Stories you shouldn’t miss:
1. Oakland public schoolchildren have been sitting in cold, deplorable conditions in dozens of schools this week because of budget cutbacks, the Trib reports. The school district turned off heating systems over the Thanksgiving holiday week, and then many of the old heaters wouldn’t come back on when school resumed on Monday. The district hasn’t been able to fix the heaters quickly because it laid off repair workers during budget cuts. Children, as a result, have been forced to do schoolwork in temperatures as low as 40 degrees.
2. Oakland Mayor-elect Jean Quan has appointed some of her opponents’ supporters to be on her transition team, the Trib and Chron report. Quan selected Don Perata backer Michael Ghielmetti, president of the development company, Signature Properties. She also picked former top city official Claudia Cappio, a supporter of Rebecca Kaplan. And she chose Ted Vedock, who worked for Joe Tuman’s campaign. “I’m hoping to have a city that’s more unified,” she said. “I’m interested to hear what their priorities might be. I’m willing to listen.” Leading Quan’s transition team is former Oakland City Manager Henry Gardener.
