The proposal by Supervisor Scott Wiener would alter the city’s planning code, which prohibits food trucks on such campuses if they are outside of commercial districts.

Under the current law, campuses such as San Francisco State University and Kaiser Permanente Medical Center are not allowed to have food trucks on their property.

KCBS’ Barbara Taylor Reports:

“San Francisco values choice in food options, and this legislation will increase choices,” Wiener said in a statement.

“Allowing institutions to provide their employees, students, or patients with additional food options, including food trucks, is a good thing and should be encouraged. It makes no sense to ban these campuses from doing so,” he said.

Wiener’s office said the supervisor also plans to introduce more comprehensive food truck legislation in the future and has convened a working group of stakeholders, including operators of both food trucks and brick-and-mortar businesses, commercial property owners and city department officials.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

It’s a white-hot political issue right now, but the Obama administration is looking for a way to cool things down.

San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer has written what he calls a “letter to the faithful,” which will be given out at all Masses this weekend. In it, he calls the new federal policy “radical” and “insidious.”

KCBS’ Doug Sovern Reports:

Niederauer told KCBS it’s not fair for the government to rule that religiously affiliated hospitals and schools, but not churches themselves, must include contraception coverage in their employees’ health insurance plans.

“Because we hire non-Catholics as well as Catholics, because we serve non-Catholics as well as Catholics, we’re being told that we’re really not a religious institution that can follow the teachings of its faith,” said Niederauer. “For us, it’s not about birth control, it’s about religious freedom.”

California Senator Barbara Boxer points out that church-affiliated hospitals and schools get federal funding and tax benefits.

“We want to make sure that the religious freedom of all Americans is protected, and that means for women who work for institutions which serve the general public,” said Boxer.

There’s talk in Washington of finding a middle path, to end the political controversy.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

It’s a program that is already going gangbusters in Seattle. Svetlana Anikeeva was born in Russia. Today, she is helping fund a development boom in Seattle with an investment of $500,000. For that, she expects a modest return on her money, and something far more valuable; a permanent green card.

It’s called an EB-5 visa. EB stands for Employment Based. Anikeeva invests half a million dollars in a project that creates 10 American jobs, proves her money is clean, and sees the project through to completion.

Or, as Anikeeva explains it: “It’s pretty much like a marriage visa. Once you’ve proven it’s for love, they give you permanent residence.”

It’s expensive, but it’s also one of the fastest routes to permanent legal residency.

“If you have the money, you do this,” explains Henry Liebman, an immigration attorney turned real estate developer. Everything he builds is financed with foreign money.

Most investors are Chinese families, many of whom want to send a child to school in the United States. Others include Europeans who would like to retire in a place like Florida.

Just four years ago, fewer than 300 Chinese investors applied for EB-5 visas. Now, that number is approaching 3,000 a year. At 20 years old, the program is just now taking off largely because of the economy.

“Until the bust, it really wasn’t popular at all, then it became one of the few sources of financing,” said Liebman, who is likely the largest EB-5 developer in the country. With more than 1,500 investors, at $500,000 a piece, he has a lot of financing.

The investments are enough to singlehandedly reshape the Seattle area known as SoDo, or “South of Downtown.” His vision is based largely on what has happened in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. Walk by Safeco Field, Seattle’s baseball stadium, and there is several blocks of construction. It’s the result of a massive influx of foreign investment.

Seattle’s EB-5 construction boom doesn’t end with private buildings. The massive upgrade of State Route 520, also known as The Floating Bridge, includes a healthy dose of foreign investment. The highway project is literally a path to American citizenship for 95 families.

The use of foreign money was the brainchild of developer Mike Mattox. He calls the EB-5 program “one of the best tools The United States has for creating jobs and bringing money into this country.” He describes it as “a win-win for everybody.”

In the Bay Area, dozens of new EB-5 investment centers are popping up. Foreigners can put money in Wine Country, Silicon Valley, and maybe even professional baseball. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan wants to keep the A’s from moving by building a new stadium with EB-5 dollars.

There are some catches. If a project goes bust, applicants lose their money, along with their path to that permanent visa. Also, developers are not allowed to solicit investors. The investors have to track down developers like Henry Liebman. That usually happens with help from the internet and investment advisers abroad.

The EB-5 program is now bringing more than $1 billion into the United States every year. Not only is the economy driving up the number of EB-5 applications, President Barack Obama wants to expand the program. His administration is looking for ways to get as many as 10,000 issued per year.

Back in Seattle, Anikeeva watches her investment grow, as her family settles down for life in America. She has just one wish for the seven-story office building she helped fund across the street from Safeco Field: a brewery.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Quan didn’t mention the Occupy Oakland protests that have brought national and even international attention to her city except to obliquely say that the city has experienced “lots of turns” and “challenges.”

