Local:

• Smoke filled the Embarcadero BART station late Tuesday afternoon, though trains were not delayed and the station did not close. According to the Chronicle, the smoke “could have been caused by a blown electrical insulator,” and “officials will check the train” that caused the smoke when it finished its route. [Chronicle]
• While the NorCal burger chain Nation’s Giant Hamburgers was founded in San Pablo, it has never had a San Francisco location, until one opened Tuesday in Fisherman’s Wharf at the old Madame Tussauds location. Mayor Daniel Lurie was there to cut the ribbon, and made one of his signature Instagram videos where he tries to sound like what a human being would sound like if they were genuinely excited. [KRON4]
• A driver struck three pedestrians — including a baby — at about 5:45 pm Monday afternoon in Pacific Heights. The crash happened at Divisadero Street and Pacific Avenue, though only one of the pedestrians had to be hospitalized, and the driver was cooperative with police. [KPIX]

National:

• As we enter week two of the current federal government shutdown, the White House is backing off its threats to do mass layoffs and deny employees their back pay, with one official saying “we do not want to appear gleeful about people losing their jobs, of course.” [CNN]
• Wholly unqualified US Attorney General Pam Bondi was grilled in the Senate today over whether the Epstein Files had pictures of Trump with "half-naked young women,” and she completely refused to answer, instead changing the topic to a senator’s donations from Epstein flight log subject Reid Hoffman. [BBC]
• After Dolly Parton postponed her Las Vegas residency over health issues, her sister Freida Parton took to Facebook to somewhat ominously declare, “Many of you know [Dolly] hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.” [KGO]

Video:

• Ever wonder what it’s like to drive a BART train? This video is probably the closest you’ll ever get, and gives a “dashcam” perspective of the operator’s view of driving a train from the Coliseum station to the Oakland Airport station.

Image: Ron Toledo