A constitutional law professor in San Francisco said today U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito is a "consistent conservative'' and predicted a fight over his Senate confirmation.

President George W. Bush this morning nominated Alito, 55, a federal appeals court judge in Philadelphia, to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been a swing vote on the court.

Bush's first choice for the position, White House Counsel Harriet Miers, withdrew her name last week.

Amar said Alito "is definitely a consistent conservative voice" on the federal Court of Appeals.

He said Alito has been conservative in ways that may be difficult for Democratic senators to accept.

Alito has been "reluctant to embrace abortion rights" and has taken a conservative view of Congress' powers to pass laws under the Constitution's commerce clause, Amar said.

Santa Cruz commuters may see relief by the week's end in a monthlong transit strike if a group of 145 bus drivers vote to adopt a tentative contract agreement.

The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District board of directors "approved our tentative agreement and then the union's going to be voting on the contract'' today, said Carolyn Derwing, a member of the union's negotiating team.

If a majority of the bus drivers with United Transportation Union Local 23 approve the agreement, the contract will return to the district board for final ratification Wednesday morning.

Both sides have agreed not to discuss details of the latest proposal until the union's votes are tallied. The voting was set to begin at 10:30 this morning.

"Once the members have a chance to look at it, then we can talk about it,'' Les White, general manager of the transit district, said today.

White said he is hopeful the union will approve the contract proposal.

If the union and board of directors agree to the contract terms, service to the district's 23,000 daily riders could be restored as early as Thursday morning, White said.

Bail was increased to $500,000 this morning in Sonoma County Superior Court for an Oakmont man charged with killing a woman while driving the wrong way on U.S. Highway 101 in Sonoma County on Thursday night.

The California Highway Patrol reported that 83-year-old Cedric Beebe caused three crashes around 11:30 p.m., one of which killed 21-year-old Jessica Wong of Daly City.

Wong was a passenger in a Toyota Camry driven by 27-year-old Anne Buchanan of Berkeley. Buchanan swerved to avoid Beebe's 2006 Toyota Corolla and her vehicle collided with a tree, according to the CHP. Buchanan was injured but survived the crash.

Beebe's arraignment was continued until Nov. 2 so he can retain an attorney. Judge Rene Chouteau increased bail from $50,000 to $500,000 and ordered a psychiatric examination of the defendant.

Deputy District Attorney Spencer Brady asked for the increase in bail because he was concerned Beebe might post $50,000 bail and go to Mexico. Beebe told the judge he was supposed to leave on Tuesday for a 10-day trip to Mexico.

Beebe's son Gordon told the judge he would try to retain an attorney by Wednesday after Deputy Public Defender Kathleen Pozzi said Beebe's financial status does not qualify him for representation by the county public defender's office.

Beebe is charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence, DUI with a blood-alcohol level at or above 0.08 percent, hit and run, driving onto the other side of a divided highway and reckless driving causing bodily injury.

Mills College is considering adding a law school as part of its continuing mission to prepare women for leadership positions in society, a spokeswoman said today.

Deborah Dallinger said Mills, which admits only women to its undergraduate program but includes men in its graduate programs, is just in the "exploration stages'' of considering a law school with no particular time frame for making a decision.

She said the characteristics of Mills' "top-notch'' undergraduate programs, such as its small classes and accessible faculty, would provide an advantage over other law schools if one is added.

Dallinger also noted that although six Bay Area law schools are accredited by the American Bar Association, only one, Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, is in the East Bay.

A 70-year-old Watsonville man was killed Sunday afternoon in an accident on state Highway 1 in Moss Landing, the California Highway Patrol announced today.

The accident occurred at approximately 3:20 p.m. at the intersection of Struve Road and Highway 1. The victim was driving a 1991 Chevrolet pickup truck turning left onto northbound Highway 1 from Struve when it was struck by a Ford van traveling southbound on Highway 1.

The victim did not leave a safe distance from southbound traffic when turning, according to investigators. He was pronounced dead at the scene and the two passengers inside the pickup were airlifted to a San Jose hospital for treatment of their injuries. None of the occupants of the van were injured.

Opened and unopened beer cans were found in the cab of the pickup and investigators are trying to determine if alcohol was a factor in the accident, according to the CHP.

The spill of thousands of nails shut down U.S. Highway 101 in northern Sonoma County for an hour this morning, the California Highway Patrol reported.

A truck spilled the nails at state Highway 128, forcing the shutdown of northbound lanes of Highway 101 at 9:18 a.m. The road opened one hour later.

The nails were spilled along a 20-by-20 foot section of the highway, according to the CHP.

A Novato man was killed and another man suffered major injuries in a single-vehicle crash on state Highway 116 in Sonoma County on Saturday morning.

The California Highway Patrol said 54-year-old Tommie James was not wearing his seat belt and was pronounced dead at the scene of the 5 a.m. crash. A passenger in his 1977 Mercedes Benz suffered major injuries and was taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. The CHP has not confirmed the passenger's identity.

James was driving at a high rate of speed on westbound Guerneville Road and failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Highway 116, CHP investigators said.

The car hit a raised dirt berm on the west side of Highway 116 and overturned, coming to rest on its wheels in an adjacent field of dirt, the CHP reported.

An autopsy will determine if James was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and speed, the wet road and foggy conditions are being investigated as possible factors in the crash.

The San Francisco medical examiner expected to complete an autopsy today of 76-year-old Duk Park, whose body was removed from Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park on Sunday.

Park was reported missing last week and San Francisco Police Department Sgt. Neville Gittens said there would be no criminal investigation into her death unless the medical examiner uncovers something suspicious in the course of the autopsy.

Park had been reported missing on Oct. 23, police said. Park's relatives told police they feared she was experiencing early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and she liked taking trips to Golden Gate Park.

As part of a new program targeting dangerous driving on Halloween, the California Highway Patrol is beefing up its patrols today in the Bay Area to focus on speed enforcement and drunk driving, said spokesman Wayne Ziese.

"This is a new effort by the CHP to include this holiday,'' said Ziese. The CHP has typically increased enforcement on such holidays as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day and New Year's Day.

The CHP, in conjunction with the state's Office of Traffic Safety, Alcoholic Beverage Control, Caltrans, and the Department of Motor Vehicles, is asking drivers to use extra caution this Halloween.

Operation STAR (Statewide Traffic Accident Response) is a yearlong enforcement effort between the various agencies working to make California drivers slow down, avoid alcohol when driving, and always wear their seat belts.

Ziese said upwards of 80 percent of the CHP's Bay Area officers are on the streets to make sure motorists are driving cautiously, especially in residential areas where trick-or-treaters may be out this evening.

Earlier this weekend, the CHP had speed teams on the highways and established two sobriety checkpoints, efforts that will continue through Halloween night, according to Ziese.

Today is expected to be sunny, with highs in the mid 60s to mid 70s. North winds of 5 to 10 mph are expected.

Tonight is expected to be mostly clear, with lows in the 40s to lower 50s, and north winds of 5 to 10 mph.

This is cache, read story here