Quan also didn’t mention the two recall efforts against her or talk about Oakland’s crime problem, which includes five homicides in the past week, until the end of her 50-minute speech, which was 20 minutes longer than the 30-minute goal she set in a briefing with reporters earlier in the day.

When she addressed public safety, which she said was one of the top priorities residents talked to her about in the many community meetings she has held since becoming mayor a year ago, Quan said, “We have to reduce homicides and violence in the city.”

She also said Oakland’s Police Department must comply with reform measures that were mandated in the settlement of a misconduct case nine years ago.

Quan reiterated the goal she first expressed in her inaugural address a year ago of concentrating on reducing crime in the 100 most dangerous blocks in Oakland, where she said 92 percent of the city’s shootings and homicides occur.

Quan called on Oakland residents to volunteer in schools and libraries in those areas to mentor youths who could be prone to lives of crime. She said she had asked for 2,000 volunteers last year and about 1,000 people stepped forward so she is now seeking at least another 1,000 volunteers.

She said reducing crime in those 100 blocks may seem impossible to some people but she said, “It’s noble, it’s doable and it’s something we must do.”

Quan said, “If we do it we’ll change the cycle of violence in this city forever.”

The mayor said she thinks Oakland is on the rise “because the economic numbers look better,” as 5,000 new jobs were generated in the past year, the unemployment rate has dropped by 2 percent, building permits have increased, sales tax revenue increased by 12.4 percent and hotel tax revenues increased by 11.5 percent.

Quan also said, “Oakland has some of the best weather in the world” and she’s excited that the New York Times named it the fifth best place in the world to visit and Newsweek named it the second most “can-do” city in the nation in terms of business development, sustainability, livability, transportation and infrastructure.

Quan added that her city has a thriving restaurant industry and mentioned that the New York Times said it has “the hottest restaurants in the Bay Area.”

“We’re trying to change the face of Oakland,” Quan said. “Oakland is one of the most tolerant and diverse cities in the world and that’s not our reputation.”

Quan said when she became mayor Oakland had a $58 million deficit and few reserves but it has now balanced its budget and has its largest reserve in a decade.

She thanked city employees for taking a 10 percent pay cut, saying, “We balanced the budget with the sacrifices of city workers.”

Quan said that in balancing the budget she and other city leaders reorganized the city’s structure, merged departments and eliminated 350 positions.

Quan said that in addition to reducing crime, her goals for the next year include creating more affordable housing, strengthening mortgage and foreclosure laws, bringing in more retailers and keeping all three of Oakland’s professional sports franchises.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The shooting occurred around 5 p.m. near Center Street and Grove Way, Alameda County sheriff’s Sgt. J.D. Nelson said.

At least two Berkeley police officers were attempting to take a suspect into custody when the man pinned one of the officers between his vehicle and the officers’ unmarked car, Nelson said.

Nelson said that was when another officer shot the suspect.

The suspect was taken to Eden Medical Center and his condition was not immediately known, Nelson said.

The officer who was pinned between the vehicles was taken to a hospital with serious hand and leg injuries that are not considered life-threatening, Nelson said.

Nelson said he did not know why the officers were pursuing the suspect.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Jokinen also assisted on Jarome Iginla’s second-period goal to help Miikka Kiprusoff earn his 300^th NHL win and end San Jose’s five-game winning streak in the series.

Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Michal Handzus scored for the Sharks, who have lost consecutive games following a three-game winning streak.

San Jose overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 before Jokinen gave the Flames the lead for good early in the third period. The winner was set up by a poor clearing attempt by White. He played the puck out from behind the net and it deflected off the boards right to Alex Tanguay, who set up Jokinen for his seventh career hat trick and first since March 14, 2009, at Toronto.

The Sharks had tied the game only minutes earlier when Handzus struck on the power play in the opening minute of the third, following a high-sticking penalty on Mark Giordano.

Handzus beat Blair Jones on the faceoff and went to the front of the net, where he knocked Brent Burns’ rebound off the lively end boards into the net for the equalizer 5 seconds into the power play.

San Jose managed nothing else against Kiprusoff, who made 34 saves to become the 27^th NHL goalie to reach 300 wins. He did it in the same building where he got the first of his career, while playing for the Sharks in 2001. Marc-Edouard Vlasic nearly had the equalizer midway through the third but it was waved off because Patrick Marleau had run into Kiprusoff.

Kiprusoff also made tough stops on Pavelski and Couture in the closing minutes to preserve the win.

The Sharks appeared to take control by scoring two goals in a span of 1:23 midway through the second period to erase a 2-0 deficit. Couture got San Jose started during a delayed penalty when he beat Kiprusoff with a wrist shot from the top of the circle.

