Mike Aldax

Newsom to return Friday after retreat

Mayor Gavin Newsom will be back in City Hall on Friday, his spokesman said Thursday afternoon. Newsom has presumably been at a resort in Hawaii since Tuesday. It has been six days since the mayor has appeared publicly following his withdrawal from the 2010 governor’s race. The mayor announced his return to work while a major labor dispute is brewing in The City. Hotel workers at the Grand Hyatt Union Square went on strike Thursday morning. He will meet with the union and hotels as soon as possible, spokesman Nathan Ballard said. It has been six days since the mayor has appeared publicly following his withdrawal from the 2010 governor’s race. The mayor abruptly left The...

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Push to limit smoking rekindled

A San Francisco lawmaker is reigniting stalled legislation that would further limit where smokers can light up in The City, hoping amendments to the bill will convince businesses that it won’t be a drag. The controversial legislation — first introduced by Supervisor Chris Daly last year and now being pushed by Supervisor Eric Mar — would forbid smoking in a slew of new settings, adding to existing bans in bars, restaurants, parks, transit stops and taxicabs. The bill would expand no-smoking zones to include farmers markets and the outdoor seating areas of restaurants, cafes and coffee shops. Smoking would also be prohibited while waiting in lines at ATMs, theaters,...

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Bridge repair seen as stopgap

The Bay Bridge could be closed again in the coming months to allow Caltrans to replace a trouble-plagued repair to a cracked support beam. The bridge reopened to traffic Monday morning after a historic near-weeklong closure. The span was closed Oct. 27 when steel components broke loose in strong wind gusts and fell onto traffic during the evening rush hour. The recent repairs replaced and reinforced a failed fix of a support beam, called an eyebar, which had been completed during the scheduled Labor Day weekend closure. The latest work was characterized by Caltrans officials Monday as a short-term repair that will require exhaustive ongoing monitoring and maintenance. On Sunday,...

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Date of Mirant plant closure unchanged

Despite their persistent pleas to shut down the Mirant power plant in Potrero Hill in its entirety in 2010, residents and city officials who have been battling to close the heavily-polluting facility will have to remain patient, state regulators said this afternoon. In August, Mirant had agreed to shut down the plant once the California Independent Systems Operator, or Cal-ISO, ruled that its energy supply was no longer needed, as part of a settlement announced by City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Two lawsuits filed by The City against Mirant would also be dropped as part of the agreement. That settlement sparked hope that the plant would be fully shut down sometime early next year....

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Stem cell research grants bring millions to Bay Area

Bay Area researchers were awarded a significant portion of the $250 million in grants announced by the state’s stem cell institute. Researchers at the UC San Francisco, were members of teams that received nearly $20 million to discover how to implant insulin-producing cells in diabetes patients, and $19.2 million to develop a treatment for brain tumors. Stanford University researchers were on teams that received $20 million to treat stroke using implanted stem cells and $20 million for leukemia therapy, among other...

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City’s homeless programs touted

An estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people are homeless on any given night in San Francisco, according to officials with Project Homeless Connect, which was launched by Mayor Gavin Newsom. But the program, and others he’s championed, has resulted in 10,000 people leaving San Francisco’s streets and shelters since 2004, he said. This month marks the fifth anniversary of Project Homeless Connect, a program of one-day events started by Newsom that offers homeless people a “one-stop” opportunity to connect with help and services. The 20th such event was held Wednesday at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. More than 4,000 of the previously homeless people in San Francisco...

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Assembly to weigh Ammiano bill legalizing marijuana

State legislators will debate the implications of taxing and regulating marijuana similarly to alcoholic beverages — an idea proposed through legislation earlier this year by state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. Ammiano, a former San Francisco supervisor who had made marijuana offenses the lowest priority for The City’s police to pursue, introduced AB 390 earlier this year, legislation to decriminalize marijuana statewide and tax it to address California’s budget deficit. “It is time take to our heads out of the sand and start to regulate this $14 billion industry,” Ammiano said in a press release Tuesday. Marijuana is currently legal in California for medicinal...

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Mayor drives Muni-free Market plan

Mayor Gavin Newsom envisions Market Street without cars — and without the nearly dozen Muni bus lines and the historic F-line. The City is in the midst of a six-month trial that aims at limiting the amount of private automobiles on the major thoroughfare, and the mayor says that if the data backs it up, he favors an expansion of the vehicle ban — and also moving toward removing Muni from the street. The current vehicle ban trial began Sept. 29 and autos traveling eastbound on Market Street have been forced to make right turns at Sixth and Eighth streets. The traffic measures have been coupled with other revitalization efforts along the mid-Market stretch, including sidewalk...

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Muni security cameras failed again

The Muni bus where a dead body was found after it had been parked in a storage yard for nearly six hours lacked functioning security cameras, although the system had been tested and worked a week earlier. A cleaning crew discovered the body of Christopher Feasel, 37, of San Francisco around midnight Oct. 16 aboard a 5-Fulton that had been parked since 6:30 p.m. after completing a rush-hour shift, Muni spokesman Judson True said. In response to a request from The Examiner, Muni acknowledged that the security cameras aboard the bus were not working during the time leading up to it being parked in the yard. The bus, however, did have functioning cameras just a week before the incident,...

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Hotel workers vote to authorize strike

The talks between four major hotels in San Francisco and 9,000 union workers need to stay calm to avoid an approved strike that would deal a blow to tourism, a hotel manager said. Four major chains — Hyatt, Hilton, Starwood and Intercontinental — are trying to hammer out new deals with their employees, which include room cleaners, bellhops and food-service workers. The union contract expired Aug. 14. Hotel management told The Examiner Thursday that an impasse over union contracts is far off and that preliminary talks have been cordial. The union, however, denies that claim, saying two months of “frustrating” negotiations have left them no choice but to set the...

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Tunnel to close for repairs

City crews are now repairing the ceiling of the Broadway Tunnel that was damaged in July when a too-tall truck attempted to squeeze through it. The truck, ignoring the maximum vehicle height for entry, scraped off light fixtures and tiles from the tunnel’s ceiling. The big-rig truck was able to drive into the tunnel, but struck the ceiling at the point where it becomes narrower inside. Workers will conduct repairs daily between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. so as not to interrupt traffic, the Department of Public Works said Thursday. Eastbound traffic is closed during work hours and motorists will have to follow detours. The project is expected to be finished early next month. Crews...

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Lowe’s coming to Bayshore

After a long-running fight about what type of store should be built on Bayshore Boulevard, the construction of a Lowe’s at the site has begun. The shovel hit the dirt Tuesday to build the home improvement chain store at 491 Bayshore Blvd., near the border of the Bayview and Bernal Heights neighborhoods, Mayor Gavin Newsom said. The space has been vacant for nine years, partly due to wrangling in the community and in City Hall over whether San Francisco should allow a “big-box” chain store at the site that could siphon business from local mom-and-pop shops and invite new polluting automobile traffic to the area. Another home improvement store, Home Depot, fought for...

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Newsom: Brown spreading lies about me

Mayor Gavin Newsom today accused Attorney General Jerry Brown of spreading lies that the mayor plans to pull out of the governor’s race and instead run for lieutenant governor – on Brown’s ticket. “You [reporters] have to put to rest the absurdity,” Newsom said at an unrelated event this afternoon. “It’s Jerry Brown who is putting those rumors out, and you guys shouldn’t be taking the bait on that.” The rumors surfaced after polls showed Newsom was trailing Brown in the 2010 governor’s race. They were also fueled by reports that Newsom is largely trailing Brown in fundraising. Brown has not even officially declared he is...

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Newsom Tracker: Short break from campaigning

The oft-campaigning Mayor Gavin Newsom has some city business to mind to this afternoon. At 1 p.m., Newsom – who is running a city while running for governor – will help break ground on a new headquarters for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission at 525 Golden Gate Ave., according to the Mayor’s Office. The mayor then plans to hold a meeting with tech guru Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media, and city department heads at 4 p.m. to forward The City’s plan to release more government data that can be transformed into software applications residents can use. Newsom will still manage to fit in a campaign event today. At 5 p.m., the...

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Delayed vaccines likely to arrive even later

Delayed vaccines for the swine flu may arrive in The City next week, although it’s more likely the shipment to fight off the potentially deadly virus will arrive weeks later. The fear is that stalled shipments will leave the high-risk population in The City vulnerable to the extremely contagious H1N1 virus just as flu season begins to gain steam. The federal government is supplying free vaccine doses to municipalities in an effort to combat potential infections and hospitalizations. However, the “complex” distribution process has been slower than expected, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. There’s a “20 percent chance” The...

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Smart companies flourish in bad times

They’ve not only stayed afloat in pricey San Francisco, they’ve turned a crippling recession into an opportunity for success. Four city businesses that are beating the odds are finalists in the small-business category for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s 17th annual Excellence in Business (or Ebbies) Awards. Winners will be announced at a ceremony tonight at the downtown Palace Hotel. Nominees for the small-business category include two advertising/branding agencies and two nonprofits that have had to be lean, keen and sometimes green in order to survive in a city that is notoriously expensive to do business, said Leslie Milloy, senior vice president of the San...

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Eased federal enforcement calms medical pot crowd

Owners of San Francisco medical cannabis dispensaries can be less fearful of federal prosecution following a policy change at the federal level Monday that eases medical marijuana enforcement. The policy memo, issued by the Justice Department, tells federal prosecutors it is not a good use of their time to arrest people who use or provide medical marijuana in strict compliance with state law. Medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Fourteen states allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes, including California. It is a significant departure from the Bush administration, which insisted it would continue to enforce federal anti-pot laws regardless of state...

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New composting law taking effect

Composting bins are rolling into place, as the law that mandates proper refuse sorting in The City begins this week. Starting Wednesday, residents who fail to properly sort their trash will face fines. The rules are part of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s plan to boost The City’s recycling rate beyond 72 percent.The ordinance is the first in the country to make composting mandatory. The Board of Supervisors approved the law in June, despite concerns that inspectors would aggressively penalize residents. City officials insist ratepayers will receive ample warning notices before getting a fine. Garbage haulers will tag out-of-compliance bins. Repeat offenders will be reported to The...

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Newsom: Limit Cali biz with ‘oil-based’ Iran

California contractors would be limited from doing business with Iran’s energy sector if Mayor Gavin Newsom is elected governor, his campaign announced today. The Gavinator “would sign an executive order requiring disclosure of any connection” with Iranian energy interests “or any firm assisting the regime with sensitive technology,” a campaign statement said. The mayor in the statement said he is “committed to divesting our state’s interests” from an “oil-based Iranian...

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Newsom Tracker: Back in City Hall

After a week of gubernatorial campaigning around the country, including in Pennsylvania, New York and Texas, Mayor Gavin Newsom is back in City Hall today conducting meetings, according to staffers. He has no public events...

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Legislation helps 49ers Santa Clara stadium plans

It doesn’t seal the deal, but a bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Sunday would make it easier for the San Francisco 49ers to build a new stadium down in Santa Clara. The legislation, authored by Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, exempts the team from having to garner competitive bids on their proposed Santa Clara stadium, allowing them to go with whatever company they select. Santa Clara’s city charter would ordinarily require work on the project to be publicly bid. The stadium construction feat is so complex, however, that the 49ers need to choose specific project managers “with extensive NFL experience and familiarity with NFL guidelines and...

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Newsom wants to improve 311

San Franciscans just can’t get enough of dialing 311. And Mayor Gavin Newsom’s ideas on how to make use of The City’s complaint hotline appear endless. The 311 call center, a Newsom pet project, is a general help line for information about city services such as Muni and allows residents to report quality-of-life complaints, like potholes or broken street lights. “Since its launch in March 2007, 311 has answered over 7 million calls and thousands of more requests online,” Newsom wrote in a guest blog post on Mashable today. Residents who don’t want to chat on the phone can send reports online on Twitter. In his blog today, Newsom said The City wants...

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Newsom Tracker: Campaigning mayor

A campaigning Mayor Gavin Newsom has no public appearances scheduled today. He was in New York and Philadelphia in the last two days fundraising for the 2010 governor’s race, and is scheduled Thursday to attend the UP Experience in...

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Newsom Tracker: Campaign train

Mayor Gavin Newsom won’t be hanging around City Hall until at least Friday as he rides the campaign train on the East Coast. Newsom on Monday was fundraising for the California governor’s race in Philadelphia, his campaign said. Today, he is set to take a train – “the regular Amtrak,” his campaign manager thinks – to New York to solicit more cash support. The mayor is then scheduled Thursday to attend the UP Experience in...

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Newsom: Brown slept with the enemy

Attorney General Jerry Brown has committed the political version of adultery, according to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s campaign. Newsom’s people say Brown, the mayor’s Democratic nemesis in the 2010 gubernatorial race, slept with the enemy by raising money for “rightwing Republican leaders.” “We were astonished to learn … you were the guest of honor at a fundraiser for San Bernardino District Attorney Mike Ramos, a rightwing Republican,” the Newsom campaign writes in a petition that it will send to Brown after 5,000 “progressive Californians” sign it. The letter pretty much says: Don’t do it again, Jerry. The fundraiser Brown...

