The BART strike has ended after four days -- four days of frayed nerves and clogged freeways.
From the Chronicle's Michael Cabanatuan: "It's over - and just in time to ease Tuesday morning's commute. The four-day BART strike ended Monday night with a tentative agreement between the transit agency and its two largest unions."
"Some trains were expected to be running on all lines at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, but full service wasn't to be restored until later in the day, probably in time for the afternoon commute."
"This offer is more than we wanted to pay, but it is a new path with our workers and it delivers the BART of the future," said BART general manager Grace Crunican, who would not release details of the contract because the unions had not had a chance to present it to their members."
Gov. Jerry Brown has endorsed former state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher -- a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat -- in the race for mayor of San Diego to replace the ousted Bob Filner.
From the U-T's Lori Weisberg: "The move by the Democratic governor underscores the deep divide in the party over who to back in the Nov. 19 special election to replace former Mayor Bob Filner, also a Democrat."
"Democratic City Councilman David Alvarez earlier scored two coups in gaining the backing of the San Diego County Democratic Party and the influential San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council."
"Fletcher, a former Republican assemblyman now a Democrat, has a growing list of high-profile Democratic supporters at the local and state level, as well as endorsements from several unions."
Meanwhile, the hunt is on for historic artifacts that may be in the path of the proposed bullet train.
From the AP's Juliet Williams: "Backhoes began digging up a parking lot in downtown Fresno on Monday in search of underground tunnels and artifacts from an 1880s-era Chinatown neighborhood that lies in the path of California's planned high-speed rail network."
"An archaeological report prepared by theHigh-Speed Rail Authority indicates crews could find decades-old artifacts on several properties in the area. It also casts doubt on the existence of the tunnels, which it says are "questioned by scholars, cultural resource specialists, and the general public alike."
"However, it does not totally rule them out. Community groups say the tunnels that linked businesses, residences, gambling halls and houses of prostitution are critical pieces of history for the nearly dozen ethnic communities that helped found Fresno in the 1870s and 1880s. The Associated Press photographed the tunnels in 2007."
The courts have cut the Brown administration some slack -- temporarily -- to reduce the state's prison inmate population.
From the AP's Don Thompson: "The judges said in a one-paragraph order, without comment, that a court-appointed mediator needs more time to seek agreement on how the state should reduce inmate crowding."
"The delay could signal that the judges see some progress in talks orchestrated by state Appellate Judge Peter Siggins, based on his confidential report and recommendations to the court."
"It came a week after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the state's appeal of a lower court's order requiring California to reduce crowding to improve conditions for sick and mentally ill inmates."
It turns out that community colleges are a real bargain -- for the students as well as for California.
From EdSource's Kathryn Baron: "California gets the best return on its investment in community colleges compared to any other state, and community college students don’t do so badly either, according to a recent study."
"Across the country, however, the study finds huge disparities in whether states even recoup the money they spend on community colleges. That has critics cautioning that flaws in the research methodology tainted the results."
The report, What’s the Value of an Associate’s Degree?, released earlier this month by research groups The American Institutes for Research and Nexus Research and Policy Center, found that California receives an average rate of return of $86,257 for every student who earns an associate’s degree and doesn’t go on for a higher degree over the course of his or her career. The median return on investment among all states is $42,600. The study’s authors computed what they call the “return on investment” by calculating how much each state spends on its public community colleges compared with the additional tax revenues they expect to receive from higher future earnings of graduates with associate’s degrees versus high school diplomas."
