The head of a federal investigation into the gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno criticized Pacific Gas & Electric on Wednesday for only recently revealing records about a previous leak on the same line. Later the same day, state regulators granted PG&E more time to turn over records about the safety of its pipelines. Read More

In an attempt to cut down on the notoriously long delays at the Department of Motor Vehicles in San Francisco, the office’s new managers have introduced a policy that frequently forces customers to line up outside, regardless of the weather. So as if waiting in line at the DMV weren’t miserable enough, now you may be doing it in the rain. But DMV officials say it’s either wait in the rain or wait longer inside. Read More

Budget cuts could shut down community college classes in Half Moon Bay, forcing Coastside residents to travel farther to go to school. Three years ago, the College of San Mateo began offering classes from two classrooms and a computer lab in downtown Half Moon Bay. About 10 percent of the community college district’s students come from the coast, but until then, those students had to drive half an hour north to San Bruno’s Skyline College, or 20 minutes over the hill to College of San Mateo. Read More

The new chairman of California’s stem cell agency could have a salary of more than $500,000, making him one of the highest-paid public officials in the state. Or, he could be paid a mere $150,000 — for a half-time position. Exactly what the new leader’s salary will be — and just as importantly, what his role will be — has deeply divided the leadership of the state’s $3 billion research-funding agency, the taxpayer-backed California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. Read More

After California voters banned same-sex marriage in 2008, the gay community was abuzz with talk of going back to the ballot in 2010 to reverse it. Ultimately, potential organizers concluded that waiting until 2012 would give them time to gather resources and build support. Yet with 2012 approaching, there is no consensus whether the time is right to ask voters to grant gay people the right to marry. Some say it would be more prudent to wait for the federal courts to decide the issue; others say a legal remedy is uncertain and that waiting would be folly. Read More

The first ever changing-of-the-guard at California’s stem cell agency moved forward Monday, with two men nominated to take the helm of the $3 billion public agency. The two nominees named by Monday’s deadline are both business leaders, one an investment banker and the second a partner in a medical device company. Read More

Every American could look up their neighborhood on a database and find out if it’s sitting on top of a massive pipeline carrying explosive gas, under one provision of a new enforcement order the Obama administration will roll out in August. Read More