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Newsom releases lengthy endorsement list

Mayor Gavin Newsom has released a beefy list of California politicians who have endorsed the mayor for governor. Nearly 40 elected officials and Democratic party leaders are supporting Newsom’s gubernatorial bid, the campaign said. “I deeply appreciate the support of these community leaders who work hard on the ground each and every day,” Newsom said. You can check out that list here. The list was released a day after Newsom was shown to be trailing Attorney General Jerry Brown in the latest Field Poll. The Newsom camp said it’s way to early in the campaign to bank on polls. The Democratic primary for governor is not until...

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Newsom Tracker: Quiet days

The mayor’s schedule has been quiet in the last two days. Mayor Gavin Newsom has no public appearances today or meeting at City Hall, according to his schedule. Word around town is he’s spending part of his days working on his campaign, which took a hit in an early poll released...

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SF gets $10M from feds for solar projects

San Francisco has received $10 million in federal stimulus funding to boost solar energy usage in The City, it was announced today. The City was one of 16 municipalities nationwide to receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for solar projects, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The money will help eliminate financial barriers and other obstacles that stand in the way of solar installations in affordable housing buildings, public schools and untapped neighborhoods, The City said. San Francisco was selected to receive money for its leadership in the solar energy movement, the feds said. The Department of Energy cited The City’s work since the 1970s in the...

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Newsom Tracker: Calm after the storm

A day after he was all over The City – including a middle school in Visitacion Valley, at City College, and at Harding Park for the PGA event – Mayor Gavin Newsom’s schedule has apparently calmed a bit. He will be conducting meetings at City Hall, says today’s schedule from the Mayor’s...

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Healthy S.F. may land in high court

While the nearly three-year legal battle over the employer-spending mandate for The City’s affordable health care program waits upon a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, business owners continue to pay. In November 2006, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association sued The City in U.S. District Court, seeking to invalidate a mandate within San Francisco’s newly passed Health Care Security Ordinance requiring medium- and large-sized companies to pay a minimum amount for employee health care or pay into a city fund that provides health care to uninsured residents. In June 2009, in response to a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against the association of local...

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Niners: Break up the gridlock

Traffic gridlock at 49ers games extends to the fight about keeping the team in The City. Transportation has become the Catch-22, as the 49ers demand accessible roads and public transit exist before they commit to remaining in San Francisco, while city officials say they cannot seek federal funding for transportation fixes when lawmakers are convinced the team has one foot out the door. After years of jumping over legal and bureaucratic hurdles to set the stage for construction of a modern football stadium at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, transportation issues for the proposed venue will remain snarled until the team pledges to stay in San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom told...

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Jerry Brown launching exploratory committee

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is ready to ramp up his fundraising efforts, which could help him in a bid for the governor’s mansion. Brown filed paperwork Tuesday with the secretary of state for a “Brown for Governor 2010 Exploratory Committee,” according to his campaign. Launching an exploratory committee for the governor’s race doesn’t mean Brown is officially running, but it does mean he can raise money as if he were. The state’s top cop thus far has been fundraising for the attorney general’s race. A person can donate no more than $13,000 to Brown for that effort — $6,500 for the primary and $6,500 for the general election...

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The brief Newsom and Clinton itinerary

Mayor Gavin Newsom just can’t wait to hang out with former President Bill Clinton in Los Angeles next week – and while they’re good friends, everyone knows this rendezvous is purely political. Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign this afternoon released a brief itinerary of their plans for Oct. 5. The plans mark the first time Clinton will publicly appear by the mayor’s side in support of his bid to become governor. Clinton and Newsom will first visit a new, LEED-certified science and technology facility at Los Angeles City College and will speak to faculty and students about education for future job opportunities in green technology, the campaign release said....

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Feds pitch in funds for SF public housing

Two city housing developments are about to become more modern and energy-efficient with new funding help from the feds. Last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development doled out $500 million in grants to public housing authorities nationwide that will be used to build or renovate apartments and to make existing units more energy efficient. For those efforts, the Ping Yuen development in Chinatown received $8.5 million, and the Westside Courts development in Western Addition received nearly $4 million, the agency said. “The agencies will have resources to install new energy efficient technologies to conserve energy, such as Energy Star appliances, high-efficiency...

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Market Street taking a turn in a new direction

Forced detours from Market Street in The City are intended to be a turning point for the bustling thoroughfare’s future. Beginning Tuesday, eastbound drivers will be forced to turn off Market Street at two intersections. It’s part of a study that will look at limiting vehicle traffic and boosting transit service and pedestrian usage along the corridor. The changes mean drivers will be encouraged to turn right off Market Street at 10th Street and then be forced to turn right at Eighth Street. Vehicles that turn right on Market Street from Seventh Street will be pushed back off to Sixth Street. Muni, taxis and delivery vehicles are exempt from making right turns at any of the...

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Response to emergencies can be slow

In potentially deadly situations when every second counts, emergency responders show up to The City’s northeastern neighborhoods more than a minute earlier than those in southern areas, a new report said. Pacific Heights, the Marina district and surrounding neighborhoods had the quickest time for a first responder to arrive at the scene of an emergency following a 911 call at 4 minutes 3 seconds, according to a San Francisco Fire Department report due to be released Thursday. There’s a discrepancy, however, between the times the Fire Department posts when reporting to calls in areas that fall outside the northern part of San Francisco. It took more than 5 minutes for first...

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Removing graffiti can be risky

Wiping graffiti off buildings, benches and bus shelters might make The City easier on the eyes, but some of the chemicals used for those efforts are not easy on the health of city workers, according to a new city document. Some of the dozens of products used to combat graffiti in The City are “extremely hazardous” to humans and are “widely used by city staff,” according to a document released by the Department of Environment. Some products contain harmful chemicals, including carcinogens and other toxins that can cause cancer, reproductive problems and asthma among other health conditions, the document said. And while toxic graffiti removal products are said to...

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Reelin' in the tourists

The tepid tourism economy in San Francisco will receive a shot in the arm during the Indian summer, as large events and conventions bring visitors — and their money — to The City. Keeping an influx of guests is important, since tourism dollars are one of the largest fillers of city coffers. San Francisco had about 131,000 visitors a day last year, spending more than $22 million per day and helping to generate more than $527 million in tax revenue, according to the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. Those were record numbers, but don’t expect them again this year because of the economy, said Dan Goldes, the bureau’s executive vice president. Folks are...

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Big-name backing may do little for mayor

Even though a big name — former President Bill Clinton — has stepped up to help Mayor Gavin Newsom in his gubernatorial bid, political insiders say the early endorsement shows Newsom’s campaign is struggling. News broke early Tuesday that Clinton — who also endorsed Newsom in his first mayoral run — will attend two of the mayor’s campaign events in Los Angeles on Oct. 5. One of the joint appearances will be a fundraiser for the Democratic primary. “President Clinton’s record of achievement as president and as a senior statesman is inspiring to all Democrats,” Newsom said in a statement. Clinton also stepped in to Newsom’s...

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Newsom makes case for swifter Mirant shutdown

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s charm wasn’t enough to reverse a ruling by state regulators to keep a Potrero Hill power plant operating for longer than he and other city officials had hoped for. City officials have spent several years trying to close the Mirant Corp. plant and expected it would be shut down by the end of 2010. However, the California Independent Systems Operator, or Cal-ISO, voted Friday to keep the 40-year-old fossil fuel plant running at least through next year. Two transmission projects must still be completed before the plant's complete closure can be approved, Cal-ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle said. Newsom on Monday met over lunch with Cal-ISO President...

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Newsom chats with Pulitzer-winning author

Mayor Gavin Newsom spent some time Thursday afternoon with Pulitzer-prize winning author and New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman. Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard said the quintessential storyteller chatted with the mayor about such topics as environmentalism and the financial markets. Friedman also chatted about his book, "Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0 -Why We Need a Green Revolution - And How it Can Renew America," he said. Former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, Michael Cohen from the Mayor's Office of Economic & Workforce Development, and Environment Department head Jared Blumenfeld also joined the conversation, Ballard...

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Judge denies ex-cop’s Taser defense

The claim that the former BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed passenger did so accidentally, thinking he was using his Taser, was rejected Thursday by a judge who also denied a motion to dismiss or reduce a murder charge in the case. There is “ample” evidence that Johannes Mehserle knew he was holding a gun, not a Taser, when he fatally shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant III, Judge Thomas Reardon said, according to court documents released by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. Mehserle, who has pleaded not guilty, resigned from the BART police force six days after the high-profile New Year’s Day shooting. The killing occurred after a BART...

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Rehab aims to boost Divisadero

Michael Richardson sees it as a no pain, no gain situation. The longtime restaurateur said upcoming construction along a rough stretch of Divisadero Street, where he operates the popular Da’ Pitt BBQ, will likely impact his business and others. But the disruption will be worth it in the long run, Richardson said. Starting Monday, city crews will break ground on a major facelift of Divisadero Street between Geary Boulevard and Waller Street that is expected to last until early 2011. For those familiar with the corridor’s cracked streets and crime-ridden past, the planned improvements border on the unbelievable. Potholes will be filled, sidewalks will feature new public...

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Herrera: ‘Sign it, Arnold!”

Don’t allow health insurance companies to discriminate against women by charging them more for individual policies than men. That’s what San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is saying in urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign state legislation banning the practice. The City has been aggressively challenging an existing law that permits so-called “gender rating.” The practice “forces women who purchase individual health insurance to pay monthly premiums up to 39 percent higher than those paid by similarly situated men -- even for health insurance that excludes maternity coverage,” Herrera said in a statement. Rather than move forward with the...

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SF offers reward for mission Fremont boy

Mayor Gavin Newsom has offered up a $25,000 reward to anyone who can help catch and prosecute whoever abducted 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell. The Fremont child, who has cerebral palsy, was reported missing from the parking lot of an Oakland shoe store Aug. 10. The boy’s foster parents are suspects in his disappearance, but have not been charged due to insufficient evidence. The City’s contribution reportedly brings the total reward for information leading to the conviction in the case to $60,000. "If you have any leads, please contact the Oakland Police Department," Newsom said in a...

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Newsom edging Brown in Twitter battle

While recent polls have Mayor Gavin Newsom trailing state Attorney General Jerry Brown in the gubernatorial primary, the mayor is at least winning one popularity contest – on Twitter. The 41-year-old Newsom has garnered 985,557 followers on his Twitter page, while the 71-year-old Brown only has 747,365. Despite her Internet background, Republican candidate and former eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman, 53, has just 3,052 followers. Whitman has also been the least active – her campaign-focused Twitter site has posted 153 Tweets. Newsom has 432 and Brown 139. To be fair, the youthful Newsom has been more active on the Web than most politicians. He first announced his...

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L.A. film festival director Rachel Rosen comes to The City

The former director of programming for Film Independent and the Los Angeles Film Festival has returned to The City to take on the same leadership role for the San Francisco Film Society. Before her eights in L.A., Rosen was associate director of programming at the film society. Why have you decided to come back? I’ve been watching how the San Francisco Film Society has grown and changed since Graham Leggat took the helm and I’m really excited about what is going on at the organization. The opportunity to program for a vital, year-round organization in a city that loves great film was too good to resist. How wide of a difference is L.A. and S.F. when it comes to...

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JetBlue adds to SFO service

More cheap flights are coming to San Francisco International Airport. The airline industry continues to suffer economic pains, but discount carrier JetBlue Airways said Thursday it plans to add four daily flights starting in January at the Bay Area’s busiest airport. Two flights will touch down from Long Beach, one will leave for Boston’s Logan International Airport and another will go to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The additional service will have JetBlue planes departing from SFO 11 times a day, the airport said. The news is in line with a growing trend of low-fare carriers expanding at SFO. Southwest and Virgin America recently added flights...

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BART probe becoming pricey

The cost of an investigation into the fatal shooting of a passenger by a BART police officer has more than doubled in recent weeks. Early Jan. 1, a BART train was stopped at the Fruitvale station in Oakland after reports of a fight onboard. BART police, including then-officer Johannes Mehserle, responded to the chaotic scene. At one point during the melee on the station platform, Mehserle fatally shot Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Hayward man, who was laying face down. In the wake of the shooting, BART hired the Oakland-based law firm Meyers Nave on Feb. 11 to conduct an independent probe. BART began seeking outside investigative help following public allegations that it had mishandled...

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Joe D’Alessandro offers the world a look around

Joe D’Alessandro came to San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge a virtual red carpet. But that icon now probably seems more like a tightrope for a man working to keep The City’s tourism business afloat. The 53-year-old Sacramento-raised travel expert — who spent a good portion of his youth in San Francisco, where he had family — became the head of The City’s largest cash cow, tourism, in the summer of 2006. He is snazzily dressed, smooth-talking, and surprisingly genuine, having waltzed into town as a perfectly wrapped package. He was chosen from a pool of around 150 candidates, and word around town was he could sell Afghanistan as Laguna Beach. At a...

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Track rehabilitation to make ride smoother, less noisy

Caltrain commuters will soon enjoy a smoother train ride to work as graveyard-shift workers continue the three-week process of ironing out defects along 52 miles of track. Caltrain crews recently began the overnight work of smoothing out the agency’s rails, using an industrial-sized grinder to iron out any kinks caused by aging and general wear-and-tear, the agency said. “The rail grinding project will result in measurably reduced noise impacts for neighbors next to the right of way and a safer, smoother ride for passengers,” it said in a statement. The work occurs between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. and is expected to be finished by April 13. The agency is...

