KCBS News reports that  Oakland International has recently become the first airport in the state of California to  install a number of breastfeeding stations for nursing mothers who are passing through the airport.  

The report says that the initial two lactation stations give mothers a place to pump breast milk or feed their babies. The pods are about five feet by ten feet wide, and feature a bench seat, mirrors, electrical outlets, and a lockable door.

CONSTRUCTION
The pods, that can also be seen in other public areas come at a cost of  $18,000 and are developed by Vermont-based Mamava.

KBCS News also report  that the San Francisco 49ers have also ordered four of the pods for Levi’s Stadium.

To all you singles out there, don't give up on finding love... Anna met Dentrick on the Bart train to paradise! #BART #LoveTrain 

The caddies are arguing that the PGA Tour forces them to serve as human billboards by requiring them to have to wear logo-covered bibs over their shirts. However, they add that they have never consented to or been paid for the use of their likeness. All the proceeds from the bib sponsorships go directly to the PGA Tour and the caddies receive nothing.

MISSNG OUT
Professional caddies on the PGA Tour work as independent contractors and receive no health insurance, retirement or other benefits from the tour. The caddies say that wearing the bibs causes them to miss out on their own endorsement and sponsorship deals that they could put towards such personal health insurance and retirement plans. 

POLL
PGA Tour officials previously polled professional players about whether they would be willing to fire their caddies if they refuse to wear the bibs, according to the complaint.

Professional caddies Mike Hicks, who has caddied for the likes of Greg Norman and Payne Stewart, was named alongside Kenny Harms as the lead plaintiffs, and they are joined by more than 80 others who are seeking class-action status for the nearly 1,000 caddies who work on the PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Web.com Tour. Its understood they are looking for  backdated as well as future compensation from the Tour in the legal filing entered today in the U.S. District Court in Northern District of California.

ABILITY TO WORK
The group are also looking for he court to enter a preliminary injunction that would prevent the Tour from hampering the caddies' ability to work at future tournaments while the case is pending.

"This lawsuit is intended to protect the rights of caddies who are required to endorse tour sponsors with zero compensation from the PGA Tour," said sports law attorney Eugene "Gene" Egdorf of The Lanier Law Firm in Houston.

"Any working professional deserves to be paid based on the income they generate, but that's not happening on the PGA Tour," he added. 

PASSENGER COURTESY 
BART say that they are looking towards as a courtesy to passengers as well as to update the no smoking policy to be more in line with similar county and city-level bans. Currently, e-cigarette use on BART and at stations is not regulated.  Without state and federal guidelines, BART’s only immediate option is to enact an ordinance to enforce the restriction.

COMPLAINTS
BART Director, Robert Raburn said that a number of complaints had reached the board of directors about people using electronic cigarettes and vaping devices on BART property.

“Other transit providers have enacted prohibitions that we now propose to enact,” Raburn said. 

ACTIONS
If the proposed ordinance passes, signage in stations and trains will be updated to ensure riders know about the new restrictions.  

The Board’s action will be considered the first of two readings of the proposed ordinance. The ordinance will then be revisited at BART's  next board meeting in February. 

LOCATION
The meeting will be held in the BART Board Room at the Kaiser Center, located at 300 20th Street in Oakland and will be streamed live at www.bart.gov/board.  Additionally, the full agenda is available to download as a PDF for those interested in a detailed summation.

OTHER ITEMS
Other topics to be discussed at the meeting will include the development of an Art policy and the future role of art on BART.

"Ideas include the potential to integrate art into our station modernization efforts, prevention of graffiti, establishing community partnerships, and celebrating culture and diversity,” said Board President Tom Blalock.

SAN FRANCISCO: BART's Board of Directors (BOD) are to vote on Thursday in relation to two major design problems for the transit operator's proposed new carriages.

The  BOD will hear results of public input on their 'Fleet of the Future' following public  promotion of the trains across the Bay Area last month.

The two main issues that will be put to a vote are inclusion of bike racks and the controversial  floor-to-ceiling poles.

More than 17,000 visitors attended the organized, public outreach events across the Bay Area, where they could tour the new car and ask questions and fill out a special survey.

BART say that the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. However, at the grand reveal at Justin Herman Plaza, mypurplechair.com met with some people who were unhappy with what they saw as restricted access with the new design.

SURVEY FEEDBACK
“This latest customer survey gives us the feedback we need to make final refinements to the design before assembly of the train cars begins,” said Aaron Weinstein, Chief Marketing Officer.

Refinements from the latest round of customer feedback include adding armrests on seats next to doors, increasing the number of hanging straps for standing passengers and lowering the height of the intercom to make it more accessible for people in wheelchairs.

Joe Keller, President of the BOD said he expects the new cars to eradicate current problems with overcrowding.

“The first 100 of the new cars is set to roll out in 2017, with more to come in each of several years thereafter.  That will allow BART to lengthen trains that are currently shorter than the 10-car limit.  And eventually, after a companion project to upgrade the train control system, BART will also be able to run more trains, more frequently.”

