A's may have 2 suitors to keep team in Oakland Matier & Ross

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Two investment groups - including one that recently dropped out of the high-priced bidding for the Los Angeles Dodgers - have expressed serious interest in buying the Oakland A's and keeping the team in its current home.

One outfit is from the L.A. area and is headed by a financial services industry executive, according to a behind-the-scenes adviser who said his client didn't want to be named for fear of running afoul of Major League Baseball.

That group recently bailed from the Dodgers bidding when it looked like the final asking price would approach a staggering $1.5 billion.

The second group, which also didn't want to be identified publicly, is led by a longtime executive from a high-profile Silicon Valley company. The exec already owns a minor league baseball franchise.

We're told the first group has already made its interest in the A's known to Major League Baseball. The second will probably do so soon.

The possible suitors are making their moves after nearly three years of indecision by baseball about allowing the A's to move to San Jose. The feeling is growing that baseball won't challenge the San Francisco Giants' claim to territorial rights in the South Bay - even if Commissioner Bud Selig won't come out and say it.

That could leave Lew Wolff and his deep-pocketed partner, John Fisher, who bought the A's in 2005 for a bargain $172 million, with few good alternatives short of cashing out for what could be a handsome profit.

As to why either investment group thinks it can succeed in Oakland when the current owners have all but given up on the city:

First, Oakland is a proven market, and the A's have drawn as many as 2.9 million fans when they were winning.

Second, the Oakland City Council's vote last week to explore redeveloping the Coliseum site with a new ballpark has given investors hope of partnering with the city in a deal that could make financial sense.

A's managing partner Wolff insists the team isn't for sale.

"We love being in baseball - we just want to have a good fan experience," Wolff said.

It's a deal: Look for a big multimillion settlement to be announced as early as today between San Bruno and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to go along with the $70 million fund that the company has set aside as restitution for the 2010 natural gas explosion that killed eight residents.

San Bruno officials have been pushing PG&E for up to $100 million in extra compensation to pay for a new library or some other major project that would help heal the city's wounds - and now we're told they'll get a hefty chunk of it.

Medical alert: San Francisco Mayor Ed Leehas begun briefing supervisors on a deal for California Pacific Medical Center to relocate to the site of the old Cathedral Hill Hotel on Van Ness Avenue.

Details are still being worked out, but the two sides appear to be in agreement on charity care and keeping CPMC's St. Luke's Hospital open. And there are the usual contributions for affordable housing for anyone displaced by the project.

Whether the deal will sit well with the California Nurses Association - which is in a labor fight with CPMC parent Sutter Health - remains to be seen.

Some officials fear that if pushed too hard, Sacramento-based Sutter Health may opt to pull up stakes, leaving the mayor and the Board of Supervisors with another missed deal to create a boatload of jobs.

Breyer patch:Michael Breyer, a small-business owner, San Francisco library commissioner and son of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, has filed to run for the 19th Assembly District seat being vacated by the termed-out Fiona Ma.

Breyer's entry means city Assessor Phil Tingwill have a real race on his hands.

Moving on: Lance Greenfield has been a San Francisco parking control officer for 25 years, and he's seen a lot - he chased down a robber in his three-wheeler, he had hot coffee tossed in his face by a Mercedes-driving teen, and he was hit by a stolen car.

Now he's hanging up his ticket book.

To mark the occasion, the Metropolitan Transportation Agency gave Greenfield a special commendation that didn't note any of the above incidents.

Instead, it zeroed in on Greenfield's most infamous accomplishment: giving out a record 500 parking tickets on a single day.

"It was kind of embarrassing," Greenfield said. "The room was filled with civilians, and half of them sat in shock when they heard. The other half started booing."

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