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Transit-fare hikes becoming norm

The cost of commuting is creeping up. Agencies across the Bay Area have either increased the price of their service or are planning to do so as they struggle to make ends meet. BART has warned that it may be increasing ticket prices in July, Caltrain began charging an extra 25 cents in January for trips and last week AC Transit also decided to charge an extra quarter for regular adult fares. Drivers have not avoided price hikes either, with all eight Bay Area toll bridges enforcing dollar increases. There’s even a suggestion to raise the toll for carpoolers on all crossings except the Golden Gate Bridge, which is the most expensive at $6 for a southbound trip. Now Muni, which...

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Nothing stands in way of bus trips

San Franciscans are a tough bunch. Unlike in most other Bay Area cities, residents here are more willing to pass by drug deals, robberies and other criminal activity in order to travel around town via mass transit. In places like Oakland, Berkeley and Sunnyvale, the high-crime neighborhoods tend to scare people away from using nearby transit services, the study found. Folks had a tendency to walk less in those neighborhoods, choosing to drive instead, according to a new study from the Mineta Transportation Institute. That’s not the case in The City. Residents not only expect to witness crime near transit hubs, including those in the Mission district, they say that quick access...

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BART explores perk for riders

It’s about time BART riders are offered a discounted monthly pass, transit agency Director Tom Radulovich said Thursday. Ridership has been on a progressive downturn in recent months due to the recession and lower gas prices, but a discounted monthly pass might keep BART’s regular riders from switching to vehicle transportation, Radulovich said at the agency’s regular meeting. “Most other transit agencies give a discounted monthly pass,” he said. “For whatever reason, we’ve decided not to reward our regular riders.” Aside from Muni, monthly passes are offered on most major regional transit agencies, including Caltrain and SamTrans. The...

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AT&T takes alternate path with vehicles

The old AT&T slogan, “Fewest Dropped Calls,” may one day morph into, “Most Fuel-Efficient Cars.” The phone service company – which has been testing a new fleet of alternative-fuel vehicles on Bay Area roads – announced this week it plans to spend $565 million to add more than 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles to its fleet over the next 10 years. It is the largest commitment by a U.S. corporation to vehicles using alternative fuels, the company said. AT&T said it will spend $350 million on 8,000 compressed natural gas vehicles. Natural gas is a fossil fuel, but burning it produces 25 percent less carbon emissions than using gasoline, AT&T...

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'Left Coast Lifter' boosts Bay Bridge construction

A new towering pillar will spring up near the section of the Bay Bridge being rebuilt. It is not a section of the new eastern span, though, that is rising out of the water, but rather a crane that will help complete construction of the world’s largest single-tower, self-anchored suspension bridge. The crane, which is the largest crane barge on the West Coast, was maneuvered under the Golden Gate and Bay bridges Thursday afternoon. “This is the point in time when all those historic photos will be taken for how we build the new Bay Bridge,” Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said. The massive crane — nicknamed “Left Coast Lifter” — is fixed to a barge...

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Skies just became a lot more friendly

Have any summer vacation plans? Better act now. With an ailing economy keeping folks close to home, demand for airfare is remarkably low, along with ticket prices. In some cases, prices for international and domestic trips are half of what they were last spring, said Tom Parsons, chief executive of Bestfares.com. That’s because cash-strapped family budgets, corporate travel cutbacks and other economic factors are decreasing the need for air travel to the point that airlines are clamoring to fill empty seats, Parsons said. It’s as if the “stars are in alignment” for bargain-hunting travelers, who are also benefiting from lower fuel costs and a host of other...

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Highway 1 tunnel bores ahead

The crumbling economy has not slowed construction of the Devil’s Slide tunnels along Highway 1, but the Earth’s unpredictable layers of soil have. New passageways are being created to bypass a stretch of Highway 1 between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay that is often covered by landslides and storm-caused erosion. The tunnels will likely open to traffic during summer 2011, six months later than expected, Caltrans spokesman Bob Haus told The Examiner. The reason for the latest delay is workers — who have bored nearly halfway through the 4,200-foot tunnels after 18 months of digging — are being met with a challenging array of mountain matter that has made the job more...

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Short runways threaten SFO

Landings and takeoffs at San Francisco International Airport can be scenic — with the Bay and surrounding cityscape — but it is those same iconic attributes that could lead to fewer planes being able to land there. SFO lacks an adequate buffer for arriving and departing planes due to short runways that are hemmed in by the Bay and nearby highways. In 2005, two accidents that occurred at airports in Chicago and New Jersey prompted federal lawmakers to mandate that U.S. airports create at least 1,000 feet of “safety areas” on both ends of runways by 2015. The safety areas must be at least 500-feet wide. SFO is among 11 major airports having trouble meeting the...

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Muni discipline is improving the system

A crackdown on unruly Muni drivers has helped the transit agency increase its safety and on-time performance, according to officials. Once criticized for breaking the rules with little repercussion, operators are more than ever being held accountable for their actions, said Ken McDonald, the chief financial officer and self-proclaimed disciplinarian for the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency, which oversees Muni. Just 19 Muni drivers were suspended for breaking the rules during fiscal year 2007, but that number rose to 311 the following year, according to agency data. The number of Muni drivers who were fired for violating rules also rose when comparing 2007 and 2008, from 43 to...

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Venue upgrade tough for some to listen to

The Masonic Center could soon be rocking even more, which is not music to some neighbors’ ears. For 36 years, the auditorium has featured top acts such as Frank Sinatra, Feist and Van Morrison. But its current configuration lacks the standing-only space near the stage typical of The City’s more popular rock venues. Updating the seating area is one of the main changes included in renovation plans, said Lee Smith, chairman of Live Nation SF, the concert organizer that is the helping partner in the revamp. A space without seating also provides the flexibility to bring in dining tables for comedy and other acts, Smith said. The renovations would add more than 200 patrons to the...

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Kaiser to give free surgery to uninsured

He’s a contract construction worker struggling to land jobs in this dreadful economy. He will earn less than $8,000 this year, has no company-paid health benefits and is nursing a painful hernia that will cost upward of $20,000 to medically repair. He is not anyone in particular, but an all-too-familiar example of what many low-income, uninsured Bay Area residents are facing today, according to health officials. On Saturday, at least 27 locals with similar roadblocks will not have to worry about paying big bucks for much-needed medical care as part of the fifth annual “super surgery” pro-bono event at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco. A crew of 84...

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Rolling toward a record for a good cause

Step aside, Energizer Bunny. On March 21, percussionist Chris Anthony says he will set out to prove that human kindness can outlast anything battery-powered. The San Mateo resident plans to shatter the Guinness world record for longest individual drum roll at Tierra Linda Middle School in San Carlos. He plans the frantic assault on his snare drum to last four hours, starting at 9:15 a.m. The current record is 1 hour, 22 minutes, 5 seconds. Meanwhile, Anthony hopes his wearied hands and beaten drum will raise money for the battle against multiple sclerosis, a disabling disease of the central nervous system that affects 400,000 Americans. The longtime musician — whose father and...

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Muni hires new safety chief

Muni drivers have a new friend — and possibly a foe. The hiring of a new chief safety officer comes four months after an agency report showed accidents between Muni vehicles and pedestrians nearly doubled from the end of fiscal year 2006 to the same period in 2008. Since the report, Municipal Transportation Agency Chief Executive Nathaniel Ford has been on a crusade to improve safety, which included a national search. On Tuesday, the transit agency announced the hiring of 24-year transit-safety veteran James Dougherty as the chief safety officer and director of transportation safety. Dougherty — the former general manager of safety and security of Charlotte, N.C.’s...

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SFO testing naughty security station

A controversial new type of security device that can peer beneath travelers’ clothes will begin a trial run today at San Francisco International Airport. The new technology — already undergoing tests at about two dozen U.S. airports — is more effective than metal detectors because it can spot nonmetallic items, including plastic and liquid explosives, according to the Transportation Security Administration. It can also provide screeners a grainy view of a passenger’s naked body, including the outlines of the genitalia many would likely rather keep hidden. That has raised privacy concerns among some passengers. “I wouldn’t want them seeing me naked,...

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PG&E’s Peter Darbee is brimming with energy

The global-warming battle in California could hinge on the Long Island boy who admits he was an awful grammar school student. Peter Darbee — the meticulous president and chief executive officer of Pacific Gas & Electric Co., California’s largest utility owner — said he struggled in the fifth grade to bring decent marks home to his parents. At the time, he said he was reading at a third-grade level and turning in consistently dismal report cards. He even lacked an advantage in gym class. "I was not a very good athlete at all," he said. These are serious obstacles for any child, particularly one facing stiff expectations from his parents. Darbee’s...

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FBI still searching for serial bank robber

A heavy-set thief who robbed four San Francisco banks last summer remains on the lam, and federal authorities expect him to strike again. The Federal Bureau of Investigations is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. The suspect is described as a black man in his 30s weighing up to 300 pounds. In each robbery, which took place between July and September, he handed a bank clerk a note threatening violence, said Special Agent Joseph Schadler. He struck the Wells Fargo on Van Ness Avenue; US Bank on Mission Street; Washington Mutual on Mission Street; and Bank of America on Geary Boulevard. In each robbery, he wore a baseball cap and black jacket with a front...

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Public to be left in dark on probe

An internal investigation into the fatal shooting of an unarmed BART passenger — done by an independent firm — will be largely shielded from the public due to legal roadblocks, lawyers conducting the probe said. Oakland-based Meyers Nave was hired several weeks ago by the transit agency to conduct a separate investigation into the events surrounding the Jan. 1 shooting death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III by former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle on the Fruitvale station platform. Lawyers told BART directors Thursday they will also investigate whether the six other officers on the platform at the time of the killing should be disciplined or terminated, whether their...

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Job losses weigh on ridership

BART riders are finding more empty seats on peak-hour trains in recent days — but the added comfort could mean higher fares in the near future. In January, about 2,200 fewer riders boarded BART trains on weekdays than in the same month in 2008, marking the first decline in ridership in more than a year, according to transit agency data. The figure does not count the route zipping passengers to San Francisco International Airport, which continues to rise as the airport expands with more low-fare domestic service. Still, the transit agency — which relies heavily on fare revenue and a portion of regional sales taxes to operate its 669 trains and 104 miles of track — said...

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Calm surf stalling Mavericks

The Mavericks Surf Contest could be a total bummer this year, as it’s looking like the famous big-wave competition will have to be canceled. Surf forecasters said Wednesday that calm ocean conditions expected in March may lead to the cancellation of the annual surf competition for the second time in three years. Unless an ocean condition called La Niña weakens or the wind patterns on the equator shift dramatically (both of which are unlikely), Mother Nature will not produce the 30-foot-tall waves needed to hold the world-famous contest. Mavericks, which is held at a legendary break off Pillar Point, has a narrow window of opportunity in which near-perfect ocean conditions...

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Armstrong's impact felt on race

Lance Armstrong not only brought a record number of fans and media outlets to the Amgen Tour of California this year, he also made sure teammate Levi Leipheimer crossed the finish line here as a champion. While Armstrong mania has skyrocketed interest in the nation’s biggest cycling race — last year’s attendance record of 1.6 million was eclipsed after Saturday’s Stage 7 in Pasadena — the seven-time Tour de France winner’s surprising strength on a bicycle after a 3½-year retirement impacted the race itself as much as the hype surrounding it. At several points during the nine-day, 750-mile Tour, Leipheimer — now a three-time winner of the...

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Leipheimer wins third straight Tour title

In the end, the Amgen Tour of California was a film director’s dream — as long as you were reading from Team Astana’s screenplay. Your lead actor, Levi Leipheimer, recited his lines without stutter. Your best actor in supporting a role, Lance Armstrong, is likely up for an Oscar. And aside from the unpredictable events that tend to muddy nine-day, 750-mile bike races — including battering rains, frosted mountaintops, wind-whipped valleys, brutal climbs, hospitalizations, flat tires and a few stolen bicycles — the venerable Astana cyclists pedaled into the last scene of their flawless film Sunday with both an individual and team victory. Fittingly, it...

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Leipheimer keeps yellow jersey; Nocentini wins Stage 7

PASADENA - "Mission accomplished” and “one day to go” were two phrases Levi Leipheimer hoped to say Saturday afternoon at Rose Bowl Stadium. He comfortably won the right to say both. With one stage left in the nine-day, 750-mile Amgen Tour of California, Leipheimer – the two-time defending champion and current overall leader – completed a successful Stage 7 Saturday in which his seemingly unrivaled Astana team – which includes the iconic Lance Armstrong – launched him with single-file precision from Santa Rita to Pasadena. The Santa Rosa resident completed the 88.9-mile jaunt contently within the large peloton, crossing the finish line...

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3 in a row: Leipheimer wins crucial time trial stage

With three fingers raised skyward, Levi Leipheimer crossed the finish line in Solvang on Friday looking like someone who had just hiked up a grueling mountain and won a glorious view of the trail’s end. Having done exactly what he’d intended in this colorful, Danish-style town in Santa Barbara County — from tucking tightly into his handlebars to pedaling for dear life — the Santa Rosa resident won the crucial Stage 6 time trial of the Amgen Tour of California for the third time in as many years, a result that inched him ever closer to a third straight Tour victory. Leipheimer cleared the 15-mile stage in 30 minutes, 40 seconds, an improvement from last year. The...