Pavelski, playing his 400^th career game, quickly tied it when he slammed home a pass from behind the net by Joe Thornton for his 20^th goal.

With San Jose pressuring Kiprusoff later in the period to take the lead, Iginla and Jokinen broke out of the defensive zone on an odd-man rush. Iginla completed a pretty give-and-go to beat Antti Niemi and make it 3-2.

The Flames, who scored one goal in two losses to San Jose last month, broke through against Niemi midway through the first period.  After Couture had trouble clearing the puck from the defensive zone, Chris Butler got it near the blue line. He sent a blast toward the net that deflected off Jokinen to make it 1-0.

Jokinen added to the lead early in the second just 15 seconds after Benn Ferriero got sent off for interference in the offensive zone. Tanguay’s point shot deflected off the end boards, past White and right to Jokinen, who knocked it in from the side of the net.

Notes: San Jose D Dan Boyle was scratched because of the flu.  … Former Sharks and Flames F Owen Nolan, who announced his retirement on Tuesday, got a lengthy ovation before he dropped the ceremonial first puck. … Calgary D Cory Sarich switched from No.  6 to 65 after his jersey got ripped in a fight with Andrew Desjardins in the second period.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Jimmy Walker stood in the bunker next to the sea wall along the 18th fairway, soaking up the scenery. Every 15 seconds, waves crashed into the rocks and sent a spectacular splash of white surf some 15 feet high.

There was so much salt water in the front of the bunker that the father of Harris English said to Bob Estes, “Is this played as a waste area?” Estes smiled and pointed to the rakes placed neatly next to the sand. “No, these are bunkers,” he replied.

If the final day of practice for the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was any indication, then this could be a special week.

Not just because Tiger Woods is back at this event for the first time in 10 years. He practiced on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula, which he had never seen. The last time he played, Poppy Hills was part of the rotation.

And not just because of the unique blend of amateurs from the world of Hollywood, sports and Wall Street. One group at Pebble featured San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback Alex Smith, retired lineman Harris Barton and Deutsche Bank Americas chief executive Seth Waugh.

There are times when the beauty of Pebble Beach makes a six-hour round tolerable.

No one was in any hurry Wednesday.

“If you have a bad experience here, it can feel like the longest week of your life,” Geoff Ogilvy said as he walked up the fourth fairway at Pebble, his head turned to the right to gaze at the sea. “If it’s a good experience, it’s enjoyable. And if it’s like this, it can feel like the greatest week of the year.”

It proved to be a tonic for Spencer Levin.

Only four days ago, Levin was poised to win his first PGA Tour event when he took a six-shot lead into the final round of the Phoenix Open. He found himself rushing, just wanting the final round to be over, and he kept dropping shots. A double bogey on the 15th hole doomed him, and Kyle Stanley rallied from eight shots behind to win.

Levin was heartbroken, which was to be expected.

“I was really bummed out Sunday night, pretty bummed out Monday,” Levin said. “But I got here, and then I was like, ‘Man, I get to play Pebble Beach today, so that’s pretty cool.’ It’s not like you’re going home and playing the muni in your backyard. ‘Wow, I’m at Pebble.’ So I didn’t think about it much playing out here.”

Davis Love III is making his 27th start at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-am.

He was part of the washout in 1996 when the tournament was canceled because only 36 holes could be completed. He was there in 1998, when players had to return in August to get in three rounds and make it official. He won in 2001 and 2003 in good weather. He has been part of 54-hole events won by Payne Stewart and Dustin Johnson.

Even someone of his experience realizes this week is something special.

“I’ve never seen three golf courses in this good of shape,” Love said. “Guys that have played a lot this year said these are the best greens they’ve seen so far this year. You don’t usually hear that when you get to Pebble Spyglass.”

The condition of the greens was one of the things that drove Woods away. Along with the occasional bad weather and six-hour rounds—it’s mostly a lot of standing around on the tees—there was a feeling that bumpy greens from 360 pairs of shoes eroded his confidence.

Then again, Woods is known to putt these poa greens better than most. It’s a skill to get the right pace on the medium-length putts, and having the confidence to drill the short putts.

“I think I’ve had my share of success on poa greens, just because the fact I grew up on it,” Woods said. “To come out here, popping it, it’s like second nature. My stroke does change. I don’t want it to change, but it does. It reverts back to how it was when I was a kid and how I putted. It’s worked out.”

The nasty weather—“Crosby weather” as it was known when Bing Crosby ran the show—can be overrated. After that bad patch of rain more than a decade ago (Woods won in 2000 on a Monday), there has been only one bad week of weather.

“I don’t think of this as a terrible weather tournament in history. Sure, we’ve had some rainouts. But I’ve seen a lot of nice days,” Love said. “It’s fun to play when it’s like this.”

