UC tuition could rise sharply if tax measure fails
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — University of California students will likely face a steep midyear tuition increase if voters reject Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative.
UC administrators say the 10-campus system would need to consider raising tuition by as much as 20 percent in January if the November ballot measure fails. Under that scenario, tuition would rise by $2,472 to $14,664.
University officials discussed that possibility in documents posted online ahead of next week's Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco.
The regents are expected to vote on a measure to endorse the governor's tax initiative and freeze tuition at 2011-2012 levels.
But school officials say if the measure doesn't pass, UC funding would be cut by $250 million and the university would need to consider a sharp tuition hike to offset that funding loss.
Girl hiding in closet calls police about burglars
FREMONT (AP) — A 12-year-old girl hiding in a closet telephoned police about two burglars ransacking her Northern California home.
Officers arrived at the Fremont home in minutes, but the intruders had already left. There are no arrests.
The girl wasn't hurt.
Investigators say the girl's family had been moving into the home Monday afternoon, and she was alone when the burglars showed up.
The house was ransacked, but it's unclear what was taken.
San Fran slumlord fined $800K for renter squalor
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco landlord has been fined a city record $800,000 for allowing tenants to live in squalor at his rental properties.
The Department of Building Inspections logged 467 code violations in the past decade at more than half of the 32 properties owned by Bayview Property Managers.
Bayview president James Blanding is a retired city employee.
The San Francisco Chronicle says renters in more than 100 units had to cope with sewage spills, flooding, mold, mildew, rodents and crumbling walls, ceilings and stairways.
Officials announced Monday that Bayview agreed to pay an $800,000 civil fine, the largest-ever city penalty for building code violations.
Google to pay $22.5M fine in privacy case
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is poised to pay a $22.5 million fine to resolve allegations that it broke a privacy promise by secretly tracking millions of Web surfers who rely on Apple's Safari browser, according to a person familiar with settlement.
The person who spoke to The Associated Press Tuesday asked not to be identified because the fine has yet to be approved by the Federal Trade Commission, which oversees online privacy issues in the U.S.
If approved by the FTC's five commissioners, the $22.5 million penalty would be the largest the agency has ever imposed on a single company.
Even so, the fine won't cause Google Inc. much financial pain. With $49 billion in the bank, the Internet's search and advertising leader is expected to generate revenue this year of about $46 billion, which means the company should bring in enough money to cover the fine in slightly more than four hours.
