1. Embattled Oakland Councilmember Desley Brooks has been accused by a former aide of unlawfully taking bags of cash from an East Oakland farmers’ market, reports David DeBolt of the East Bay Times$. In a whistleblower lawsuit, former Brooks aide Sidney Wilson produced texts in which Brooks allegedly wrote, “Where is the money bag? Make sure it’s dropped at my house no later than 3:30 p.m. today.” Wilson said Brooks was referring to cash from Millsmont Farmers’ Market vendors.
2. Explosive devices were mailed to former President Obama and his family, Hillary and Bill Clinton, and CNN’s offices in New York, The New York Times$ reports. Authorities said the devices were similar to the one mailed to liberal billionaire George Soros earlier this week. The Secret Service intercepted the devices sent to the Obamas and the Clintons.
3. California officials are warning about the possibility of massive flooding this winter in areas that were torched this summer by large wildfires, reports Joseph Serna of the LA Times$. Last winter, 23 people died in a giant mudslide in Montecito near Santa Barbara that was caused by heavy rains soaking burned out hillsides.
4. Work-sharing company WeWork is making a major expansion in Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville, reports George Avalos of the Bay Area News Group$. “The co-working titan leased three floors at 2201 Broadway, also known as the Breuner Building in downtown Oakland, four floors at 1900 Powell St. in Emeryville and six floors at 2120 Berkeley Way in Berkeley. WeWork provides shared work spaces, and usually focuses on fast-growing technology companies as its clients.”
5. And ATF agents are working with Oakland fire officials to determine the cause of the massive West Oakland blaze that destroyed a housing project under construction on Tuesday, KTVU reports. It was the fifth major blaze at housing construction sites in Oakland and Emeryville in the past two years. At least two of those fires were determined to be the work of arson.
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