The week will turn serious at some point, at least for the 156 players.

Woods is making his U.S. tour debut, having finished third in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship two weeks ago. It was a rare occasion when Woods had a share of the 54-hole lead and failed to win, yet considered it progress on what he hopes will be the road back to the top.

He is playing this week with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, and they start the three-course rotation Thursday at Spyglass Hill. Woods played a practice round there on Tuesday and had never seen it so dry and fast.

D.A. Points is the defending champion, although no one could be faulted for overlooking him. Woods commands a lot of attention this week, and what made Points’ win so compelling last year was having Bill Murray—comedian, actor, longtime Pebble clown—as his partner.

Among those in the field are Phil Mickelson, whose season is off to a sluggish start, and Padraig Harrington, who has become a regular at this event. Harrington feels the conditions give him a slight advantage because it’s the kind of weather he played in Ireland. He might be one of the few guys disappointed this week.

For everyone else, it’s a week to appreciate.

“This is why we come here,” Love said. “To get days like this.”

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Ally Financial agreed to the settlement—for an estimated $37 billion as of Wednesday for lowering homeowners’ mortgage principal, refinancing, a reserve account, and checks to homeowners. However, they were seeking releases from further legal liability, which have been one subject of negotiations for the past several days with state attorneys general who wanted to pursue investigations.

Phil Matier: State AG Decides To Negotiate On Foreclosure Settlement

The settlement grants immunity from civil lawsuits brought by the attorneys general against the lenders over narrowly defined “robo-signing” cases.

The source, who was not authorized to disclose the agreement before an announcement expected Thursday or Friday, said other holdout states—Delaware, Massachusetts and Nevada—all have or are imminently expected to also agree.

The source said the agreement will enable authorities to pursue all claims over mortgage-backed securities that collapsed. It lets them use facts from robo-signing claims in securities, insurance and tax fraud cases.

It also preserves the lawsuit filed last week by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that accused some banks of deceit and fraud in using an electronic mortgage registry that allegedly put homeowners at a disadvantage in foreclosures.

Schneiderman’s office declined to comment Wednesday night. New York has some 118,000 “underwater” borrowers whose homes are worth less than their mortgages and would expect to get $136 million as a guaranteed cash payment from the settlement.

California, with more than 2 million underwater borrowers, would get $430 million. Florida would get $350 million and Texas $141 million.

Most states had already backed the nationwide settlement stemming from abuses that occurred after the housing bubble burst. Many companies that process foreclosures failed to verify documents. Some employees signed papers they hadn’t read or used fake signatures to speed foreclosures—an action known as robo-signing.

The deal would be the biggest involving a single industry since a 1998 multistate tobacco deal. It would force the five largest mortgage lenders to reduce loans for about 1 million households. The reduced loans would benefit homeowners who are behind on their payments and owe more than their homes are worth.

The deal includes $2.7 billion in guaranteed cash payments altogether, and estimates of $1.5 billion for payments to victims of wrongful foreclosure, $3 billion from a refinance program and $32.3 billion in homeowner benefits from loan modifications.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Bonds is appealing his sentence for felony obstruction of justice, but for now he remains free on a few conditions — one of which is that he cannot possess any “firearm, ammunition, destructive device, or other dangerous weapon.”

A federal judge this week approved his request to make an exception to the “dangerous weapon” rule for baseball bats.

The decision now allows Bonds to make batting practice a part of his workout regimen.

(Copyright 2012 CBS San Francisco and TMZ. Article republished with permission of TMZ. All rights reserved.)

The parts themselves come from more than 150 companies from various parts of the world. The majority of those antennas, glass, metal, sensors and silicon are manufactured overseas.

How Cupertino-based Apple Inc. finds parts and manufactures its products, almost entirely abroad, is standard protocol in the technology industry. Electronics companies say Asian manufacturing plants are more affordable and more versatile than those found anywhere else in the world.

But as the most valuable tech company in the world, Apple is seen by many as a role model in business. And its reliance on cheap overseas labor — most notably at factories in China run by manufacturer Foxconn — has come under increased scrutiny in recent media coverage by CNN, The New York Times and other outlets.

Foxconn, owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry, counts Apple among its business clients, which also include Amazon.com, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and many other tech giants. Apple has reported violations at its facilities, and Foxconn has come under fire for a slew of worker suicides in 2010 and conditions that workers-rights groups say are inhumane.

Workers at Foxconn and other plants in Asia must stay busy to keep up with the world’s seemingly insatiable demand for Apple products.

During the last three months of 2011, Apple sold 37 million iPhones, 15.4 million iPads, 15.4 million iPods and 5.2 million Mac computers, according to the company’s financial report. That netted Apple $46.3 billion in revenue and $13.1 billion in profit, which is double what Apple made during the same period a year before.

