.Wednesday Must Reads: Oakland Council Rejects A’s Lease Deal; Berkeley Council Puts Soda Tax on Ballot

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. The Oakland City Council rejected the latest version of a proposed lease deal with the A’s at the Coliseum, and plans to submit a counter proposal later this week, the Trib$ reports. The council turned down a proposal that sought to forgive a $5 million debt that the A’s owe the city and Alameda County in back rent. The proposed deal also called for lowering the team’s annual rent payments at the Coliseum.

[jump]

2. The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to place a soda tax measure on the November ballot, the Trib$ reports. The measure would establish a one-cent-per-one ounce tax on sugary beverages sold in the city. The soda industry spent more than $2.5 million in 2012 to defeat a similar measure in Richmond.

3. Californians are unhappy about the growing gap between rich and poor in the state, but disagree on how to solve the problem, the SacBee$ reports, citing a new Field Poll. Democratic voters want to raise the minimum wage as a way to address income inequality, but a majority of Republican voters does not.

4. And a federal civil jury ruled that the 2009 fatal shooting of Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland by then-transit cop Johannes Mehserle was accidental, and declined to award damages to Grant’s father, the Trib$ reports.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

East Bay Express E-edition East Bay Express E-edition
19,045FansLike
14,592FollowersFollow
61,790FollowersFollow
spot_img