News you don’t want to miss for Sept. 15:
1. BART is set to receive $1.2 billion in federal funding to increase the number of trains traveling between Oakland and San Francisco on the Transbay Tube, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. “The funding supports a program that will include a new train control system, 252 new railcars, six new power substations and a 250-railcar storage facility. The improvements will increase trains in the Transbay Tube from 22 to 28 per hour.” $$
2. Free masks and hand santizer will be coming to AC Transit buses starting today, Berkeleyside reports. Protective barriers for bus drivers will be phased in over the next month.
3. Alameda County crossed the 20,000 total coronavirus cases threshold on Monday, the East Bay Times reports. Alameda County has reported 20,022 cases since March, and 332 deaths due to the virus. $$
4. Jason Fletcher, the San Leandro police officer charged with involuntary manslaughter of Steven Taylor at a local Walmart was denied bail on Tuesday and taken into custody at Santa Rita Jail, the Associated Press reports.
5. The terrible air quality in the East Bay is improving after almost a week of dreadful skies, SFGate reports. An Air Quality Index of under 100 is general viewed as safe, said a spokesperson for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. As of noon today, the AQI in downtown Oakland is 94.
6. The Pacific Northwest is also struggling to breathe. The Oakland A’s split a doubleheader in Seattle on Monday with an AQI of 284, the Mercury News reports.
7. In a bid to control crowds during the pandemic this winter, Lake Tahoe ski resorts will not allow same-day ski passes, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Instead, skiers will need to reserve them in advance. $$
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