State lawyer speaks out on PUC’s soft treatment of PG&E, less snow but more visitors at Lake Tahoe resorts during the winter, A’s continue their red hot streak, more.
Politics and Government
California’s high speed rail authority went with the least expensive—and least qualified—firm to start construction on the 29-mile first leg of the bullet train in the Central Valley. Mercury News
Supervisor London Breed says San Francisco should stop calling itself “diverse” until it figures out a way to reverse the exodus of African Americans. Examiner
East Bay MUD water customers have faced water rate hikes every year since 1995, and columnist Daniel Borenstein says the latest one the utility is proposing lacks transparency. Mercury News
Media, Arts, Books
Stanford Daily’s headline on a story about the current U. S. ambassador to the United Nations being nominated by President Obama for a new job: “Susan Rice ‘86 tapped for national security advisor.”
With the city set to stop subsidizing it, the future of Oakland’s popular but money-draining First Friday street festival may be in jeopardy. Oakland Tribune
Facebook billionaire Sean Parker defends his and Alexandra Lenas’ extravagant Big Sur wedding in a spirited email to The Atlantic.
Jonah Lehrer, the disgraced writer who resigned from The New Yorker after being caught plagiarizing and fabricating stories, has sold a book to Simon & Schuster that uses his misconduct as a case study. NYT
News and notes
One of the state Public Utilities Commission lawyers pulled off the PG&E investigation under suspicious circumstances says the commission’s suggested penalty for the utility—which includes no fines—is unlawful. Chronicle
Where in the Bay Area have home prices soared most? This reporter says it’s Oakland. SF Business Times
The Diocese of Stockton is forking over $1.75 million to settle yet another of former priest Oliver O’Grady’s numerous child sex abuse cases from years ago. AP
A sampling of Bay Area real estate tax pain: more than a quarter of Santa Clara County homeowners—or about 128,000 of them—will see steep property tax increases this year. Mercury News
Despite the disappointing snowfall, Lake Tahoe ski resorts say visits were up by more tan 20 percent for the season. SF Business Times
Principals and other administrators continue to flee troubled Santa Clara Unified School District. Mercury News
Fire crews rescued a man who jumped into the water at Pier 39 near the tourist attraction’s famous sea lions Thursday. Bay City News Service
The A’s won the 17th of their last 20 games, beating the White Sox 5-4 in 10 innings in Chicago. Mercury News
