BART police defends response to naked acrobat incident, Joe Biden comes to town, Bay Area home prices are up and inventory is down, more.
Politics and government
Vice President Joe Biden will be in San Francisco today for a Democratic fundraiser at the home of beverage distribution company BinWise’s CEO Doug Hickey. KTVU 2
Further sign of the improving economy: San Francisco’s Planning Commission wants to end a 3-year-old program to defer permit fees imposed to prop up the then-struggling local construction industry. Chronicle
BART’s police chief defended the agency’s response to an incident at the 16th street station involving a naked acrobat who harassed passengers and otherwise acted irrationally for several minutes before police arrived. Bay City News Service
Media, Arts, Books
Five Mercury News journos share three awards in the just-announced Best of the West journalism competition. Mercury News
San Rafael’s Belrose Theatre building, originally built as a German Evangelical Church, turns 100 with an open house planned for Saturday. Marin IJ
Blogger/activist Michael Petrelis pleaded no contest to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and was given three years probation for snapping a photo of Supervisor Scott Wiener in a City Hall restroom. Bay City News Service
Other News
Mountain View-based security software giant Symantec announced 1,700 layoffs, or about 8 percent of the company’s 21,500 person workforce. Mercury News
Bay Area home prices hit a five-year high. Mercury News
Housing inventory in the Bay Area is down 30 percent from this time a year ago, says a new report by Zillow, the real estate website. SF Business Times
Groundbreaking was held yesterday on a new 13-mile carpool lane on westbound Interstate 580 between Livermore and Dublin/Pleasanton, with completion slated for late 2014. Contra Costa Times
State regulators imposed a record $11 million fine against the owners of a renegade gold mine in the Sierra foothills east of Sacramento. Sac Bee
The family of a 23-year-old Emeryville man is searching for answers after he was shot and killed on the side of a street after being rear-ended in North Oakland on his way home from a pick-up basketball game. Chronicle
