Dungeness crab.
Credits: Bert Johnson/File photo
1. California health officials said people should not eat Dungeness crab and rock crab because the shellfish are tainted with a potentially fatal toxin, the Chron reports. The toxin — domoic acid — is being produced by a massive algae bloom along the West Coast, likely caused by extremely warm ocean waters. The toxic outbreak threatens this year’s Dungeness crab season and almost certainly will delay it. It’s supposed to start on Saturday. Domoic acid, in small amounts, causes vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and headaches. Severe poisoning can lead to permanent short-term memory loss, coma, seizures, and even death. The rock crab season has been closed for the year.
2. Airbnb cruised to victory yesterday in San Francisco’s elections, after the company spent more than $8 million to defeat a measure that sought to tighten the city’s restrictions on short-term housing rentals. The Chron reports that Measure F, which would have reduced the maximum length of stay in rentals per year from 90 days to 75 days and allowed neighbors to sue each other, lost 55 percent to 45 percent.