Stories you shouldn’t miss for Nov. 28, 2017:
1. An ex-San Leandro cop has been charged with statutory rape after he admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old girl in the department’s Explorer program for youth interested in pursuing law enforcement careers, reports Evan Sernoffsky of the San Francisco Chronicle. Marco Becerra quit the force in October after police said he confessed to having sex with the teen. Prosecutors have charged the 26-year-old with three felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
2. A 333-unit housing project slated for downtown Oakland now has the financial backing of Brookfield Property Partners, one of the world’s largest real estate investors, reports Roland Li of the San Francisco Business Times$. The market-rate housing development is being built at 301 12th St. and includes about 24,000 square feet of retail space. The nonprofit East Bay Asian Local Development Corp. is also building 60 units of affordable housing next door.
3. California regulators are proposing to revise the state’s main environmental law in an effort to build more transit-friendly housing and new bikes lanes in cities, reports Liam Dillon of the LA Times$. Under the proposed changes to the Environmental Quality Act, opponents of transit-friendly housing and bike lanes will no longer be able to argue that the developments will cause more traffic in the immediate vicinity. Instead, such projects will be judged on whether they reduce driving overall in the region.
4. Only about 30 percent of ninth graders in California will go on to graduate from college, reports Sharon Noguchi of the Mercury News$, citing a new study by the Public Policy Institute of California.
5. U.S. Postal Service Investigators say a package exploded at an Alameda home on Friday, injuring one person, reports Rick Hurd of the East Bay Times$. The person did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
6. And the state Senate stripped Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, of his leadership positions following allegations that he sexually harassed at least three women, reports Patrick McGreevy of the LA Times$.
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