Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing to fast-track California's $69 billion high-speed rail project by easing legal scrutiny under the state's landmark environmental law, this newspaper learned Friday. The proposal, which the Legislature would have to approve this month as part of launching the state's biggest-ever construction project, does not change the California Environmental Quality Act. But Brown's plan, while angering environmentalists, would have two major consequences.

How's this for hitting the skids - a record 28 BART escalators were out of service this last week..."I've been here 15 years, and I've never seen this," said Robert Cotton, BART's chief escalator-repair manager. One escalator at the West Oakland Station has been out for more than seven months.

Alameda County supervisors are expected Tuesday to OK a ballot measure asking local voters to go where no Northern California county has gone before -- raising its sales tax for transportation from a half cent to 1 cent. What's more, the tax would be permanent if countywide voters were to approve the proposed November ballot measure by a two-thirds majority.

The Marin Energy Authority is on the brink of signing up its biggest customer yet: the city of Richmond. The authority's board will vote Thursday on whether to admit the western Contra Costa County city to a club that now includes the county of Marin and every municipality in Marin. The Richmond City Council voted 5-2 last month to join the authority and is scheduled to take a second and final vote on the proposal June 19.

Alameda County has resolved its 12-year legal battle over a ban on gun shows on government property, persuading a federal appeals court that its law is constitutional because of recent concessions that will allow gun promoters to showcase weapons within tight restrictions. In a unanimous 11-judge ruling Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the county's ordinance, finding that it does not violate the Second Amendment. The decision was fact-specific, avoiding broader gun rights issues because gun shows are now permitted if promoters agree to provisions the court called "reasonable."

Facebook led U.S. initial public offerings to their worst monthly performance since Lehman Bros. collapsed, as Europe's debt crisis scuttled IPO plans from New York to Hong Kong.

...No. 2 Alabama (58-7) toppled the No. 1 Cal softball team 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City in a game to decide who would proceed to the final against Oklahoma in the national championship series.