.Thursday’s Briefing: Alameda Raises Min. Wage to $15; Sheriff’s Deputy Charged for Illegal Eavesdropping

Stories you shouldn’t miss for Oct. 4, 2018:

1. The Alameda City Council voted 4-1 to raise the minimum wage on the Island to $15 an hour by July 2020, reports Peter Hegarty of the East Bay Times$. The minimum wage would first rise to $13.50 an hour in July 2019. Mayor Trish Spencer, who is under fire for her failure to return $100 in city funds that ended up in her bank account, was the lone vote against raising the minimum wage.

2. Alameda County prosecutors charged sheriff’s deputy Sgt. James Russell with four felony counts of “eavesdropping after he illegally recorded privileged conversations between juvenile suspects and their public defender,” reports Megan Cassidy of the San Francisco Chronicle$. Russell faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

3. Senate Republicans appear to be poised to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh after a supplemental FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him, The New York Times$ reports. However, Democrats, led by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, are slamming the FBI probe, noting that it was extremely limited in scope and that agents did not interview witnesses who have said that they could corroborate allegations against Kavanaugh.

4. A federal judge in San Francisco has blocked the Trump administration’s plans “to deport more than 300,000 undocumented immigrants whose home countries have been hit by disasters,” reports Bob Egelko of the San Francisco Chronicle$. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen said the Trump administration’s plan may have been motivated by racism.

5. Nearly one-third of renters in the Bay Area “are one financial emergency away from missing a rent payment — and potentially getting slapped with an eviction notice, according to a recent survey,” reports Marissa Kendall of the Bay Area News Group$, citing a new Zillow survey.

6. Cancer is now the leading cause of death in Oakland and Alameda County, surpassing heart disease as the No. 1 killer, reports Casey Smith of Oakland North, citing county health department data. Deaths from cancer and heart disease have both declined in recent years but the number of people who have died from heart disease has dropped more.

7. Six developers are vying for the chance to build 670 homes at Point Molate in Richmond, reports Emily Fancher of the San Francisco Business Times$.

8. And the Oakland A’s’ miraculous season ended last night with a loss to the New York Yankees in the American League wildcard playoff game.

$ = news stories that may require payment to read.

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