PLANE MAKES OAKLAND EMERGENCY LANDING; NO INJURIES: OAKLAND (AP) — Officials say an Alaska Airlines flight en route from San Jose to Honolulu was forced to make an emergency landing in Oakland shortly after takeoff after the crew reported a possible bird strike.
The flight landed without incident at Oakland International Airport around 9 a.m. Wednesday. No one was injured.
Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Marianne Lindsey said the pilot reported feeling something ingested into an engine and landed as a precaution. The plane likely hit a bird, but Lindsey said crews were still inspecting the plane in the afternoon and had not yet confirmed a bird strike.
Lindsey said there were 157 passengers and six crew members on board. They were transferred to another plane that left for Hawaii at 10 a.m.
RICHMOND SLASHES FEE FOR SOLAR INSTALLATIONS: RICHMOND . (AP) — It just got a lot cheaper to install rooftop solar systems for residents in one San Francisco Bay area city.
The City Council in Richmond voted unanimously Tuesday to slash permit prices for residential solar panel installations from $615 to $100. It's a move city leaders hope will jump start solar investments in local neighborhoods.
At $100, Richmond's price becomes the lowest in the Bay Area, tied with neighboring El Cerrito.
The newspaper says Richmond is one of nine East Bay cities that have moved to streamline and reduce the cost of the permitting process. The others are Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Hayward, Oakland and San Leandro.
Richmond Planning Director Richard Mitchell says the city issued 90 solar permits in the last year.
CITY COLLEGE OF SF PICKS A NEW CHANCELLOR: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new chancellor has been chosen to oversee the troubled City College of San Francisco.
The college announced the appointment of 63-year-old Arthur Q. Tyler on Wednesday.
Tyler is an antiterrorism expert and was previously the president of Sacramento City College.
He will take the helm of the distressed public college on Nov. 1. The school, which serves 85,000 full- and part-time students, is set to lose its accreditation in 2014.
The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges says City College has fallen short in 14 separate areas, including financial management, library services and monitoring of student achievement.
Tyler said in a statement he is aware of the challenges the school faces. School officials say his contract is for two years with a yearly salary of $285,000.
