New Year's headache at area's 7 state bridges

Ask not for whom the bridge tolls, because starting next month, it tolls an extra buck for you and everyone else who crosses the seven state toll bridges that ring the bay. And from the looks of things, the Golden Gate Bridge -- the only span around here that isn't run by the state -- may be joining the party next year as well. "I'm sure people haven't been thinking about it,'' Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesman Randy Rentschler said of the impending toll hike to $4 on the Bay, San Mateo, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael, Benicia, Carquinez and Antioch bridges. The increase was big news when the state approved it last year, but "no one has been talking about it since,''...