Yesterday, the city of San Francisco sued a federal pipeline safety agency, claiming they have "abjectly failed" to oversee a California natural gas pipeline safety program. The lawsuit cites three natural gas pipeline explosions, including the 2010 San Bruno explosion that killed eight people. Three major natural gas transmission lines run under densely populated areas of San Francisco…
Across the bay, the city of Pleasanton is coming to the close of a six-year lawsuit. Oakland-based urban justice group Urban Habitat claimed that the voter-approved limit of 29,000 housing units prevented Pleasanton from building its share of affordable housing units. As a result, the city has agreed to build over 2,000 new housing units, many of which will be affordable…
Meanwhile, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon has charged GO Lorrie's airport shuttle company with making illegal contributions to Ed Lee’s 2011 mayoral campaign. Employees said that a manager solicited as much as $8,000 from them in contributions, and then reimbursed them. San Francisco's campaign finance laws limit contributions to $500 per donor, and ban donations from corporations...
It looks like the Bay Area will get a decent chunk of the $26 billion mortgage settlement announced last week by President Obama. Under the settlement about a half a million foreclosed California homeowners will receive some sort of relief. In the Bay Area, Alameda County will get the most help – $757 million.
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