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3 in a row: Leipheimer wins crucial time trial stage

Levi Leipheimer has at least one three-peat in the bag. Tucked tightly into his handlebars and pedaling like mad, the Santa Rosa resident on Friday won the 15-mile Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California on Friday for the third time in as many years, a result that added to his overall Tour lead with two stages to go. Leipheimer, the Tour’s two-time defending champion, finished with an unofficial time of 30 minutes, 40 seconds, beating his time from last year and also outpacing David Zabriskie -- who is third overall in the Tour and Leipheimer’s greatest threat -- by about seven seconds. Aussie Michael Rogers lost his second-place standing, finishing in...

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Armstrong to ride stolen bike today

Lance Armstrong says he will ride his once-stolen $10,000 time-trial bike during today’s Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California in Solvang. The one-of-a-kind Trek bike -- which had been nabbed from a team truck near the hotel where cyclists were staying the night following the Sacramento prologue of the 750-mile race -- was found and turned into police earlier this week by a local resident and apparently returned to Armstrong sometime Thursday. The bike is the same as it was, except for one change, Armstrong said. “Only [difference] was a line [printed on the bike] that said, ‘Ride it like you stole it,’” the seven-time Tour de France winner...

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Cavendish sprints to second straight stage win

Stage 5: Visalia to Paso Robles Mark Cavendish — the Briton oft-called the world’s fastest man on a bicycle — has a new rival to contend with: Himself. With less than a half-mile remaining in Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California on Thursday, a sprinting Cavendish spotted a shadow on the road he first thought belonged to his racing nemesis, Belgian Tom Boonen. The sight of it, he said, was enough to push him harder to the finish line. The only problem? The shadow, said Cavendish, was not Boonen’s — it was his own. “And it kept me going,” a chuckling Cavendish said just moments after he outpaced Boonen at the finish for a second straight...

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Clark Wolf brings knowledge of cheese to the table

The author of “American Cheeses,” who also ran a cheese shop at the base of Nob Hill back in 1976, will talk about his book Saturday at the Cheese School of San Francisco. What first made you fall in love with cheese? The first time was at the Cheese Board Co-op in Berkeley. I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, and the clerk behind the counter said, “Try this! Try some of this!” I thought, “This is really delicious.” Everything behind the counter was delicious, the cheeses and the clerk. It was revelatory. How does the U.S. compare to Europe in its cheese-making? We are now beginning to be the real deal. In Europe, we know cheeses by their...

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Leipheimer keeps lead as Cavendish wins 4th stage

Levi Leipheimer certainly gets by with a little help from his friends. His Astana teammates — namely the legendary Lance Armstrong — successfully helped Leipheimer retain the yellow jersey Wednesday during Stage 4 of the Amgen Tour of California, acting as capable escorts across the snow-capped Sierra foothills. The stage, a challenging 115.4-mile trek from Merced to Clovis, ran under sunny skies for the first time since the nine-day, 750-mile Tour began this past weekend. The stage was won by Britain’s Mark Cavendish, who outpaced Belgian Tom Boonen by a hair. Cavendish and Boonen were members of a large and powerful peloton that managed to erase a six-minute lead...

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Police: Armstrong's stolen bike recovered

A Sacramento resident found Lance Armstrong’s stolen time-trial bike and handed it over to local police Wednesday morning. The distinctive $10,000 Trek bicycle — which was reportedly robbed from a truck belonging to Armstrong’s team, Astana, sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning — was turned in at around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Police Department said in a statement. Armstrong, along with about 130 of the world’s best cyclists, are midway through the Amgen Tour of California, a nine-day stage race crossing 16 cities from Sacramento to Escondido. His bike was reportedly stolen the night after he used it in Sacramento’s prologue, near a downtown...

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Hushovd sprints to Stage 3 win; Leipheimer retains yellow jersey

Levi Leipheimer said it was no big deal. But his crash Tuesday during a blustery Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California had many worrying the Astana cyclist would have to be carted off the roadway by ambulance, thus jeopardizing his chances at winning the Tour for a third straight year. No dice. The tough-nut Leipheimer — sore, but not seriously injured — got right back up, switched bikes, rejoined the peloton and managed to retain the yellow jersey for another day. Thor Hushovd, the Norwegian riding with the Swiss team Cervelo, won the 101-mile stage from San Jose to Modesto in 4 hours, 28 minutes, 12 seconds, holding off sprinter Oscar Freire of Rabobank to the finish in a...

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Police have Armstrong bike theft surveillance tape

Sacramento police have a received a surveillance tape that might out the thieves that stole Lance Armstrong’s distinctive time-trial bike from a team truck last weekend. Detectives hit the streets Tuesday in pursuit of witnesses and clues that might shed light on who broke into the Astana truck near a downtown Sacramento hotel where team members were staying sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning, Officer Laura Peck said. The officer who initially responded to the theft call indicated in his report that he had seen a surveillance video, but investigators have not yet received the tape, Peck said. Media reports indicating the video shows the perpetrators stealing the bike have...

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Leipheimer captures the yellow jersey in Santa Cruz

Ben Jacques-Maynes said it was “like a motorcycle passing you.” “A small motorcycle,” the Bissell Pro racer quipped. He was talking about an amazing last-stretch effort Monday afternoon by 5-foot-7 Levi Leipheimer, whose relentless surge in the final climb of Stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California garnered him the yellow jersey and kept him on pace for a third straight tour win. Garmin-Slipstream’s Thomas Peterson won the stage — a drizzly, 116-mile coastal ride from Sausalito to Santa Cruz — drafting off Leipheimer as they dipped into Santa Cruz and passing him at the finish. Peterson completed the rain-ravaged affair in 5 hours, 6 minutes, 20...

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Few brave rain to watch Tour pass

Corey Warner didn’t care about the rain, the wind or that he wasn’t clutching an umbrella Monday morning. After hearing the Amgen Tour of California would be passing through The City, the San Franciscan hopped on his bicycle and rode out to Ocean Beach, braving the soggy conditions just to catch a glimpse of 135 of the world’s best cyclists — including the legendary Lance Armstrong — zip down the Great Highway. Warner, joined by a friend visiting from Chicago, was one of only a hundred or so folks that came out to watch the Ocean Beach stretch of the fourth annual Tour. Persistent rain dampened the hype surrounding The City’s part in the nine-day,...

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Mancebo wins first stage; Leipheimer second overall

Francisco Mancebo was on the brink of quitting professional cycling after being named three years ago in a Spanish doping scandal that forced him out of the 2006 Tour de France. It’s a good thing he chose to stick around. The 32-year-old Spaniard astonished the Tour of California Sunday afternoon by winning the 107.6-mile first stage from Davis to Santa Rosa in 4 hours, 11 minutes, 7 seconds. He replaced Fabian Cancellara, who won Saturday’s prologue in Sacramento, as the Tour’s yellow-jersey leader, and finished about two minutes ahead of a group that included Astana riders Lance Armstrong and two-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer. Leipheimer, who finished...

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Lance Armstrong's bike swiped in Sacramento

Lance Armstrong’s distinctive time-trial bike was stolen sometime Saturday night, and the cycling legend is offering an unspecified reward for its safe return. "There is only one like it in the world therefore hard to pawn it off. Reward being offered," Armstrong wrote on the Twitter page he uses to keep fans abreast of news as he competes in the Amgen Tour of California. The bike was stolen from the Team Astana truck during the night before Stage 1 of the Tour of California. Armstrong rode the bike to a 10th-place finish Saturday in Sacramento during the Tour prologue. The race is his first competitive appearance in his native country since the seven-time Tour de...

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Armstrong, Leipheimer on track after Tour of California prologue

Lance Armstrong is not only back – it’s almost like he never left. The legendary cyclist coasted to an impressive 10th in the prologue of the Amgen Tour of California Saturday in downtown Sacramento, zipping through the 2.4 mile course in 4 minutes, 37.17 seconds, just over 4 seconds behind winner Fabian Cancellara. Cancellara, who rides for Team Saxo Bank, will wear the Tour of California's first yellow jersey for the second straight year. The tour’s two-time defending champion, Levi Leipheimer, finished second in 4:34. "I was not expecting it to go like this," Cancellara said. "It was big on the agenda for us to get this win for the...

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Lance faces off with media

Some say Lance Armstrong is too old for a comeback. Of course, that’s far from the 37-year-old cycling legend’s opinion. Armstrong — who continues his return to the sport after a three-year hiatus when the Amgen Tour of California begins Saturday — talked about feeling a decade younger than his age at a news conference that was less of a prelude to a race as it was a standoff between Armstrong and reporters. “I feel just as good as I did at 27,” he said, adding that cycling is as much a state of mind as it is a physical dependency. That was probably the easiest question Armstrong faced Thursday. Appearing before the media for the first time on U.S....

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New Stanford health center mixes comfort with innovation

If a swanky Ritz Carlton-like facility isn’t enough to draw patients to Stanford University’s new outpatient medical center, then maybe some of its clientele — the 49ers — will. When the new center opens its doors Tuesday, banged-up players from San Francisco’s pro football team will be among the patients roaming the halls of the state-of-the-art Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center, which takes up a wide space on Broadway, spanning the length of six football fields. It is a far cry from your standard white-walled hospital. With giant windows, privacy-centric rooms and a real-time information screen posting the status of patients undergoing care, the...

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Armstrong’s presence a boon for Tour cities

Bob Keyes said he was visiting the tiny town of St. James, Mo., when an elderly townswoman began chatting him up about Lance Armstrong. The 80-year-old woman, who discovered Keyes was a resident of Clovis, told Keyes there “was a buzz” Armstrong would be riding into his town during the 2009 Amgen Tour of California. In order to catch a glimpse of the seven-time Tour de France winner, the elderly woman told Keyes she planned on booking a flight to California, renting a car, reserving rooms at a variety of hotels along the Tour’s 16-city route, and driving the entire distance — all on her own. “She says to me, ‘Hey, can you put me up in a VIP booth if...

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Trio of Americans dominate loaded field

Pick a story — any story — and ride 750 miles with it. This year’s Amgen Tour of California — the star-studded nine-day stage race that begins with a prologue Saturday in Sacramento — has enough drama to fill an entire Olympics broadcast. Three Americans threaten to dominate the plot: Lance Armstrong, the cancer-beating dominator of the Tour de France who is returning from a three-year retirement; Floyd Landis, a fallen-from-grace superstar back from a two-year doping suspension; and Levi Leipheimer, the so-called “King of California,” a two-time returning champion facing stiff expectations of a three-peat. The three cyclists, particularly...

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Web site creator talks about Angie's List

Angie Hicks, the founder of Angie’s List, a Web site subscriber service where consumers can get reviews on companies from former customers, has grown to 750,000 subscribers. It’s also popular with venture capitalists, having received $18 million last year from Menlo Park-based firm Lighthouse Capital Partners. Why do you think Angie’s List is so popular when people can just get free recommendations from friends and neighbors? We have more than 20,000 members in the San Francisco area, so we take the idea of “word of mouth” and supersize it. Instead of getting a couple of recommendations from one or two neighbors, with Angie’s List you can access the...

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Cyclist Levi Leipheimer is more than a monarch

Susan Gorin calls it a “Levi sighting.” The Santa Rosa mayor says she often hears reports from locals saying they had spotted professional cyclist Levi Leipheimer training on city roads. “Levi doesn’t just live here,” Gorin says proudly. “He trains around here.” Another local, Gary Wysocky, first spotted the cyclist training along a stretch of Sonoma County road. Wysocky said he was able to interrupt Leipheimer for a 10-minute chat, which turned out to be a good-luck encounter: Leipheimer would eventually help him become a Santa Rosa lawmaker. “He endorsed me for City Council,” said Wysocky. Asked if he had ever gone on a bike ride...

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Mehserle released from prison on $3M bail

The former BART police officer accused of shooting an unarmed passenger in the back was released from jail Friday afternoon. Johannes Mehserle posted the $3 million bail and walked away from a Dublin jail after being held since Jan. 13. The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty to murdering 22-year-old Oscar Grant III. Mehserle shot Grant in the back while he was laying facedown and being restrained at the Fruitvale station on New Year’s Day. The incident — captured on amateur video widely circulated on television and the Internet — ignited outrage from community members, who protested a lack of an arrest in the case and alleged police discrimination. On the day of...

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Dragon set to wind through Chinatown

Waking a dragon is easy. It’s much trickier to make the fearsome beast come alive and slither along The City’s streets. Luckily, San Francisco has some of the best dragon tamers in the world. In the past few months, more than 100 members of Leung’s White Crane Dragon and Lion Dance Association — one of The City’s oldest cultural-dance and martial-arts studios, located in Chinatown — have been preparing to revive its sacred dragon during Saturday’s annual Chinese New Year Parade. The 100-plus-strong troupe is responsible for the gorgeous fanfare that engulfs Chinatown this time of year, when the massive dragon swoops down city streets surrounded...

