MINIVAN HITS SAN RAFAEL SCHOOL, CLASSES CANCELED: SAN RAFAEL (AP) — Students at a San Rafael elementary school got a day off Friday after a minivan rammed into the school and hit a gas line Thursday night.
Two people in the minivan were slightly injured in the 6 p.m. crash that sheared off a gas line and damaged electrical lines.
No one at the school was hurt.
Firefighters helped students move props for a holiday concert to a nearby church so a Thursday night show could go on.
BIKE RIDING UP IN SAN FRANCISCO: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — More people are riding bikes to get around San Francisco.
That's according to figures released on Thursday by the city's Municipal Transportation Agency.
The 2013 bike count shows a 14 percent increase in bike riders since 2011 and a 96 percent jump since 2006.
The additional bike riders come as the city has made improvements in its biking infrastructure, including new bicycle lanes and road markings that encourage drivers to share the road.
The MTA's figures are based on surveys taken at 51 intersections during the weekday evening commute between Sept. 10 and 19.
CRAB FISHERMEN HIT THE WATER: EUREKA (AP) — Northern California crab fishermen will begin harvesting Dungeness crab after a stalemate over price kept boats at the dock for nearly two weeks.
Crabbers dropped their pots on Thursday night after reaching an agreement with wholesalers for $2.65 per pound.
Crab season was scheduled to open Dec. 1, but fishermen balked at the $2.50 per pound being offered. They wanted $3.
Mark McCulloch, a fish monger in Eureka, told the paper that Christmas is one of the busiest crab sales days of the year, and that plenty of the crustaceans should be available.
Fishermen said they were disappointed with the price, but that once a price was set in Oregon's crab fishery they had little choice but to accept the 15-cent increase.
BART, UNIONS MEETING AGAIN OVER CONTRACT PROVISION: OAKLAND (AP) — San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit and its two largest unions will be meeting for a second day over a key contract provision that has led to a lawsuit.
BART management and SEIU Local 1021 and ATU Local 1555 representatives are meeting Friday about a disputed Family Medical Leave Act provision that was stripped out of a contract the BART board approved last month.
Federal mediator Greg Lim, who helped the parties reach a tentative agreement to end a contentious second strike in October, will also be attending Friday's session.
The unions filed a lawsuit in Alameda County last week claiming BART's board broke state law by approving the contract without the provision allowing employees to receive up to six weeks of paid family medical leave annually.
BART says the provision was included in the contract by mistake.
CALIFORNIA MAN RENTS MOVIE FROM REDBOX, GETS PORN :STOCKTON (AP) — A Northern California man who rented a children's movie from DVD kiosk operator Redbox got something very different instead.
James Terry, of Rocklin, said the "Smurfs 2" DVD turned out to be pornography. He rented the movie from a Redbox machine in Stockton on Tuesday.
Terry says he called Redbox, which offered him 10 movies and a $2 credit and said it was working on a program to prevent people from photocopying bar codes.
In a statement to the station, the company said it was helping local law enforcement try to find the person responsible in Terry's case.
HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION AT PRISON: JAMESTOWN . (AP) — Officials say they are investigating a death at a Northern California state prison as a homicide.
Sierra Conservation Center spokeswoman Lt. Leontine von Savoye said on Friday that 31-year-old inmate Andrew Tisnado was found in his bed with severe head injuries two days earlier.
He was taken by helicopter to an outside hospital, where he died Thursday evening. No one has been arrested in the slaying.
Tisnado was one of about 32 medium-security inmates in a dormitory at the prison in Jamestown. The prison holds nearly 5,000 minimum- and medium-security inmates.
He was sent to prison in January from Los Angeles County to serve a four-year sentence for possessing ammunition as an ex-felon. He was scheduled for parole in November 2015.