Where does all that profit come from?

Take the iPhone, for example. The iPhone 4S sells for $199 if the customer signs a two-year cellular contract. But AT&T, Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless pay Apple much more for the phones in order to sell them at a lower price, a process called subsidizing. To get a so-called “unlocked” or contract-free iPhone, expect to pay at least $649 to Apple.

The costs of parts and manufacturing for Apple’s iPhone 4S is estimated to be $196, according to industry research firm IHS iSuppli. That’s $453 less than Apple charges for a contract-free phone. Marketing and research can add up, but no matter which way you cut it, Apple is making a sizable profit on each phone it sells, said iSuppli analyst Tom Dinges.

Apple has more than 60,000 employees, most of whom work in its retail stores. To build parts and assemble products, Apple has a long list of partners. That’s partly done to avoid being dependent on any one manufacturer and to get favorable deals on each part from the many competing companies.

Still, Apple tries to minimize the number of companies with which it signs deals, Dinges said. That way, Apple wields more influence because it’s among the biggest-spending clients, he said.

“They’d rather be a mile deep in a supplier than divide the business up amongst five,” Dinges said. “You’re going to take care of your biggest customers first.”

In its supplier report, Apple says 156 companies account for 97% of the money spent on materials, manufacturing and assembly for its coveted gadgets. When the client is a powerhouse like Apple, winning a contract to be one of those 156 is a major event. In Wall Street parlance, it moves stock.

Being anointed by Apple boosts a supplier’s credibility, but Apple is a shrewd negotiator, from how it develops an iPad to how it leases or builds the retail store it’s sold in. This reportedly forces Apple’s partners to push workers and cut corners in order to wring profits.

Apple told CNN in a statement that its expectations for suppliers to operate responsibly increase each year. Apple says it conducted 229 audits of suppliers last year and reported its findings publicly online.

“We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain,” Apple said in the statement. “We insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever Apple products are made. Our suppliers must live up to these requirements if they want to keep doing business with Apple.”

(Copyright 2012 CBS San Francisco and CNN. All rights reserved.)

For the past 26 years, Margaret Dixon has been trackside for the kids who participate in the Police Activities League Track Program in Oakland.

“I don’t just coach them on the track. I coach them through their life,” Dixon explained. “I know that they need me all the way through their life, many of them, so they call me for advice.”

And they listen because they know she’s been in their shoes. Dixon grew up in West Oakland and worked 25 years as an Oakland police officer. But she has always taken the time to help the kids in her community.

“I wanted young people to know that yes, law enforcement can also be part of your family and so I wanted to be that extended family to them,” Dixon said.

That’s what she’s been for Willie Griffin, who started running on the Oakland PAL track team when he was four. He said there were times when he was rough on Coach Dixon, but she never gave up on him.

“I think about the support she gave me, the sacrifices that she made,” Griffin remembered. “Everything played a part in keeping me on the straight road, because she taught me discipline away from home.”

As a police officer, Dixon was recognized for developing numerous community programs: Adopt a Family, Hoops for Education, and Read and Run. She retired from the department seven years ago and started teaching a class in criminal justice at Merritt College, challenging her students to serve their community.

And as she does on the track, she asks each student to finish what they start.

“I expect you to put your heart in it to finish this class,” Dixon told the students. “If you can tell me that you have done your best, that’s all I need to hear, you’ve done your best.”

Griffin is proud to tell the younger runners about how he’s done his best. He just graduated from college.

“What she is doing now is bigger than her,” he told them. “This is a community right now and it takes a community to raise a child, and that’s what she is doing.”

Dixon turned to Griffin to add, “I just want to say I am proud of you. I appreciate that.”

“When you say it takes a village, it takes a village,” Dixon said. “It’s always been my passion to give back. I always felt I could make a difference so I have continued down that path.”

So for giving young people solid footing on the path to success, this week’s Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Margaret Dixon.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Ted Costa, chief executive officer of the anti-tax group People’s Advocate in Sacramento, said the initiative would also drop legislators pay from $7,940 a month to $1,500 and force lawmakers to adopt a balanced, two-year budget by June 15th each year or forfeit their pay.

Costa said he knows the Republican and Democratic parties along with chambers of commerce and labor unions will oppose the measure, but his group forsees a future where the state’s business is conducted by teachers, realtors and farmers — as opposed to career politicians.

“This is to shake them up. And we hope that other people, professional people will take 3 months out of their job and go represent us for a few years,” he explained.

While it may seem like a new idea to Californians, only 10 states actually have full-time legislatures; 23 have a hybrid model and 17 others are considered part-time. Most of those part-time states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, have the smallest populations and are more rural.