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Caltrain makes concessions for bike-toting riders

In the next few months, bicyclists who ride Caltrain may have an easier time finding room for their two-wheelers during commute times. Cyclists traveling during rush hour have often complained of being stranded on platforms when there isn’t enough room for their bikes. The transit agency, facing ongoing pressure from cycling advocates, decided Thursday to order extra bike rakes, especially for the type of cars typically used on its Baby Bullet trains. The new racks will increase the number of bicycles that can fit on a train car from 16 to 24. Increased capacity, though, will mean the elimination of some seats. It won’t happen until at least next month, which is about how...

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Thirteen injured in BART collision

Thirteen people were injured and hundreds more had their nerves were rattled Tuesday when two BART trains collided near the 12th Street station. Just before 3 p.m., an operator-manned train traveling through an underground section of track near the station sideswiped another train traveling on automatic, said BART spokesman Jim Allison. The impact from the “minor” collision caused the lead car of both trains to derail, jolting passengers onboard, he said. At least 13 people reported injuries, but they were all minor, said Lt. David Brue, a spokesman for the Oakland Fire Department. “Everybody walked off the train just fine,” said BART’s chief spokesman,...

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Outrage about bail amount for ex-BART officer

The crowd outside the Oakland courtroom Friday boiled with outrage after it was announced that the former BART officer accused of fatally shooting a man on Jan. 1 had his bail set at $3 million. Ex-Officer Johannes Mehserle is charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III on Jan. 1 And while the $3 million bail is one of the highest amounts Attorney John Burris said he’s ever seen in his storied legal career, it was not enough for the family, Burris said. “The family is very disappointed,” said Burris, who is representing the Grant family in a civil lawsuit against BART. Two hours prior to the hearing, a coalition of activist groups...

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N-Judah trains collide with vehicle

A car ended up sandwiched between two N-Judah streetcars during rush hour Wednesday in the Inner Sunset district in a collision that sent a Muni operator to the hospital and snarled light-rail service in both directions for more than two hours. A red Saab was struck just after 4 p.m. by an outbound N-Judah train and was then hit by a passing inbound streetcar, Muni spokesman Judson True said. Somehow, the Saab, which was totaled in the accident, ended up trapped between the streetcars, which suffered only minor damages, he said. One Muni operator was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with a minor injury. No other injuries were reported, True said. The wreckage snarled...

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New video calls investigation into question

BART’s initial probe into the fatal shooting New Year’s Day of an unarmed passenger by a transit agency police officer is under fire after recently released footage of the incident shows another officer punching the Hayward father in the head prior to the shooting. On Jan. 12, BART announced it had completed its internal investigation into the death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III. That afternoon, police Chief Gary Gee said only the shooter, former Officer Johannes Mehserle, was being investigated in connection with the incident. The other six officers on the Fruitvale station platform that morning had followed proper police procedure, Gee said. But an amateur video clip that...

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Transit agency faces $100 million budget deficit

Talk about a hard road ahead. At its regular meeting today, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors will attempt to address a nearly $100 million deficit projected through fiscal year 2010. It will try to find ways to regain revenue amid a worsening economy — a task that usually leads to disquieting discussions of service cuts, fare hikes and delays to various transit improvement projects. In July, Muni will increase the cost of its monthly Fast Pass from $45 to $55. The agency is considering a proposal to tack on another $3 to the Fast Pass ticket in order to expand on a program that reduces the cost to $35 for The City’s poorest...

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Western Addition school wins ‘green makeover’ contest

A Western Addition elementary school is headed on an environmental shopping spree. The concrete-covered Rosa Parks Elementary School on Friday won a $250,000 “green makeover” prize as part of a contest between 14 schools in the San Francisco Unified School District. As part of the prize, the school will be outfitted with an environmentally friendly lighting retrofit, solar panels and a rooftop tree and flower garden, among other “green” upgrades, said contest organizers. The funds were awarded to the school that best expressed what “being green” means to students and staff, according to environmental media firm EcoMedia, which spearheaded the contest...

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Fare evaders beware-- no cuts planned to Muni inspectors

On a recent weekend afternoon, two swift teenagers snuck in through the rear doors of an outbound 6-Parnassus Muni bus on Market Street, beelining for the back seats in hopes of dodging the $1.50 fare. They apparently didn’t notice the Muni inspector onboard, who was on the lookout for sneaky fare evaders. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know you had to pay,” the inspector told the teens, who smirked sheepishly as they dug in their pockets for change. A once widely abused trend of riders hopping on The City’s packed buses and streetcars without paying has reversed some, as Muni hunts for ways to offset a growing deficit and cuts in state funding. In the...

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Toilet fires no laughing matter

Burning toilets may sound funny, but the potential hazard they pose is nothing to laugh about. At least 19 portable toilets have been set ablaze since November in the Russian Hill neighborhood, according to police. The perplexing fires have been occurring at least weekly — five have been set this month alone. The blazes have caused in excess of $50,000 in damage to the toilet boxes, which are valued at about $2,500 apiece. They have yet to injure anyone or cause serious damage to nearby structures, said Lt. Mindy Talmadge of the San Francisco Fire Department. They have certainly sparked a few chuckles. In media reports, some of which presume the fires are being set by one...

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Fake cabbies still cruising for victims

Many of them dress in sharp suits and drive sleek town cars — but don’t let them fool you, police say. San Franciscans are reporting a high number of town-car drivers illegally posing as cab drivers in The City, despite stepped-up police efforts to bust them. A new police report presented last week to the Taxi Commission cites nearly 200 illegal cab pickups in The City last year, with officers arresting a record-high 33 drivers just last month. Hundreds of taxi wannabes are said to prowl the streets for unwitting passengers. The report recommends a continued citywide crackdown on the imposter taxis. “They’re pirates,” San Francisco police Sgt. Ron...

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Schoolchildren witness horrifying school bus accident

Four schoolchildren witnessed a horrific sight Friday morning when their school bus ran over a motorcyclist, killing him as its rear tire crushed his head. Frank Farris, 68, a resident of Brisbane, was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle alongside the school bus at around 7:30 a.m. on Bayshore Boulevard, just south of Industrial Street, said California Highway Patrol Officer Shawn Chase. At one point, Farris’ unexpectedly fell over on his bike and landed underneath the bus, Chase said. “Unfortunately, his head went under the right rear tire,” he said, adding that the motorcycle received only minor damages. The children, ages 10 through 14, were not injured in the...

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Victim's family denied chance to see face of accused

There was enough tension in the courtroom Thursday afternoon to spark a thousand protests. But in just three minutes, the court appearance for former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle was finished, and the silence was deafening. Weathering a day of insults, bomb scares and swarms of press cameras, Mehserle’s family, friends and colleagues stood their ground during a silent standoff with reporters and hecklers more than 30 minutes before entering the courtroom. Mehserle’s parents were immediately swept into the courtroom without comment. One protester shouted “coward” as they whisked past, adding, “Are you proud your son is a killer?” The...

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Mehserle’s attorney insists he will go free

The former BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man on New Year’s Day will be exonerated, his lawyer said Wednesday, as newly released documents allege that the victim was shot while his hands were behind his back. Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle is a “fine young man” who will be cleared of murder charges in the shooting death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III, said attorney Christopher Miller. Grant was one of several passengers detained by BART police at the Fruitvale station, following New Year’s Eve celebrations and a reported fight. Several well-circulated videos show the 27-year-old uniformed BART officer pulling his service...

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Gas prices on the rise in Bay Area

Gas prices in the Bay Area have risen 15 cents in the last month, but a battered economy will likely prevent them from rising much further, fuel experts say. The average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the Bay Area was $1.91 today, down from $1.76 a month ago, according to the AAA of Northern California. The price in The City was about $2.04, or 17 cents more than Dec. 13, says AAA’s gas survey. The price is only a fraction of what it was last summer, when the soaring cost of oil had local drivers paying as much as $5 per gallon. But recent cuts to global oil production helped bump up the price a bit in the last 30 days, although drivers shouldn’t expect to pay much...

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Muni Metro lines may speed up

Hold on to your seats, Muni riders: Plans for speedier streetcars are threatening to zip you to work on time. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, oft-criticized for its sluggish light-rail vehicles, is looking at ways to increase the speed limit on a stretch of Muni subway track between West Portal and Forest Hill to 50 mph. The top speed there is now 40 mph. The only existing portion of subway in which the speed limit reaches 50 mph is the straight shot between the Castro and Embarcadero stations, according to the transit agency. Two agency directors have expressed even more lust for speed. At the transit agency’s board meeting last week, Malcolm Heinicke and...

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BART postpones changes amid shooting backlash

Mired in the controversy of a passenger’s shooting death by a BART police officer, the transit agency’s board tabled a proposal Thursday that would make riders pay more for less train service. The sweeping proposal to cut millions from the struggling agency’s budget included raising fares by 10 percent, slashing two hours off the daily train schedule, shutting down as many as eight stations on weekends, layoffs and a continued hiring freeze, among other moves. The plan, however, was tabled at the board’s regular meeting Thursday, as the agency dealt with backlash from the fatal Jan. 1 shooting of a detained, unarmed passenger. A $25 million claim — the...

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Bay Area transit is cheaper than driving to work

No matter how low gas prices go, it still doesn’t pay to drive to work in the Bay Area, a new study says. On average, Bay Area drivers lose nearly $1,000 in monthly income — and more than $11,000 annually — by driving to work as opposed to riding BART, Muni or Caltrain, according to a new report from the American Public Transportation Association. The nationwide study compares a horde of miscellaneous automobile fees drivers must pay — including depreciation, finance charges and license registration — to the monthly cost of riding their area’s local transit. Nationally, public transit riders save on average $8,368 annually by not driving, which is...

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BART explores slowing service to save money

BART riders might have to wait longer for trains on weeknights and weekends as part of a cost-cutting proposal in the works. In January 2008, BART changed to service every 15 minutes after 7 p.m. weekdays, Saturdays and all day Sunday. But now the agency — facing its worst projected deficit in recent years — is proposing to return to service every 20 minutes during those times. The 20-minute increments are what BART used since it began service in 1972. At its Thursday meeting, BART staff will also present other cost-saving strategies as the agency braces for a fiscal crisis. Carter Mau, executive manager of BART’s budget and planning office, warned last month of a...

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The City still waiting on Muni plan

Chances are you’re still waiting just as long for streetcars and buses to arrive in San Francisco, despite efforts by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to keep routes on schedule. After years of criticism about Muni’s reliability, the transit agency’s ability to get vehicles to arrive at stops on time showed little to no improvement last fiscal year, according to its latest data. That’s even after Muni added more buses and streetcars in recent years to its 80-route system. In 1999, voters at the ballot box demanded that Muni, which carries more than 700,000 riders daily, increase its on-time performance to 85 percent — meaning buses would...

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Muni to snap traffic with route cameras

Drivers tired of stop-and-go traffic in The City might see some relief along the busiest corridors before the end of the year. On Tuesday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is expected to approve funding for a 250-day project to install cameras and digital-messaging signs along some of The City’s most congested streets. The cameras will allow the transit agency to monitor traffic conditions in real time and the digital signs will alert drivers to accidents, construction work and information on parking garage capacity, among other details. The $1.07 million project — funded with a sales tax approved by voters in 2003 — includes seven messaging signs and...

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Weather causing SFO delays on busiest travel day

The morning rains have delayed flights at the Bay Area’s busiest airport by an average of 84 minutes, bumming out fliers on the most hectic travel day of the holiday week. The delays at San Francisco International Airport will last throughout the day, and could get worse later this afternoon, said Duty Manager Lily Wang. The airport is experiencing its highest volume of travelers today as folks hurry home from their holiday travels, she said. “Today, there is a heavier volume of [fliers] than Saturday or Sunday,” Wang said. “People might be deciding to go home on a Friday before the weekend, before heading back to work Monday.” Wang said travelers should...

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Airlines in no hurry to slash fees

Airline fees soared when fuel prices rose this summer, but fliers anticipating cheaper airfare this coming year after oil prices dropped will likely be disappointed. While the recession has lowered demand for air travel, airlines are still reacting to last summer’s “perfect storm,” when record high fuel prices forced dozens of airlines to fold, cut flights, hike airfares and add fees for once-free amenities such as meals and checked bags. “I don’t see a significant reduction in fares on the way,” said analyst Terry Trippler. “And I think those new fees are here to stay.” At this point, even as the price of oil remains low — down...

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Caltrain fare hike kicks off new year

Got an extra quarter? You’re going to need it to ride Caltrain beginning Thursday, when the cost of a one-way ticket goes up 25 cents. The base-fare hike will have commuters paying an extra quarter per ride no matter how far they travel along Caltrain’s 77 miles of tracks between San Francisco and Gilroy. Rates for daily, monthly and multiride passes will be adjusted accordingly. The fare increase, approved in October, will help the transit agency overcome volatile fuel prices and rising operational costs, said spokeswoman Christine Dunn. Caltrain covers about 40 percent of its operating costs with ticket sales. The fare hike will provide an additional $943,500 through June...

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2009 predictions: The shape of things to come

Will the Newsoms settle down and have children in the new year? Can Obama deliver his campaign promises? Is it the end of football in The City? Don’t forget about Sarah Palin. Wipe off that poker face, because no one’s buying it. With an ongoing recession, a presidential transition and no clear understanding of the relationship between Madonna and New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, there are no safe bets on the outcomes of 2009. Will the 49ers announce a move to Santa Clara? Can California legislators balance the budget? Is this the year Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise split? The possibilities are countless and difficult to predict. The Examiner tapped an expert crew of...

