Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Some downtown Oakland merchants are boarding up their businesses in anticipation of unrest following the scheduled sentencing this afternoon of Johannes Mehserle, the Chron reports. The ex-BART cop’s sentence could range from probation to a maximum of fourteen years in prison for fatally shooting train passenger Oscar Grant. Oakland was plagued by some rioting this summer after Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and a gun-enhancement charge.
2. The race for Alameda County Superior Court judge between Victoria Kolakowski and John Creighton is still too close to call, and the outcome of the contest likely won’t be known until next week. Kolakowski, who would become the first transgendered superior court judge in the nation, leads Creighton, a county prosecutor, 50.28% to 48.71% — a difference of 3,720 votes.