• As the Bob Lee murder trial gets set to begin, a key witness for the defense appears to be a former SFPD inspector and use-of-force trainer, retired officer Steve Pomatto, who has concluded that Lee's wounds are consistent with Nima Momeni trying to defend himself. It seems kind of stretch given the motive issue, but the defense theory seems to hinge on the idea that Lee was very coked up and potentially aggressive, and it was he who took the knife and tried to stab Momeni, but Momeni overpowered him and turned the knife on him. [Mission Local]
• One person was stabbed Thursday at the Oakland Coliseum, apparently during the fan mayhem as the A's final home game let out, though the circumstances are unclear. [KTVU]
• A 47-year-old man was fatally shot Thursday just after 5 pm in Oakland's Lower Dimond district, and this is Oakland's 69th homicide under investigation so far this year. [East Bay Times]
• SF Mayor London Breed apparently wrote fundraising pitches to Sam Altman, Marc Benioff, and others for bringing pandas to the SF Zoo, proposing that their companies could help build a "smart home" for the pandas with machine learning involved. [Chronicle]
• At least 40 people are dead after Hurricane Helene blew ashore as a Category 4 storm on Thursday on Florida's Gulf coast. [CNN]
• The great Maggie Smith, who won Oscars, Tonys, and Emmys in her long career, has died at age 89. [New York Times]
• And San Francisco musician Nick Gravenites, the blues-rock vocalist of 1960s band the Electric Flag and a songwriter for Janis Joplin, has died at age 85. [New York Times]

Photo: Matt Dodd