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Iraqi boy injured in missile attack to arrive in S.F. for surgery

A 3-year-old Iraqi boy who lost his hearing last year during a U.S. missile strike in his hometown of Baquoba is set to arrive Wednesday at UC San Francisco for pro-bono restorative surgery. Surgeon Lawrence Lustig will attempt to return hearing to Mustafa Ghazwan, the victim of a deafening missile that struck his neighbor’s home June 17. The doctor will offer the boy a cochlear implant at UCSF Medical Center, with hospital staff providing subsequent rehabilitative treatment, the hospital announced. The surgery is part of a Los Angeles-based nonprofit group’s mission to provide treatment for children wounded in U.S. attacks. The group, called No More Victims, said it has so...

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Dry weather is expected during final week of year

The good news: The frenzy of Christmas has passed. The better news: The rain went with it. After a week of storm-drenched roads and flight delays, the forecast from now till New Year’s Day is dry and more dry, said Steven Anderson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. “Conditions will be improving throughout the day and well into next week,” he said. That might provide some relief to travelers who spent the past week camping out at airport terminals or driving cautiously on slippery highways. Rain persisted over the Bay Area for much of the pre-Christmas bustle, with some snow topping the highest peaks, and severe storms across the nation caused...

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Travel may be less ruff for pets

Dan Wiesel said his Jack Russell terrier Zoe is both his friend and close family member. What Zoe is not, Wiesel says, is cargo. The Lowell High School graduate said restrictive pet policies enforced by airlines have forced his family to travel short distances for getaways. When they want Zoe with them, the family pet has to be checked in like luggage. “She’s not a big dog,” Wiesel said. “But a little too big to fit under the seat.” Airlines have long had strict guidelines on pet travel, charging as much as $700 for a roundtrip flight and limiting the number, type and size of pets allowed per flight. That doesn’t sit well with pet lovers such as...

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3-minute interview: Ramu Yalamanchi

The CEO of the San Francisco-based social networking Web site hi5 discusses a new feature that allows users to offer each other virtual gifts — purchased with real money. What is a virtual gift? They are digital items you can give to someone on the site, basically JPEGs with ... an animated way of unwrapping [the gifts]. And since we are a global service with localized versions of hi5, we try to localize the gifts: For example, for the Mexican holiday Dia de los Reyes Magos on Jan. 6, we offer the [virtual image] of “Rosca,” a traditional round cake served during the holiday. How much does a virtual gift cost? A dollar around the world. What we’ve done is looked...

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Time-saving plan helps scoot travelers through airport security

Passengers scrambling to reach their gates at the nation’s airports often blame long, lagging lines at security checkpoints for missed flights. But a simple improvement to the security process at U.S. airports — including San Francisco International Airport — is not only slashing checkpoint wait times but also keeping solo fliers from having to linger behind sobbing children and their overwhelmed parents, authorities said. The new time-saving solution is called the family lane. In October, SFO installed the new lanes at all security checkpoints so Mom, Dad, the kids and others in need can receive special treatment without holding up the line, said Nico Melendez,...

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IRS reminds taxpayers of the benefits of donations

A charitable donation this year is money back in your pocket in coming tax season, federal authorities are reminding Bay Area residents. In recent years, new tax laws have offered taxpayers more clarity on what contributions count as tax deductible, the Internal Revenue Service said. All donations, for instance, must be made to IRS-qualified charities, which are listed online at www.irs.gov or are available at public libraries. The list, however, does not include recognized religious institutions or government agencies, which are also eligible, the federal agency said. Other reminders: A taxpayer making a monetary donation — whether by cash, check, electronic transfer, payroll...

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A miracle of engineering: The Bay Bridge takes shape

With 280,000 drivers depending on the Bay Bridge daily, the $5.5 billion project to replace the entire eastern span with few traffic disruptions is considered an engineering marvel. Visible construction work is taking place on both sides of the existing bridge, allowing drivers to watch the scenic structure’s gradual rise as they pass through during their daily commute. The 1.2-mile skyway, which will serve as the approach to a new single-tower suspension bridge, can be seen to the north of the existing span. To the south near Treasure Island, motorists can see crews constructing the temporary bypass that will be used to keep traffic moving while work continues on the permanent...

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Last-minute shopping calmer than years past

The first stop Wednesday was Urban Outfitters on Powell Street. Then Old Navy on Market Street. And finally, Trader’s Joe’s in SoMa. It made for a whirlwind of last-minute holiday shopping for Rebecca Gutierrez, but the Bernal Heights resident wasn’t frazzled. She said that while she had much to do the day before Christmas, it “doesn’t seem as crazy [in The City] than it was when I came after Thanksgiving.” Which was great for shoppers, but not so good for local shops. The National Retail Federation trade group expects overall holiday spending will total about $470.4 billion, a 2.2 percent rise from a year ago. That qualifies as a pretty bad season,...

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Man in stable condition after stabbing in Tenderloin

A 27-year-old man was stabbed in the leg while walking home early this morning in the Tenderloin neighborhood, police said. The victim “was apparently just walking along, minding his own business” when his assailant attacked him near the intersection of Ellis and Hyde streets, an officer said. The crime happened at about 2:10 a.m. The victim was brought to San Francisco General Hospital, where he was in stable condition, police said. No arrests have been made. Investigating police have not announced a motive.

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Large tanker scrapes Bay floor, but no spill apparent

A tanker ship hauling 270,000 barrels of diesel fuel scuffed the bottom of the San Francisco Bay this morning, but the ship doesn’t appear to have leaked any fuel, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The 577-foot Cape Brasilia was headed west through a channel off the coast of Richmond at around 5 a.m. when it veered too close to the coast and grazed a muddy patch of bay floor, said Coast Guard spokesman Kevin Neff. Soon after, two tugs pulled the ship back into deeper water, and there was no sign of flooding on the ship or any other serious damage, he said. “Fortunately, they hit a soft patch,” Neff said. “There were no signs of pollution in the Bay.” The vessel was...

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Tour of California: Best field in race history in 2009

If Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer weren’t enough of a draw, eight of the world’s top cycling teams have signed up to race in the 750-mile Tour of California in February, organizers announced this morning. The nine-day stage race, which zips through 16 cities from Sacramento to San Diego counties, will feature professional teams from the U.S., France, Luxembourg, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark. Among them is Luxenbourg’s Astana, which boasts both Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France champion, and Leipheimer, a Santa Rosa resident who’s won the Tour of California the past two years. Denmark’s Team Saxo Bank, which finished in the top-three of...

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Muni, BART may pay for poor past financial deals

As the economy worsens, financial deals made in the past 20 years by public transit agencies nationwide — including in the Bay Area — may have crippling results that would likely impact service. More than 30 transit agencies, including BART and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, are asking the federal government for protection against risky financial deals made from 1989 through 2003. As part of the deals, the transit agencies sold rolling assets, such as buses, rail cars and equipment, to bankers for a quick infusion of cash. The bankers, who benefited from a tax shelter in such deals, would then lease the assets back to the agencies at a discount, according...

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Author warns travelers: 'Don't go there'

Peter Greenberg, the author of “Don’t Go There! The Travel Detective’s Essential Guide to the Must-Miss Places of the World,” will discuss Earth’s worst places to vacation today at The City’s Commonwealth Club. Why did you write this book? I think much of travel writing is unabashed ... and guided by a brochure mentality. There’s always Ken and Barbie walking along the beach or playing tennis. I thought ... it’s high time people got credible information in which they can make smart travel decisions. Can you name two must-miss travel destinations? Under the chapter on pollution, if you look at locations I had [in the book] on China you...

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Slow-moving cable cars are still deadly

Although The City’s historic cable cars travel at snail’s pace compared to modern trains, crossing in front of one can have a deadly result. That’s the principal message behind a new public safety campaign San Francisco transit officials have launched in response to a recent uptick in collisions between Muni vehicles and pedestrians. Such accidents nearly doubled year-over-year from 43 to 79 in the agency’s latest tally. Cable cars travel at less than 10 mph, but they have proven deadly on The City’s streets for unwitting pedestrians. In September, an 80-year-old woman was struck and killed by a cable car at Mason Street near Broadway. The cars weigh 15...

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Budget woes may force BART to cut jobs

BART may be forced to lay off some of its 3,600-member staff as the transit agency clamors for ways to offset its worst projected deficit in recent years, an agency official said. Carter Mau, executive manager of BART’s budget and planning office, warned Thursday of a possible $56 million budget deficit next year, an amount not uttered in more than five years, since fallout from the dot-com bust of 2000. A new, more massive recession is to blame, Mau said. In recent months, BART, which carries about 370,000 riders each workday, said ridership revenue is dwindling as rising unemployment shrinks the morning commute across the Bay Area. The agency also faces up to $50 million in cuts...

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Mayor reverses his Yelp review

Sorry, Yelp, Wednesday is not your day after all. San Francisco-based Web site yelp.com was shocked Tuesday to learn that Mayor Gavin Newsom will not declare Wednesday as Yelp Day in The City, as was expected by company officials. The popular site, which allows users to post reviews of local businesses and services, received the honor last year on Dec. 5 and said it recently received word from Newsom’s office that the proclamation would be awarded again for Wednesday, when the site will hold its popular holiday party. Not so, Newsom’s office said Tuesday. “No proclamation has been issued by the Mayor’s Office,” Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard said via...

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Web site helps passengers split fares on costly rides to airport

A Town Car shows up at your door to take you to the airport — and the cost of the fare is only half of what it typically would be. That’s along the lines of what the new online networking service Hitchsters.com promises. The Web site matches travelers headed to San Francisco International Airport with others searching for a ride, allowing them to split the cost, cruise in a roomy Lincoln Town Car and possibly even make a new friend. The idea is basic: Sign up for the service, type in your departure time and specify the gender of the person you’d want to ride with, should you have a preference. The company matches you with a traveler near your home, sends a car for the...

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Downtown shopping chaos shows little sign of economic downturn

A chaotic Union Square showed little sign of hard-knock economic times on Black Friday, but some shoppers said they weren’t about to let loose on their credit cards. Downtown San Francisco swarmed with early-bird consumers well before store openings, filing into parking garages, lingering in long lines outside Macy’s and trudging through crowds that made foot traffic feel like rush hour crawl. “Have you been down here?” said Macy’s spokeswoman Janet Devor. “You can barely get up the sidewalk.” As early as 9 a.m., some shoppers were already exiting the crazed foray with hands full of packed shopping bags. Big-box electronic stores such as the...

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Record store flips the switch

After 32 years in Noe Valley, Streetlight Records — a buy, sell and trade music retailer known for its cultish following — is closing its flagship store. The 24th Street record store will officially shut down Jan. 31 due to waning sales and rising rents in Noe Valley, said General Manager Jeff Moss. The company’s Market Street store, as well as those in San Jose and Santa Cruz, will remain open, he said. “The nature of the music industry is changing tremendously,” Moss said. “Fashion and hipness are on the side of the iPod.” In recent years, more people have been shopping for their music online rather than in stores. Even large retail chains...

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Getting to know a cable car gripman

Ken Lunardi, 53, has worked for the Municipal Transportation Agency for 28 years, and 25 of those have been as a cable car gripman, maneuvering the rolling landmarks through The City. Why did you want to become a cable car gripman? Driving a bus wasn’t for me, so I came over to the cable cars and have been here since. My favorite part is that you’re not stuck indoors, you’re on the road and every day is a different day. It’s not like a desk job. I mean, the buildings are all the same, but the people are always different. Are tourists mostly riding cable cars? I’d say it’s around 80 percent tourists. ...Locals usually want to get from point A to...

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Cable cars tell the story of San Francisco

In an age of high-speed rail and air travel, the use of a pulley system for transportation may seem antiquated. But The City’s historic and iconic cable cars, which carry 7.5 million passengers a year and generate more than $20 million in fare revenue, continue to ride the rails of California and Hyde streets using a simplistic but burdensome 1800s technology. On any given day, rain or shine, hundreds of anxious tourists circle the cable car turntables on Powell Street and Fisherman’s Wharf, awaiting the opportunity to shell out $5 for a one-way fare up The City’s scenic hills. When the system for the must-do experience breaks down, Muni buses do not satisfy the...

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Demand rises for classes geared toward bike safety

Bert Hill, The City’s premiere bicycle safety instructor, is a busy man. With more city folk cycling to work these days to avoid pricey parking and high gas prices, reports of bicyclists being struck by cars, trucks and buses on San Francisco’s teeming streets jumped 31 percent from 2006 to 2007 — from 343 collisions to 451 — according to a report released last month by the Municipal Transportation Agency. It was the highest total in at least a decade, the report said. “And there are many more that go unreported,” said Andy Thornley, program director for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. To play it safe, Hill said hundreds of locals are flocking...

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Long-awaited bike plan EIR released to public

San Francisco’s massive bike plan, hobbled by a court injunction for more than two years, pedaled toward a light at the end of the tunnel Wednesday, with the release of a bitterly awaited environmental-impact report. Implementation of the decade-old, oft-revised Bike Plan — which would add 34 miles to The City’s existing 45 miles of bike lanes — has been on hold since November 2006, when a court order sent it back to the planning stages for more environmental review. The order came at the request of a coalition of groups led by blogger Rob Anderson, who filed a lawsuit claiming The City hastily approved a plan to add the bike lanes without considering impacts to...

