.Tuesday Must Reads: Bridge Panel Okays $4 Million on More Steel Rod Testing; Berkeley Set to Clamp Down on E-Cigs and Cellphones

Stories you shouldn’t miss:

1. A Bridge panel voted yesterday to spend another $4 million on tests of steel rods that appear to be inundated with saltwater on the tower of the new eastern span and in danger of snapping, the Chron$ reports. Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, called the latest revelations about possible corrosion problems on the $6.4 billion structure “game-changers.”

2. The Berkeley City Council appears ready to approve a new law tonight that would ban the sale of e-cigarettes within 1,000 feet of schools and parks, Berkeleyside reports. The new law also would apply to all tobacco retailers, and would require e-cig sellers to pay $498 to the city for a tobacco license — regardless of their location in Berkeley.

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3. The council also is set to approve a new law requiring cellphone sellers to provide warning notices to consumers about the potential health hazards associated with cellphone use, Berkeleyside reports. The warning notices would be required to inform consumers about how to best to carry their phones, and how “to maintain a minimum separation between their bodies and their cell phones.”

4. A judge has ruled that abstinence-only education in schools violates California law and that school districts must provide students with “medically and socially appropriate sexual education,” the Chron reports.

5. And the Golden State Warriors tied up their playoff series last night at two games apiece with the Memphis Grizzlies. Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals best of seven series will be Wednesday night in Oakland.