Local:

  • The parking lot and areas around West Oakland BART will ultimately developed the way MacArthur has been, and ground has officially been broken on the first phase. A 240-unit affordable apartment building is starting construction, but the project will ultimately include over 760 units, as well as new retail. [Chronicle]
  • San Francisco schools will remain closed Thursday as strike talks continue. SFUSD and union negotiators resumed bargaining at 11 am Wednesday, and it's not clear where things stand. [Chronicle]
  • An assistant principal at San Jose's Sunrise Middle School, 31-year-old Ruben Guzman, is one of 11 men arrested in a child exploitation sting.  Guzman allegedly contacted someone he thought was a 13-year-old boy to engage in sex acts, and he was arrested as part of a wider human trafficking and child exploitation sting operation in San Jose ahead of the Super Bowl. [KTVU]

National:

  • After a federal grand jury declined to indict several Democratic lawmakers over a video they posted last fall telling members of the armed forces not to follow illegal orders, Democrats on Capitol Hill are expressing outrage. "I say to my Republican colleagues, if the executive branch can merely attempt to prosecute members of the legislative branch for simply exercising free speech, that is not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem, it is a constitutional crisis," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. [New York Times]
  • Attorney General Pam Bondi spent another combative day appearing before a congressional committee today. Bondi exchanged insults with members of the House Judiciary Committee as they questioned her handling of the Epstein Files, and an error that left multiple victims' names unredacted. [CNN]
  • Actor and former teen heartthrob James Van Der Beek lost his battle with colorectal cancer, and has died at age 48. Friends of his wife, Kimberly, have posted a GoFundMe, saying that the cancer fight has left his family nearly broke. [Bay Area News Group]

Video:

  • You all need a palate cleanser, so here is a video of cats getting excited while watching the luge at the Olympics.


Rendering of West Oakland BART development via JRDV Urban International