Guilty verdicts in Richmond High gang rape case, summer of sizzling Bay Area home prices, Zagat’s latest list of rising Bay Area restaurant stars, more.
Top of the news
A jury found two young men guilty in the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl outside a Richmond High School homecoming dance in 2009, making them eligible to spend 33 years to life in prison. Contra Costa Times
The wildfire burning near Palm Springs and threatening the mountain resort town of Idyllwild moved to the top of the U. S. Forest Service priority list for fires that need to be fought. NPR
Politics and government
A bipartisan deal in the U. S. Senate could provide short-term loan relief for college students and their parents but might also spell higher student loan rates as the economy improves. AP
Other news and items of interest
Bay Area home prices keep sizzling, with the just released median home price figures for June zooming 33 percent year over year, the largest such increase in 24 years. Mercury News
San Jose State is, for a semester at least, suspending an experiment in online math courses after half the students failed the final exams. AP
Zagat is out with its list of upcoming restaurant stars for the Bay Area. Inside Scoop SF
American Journalism Review will end its print edition this fall. Poynter
First it was Maria Sharapova, and now its Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli who has withdrawn from the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, which starts Monday, due to injury. AP
The Bay Area added 5,600 jobs in June, a solid performance that eases fears of an employment slowdown. Oakland Tribune
A Marin Superior Court judge ruled that Drakes Bay Oyster Co. must clean up parts of its operation to comply with a California Coastal Commission order but can remain open until a federal court decides its fate. Marin IJ
Angry passengers on an Allegiant airlines flight to Oakland Wednesday complained of being kept inside the hot plane on the tarmac in Phoenix for two hours while ground crews repaired a problem with the air conditioning. KTVU 2
On the Oakland City Council agenda for July 30: a proposal that would make it a misdemeanor to carry makeshift weapons, such as hammers, to protests. Oakland Tribune
Whose scrubs are better? Warriors open the NBA Summer League tournament in Las Vegas as the top seed. CBS San Francisco
A 26-year-old Berkeley man was shot and killed Wednesday night less than a week after the men who murdered his brother four years ago were sentenced to life in prison. Mercury News
Walmart rolled out its third Bay Area Neighborhood Market, a mid-size 33,000 square foot grocery, in Pleasanton. Contra Contra Times
