SF EXPLORATORIUM CUTS STAFF AMID POOR ATTENDANCE: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco's Exploratorium is laying off 18 percent of its staff because fewer people than expected are visiting its new waterfront location.
The popular science museum has decided to cut 80 of its 435 paid positions four months after it moved to Pier 15 on the Embarcadero.
Exploratorium officials say they had expected 6,000 to 7,000 daily visitors, but actual attendance has been between 3,000 and 4,000. That has resulted in 20 percent less revenue than expected.
In addition to layoffs, the museum is not filling vacant positions and letting go of seasonal employees.
Its new home cost $300 million and has more than 600 exhibits. It was previously located next to the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco's Marina District.
DELAY FOR JOE MONTANA'S HOTEL AT NEW 49ERS STADIUM: SANTA CLARA (AP) — Joe Montana's plan to build a new hotel and restaurant next to the 49ers' new Silicon Valley stadium is not advancing as quickly as expected.
The Hall of Fame quarterback had wanted the four-star hotel, upscale restaurant and sports bar to open in August 2014, when the 49ers move to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
Montana now hopes the complex will be open in time for the 50th Super Bowl in February 2016.
The plan is being delayed because Montana and his business partners haven't been able to reach a deal with Santa Clara officials on the value of city-owned land where the complex would be built. Another development project has also prompted new design work on the hotel.
OVER 100 SEX ABUSE COUNTS AGAINST TEACHER: CONCORD (AP) — Prosecutors say they have filed more molestation charges against a former Northern California elementary school teacher who must now face more than 100 counts involving more than a dozen students.
Contra Costa County prosecutor Derek Butts says Friday that the discovery of two new victims has led to 17 more sexual abuse charges for Joseph Martin, a longtime teacher at Woodside Elementary School in Concord.
That brings the total of alleged victims to 13, all of them boys in Martin's fifth-grade class, dating back to 2006. Martin has taught at the school since 1991 and prosecutors say they're seeking more possible victims.
Martin has pleaded not guilty and is being held on $10 million bail.
PAROLE REVOKED FOR MAN LINKED TO DEAD INVESTIGATOR: OAKLAND (AP) — A Northern California judge has revoked the parole of a registered sex offender considered a person of interest in the death of federal investigator Sandra Coke.
Randy Alana appeared in an Alameda County courtroom Friday to face allegations that he'd violated his parole by contacting Coke, failing to charge his GPS monitor, resisting arrest and absconding from parole.
Alana was arrested on Aug. 6 for violating his parole, two days after Coke was reported missing after leaving her Oakland home. Coke's body was found Aug. 9 in Vacaville.
