From USA TODAY / AP: Federal prosecutors in California are cracking down on some of the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries, signaling an escalation of the ongoing conflict between the U.S. government and the nation’s burgeoning medical marijuana industry.

From CNN — Thursday marks the 20th day of Wall Street protests and the grassroots demonstrations against income inequality, corporate greed and other social ills appear to be picking up steam. The crowds at the “Occupy Wall Street” rally on Wednesday seemed to be the largest since the protests started.

From DELAWARE COUNTY TIMES Editorial: Gov. Tom Corbett’s “fee” proposal for drilling the Marcellus Shale is, at best, a lame attempt to address the bipartisan appeal for taxes on companies that stand to make billions on the natural gas in Pennsylvania’s Appalachian Basin…

From GALLUP: As the U.S. Supreme Court begins its 2011-2012 term, Americans’ approval of the institution is now 46%, a drop of 5 percentage points in the last year and 15 points in the last two years. Since 2000, Gallup has recorded only one approval rating of the high court that is lower than today’s: 42% in June 2005…

From AL JAZEERA: …In a sign that the movement is gaining traction, some of New York’s biggest labour unions have now joined protestors (or are planning to join later this week). The city’s 38,000-member transit union pledged its support and is planning to encourage members to join the street demonstrations early next week.

INQUIRER: …Bolstered by online registries of convicted sex offenders, towns enacted laws to keep such criminals from living near schools, parks, day-care centers, and bus stops.

But many of the estimated 150 Pennsylvania cities and towns with such laws are repealing or reconsidering them after a state Supreme Court ruling in May invalidated one statute. New Jersey municipalities did the same after the N.J. Supreme Court ruled residency restrictions invalid in 2009.

From BLOOMBERG: In May 2008, a unit of Koch Industries Inc., one of the world’s largest privately held companies, sent Ludmila Egorova-Farines, its newly hired compliance officer and ethics manager, to investigate the management of a subsidiary in Arles in southern France.

From the NEW YORK TIMES: Updated, 3:35 a.m. Sunday

In a tense showdown above the East River, the police arrested more than 700 demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street protests who took to the roadway as they tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday afternoon.

“Protesters who used the Brooklyn Bridge walkway were not arrested,” Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the New York Police Department, said. “Those who took over the Brooklyn-bound roadway, and impeded vehicle traffic, were arrested.”

Friday on the Charlie Rose show, mega-billionaire Warren Buffett emphasized that the recovery will remain anemic until the housing industry recovers, which he says will have to await the formation of households outstripping our excessive inventory of houses.

Warren Buffett was a guest on the Charlie Rose show yesterday and made many cogent and interesting observations from his vantage point of CEO over scores of businesses in various forms of business.

Some pretty big political names with pretty deep pockets were appointed to Gov. Tom Corbett’s privatization commission on Thursday. Other than the who’s-who of GOP power players on the list, including Republican State Committeeman Bob Asher and Allegheny County GOP Chairman Jim Roddey, the list contains the names of several GOP donors.