Monday, October 3, 2011
Monday Must Read: Oakland Cop Filmed Fatal Police Shooting; Sudden Oak Death Worse Than Thought
Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 10:03 AM
Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. An Oakland police officer who recently shot and killed a man in East Oakland filmed the incident with a new small camera purchased by the department, the Chron reports. OPD bought the cameras to help ensure that officers do not violate people’s constitutional rights. In addition, a controversy has erupted as to whether the unidentified officer should be allowed to view the video before giving his official statement to investigators about what went down. OPD brass say the cop should see the video, but civil rights activists contend that the officer might change his story to match what was filmed.
2. Sudden oak death is spreading throughout the Bay Area at a much faster rate than previously thought, the Chron reported, citing a new UC Berkeley study. The number of trees infected with the deadly pathogen was up to two to three times higher than last year. The results were part of a wide-scale effort to get Bay Area residents to look for the disease and report on it.
4. The decision last week by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to move forward with its plans to use toll funds to buy a much larger warehouse than it needs in San Francisco could prove costly, the CoCo Times reports. MTC’s 10-6 vote has angered state legislators who are now contemplating stripping the agency of some of its powers.
5. And state Attorney General Kamala Harris pulled California out of a proposed settlement agreement with large banks over the foreclosure crisis, because she contended that it’s too favorable for the financial institutions, the Sacbee reports. Her decision means that the deal with twenty states likely will unravel.
