Morning Wrap: 4/4/13

Cash is king again in Bay Area real estate, America’s Cup spectator tickets selling briskly, Craigslist attaches itself to Bay to Breakers, more.

• On the heels of President Obama’s money-hunt with wealthy Bay Area donors this week, House Majority whip Kevin McCarthy is bringing a group of House Republicans on a tour to meet with Silicon Valley big-wigs. Political Blotter
• Sound familiar? As the Bay Area real estate market heats up, more ordinary home buyers are being squeezed by investors offering cash. Mercury News
• Disney announced it’s killing off Star Wars video game production at newly-acquired LucasArts, resulting in about 150 layoffs. Wired
• One-third of the 130,000 America’s Cup spectator tickets sold in the first two days they became available. SF Business Times
• Bay to Breakers has a new presenting sponsor—Craigslist. CBS San Francisco
• Chevron says it’s inching closer to restarting its Richmond refinery, hobbled by that disastrous explosion and fire in August. Contra Costa Times
• Berkeley is boosting the cost of residential street parking permits to $45 a year, or by about 30 percent. Oakland Tribune
• A teller who tailed an alleged Redwood City bank robber enabling police to make an arrest is being hailed as a hero. Mercury News
• Pinole’s city council is asking BART to study a talked-about northward extension of the Richmond line along the Interstate 80 corridor. Contra Costa Times
• A person was struck and killed by a BART train at Oakland’s 12th Street/Center City station Wednesday morning. Contra Costa Times
• The Giants beat the Dodgers 5-3 to take the season opening series 2-1. Chronicle