BART’s soaring pension and healthcare costs, leopard sharks signal better health for the bay, Obama’s popularity in California takes a dive, more.
Top of the news
A positive note: With another potential BART strike less than two weeks away, the two sides at least seem determined to talk to each other this time. Chronicle
Politics and government
A new Field Poll shows President Obama’s job approval rating falling sharply in California in recent months, down from 62 percent to 52 percent. Mercury News
Mercury News crunches the numbers and finds that half of BART’s $69 million in new revenue since 2010 has gone to the rising costs of employee health care and pensions, a huge and increasing burden with or without salary increases.
Supervisor Scott Wiener proposed formal 5 a.m. to midnight hours for all of San Francisco’s parks, which now have no closing times, in an effort to deter vandals who deface property and steal metal from playgrounds. Chronicle
Other news and items of interest
Another sign of improving health at the south end of San Francisco Bay: leopard sharks are said to be flourishing south of the San Mateo Bridge. Mercury News
Ronald Brewington, 69, aka the Jazz Man, a longtime former fixture playing the saxophone for BART riders at Embarcadero Station, pleaded guilty to murdering his wife in New Mexico 25 years ago. Chronicle
Mi Pueblo, the colorful Bay Area supermarket chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing a dispute with Wells Fargo Bank, its primary lender. Mercury News
Less than a week after signing veteran cornerback Eric Wright, recently cut by Tampa Bay after being arrested for DUI, the 49ers announced that the deal is off because Wright failed his physical. 49ers Blog
A Marin Search and Rescue team helped rescue a man who slipped and fell above Yosemite’s Vernal Fall on the Mist Trail Saturday and who managed to cling to rocks above the 317-foot drop. Marin IJ
In his first game after pitching a no-hitter, Tim Lincecum was pummeled for 8 earned runs before being yanked in the fourth inning of the Giants’ 11-0 loss to Cincinnati. Mercury News
Driver Peter Murphy remained in serious but stable condition Monday two days after Saturday’s fiery crash at Antioch Speedway. Contra Costa Times
Facebook executive chef Josef Desimone was killed in a motorcycle accident Monday morning, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced, without providing details. SF Business Times
Apple confirmed that its developer website was hacked and that some data may have been stolen. SF Business Times