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Nathaniel Ford is putting Muni back on track

Looking down from his seventh-floor office, Nathaniel Ford gazed upon a bustling Market Street, watching as a deluge of buses, streetcars, pedestrians and bicyclists battled the morning commute into downtown San Francisco. “I used to love the action,” said Ford, who seemed to want to scale down the building and join the chaotic foray. He was recalling his days in the trenches of the New York City subway system, when he conducted trains and later worked as a dispatcher during the grisly 1980s. It was a time of recession and the subway was in disrepair, marred by fires, derailments, breakdowns and violence, he said. New Yorkers were demanding cleaner, safer stations with...

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BART crimes on the rise

BART riders should guard their iPods and store their bikes in station lockers following a recent uptick in thefts and other crimes across the transit system, authorities said. More than 240 bicycle thefts were reported on trains and at stations between July and September, nearly 90 more than during the same months last year, according to BART’s latest quarterly report. Another rising trend are thefts and assaults, many involving thieves who wrestle away or slyly snatch valuables such as laptops and music devices on trains and at stations, said BART Police Chief Gary Gee. “Unfortunately, it’s a common occurrence,” Gee said. “[They’ll steal] all the...

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City revamping parking-meter system

Drivers could pay as much as $18 per hour to park during Giants games, Fleet Week and other special events, as part of an project to charge varying rates for city parking spaces depending on demand. Even when there are no special events, meters on the busiest San Francisco blocks could cost as much as $6 per hour as part of the plan, which would use underground sensors to monitor parking availability on city blocks, raising or lowering prices based on demand for spaces. On the flip side, the least popular parking spots could cost as little as 25 cents per hour, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees The City’s meters. The plan doesn’t...

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Dennis Herrera is a legal Tour de Force

The week after Proposition 8 passed, effectively halting same-sex marriages in California and inciting a flurry of protests across the state, San Francisco’s chief attorney was talking Little League baseball from behind the desk of his City Hall office. “I don’t miss a game,” said Dennis Herrera, the city attorney who coaches 7-year-old son Declan’s fall-season team. “I just love spending time with my boy.” It was a rare and fleeting public emotion from Herrera, the stern, no-nonsense commander of The City’s legal fight to establish same-sex marriage rights in the state. Although Herrera leads a team of 185 lawyers in defending The City...

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Muni may roll out higher fares

Muni will struggle to keep fares at $1.50 per ticket while maintaining reliable service as state funding for public transportation is poised to evaporate, transit experts say. As the state faces a budget crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed slashing state funding assistance for public transportation by 75 percent, Sonali Bose, chief financial officer for the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency, said at a committee meeting Wednesday. When the state budget was signed nearly two months ago, Muni reported it was to receive $37 million less than expected. With the latest proposal from the governor, the agency is bracing for another cut of more than $26 million next year,...

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SFO blasts birds out of sight

It might sound odd, but firing off a few shotgun shells at the Bay Area’s busiest airport can actually help keep planes safe from crash landings. The shooting of live rounds is just one of several tactics used by crews at San Francisco International Airport to scare off meddling coastal birds that flock too close to arriving and departing planes, spokesman Michael McCarron said. Birds tend to see the open grasslands and wetlands near airports as an oasis for food and rest. But when they collide with planes, the result is not only a death knell for the birds but also damaging to planes and a safety risk for passengers, said Ian Gregor, spokesman with the Federal Aviation...

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A conversation with Dreamworks' head of effects

Scott Peterson, the head of effects on DreamWorks Animation’s “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” — now playing in theaters — also worked as lead effects animator on all three “Shrek” films. What is the challenge when adding effects to animation? On the plains of Africa, you can see all the way out to the horizon, and the challenge is how to cover all that ground with grass, or trees or a water hole. ... We hired people to specifically work on how to animate grass, whether it be details such as when a gentle wind blows through it or a character walks through it. We might work on a single element of a shot 50 times. What’s it like working in...

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Muni accidents increasing

Muni buses and streetcars are striking pedestrians at nearly double the rate of two years prior — the principal reason the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is seeking outside intervention from safety consultants. Muni vehicles hit 79 pedestrians between July 2007 and June 2008, a sharp increase from a reported 43 collisions during the same period of 2005-06, according to data released by the transit agency. The numbers were made public weeks after the transit agency announced it was seeking help from independent consultants to quell the rash of incidents. “Like other transit agencies and other large organizations, the SFMTA is seeking the assistance of outside...

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Caltrain project calls for beefed-up safety

In the wake of two fatal collisions last month, Caltrain is moving ahead with a $250 million plan to limit car and pedestrian access to tracks. The project would eliminate five street-level crossings in San Bruno, creating underpasses for vehicles and pedestrians to pass through, and would also replace aging railroad bridges in San Mateo and San Francisco, among other work, Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said. The key improvements, known as grade separations, are part of the transit agency’s efforts to improve safety on tracks, where more than 180 people have died since 1992, including 12 this year, said Dunn. Last week, a train struck a pickup at a San Mateo crossing just...

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Bright bike commuters find way to resist time change

Few can rebel against the night quite like bicyclists commuting home from work. On Monday, the first weekday in which clocks are set back an hour, as many as 50 cyclists will meet for a brightly lit commute through The City’s freshly darkened streets. The cyclists will bring along a flurry of nightlights for the ride, which sets off at 6 p.m., starting from The Embarcadero’s giant bow-and-arrow sculpture and ending at Gestalt-Haus, a German bar on 16th and Guerrero streets, said organizer Chris Lindland. The ride is meant as a fun way of asking motorists to be wary of bicyclists on dark winter roads, he said. "It’s the first night that cyclists become less...

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Swarms of students lead to morning BART station closures

Three East Bay BART stations were temporarily shut down Friday morning when mobs of rowdy high school students on their way to a protest in The City bum-rushed the fare gates without paying, authorities said. The onslaught of nonpaying teenagers – who were headed to a noontime rally on Sansome Street opposing federal immigration policies – overwhelmed station entrances, with as many as 100 protesters jumping the fare gates at the Richmond station alone, said spokesman Linton Johnson. The transit agency was forced to close down the Richmond, Fruitvale and Coliseum stations at several points during a two-hour period starting at 9:15 a.m., he said. During the closures, trains...

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BART Wi-Fi plan hits funding skid

The future of wireless access on BART trains is unclear after the startup company promising to foot the bill said it doesn’t have the $20 million needed to install the technology. Sacramento-based Wi-Fi Rail Inc. said Thursday fundraising has been delayed because BART has been slow to sign a contract. “People won’t loan risk capital until you have a contract,” said Michael Cromar, the company’s executive vice president. Last summer, riders were told that once a deal was struck between the transit agency and Wi-Fi Rail, wireless access would be available systemwide within two years, including in stations and the Transbay Tube. The $20 million project would...

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Bay Area gets relief from pain at the pump

Gas prices are dropping at warp speed — down about 70 cents per gallon in the last month — and some lucky drivers say they’re paying less than $3 at Bay Area stations, a low not seen in nearly a year. And the downward trend will likely continue through the holidays, analysts say. On Wednesday, the region’s drivers were spending an average of $3.16 per gallon, a 32-cent drop since last week, according to the Web site GasBuddy.com, where consumers post the local prices they spot. Last month, the average was $3.85, the Web site said. The national average, meanwhile, fell by more than $1 to $2.53 in the last month. In Des Moines, Iowa, several drivers reported...

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Years after San Mateo plane crash, son still searching

Grant Tishler knows enough about the historic Flight of the Resolution to know that little about it was resolved. On Oct. 29, 1953, Flight 304 ended with a deadly descent into San Francisco International Airport. The DC-6 Australian airliner nicknamed Resolution accidentally clipped a Peninsula mountainside on a fog-drenched morning, tumbling into a deep ridge, bursting into flames and killing all 19 people onboard — including the 31-year-old father Tischler said he never knew. Historians say the event is the worst airline mishap in San Mateo County history, one that drew international fame since the legendary pianist William Kappell was killed in the crash. Evidence of the...

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Will San Franciscans opt for cheap gas, or saving the environment?

Bridget Ackley’s daily commute from Redwood City to downtown San Francisco often involves a moral decision: The quick car ride or the environmentally friendly train? “If I’m late enough to work, I’ll give in and drive,” the 33-year-old tech consultant said. “But I usually try to take the train.” When gas prices are high, the decision becomes a little easier, she said. Pain at the pump in the last year has helped transit agencies attract new customers. BART, Muni and Caltrain all reported significant growth during the summer months, when the price of oil peaked at $140 per barrel. In recent weeks, however, gas prices have been on a downward...

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Transit riders will pay more to park cars

If finding parking at Peninsula BART stations wasn’t taxing enough, commuters can now expect to pay higher fees to park in the busiest lots. BART, facing financial woes, will raise parking rates by $1 at the Colma and Daly City stations — taking daily fees to $2 and $3, respectively — and reinstate $1 daily parking fees at the South San Francisco, San Bruno and Millbrae stations. Travelers will likely start paying more for parking “within the next six months or so,” said spokesman Linton Johnson. The parking-rate increases, which will net the transit agency $800,000 in added revenue, was a part of a larger budget-rescue plan BART’s board of directors...

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BART train revamps derailed by budget cuts

Commuters forced to plug their noses on grimy BART trains may wince even more at the transit agency’s decision to halt funding for interior renovations. About 100 cars the agency hoped to retrofit with new flooring and seat covers were denied funding Thursday under budget-cutting measures approved by BART directors. Earlier this year, BART set out to renovate about half its 669-car fleet, estimated to cost millions. As of this week, about 200 have been refurbished, with another 80 expected to be finished by spring, said BART spokesman Linton Johnson. “We were hoping to do 380, but now we’re funded for 280,” he said. The funding denial comes as the agency...

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Let there be more light at BART stations

Two dimly-lit BART stations connecting passengers to one of the most crime-ridden districts in San Francisco will soon see some light. The transit agency plans to replace the decades-old fluorescent bulbs at its 16th and 24th street stations in the Mission district with brighter, more energy-efficient light fixtures. The new lighting, which will save BART an estimated $167,000 annually in electricity costs, will bring a “natural” and “modern” feel to the stations and contribute to a renewed sense of safety for passengers traveling at night, spokeswoman Luna Salaver said. “Good lighting is a key component in crime prevention and reduction,” Salaver...

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Muni overhaul approved

Happy 80th birthday, N-Judah. Your gift: more frequent service. The added service to the line is part of a Muni system overhaul aimed at increasing ridership and reliability by making changes to The City’s busiest lines. Muni’s Transit Effectiveness Project, or TEP — the first major overhaul of the route system in nearly two decades — was unanimously approved Tuesday by the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency’s board of directors. “The future of public transportation has brighter days here in the county and city of San Francisco,” agency Executive Director Nathaniel Ford said at the meeting. The long-planned adjustment to the route system...

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The future of Muni

Long waits for crowded Muni buses and trains may become annoyances of the past if a revamped route system is approved next week. The Transit Effectiveness Project, or TEP, the first major recommendations to update The City’s transit system in two decades, is expected to slash wait times and relieve congestion on the busiest lines, while adding some service to underserved and developing neighborhoods, according to officials. The aim of the TEP is to increase ridership and reliability by making changes to the most-traveled lines. Muni currently operates 80 routes throughout The City and carries more than 200 million riders annually. Transit officials found that 75 percent of all...

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Transit agencies eager for high-speed-rail bond

Cash-strapped Bay Area transit agencies would receive much-needed cash to relieve overcrowding on trains and buses if a ballot measure funding the construction of a high-speed rail line in California passes next month. State voters will decide Nov. 4 whether to authorize the sale of $9.95 billion in state bonds to help pay for a 220-mph train linking San Francisco and Los Angeles. As part of the measure — known as Proposition 1A — $950 million would be shared among the state’s transit agencies to build connections to the high-speed rail. Caltrain, BART and Muni would each receive some of that money, according to Carrie Pourvahidi, deputy director of the state’s...

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Group offers lesson of 'positivity'

It started when Nicole Ferguson dropped a stack of papers near the wind-whipped Ferry Building on Saturday morning and four passers-by scurried to grab them for her. After that, the 27-year-old Ashbury Heights resident bought flowers from the farmers market and began handing them out to anyone who would take them. She offered hugs and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at no cost, too. “See how it works?” she said. Ferguson was one of dozens of locals who were paying it forward Saturday. They were part of a new, city-based social-change group called A Good Idea, which sets out solely to spread the love, founder Jared Paul said. “With all the not-so-great stuff going...

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Listen to the experts talk shop on writing

Celebrated author Andre Dubus III has a quick solution for overcoming writer’s block: Don’t be afraid of being a loser. “I have this theory that if there is one enemy to creativity, it is self-consciousness,” said Dubus, who wrote the critically acclaimed novel-turned-film “House of Sand and Fog.” “If you watch yourself write, make love or play basketball, you are inevitably going to struggle.” While Dubus has other advice to offer about the writing process, catching a moment with him as he travels the country pitching his latest novel is no easy task. On Saturday, however, Dubus and a bevy of world-renowned writers will be available to...

