News you don’t want to miss for June 25:
1. A potential game-changing bill by East Bay state Sen. Nancy Skinner is being challenged by the NCAA, the governing body of college sports, USA Today reports. Skinner’s bill would give student-athletes the ability to be compensated for their name, face, and likeness. The bill was approved last month in the state Senate. But NCAA President Mark Emmert sent a letter asking for an Assembly committee to postpone a hearing on the bill this Tuesday. Emmert suggested that if the bill is signed into law, universities in California would not be allowed to compete in NCAA championships like the popular basketball tournaments and football bowl games.
2. A Department of Homeland Security agent was spotted at Berkeley City College seeking student record information from the school, Berkeleyside reports. The scene comes amid heightened concern within immigrant communities following President Trump’s warning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will soon be targeting undocumented immigrants for deportation.
3. The Alameda County civil grand jury released its annual report Monday. The 19-person grand jury mostly reiterated two previous investigations on Alameda’s charter violation scandal, finding Councilmembers Jim Oddie and Malia Vella pressured the city manager to hire their preferred candidate for fire chief, the East Bay Citizen reports. But the grand jury also recommended no further actions other than urging the city to add greater specificity to its charter rules prohibiting council interference.
4. The grand jury also found “no significant issues” with the procedures for intake of prisoners at Dublin’s Santa Rita Jail, the East Bay Times reports. The finding comes despite several fatal incidents at the prison recently and the birth of a child in the jail without medical supervision. $$
5. Meanwhile, the grand jury sharply criticized the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for mishandling the process that eventually led to loss of federal funding for the controversial Urban Shield police emergency training event, KPIX reports.
6. The future of BART is apparently a lot like its past and present. One of BART’s new trains, dubbed the “Fleet of Future,” broke down Monday between the Lake Merritt and 12th Street stations in Oakland forcing 400 passengers to exit through a dark tunnel, NBC Bay Area reports.
7. Oakland Council President is not only riding solo with her plan to eliminate the city’s Department of Transportation, but also at home, according to the Bay Area Reporter. Kaplan’s wife of five years responded to an article in the LGBT newspaper that described Kaplan as married, when in fact they are no longer together. Kaplan apologized for not being forthcoming about her marital status during a recent interview with the paper.
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