Costa maintains most of California is actually small cities and counties, pointing out that the state only has 2 or 3 big population centers.

But Sacramento-based political consultant Steve Maviglio of Forza Communications contends a part-time legislature won’t work the way People’s Advocate thinks it will.

“If you think things are bad now – it will only get worse,” he explained. “The people will have no policy skills, be here only a couple days a month.”

He cited New Hampshire’s part-time legislature as an example: the average lawmaker is age 62 and they don’t have much power.

Under such a model, Maviglio said special interest groups would become an even more powerful force at the state capitol.

“Lobbyists and special interests will really run the place, because they are the only ones who have the knowledge about how things get done,” he concluded.

(Copyright 2012 CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved.)

Just not as quickly as he’d like.

Taking questions at the downtown Rotary Club of San Jose, Wolff said the uncertainty about the possible move is harming the franchise more than anything. He’s hopeful that a resolution from baseball is coming soon—a word that has been reiterated by many for years.

KCBS’ Mike Colgan Reports:

“I’m not going to continue this much longer,” Wolff said. “What we want is an answer. We want a yes, you can relocate and share the district, share the territory. Or you can’t. But not having any answer is very difficult. Not just for me, but for the people that work for us, for planning our baseball team every year.”

The A’s need approval from league owners to move to the South Bay, where the San Francisco Giants hold territorial rights to the fans and corporate dollars. Not to mention the Giants’ Class-A affiliate is in San Jose.

Commissioner Bud Selig appointed a committee in March 2009 to evaluate the issue facing the Bay Area teams. MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said Wednesday there was nothing new from the commissioner’s office on the situation since Selig’s remarks at the owners’ meetings last month that the issue was on the “front burner.”

Wolff again refused to give a time frame on a possible decision – perhaps because even he’s not sure when one could come down—and hinted that he could force a vote by league owners in a few months if a ruling remains in limbo. He later clarified to reporters that he plans to wait for the committee’s recommendations.

“We’re following the process. It’s excruciating,” Wolff said.

“We talk constantly on many matters. I think we’re getting there. We have ways where we can be a belligerent owner. It’s not in me at this point.”

Among the other notable items:

- Wolff said buying out the Giants’ territorial rights to San Jose “has not been discussed with us.”

- He confirmed the team would be renamed the San Jose A’s if it relocated. There was even a stuffed version of Stomper, the A’s mascot, dressed in a “San Jose Athletics” uniform that greeted guest at the luncheon.

- Wolff said he’d be fine if the Giants wanted to keep their Class-A team in San Jose.

- The A’s are not exploring a move to any other city and selling the team is not an option now.

- Wolff said the team took in about $32 million in revenue sharing from other teams last season. He said the franchise spent all of the money, about half on player payroll. He expects payroll to be about $65 million to $70 million next season.

Without a deal to move out of the outdated Oakland Coliseum, the A’s maintain that they can’t compete with other clubs. Oakland shed several of its best players this winter—including top starters Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez and closer Andrew Bailey—for talented prospects in the latest payroll purge.

“I have one grandchild who still won’t talk to me since we traded Gio,” Wolff said.

Wolff, a successful Los Angeles real estate developer, reiterated the he has exhausted all efforts to keep the team in Oakland.

The A’s also had previously planned to build a state-of-the-art stadium in nearby Fremont that they thought would eventually transform the small-budget club into a big spender. That plan, which would have been in partnership with Cisco Systems Inc., fell through because of a variety of complications—including public transportation issues.

There also are similar environmental and transportation concerns that could derail the San Jose project with a series of lawsuits, including one against the Silicon Valley city from a Giants-supported group called “Stand for San Jose.” Wolff believes all those issues will be resolved and that lawsuits are often part of the process.

“If you have a cure for cancer in California, somebody is going to be against it,” he joked.

Wolff declined to go into specifics about what is holding up a decision from the Selig-appointed committee. But he said everything has been researched and discussed by the club and all that’s needed now is a decision.

“If baseball is hiding some magic formula,” Wolff said, “I wish they’d tell me.”

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Thanh Nguyen and her classmates at the Institute of Medical Education are worried their degrees and their futures are in jeopardy. This week, students in the school’s dental hygiene program were told it is shutting down effective immediately.

“I just go to the class everyday and today they come to the class and tell me there is no school today. Just take a day off, go home,” Nguyen said.

The letter comes as a shock to the students, who have so far invested $35,000 in the 18 month program and are supposed to take their licensing exams this spring. Students are now worried they might not be qualified to take them.

“We’re currently running out of time to make up our clinic hours. We’re uncertain if we’re going to be able to meet them,” said student Erica Hernandez.

On Wednesday, the school’s CEO spoke briefly to CBS 5 ConsumerWatch and did not answer our questions.

