News you don’t want to miss for Dec. 9:
1. The scandal at the Coliseum Joint Powers Authority is growing. David DeBolt in the East Bay Times reports that former JPA executive director Scott McKibben, who now faces felony conflict of interests charges, received NBA Finals tickets and charged them to the JPA. McKibben also failed to explain why the son of former state Sen. Don Perata received a $25,000 check from the JPA.
2. PG&E announced a tentative agreement Friday to pay victims of several wildfires caused by the utility’s equipment, including the Camp Fire that nearly erased Paradise off the map, in addition, to the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, the Associated Press reports. The deal, which includes $13.5 billion to settle claims from the fires, is likely to quicken the pace of PG&E’s bankruptcy proceedings.
3. Oakland’s Harborside has long wrangled with the federal government. Now after a judge ruled last October that it must pay $11 million in back taxes from 2007 to 2012, the dispensary, one of the largest in the country, indicated last week that it will appeal the decision, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. $$
4. The post-mortem of Sen. Kamala Harris’ presidential hopes is providing more insights into a campaign in disarray. Politico reports Harris had approved the removal of her campaign manager just prior to ending her bid for the Democratic nomination. A Political Action Committee supporting Harris had already scoured up $1 million to help her in Iowa during the same period of time, yet she pulled the plug lat week. The developments had some Harris supporters urging her to stick with the campaign a bit longer.
5. Cal is going to a bowl game for a second consecutive year and they won’t have to travel far to get there. Cal (7-5) accepted an invitation to play in the Redbox Bowl against Illinois (6-6), Sports Illustrated reports. The game is scheduled for Dec. 30 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
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