San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle East Bay columnist Chip Johnson has had in recent years a field day covering Oakland City Hall. For a politics and government opinion-maker, the beat yields an embarrassment of journalistic riches. 

However, one Oakland City Councilwoman, Desley Brooks, says Johnson's aggressive and critical columns crossed some line in 2006 when he wrote about how she allegedly mishandled certain city funds and received kickbacks from friends and family members who she arranged city jobs for. Brooks announced late last week that she has filed a defamation lawsuit against both Johnson and the Chronicle

State Senate candidate Mark Leno has won the endorsement of the San Francisco Chronicle, Northern California’s largest newspaper.

“Leno can be overly partisan at times, but he also can be pragmatic - such as he support for the health-care compromise crafted last year by Republican Schwarzenegger and Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez. There are no questions about Leno's ethics, his diligence or his accessibility to constituents,” the paper said.

Leno, an Assemblyman, is facing off in a June 3 Democratic primary against incumbent Carole Migden and former Assemblyman Joe Nation.

The Chronicle has a daily circulation of 512,000.