Some second year hygiene students told ConsumerWatch they could come to school but their graduation date has been moved up from April to this month. The situation has left them desperate to finish their lab work.

“I think it’s a very dangerous situation,” said Jenny Young, a former instructor at the school. She said there was constant staff turnover. Young also said she didn’t have the necessary supplies to teach.

I don’t have dental impression material, I don’t have books and I don’t have all the supplies,” Young said. “And so, teaching without supplies is very difficult.”

But that was just one sign of trouble. Late last year, a national accrediting body issued a warning that the school’s hygiene program could lose its accreditation.

“We actually sat down as a group and made formal complaints to pretty much every agency that we could contact,” said dental hygiene student Summer Latouf.

But when they complained to state agency that oversees vocational schools, the students said nothing was done. Now they’re wondering what they should do next.

Some second year students said their graduation date has been moved up again to March. The school said their San Jose and Oakland campuses are merging and may move to Fremont. As far as refunds, at least one student said she was told that is not going to happen.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Officers responded at 1:34 p.m. Sunday to a report of animal cruelty in the 100 block of Albion Street.

A witness reported seeing someone throw a Jack Russell terrier out of the window, police spokesman Officer Carlos Manfredi said.

The dog’s owner then came outside to retrieve the animal and was confronted by the witness as officers arrived, Manfredi said.

The woman, whose name was not immediately available, was arrested and booked into county jail on suspicion of animal cruelty.

The dog was handed over to San Francisco Animal Care and Control. Agency spokeswoman Deb Campbell said Wednesday afternoon that the dog remained in their care and was in stable condition.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The arrests are the result of a two-year investigation. Many of those now facing federal and state charges were apprehended in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

Stephanie Douglas is the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco office. She said that the operation took down a prolific drug trafficking operation.

KCBS’ Chris Filippi Reports:

“The Williams Family drug trafficking organization supplied individuals of violent gangs, and associate members of violent street gangs with drugs throughout the Bay Area,” said Douglas.

East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis said that these arrests will make his city safer.

”I think this tells the community that we are working together to make their lives better,” said Davis. “And also this sends a message, not just to that drug trafficking organization, but to others, that they will be held accountable.”

On top of the arrests authorities also seized more than $100,000 in cash and 11 firearms.

Six suspects remain at large.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Facebook added 45 million users at the end of 2011, but that was its smallest increase since the spring of 2009. Even in Asia, fourth quarter user growth was its weakest in over a year and a half according to its IPO finding. KCBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid said that Facebook is likely slowing overseas because many countries have their own local social networks that are more popular than Facebook.

”For example, I’m in Russia right now where there’s a service that’s popular among Russians because they do a better job with the Russian language, and it’s focused on the Russian experience, so I’ve talked to people who say they prefer it to Facebook,” said Magid.

KCBS’ Matt Bigler Reports:

Analysts are also looking for signs of Facebook fatigue as the company prepares to go public. However, a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found no evidence of that among long-time users. In fact, the company said that more regular Facebook users are logging in every day.

Related:
Puffed-Up User Numbers May Mean Facebook Is Overvalued

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Rahinah Ibrahim flew from San Francisco to Malaysia for a Stanford-sponsored conference in January 2005. Ibrahim since has been prevented from returning to the U.S. to complete her doctoral studies because she’s on the government’s terrorist watch list.

A lower court threw out her lawsuit claiming her constitutional rights were violated because she was living in Malaysia when she filed.

But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision Wednesday, saying Ibrahim had sufficiently deep connections to the U.S. to pursue the claim.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Two ‘Parental Notification’ initiatives have begun to be circulated across the state. Proponents of the initiatives need a little more than 800,000 signatures per-initiative to qualify them for the November 2012 ballot.

Backers of such initiatives have said that it only makes sense that parents of girls under the age of 18 be told that their child is having an abortion.

“She can get her ears pierced under the age of 18 without parental approval but not body piercings. (She) can’t go to a tanning booth if she is under 18, even with family approval. (She) can’t get a tooth filled without family approval”, said Dr. Raymond Dennehy of the University of San Francisco. “Suddenly she can get an abortion, which is a huge event.”

Opponents of such legal measures have countered that, when it comes to the youngest of girls, a vast majority do tell their parents about their pregnancies. USF Law Professor Maya Manian and other opponents have said they believe that forcing a young woman to tell a parent often results in lack of prenatal care and other health issues.

“Parents understandably want to know if their daughter is pregnant. I am a mother of a daughter and I would want to know if she was in that situation,” said Manian. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world. Not every teenager has an ideal family. Not every teenager can safely talk about this with their parent or even has a parent in their lives to talk to.”

Nearly three dozen states have enacted some form of ‘Parental Consent.’ The deadline for gathering signatures is June 11.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Perez was expected to introduce his plan in Sacramento Wednesday.

