Bob Batlin (photo by Brant Ward, Chronicle)

This morning’s Chronicle reports that there will be a funeral today (May 18) for Bob Batlin, a longtime Bay Area newspaperman who died May 9 at age 80 after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. Batlin retired in 2002 from the Chron after a career which also included stints at the Examiner, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, the San Francisco News, the Redwood City Tribune and the San Bruno Herald. He worked as a copy editor, entertainment editor, features editor and arts editor. This morning’s obit noted that as arts editor of the Examiner, he had to defend his decision to cover rock music to the publisher, who preferred it be ignored. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. at Duggan’s Serra Mortuary, 500 Westlake Ave., Daly City. Burial will be at Cypress Lawn in Colma. Memorial contributions may be made to the UCSF Parkinson’s Disease Center, 505 Parnassus Ave., Room 798-M, Box 0114, San Francisco, CA 94143.