FLOOR-TO-CEILING POLES
One of the main concerns expressed by disability groups was the inclusion of a central, floor-to-ceiling pole in all carriages. BART said that while the new pole design proved popular with seniors and people with balance or mobility issues, many people who use wheelchairs or are blind gave low ratings to the pole.

“We’re looking for a solution that best meets everyone’s needs," said Chief Marketing Officer, Aaron Weinstein.

Jessie Lorenze, spokesperson for Independent Living Resource Center, told mypurplechair.com that people with disabilities have a right to move freely on public transportation.

"The pole design will see people with disabilities often not being able to board trains, and when they are able, having to apologize and board with less dignity than in the current model," Jessie said.

BART's  BOD are to consider several alternatives to strike a balance that meets everyone’s needs:

• Alternative 1 moves the poles further away from the wheelchair areas on all cars
• Alternative 2 removes poles from the middle door area on all cars
• Alternative 3 removes two poles from each cab car ( cars with room for a train operator)

BIKE RACKS
On the bike rack issue, there are also three options put forward by BART staff:
Alternative A puts one bike rack on all cars (as seen in the train model).
Alternative B puts one rack in non-cab cars only.
Alternative C removes bike racks altogether.

The staff recommendation to the Board is Alternative A.

MANUFACTURING
After the Board vote, the design phase ends, and the manufacturer will begin assembling pilot cars for safety and reliability testing  in 2015. It's expected that general production will follow with more than 100 new cars going into service each year beginning in 2017.

YOSEMITE: A sick, eight-year-old boy became a Yosemite Park Ranger for the day thanks to a charity organization.

Gabriel Lavan Ying, from Florida spent a day at the national park were he helped control wild fires and assist injured hikers.




NBC Bay Area reports that for his hard work Gabriel received the special honor of being named an honorary, Yosemite National Park Service Ranger.

Gabriel's  dream day was made possible thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation, the same charity who were also responsible for the wish of five-year-old, Miles Scot, aka BATKID.

Gabriel suffers with  Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects the connective tissues (skin, joints and blood vessel walls). You can read more about the condition here.

SAN FRANCISCO: A total of nine San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) properties and their occupants are to benefit from nearly five and a half million dollars towards elevator repairs.

The funding will go towards critical modernization and repairs according to mayor of the City, Ed Lee, who said that all residents in public housing deserve clean, safe and quality housing.


CRITICAL REPAIRS
“Our re-envisioning Plan for public housing in San Francisco paves the way for the preservation, rehabilitation and long-term affordability of thousands of existing units for very low-income people. But in the short term, we must make the critical repairs necessary to ensure elevators are reliable and do not disrupt the lives of our seniors and disabled public housing residents," Mayor Lee said.

City Supervisor, London Breed added that she has seen public housing as a very important topic since he started as a supervisor in the city.

“I am thankful we have finally secured funding for badly-needed elevator repairs, and I will continue working with Mayor Lee to fund additional needs.  Today is the beginning of a larger effort to ensure that public housing remains a priority," Supervisor Breed said.

DIFFICULT CONDITIONS
Recent elevator break-downs at San Francisco public housing properties have made living conditions difficult for many vulnerable tenants. It's hoped that with this new, emergency funding in place, SFHA can quickly address the most critical elevator needs and restore proper access to tenants’ homes.   

HIGH PRIORITY BLOCKS
Nine SFHA properties have been identified as highest priority:

1. •    1880 Pine Street
2. •    430 Turk Street
3. •    1250 Turk Street (Rosa Parks)
4. •    838 Pacific Street (Ping Yuen North)
5. •    320/330 Clementina
6. •    666 Ellis
7. •    990 Pacific
8. •    1750 McAllister
9. •    1760 Bush Street

SAN FRANCISCO:  Salesforce.com will be dramatically expanding its presence in San Francisco after today unveiling plans for Salesforce Tower, and an expected one thousand new employment positions.

The  tower is currently under construction by Boston Properties and Hines on the site adjacent to salesforce.com offices at 50 Fremont St. and 350 Mission St. 


A model of the new tower complex was unveiled earlier today by Mayor Lee and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

URBAN CAMPUS
The company will lease more than half of the 1.4 million square foot building, adding more than 700,000 square feet to its urban campus. As part of their expansion they also expect to hire more than 1,000 people in the Bay Area this year, expanding its footprint as the city's largest tech employer.

Salesforce celebrated its 15th anniversary last month and Mayor Lee described  the good news announced today as  a "historic investment" in the city.

"I want to thank Marc Benioff and salesforce.com for their commitment to start here, stay here and grow here in San Francisco and I can't wait to see Salesforce Tower added to our world famous skyline," the Mayor said.

Benioff, Chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, said today's news represented an incredible milestone in the company's history.

"It will be the heart of our global headquarters in San Francisco. We founded salesforce.com in San Francisco 15 years ago and this expansion of our urban campus represents our commitment to growing in the city."

ANCHOR TENANT
Salesforce.com will be the anchor tenant in the new tower, leasing more than half of the 61 story building located at 415 Mission St.

Job postings can be found at http://www.salesforce.com/company/dreamjob/.