It looks to reduce tuition and fees at the state’s colleges and universities for middle class families with incomes less than $150,000. By eliminating a corporate tax break, the state would have enough to offer a $4,000 break to CSU students, and $8,100 in savings for UC students.

KCBS’ Holly Quan Reports:

This comes as other lawmakers are pushing plans to give students relief on fees and textbooks. Amy Laitenen is a policy analyst with the DC think tank Education Sector, and a Cal grad.

“Higher education is supposed to be a public good, at least in part, and it’s increasingly becoming a private good. States need to figure out whether they want to maintain it as a public good or not,” said Laitenen.

The plan requires a two thirds vote of the legislature, and Republicans are unlikely to approve any tax changes.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Approximately 15 percent of all babies born in the county are delivered at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez. The chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Judy Bliss, said that the hospital has worked hard to reduce C-section deliveries whenever possible.

“Once you’ve had one, each subsequent C-section has more risk,” said Bliss.

KCBS’ Dave Padilla Reports:

Bliss said that a special perinatal program was developed to help more women who have had a cesarean delivery avoid this major surgery with their next pregnancy.

“Women who have a natural birth go home more quickly. They’re not in the hospital as long, and they’re more comfortable,” said Bliss.

The vaginal birth after a cesarean program has received the Quality Leaders Top Honor award from the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The 2012 Silicon Valley Index shows a major crisis brewing in the public sector, asserting that the present tax system is outmoded.

“Our tax system is pegged to an earlier kind of economy,” said Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley. “It’s heavy on property tax and sales tax and it doesn’t capture internet transactions or the services.”

KCBS’ Mike Colgan Reports:

Emmet Carson, CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, said that Prop. 13, which was enacted in 1978 and limited property taxes to one percent of assessed value, no longer works today.

“Because of the great recession, our current method for how we assess property values and raise tax revenue to support public services is broken,” said Carson.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

The San Francisco-based payments processor posted a notable 10 percent increase in U.S. credit card use.

But debit card use rose just 6 percent. That’s the slowest debit card growth rate in more than a year, and comes during the first three-month period that new rules were in place to limit the fees retailers pay to accept the cards.

The rules also require that starting in April, merchants get a choice on which network handles their debit transactions. In the last few months, Visa has been offering incentives to encourage stores to choose its network.

Debit growth has been slowing over the past few quarters.

“It didn’t come totally out of the blue,” said Edward Jones analyst Shannon Stemm. While it’s still early to determine the impact of the new regulations, she noted that rival MasterCard Inc.’s results last week showed some apparent debit market share gains versus Visa, which still holds the bulk of the U.S. debit market.

Nevertheless, Visa’s results for the quarter showed strong growth indicating consumers continue to shift away from cash and toward plastic and electronic payments.

Visa posted net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 of $1.03 billion, or $1.49 per share. That compares with $884 million, or $1.23 per share, in the year-earlier period. There were 4 percent fewer outstanding shares in the recent quarter due to buybacks, which increases per-share results.

Revenue for the quarter rose 14 percent to $2.55 billion, from $2.24 billion the prior year.

Analysts, on average, were expecting profit of $1.45 per share, on revenue of $2.47 billion.

Visa, the world’s largest payment network, said the gains reflected higher card use, increased data processing revenue and a 19 percent boost in international transactions. It is aiming to increase its business overseas so that it eventually generates more than half of its revenue. For the quarter, international transaction revenue accounted for about 29 percent of total revenue.

The company also said its board approved another $500 million share buyback program.

Visa now expects annual revenue growth in the low double digits, which removes the lower end of its prior forecast for high-single digit to low-double digit growth. It forecast earnings per share growth in the high teens, updating its prior projection for a high single-to low-double digit range.

The results buoyed the stock. In aftermarket electronic trading, Visa shares added $3.65 to $112. The stock closed the regular session up $1.37 at $108.35.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors president George Shirakawa said that it goes beyond the government giving homeless people free housing.

“It’s helping people who are the most vulnerable in the community, so it actually saves money,” said Shirakawa.

The board looked at studies that show it currently costs $60,000 to $70,000 a year to provide services for the chronically homeless. But if permanent housing is provided the cost drops down to the $15,000 range.

KCBS’ Anna Duckworth Reports:

Supervisor Mike Wasserman called it a milestone event for the county.

“If we can spend one dollar to save two, to spend money to help those people in need and also save tax payers, is about a two for one return while doing the right thing,” said Wasserman. “That kind of opportunity doesn’t come around often.”

To qualify for one of the 100 vouchers, individuals or a member of a family must have a disabling condition and have been continually homeless for more than a year.

The goal is to implement the program by April.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)