Morning News Round-Up -- 11.21.08

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (Speaks for Me) was named the Congressional Black Caucus Chair. Kudos to the Dellums-protégé. Berkeley City Councilmember Max Anderson notes, "It's a tribute not only to Barbara, but to this area that has stood behind Barbara in every issue-from her opposition to the war and concern for AIDS around the world."

Labor unrest continues at UC-schools. This time labor leaders were arrested at the Regents meeting.

The City of Berkeley is proposing a ban on plastic bags. Since when does Berkeley lag behind San Francisco in such things?...

A Berkeley-to-San Francisco ferry? Cool. Watch Dog could blog mid-Bay…in a bit of Bay Area history, we learn that ferry service hasn’t been an option since the Bay Bridge was completed in 1936.

Cal State East Bay is getting more dorms and more parking.

And from the "Law Enforcement Officials Acting Badly" file…

...Drugs, lies, and police officers refusing to testify. It sounds like The Wire…but it isn’t. It’s the Oakland PD...again...

…The Contra Costa sex-crime prosecutor accused of rape will be charged Friday, according to his lawyer.

A proposed Jewish Community Center in Walnut Creek moves forward. The City Council approved the sale of land adjacent to the new Center to a developer, which in turn will help fund the Center. In an unsurprising move, neighbors voiced their NIMBY feelings for nearly 2 hours.

In perhaps the least surprising story in a long time, a government agency (the City of Alameda) realized that it couldn’t run a business as well as an actual business could run that same business. The City Council approved the sale of its AP&T’s telecom business to Comcast.

Like a real-life scene from the Three Stooges, a man who was trying to show Fremont police where he thought burglars had entered a pet store fell through a skylight. Larry, Curly, and Moe never got hurt though…this guy did. He is in critical condition.

The San Leandro Hospital is in deep trouble, so says a consultant...and doctors...and a lot of other people.

Not to be outdone by a hospital or the City of Vallejo...the City of Rio Vista may be heading to bankruptcy court. Providing no good answer to the financial crisis, City Manager Hector De La Rosa said, "We don't see a solution in the immediate future."