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NEWS FROM ACROSS THE BAY AREA
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• TWITTER INSTALLING LOG CABINS AT HEADQUARTERS: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Employees at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco will soon get to take their lunch break in 19th century relics.

The high-tech giant is installing a pair of low-tech log cabins from the late 1800s to serve as dining rooms.

The cabins were salvaged from ranches in Montana by a Marin County contractor and sold to the owner of an architectural firm helping to refurbish Twitter, Inc.’s headquarters.

They should be in place within a few weeks. The plan is to build booths inside them for company employees to sit in while they eat.

 

• PARTS OF POINT REYES CLOSED TO PROTECT SEALS: POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE (AP) — Parts of Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California have been closed to protect breeding harbor seals and their pups.

The National Park Service began the closures Saturday for four months to protect the several thousand seals that come to the Seashore to give birth on the sand bars and remote beaches.

The affected areas include Drakes Estero — a popular spot for kayakers — Hog Island in Tomales Bay and the westernmost portion of Limantour Spit.

Park officials are also asking visitors to stay at least 100 yards away from resting seals.

Last year, park employees counted more than 3,000 harbor seals; 1,350 of which were pups.

 

• 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL HIT, KILLED BY TRAIN: MARTINEZ (AP) — Family and friends are mourning the loss of a Northern California teenager struck and killed by a moving train.

Authorities say 14-year-old Jenna Betti of Martinez was hit and killed by the train traveling through town Sunday evening.

BNSF Railway spokeswoman Lena Kent said Monday three crewmembers aboard the train heading from Richmond to Fresno noticed the girl and someone else on the tracks.

Kent says the girl and the other person left the tracks initially, but the girl went back on the tracks to retrieve something.

The girl was an 8th grader at Martinez Junior High School where she played on the soccer team and involved in many school activities. Her classmates had planned to wear pink to school on Monday to remember her.

 

• MAN IN CUSTODY AFTER CHASE OVER BAY BRIDGE: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man is in custody after leading authorities on a pursuit over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in a stolen truck with at least one tire blown out.

KGO-TV reports that the incident began in Fairfield on Monday morning.

California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Ferguson tells the station the truck’s owner reported seeing a former employee in possession of it.

A low-speed chase ensued, with the driver crossing the Bay Bridge. It ended in San Francisco, where footage from KGO showed the suspect running across lanes of traffic, and then being tackled by a CHP officer.

 

• SAN FRANCISCO AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES CRITICIZED: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new report says San Francisco’s failure to invest in ambulances and medics could be putting patients’ safety at risk.

The report by the Board of Supervisors budget and legislative analyst found nearly 2,500 people had to wait last year to be transported to a hospital because an ambulance wasn’t immediately available. That’s four times the number of people who has to wait in 2008.

The figures were reported by the San Francisco Chronicle over the weekend. The fire department handles the majority of 911 calls seeking medical assistance.

Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White says the city needs to invest in medics and ambulance maintenance, but people shouldn’t be concerned about their safety. Though ambulances may be delayed, the department responds to all 911 calls within five minutes with a paramedic.