. Chronicle 
• Hundreds of protesters marched in Oakland last night capping a day-long observance of the one-year anniversary of the Occupy movement's first being dismantled at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Oakland Tribune
• State health officials said that about two dozen sites at the former Treasure Island Naval Station were safe from radiation, a conclusion dismissed by some critics who insist the sampling area needs to be more extensive. The Bay Citizen
• Hotel Palomar, the boutique luxury hotel at 4th and Market streets, was sold to a Maryland trust for $58 million. SF Business Times
• There’s a tech real estate boom underway in North San Jose, where developers have placed a half-billion-dollar bet on a wave of technology company expansions. Mercury News