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Crosscurrents

Daily news roundup for Thursday, September 10

ABC7 News

Here’s what’s happening in the Bay Area, as curated by KALW News:

All abroad the wine soul train // East Bay Express 

Now, an Oakland-based nonprofit is offering one potential antidote: the Wine Soul Train, a daylong tour of Black- and Latino-owned wineries in the Napa and Sonoma valleys. The initial tour will take place on Saturday, September 26, with a tour bus that seats 35 people departing from Miss Ollie's restaurant (901 Washington St., Oakland) at 10 a.m. If the Wine Soul Train is successful, it might become a semi-regular event.

"Esperanza Pallana, director of the Oakland Food Policy Council, was among those who felt a rising sense of indignation as details emerged about the wine train incident. 'Those days are over,' she said. 'We don't do that anymore, and when it happens, everybody needs to be outraged.'" 

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Downtown Oakland reaches a crossroads: Time to boom or bust? // Contra Costa Times 

"Oakland's downtown district is undergoing a major renaissance, spurred by new night life and dining options as well as more residents and companies, but the area faces numerous challenges in order to really take off, according to a new report.

"In many ways, downtown Oakland has arrived at a crossroads at a time when it is attempting to revive itself and discard the sour images of crime and riots of recent years, stated the report from SPUR, a Bay Area-based nonprofit urban planning and policy think tank." 

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Heat wave brings high fire damage to Bay Area // ABC7News

"Bay Area residents are bracing for yet another day of hot weather. A Heat Advisory is in effect from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and another Spare the Air Day is in effect. The record-high heat is ramping up fire danger and is forcing officials to take several other precautions around the region." 

A large fire ripped through a Bay Point neighborhood, burning four homes. 

A limo caught on fire on I-800 in San Jose.

 

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San Jose commission will investigate nearly entire city council // San Jose Mercury News 

"In what can only be described as a legal quagmire and a political nightmare for public officials, the city's Ethics Commission decided Wednesday to launch an investigation of nearly 40 City Council members and candidates who violated a local election law.

"The commission determined the unprecedented broad investigation was the only way to stop people from filing individual complaints against each violator. Nearly every member of the City Council, including Mayor Sam Liccardo and other longtime politicians, violated the city's election code by failing to properly report late campaign contributions. The widespread problem was discovered after Councilman Manh Nguyen was investigated in June for missing or late campaign filings. The commission, without knowing about the dozens of other violators, slapped Nguyen with a $10,000 fine." 

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California's school test scores reveal gaping racial achievement gap / San Jose Mercury News 

"The first results of a new test on student performance in California schools revealed a majority of students failed to meet state standards in math and English -- with a stark racial achievement gap despite decades of efforts to close it.

Of more than 3.1 million public school students tested in English statewide, only 44 percent met or exceeded standards; in math, only 33 percent met that threshold, according to the state Department of Education, which released the new scores. Scores at Bay Area schools generally mirrored the statewide results, as performance correlated with family and community wealth, language ability and ethnicity." 

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San Francisco's new source of water comes from unlikely place: the ground // NBC Bay Area 

"Since the early 1930s, San Francisco’s drinking water has flowed from the Hetch Hetchy Valley of northwestern Yosemite, funneling through a myriad of pipes along 167 miles, before landing in city reservoirs and out its taps. Its pristine nature has long been a source of bragging rights for San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission, which even bottles and sells Hetch Hetchy water. But, starting in 2017, a small percentage of the city’s drinking water will come from its own backyard as San Francisco taps into its groundwater to help quench its thirst.

'San Francisco hasn’t used groundwater for drinking since the 1930s,' said Jeff Gilman, the SFPUC’s groundwater project manager." 

Crosscurrents