BrightSource Energy Inc., the developer of solar-thermal power plants, is seeking as much as $182.5 million in an initial public offering. The Oakland company is offering 6.9 million shares at $21 to $23 apiece, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

Bay Area school districts barely get passing grades for how well they teach minority and low-income students, according to a report released by an education advocacy group Thursday. Of the 147 unified school districts statewide that were ranked, Palo Alto Unified scored next to last, earning a grade-point average of 1.0 -- a D. The report did not award any A's.

Largely in response to the city's growing technology sector, 22,000 residential units are in various stages of approval and construction. In a few years, residents could be signing leases for new addresses in South Beach, South

More than 8,500 people will run through Oakland streets on Sunday and along the way they'll see some of the city's iconic landmarks -- Lake Merritt, the Tribune Tower, the Mormon Temple and the city's bustling Chinatown. But the third annual Oakland Running Festival will also give athletes and spectators a chance to see some unique things and hear some unique folks who only come to Oakland once a year -- for the Oakland Running Festival.

San Pablo Bay receives the highest volume of toxic discharges in the state, according to a report issued Thursday. The report, titled "Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act," was issued by Los Angeles-based Environment California, which analyzed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data from 2010. The group is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization.

Five volunteer members of the Richmond Community Police Advisory Board resigned in the past week over another member being removed for possibly intimidating a city supervisor.