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Fleet Week: Navy's showcase a city tradition

Event dating to 1908 is now in 27th straight year When he was a teenager during the 1980s, Willie Turner says, he remembers that the streets, skies and Port of San Francisco bustled with Fleet Week fanfare. “[The Navy] would take up the entire wharf, flooding The City with sailors and ships,” said Turner, 43, who is now a seasoned pilot and vice president of operations at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. The first official Fleet Week in San Francisco was in 1908, when 16 U.S. Navy battleships and 14,000 sailors entered San Francisco Bay for The City’s first “Parade of Ships,” according to Ed Leonard, The City’s Fleet Week chairman. The...

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Small businesses honored for community connections

San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Solutions aims to boost The City's small business community by helping entrepreneurs obtain loans, make plans and perform other tasks necessary to thrive. Every year, the organization honors retail businesses that benefit their neighborhoods with the San Francisco Neighborhood Business Awards. 1st Place Mission Pie 2901 Mission Street Owners Karen Heisler and Krystin Rubin At Mission Pie bakery and cafe, co-owners Karen Heisler and Krystin Rubin have based a successful business venture and a powerful educational tool for teens on pies made from locally grown ingredients. The bakery is the outgrowth of a farm-education program that began at Pie Ranch,...

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Safer Caltrain may be on feds’ dime

Federal legislation that was written in the wake of a train wreck that killed 25 people could mandate that Caltrain install new anti-collision technology. The bill, which recently cleared the U.S. Senate, requires inner-city passenger railroads to install a system that can engage a train’s brakes if it’s headed for collision. It also mandates more rest for train operators. If the measure clears the final hurdle — a signature from President Bush — the federal government will offer hefty grants to commuter railways including Caltrain to implement the technology, known as positive train control, by 2015. Exactly how much Caltrain would receive in grants is not...

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Restroom locator puts those who have to go in the know

The search for a public restroom in San Francisco may not always end in a clean, well-lit place. A fledgling San Francisco tech startup, however, has launched a new, Web-based service through which city folk can use their mobile devices to find a facility without blindly walking into dark, creepy bathrooms with graffiti-laden walls or dirty conditions. The service, which can be accessed on the Web site Mizpee.com, will not only help you find a nearby restroom, it will let you know exactly how clean it is, said company co-founder Peter Olfe, a Noe Valley resident. “I figured that if you are on the go and you want to find a clean one, you should be able to use your phone,” he...

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Caltrain mulls ways to fit more cyclists

Bicyclists tired of being stranded on Caltrain platforms because of overcrowded trains may have argued their way toward garnering more breathing room. Many bicyclists complain that as ridership increases, those with bikes are the first to get booted from packed trains. On a single workday in September 2007, for example, 51 out of 2,400 bikers — or 2.1 percent — were bumped, according to a Caltrain study. Nearly 10 percent of riders are bicyclists, according to the agency. In a surprise move at the transit agency’s board meeting Thursday, Executive Director Mike Scanlon said Caltrain is investigating new ways to free up space on trains for more bicyclists. Scanlon...

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Caltrain approves fare increase

Riders boarding Caltrain come January will pay 25 cents more for each ticket to help the agency offset increasing fuel prices. The fare increase was the cheaper of two proposals considered. A second proposal would have raised fares an additional quarter per zone crossed. That idea was nixed, however, because it would greatly burden riders during tough economic times, Executive Director Mike Scanlon said. “It’s just too much ... people are broke,” Scanlon said. “We have to do what we can to help people, and we’ve got to get people out of their cars.” But Belmont resident Tim O’Brien told board members during the Thursday meeting that he feared...

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Muni train derails at Church Street

The derailment of a Muni streetcar near the transit-heavy intersection of Church Street and Duboce Avenue on Thursday morning disrupted service along two popular transit lines for more than five hours from morning through afternoon. Just after 10 a.m., an outbound streetcar slid off the tracks as it was tugging another disabled streetcar from a nearby Muni storage yard just outside the tunnel east of the intersection, Muni spokesman Judson True said. The rear of the inbound train struck the railing of an accessibility ramp used by passengers with disabilities, smashing a door of the train. The door was eventually removed from the train and a blue tarp was set up in its place. No...

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Girl sustains minor injuries in Muni collision

A girl was struck by a Municipal Railway streetcar Tuesday afternoon in the Bayview district, the latest in a rash of Muni incidents that have injured pedestrians. The juvenile suffered injuries not considered life-threatening in the collision, which happened about 12:30 p.m. as the T-Third light-rail vehicle was traveling northbound near the intersection of Williams and Van Dyke avenues, said Muni spokesman Judson True. The victim’s injuries were reportedly minor and an investigation is under way, he said. The incident brings the number of pedestrian-related collisions involving Muni vehicles to 62 this year, True said. Four such collisions have resulted in fatalities, he...

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Union Street eatery ban fading

Union Street is one step closer to gaining new restaurants, despite fears from some residents that a “frat boy” crowd known to swarm the block at night will swell. The Planning Commission unanimously approved legislation Thursday that would allow five new full-service restaurants to move into the popular Marina district strip. Robert Bardell, president of the Golden Gate Valley Homeowners Association, told The Examiner that the legislation would likely attract more loud food-serving bars such as Bar None and the defunct Bayside Bar & Grill to the neighborhood. “There’s no way to prevent it,” he said. Since the late 1980s, new eateries have been...

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Shocked: Lasorda invitation sparks residents' ire

"You have got to be kidding me!" That's been the reaction from San Francisco residents that Los Angeles Dodgers icon Tommy Lasorda has been chosen as the grand marshal of this year's Italian Heritage Parade in The City's North Beach neighborhood. The longtime rivalry between the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants is no secret in this town. And Lasorda - who has spent nearly 60 years with the Dodgers as both a player and manager - might be the team's most visible symbol. Locals say they are both angry and confused that parade organizers would invite the 81-year-old Lasorda to headline The City's most important Italian celebration, especially as the Major League Baseball season...

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Woman struck by cable car dies

An 80-year-old woman who was struck by a cable car early Wednesday morning has died, becoming the fourth pedestrian fatality involving a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency vehicle this year. Jin Xi Yu Lin of San Francisco was hit by the cable car on Mason Street near Broadway just before 6 a.m., Muni spokesman Judson True said. She suffered major head injuries and was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where she died. The cable car was traveling north on Mason Street toward Fisherman’s Wharf when it struck Lin, Muni officials said. She lived within a half-block of the accident site, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office. “This is a truly tragic...

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State budget halts transit projects

BART trains will be more crowded and riders could be forced to shell out more for their commute after the state budget signed Tuesday axed the funding for several local transit agencies. BART had planned to replace and expand its “aging” fleet of 669 rail cars as a way to mitigate overcrowding during peak commute hours. On Tuesday, however, the agency said it lost $37 million in state funding, which will make improving the rail system increasingly difficult, according to spokesman Linton Johnson. “With this latest budget, we’ve lost a total of $111 million since 2000,” Johnson said. “If we had $111 million, we could buy the equivalent of 37 new rail...

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Union Square revitalized, hotel chairman says

Karl Hoagland, the chairman of Larkspur Hotels & Restaurants, is poised to officially reopen the newly renovated Villa Florence hotel on Oct. 2, which he said capitalizes on the “revitalization of Union Square.” In what ways has Union Square undergone a renaissance? First, the hotel was kitty-corner from the new H&M store, which is a kind of lifeline because it revitalized shopping in Union Square. And with the Westfield Centre and the development in the South of Market district, we thought the neighborhood was gentrifying. Do you think The City will attract more tourism in the near future? I think so. I think San Francisco is an incredible, unique, one-of-a-kind...

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Muni to stop selling weekly passes

Say goodbye to weekly passes for The City’s buses and light-rail vehicles. Starting Oct. 6, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will no longer offer the $15 passes, which were valid for a full seven days. The pass was just not popular enough among riders, according to MTA spokesman Judson True. “There was very little use,” True said. The last weekly pass is being sold for the week of Sept. 29 through Oct. 5. The transit agency recommended purchasing its monthly Fast Pass for $45 or a single-ride token booklet instead. A single ride costs $1.50....

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Residents unite to tidy shoreline

Braving through thick fog and piles of discarded trash, thousands of volunteers flocked to The City’s beaches and waterways Saturday morning as part of a statewide effort to spiff up the coastline. Participants spent as long as three hours stuffing plastic bags with all sorts of strange debris, including fast-food wrappers, damp clothing and shattered shards of old television sets. Several people got lucky and found a few dollar bills and some change along the way. “We’ll do anything to keep our coasts clean,” said Judy Yanover, who joined fellow co-workers of The City’s Fairmont Hotel, an event sponsor, at one of the cleanup sites at Candlestick...

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Warren Hellman: A tough banjo to pluck

Millionaire financier Warren Hellman knows about reading people wrong. At a recent Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival — the free annual music blowout in Golden Gate Park that he personally bankrolls — Hellman approached a conservatively dressed socialite in her 50s and said, “Boy, there’s a really strong smell of pot here this year.” Her response, to Hellman’s surprise, was, “Want some?” Another year, Hellman recalled this “out-there” young woman handed him “three little purple things.” His first reaction was to say, “Look, I don’t want to be unpleasant. But I really don’t want to swallow...

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Former Pacifica teacher gets five years for child porn

A former Spanish teacher at a Pacifica high school was sentenced to five years in federal prison Friday for receiving child pornography. Carlos Araiza, 44, who taught at Terra Nova High School since 2000, pleaded guilty in June to one count of receiving child pornography in January 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Five years imprisonment is the minimum mandatory sentence for the statute, officials said. Araiza lost his job in April following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Pacifica Police Department. Parents, neighbors and friends said they were shocked to find out the teacher, who was also...

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SFO begins building home for low-fare flyers

As the nation goes through turbulent financial times, expansion at San Francisco International Airport may help provide a smoother economy for the Bay Area. At a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Terminal 2 at SFO on Thursday, Mayor Gavin Newsom praised the start of a major renovation that will bring 14 new gates to the Bay Area’s busiest plane hub. “The impact of this airport’s growth and expansion has a direct impact on the economy of the entire region,” Newsom said. The terminal, which will eventually be able to accommodate 11 million passengers per year, will have a “hotel lobby” feel, with comfy seats, high-tech amenities and local restaurants...

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Duboce Avenue facelift causes concerns

The heavily trafficked intersection at Church Street and Duboce Avenue may receive a major facelift soon — including new light-rail tracks, paved streets and possibly a few extra trees — but some commuters are wary of the plan’s future transit impacts. The plan would combine the efforts of several city agencies working to improve the fluidity, safety and aesthetics of the bustling intersection, said Kit Hodge, who chairs the Duboce Triangle Transportation Improvement Plan. Residents say the overhaul — which wouldn’t break ground until early 2010 and could take several years to complete — would aggravate public transit in the area, which sees...

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DMV upgrades drive requests

Residents of the Panhandle neighborhood are closely watching a redevelopment plan that would swap the current Department of Motor Vehicles building with an upgraded version while adding apartments and retail stores to the 2.5-acre property. The DMV recently selected San Francisco-based Build Inc. to redevelop its nearly half-century-old building at 1377 Fell St., a mixed-use project slated for completion by 2012, spokesman Michael Marando said. The agency is currently in negotiations with Build Inc. on terms of the proposed 65-year lease, including specifics on costs and the type of retail and housing that would be built there. “We’re leveraging the value that the DMV has in...

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Arrest made in case of body found in garbage bin

A 31-year-old man was arrested in the case of a body that was stuffed into a garbage bin in the basement of an apartment complex in the Tenderloin, according to police. Froilan Marroquin, 31, of San Francisco, was detained early Friday afternoon on suspicion of the killing, according to police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens. The Medical Examiner’s Office on Saturday identified the victim as 73-year-old Nestor San Juan of San Francisco. The victim had been found wrapped in plastic and placed inside of a trash receptacle on wheels at a residential hotel at 520 Taylor St. His body was reported to authorities at around noon Thursday. Police subsequently blocked off Taylor Street...

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The colorful world of designer Stanlee Gatti

It was only hours before the start of the San Francisco Opera Ball and Stanlee Gatti, the event designer tasked with dazzling dozens of high-society attendees, is several blocks away at the popular Blue Bottle Coffee Co. in the South of Market neighborhood. He is rambling about the shape of the service truck outside, the color orange, how uncanny it is that the planet is round — just like eyeballs and peaches — how the human body is in a constant tug of war with gravity over heat and water — much like the Earth and trees — and how strangely appropriate it is that the lines in our hands and the veins on our wrists are similar to the roots of those very...

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Police mobilize ahead of Hells Angel funeral

Authorities in Daly City and Colma are mobilizing for what could bring a massive entourage of Hells Angels bikers into the cities this weekend for the funeral of a slain member. Police said the bikers have not informed police of how many family members, friends and Hells Angels members would show up for the funeral of Mark Guardado, the San Francisco chapter president who was shot dead in the Mission district Sept. 2. “They are not really cooperating when we ask them about their plans,” said Sgt. Michael Pfotenhauer of the Colma Police Department. The wake for Guardado will be in Daly City’s Duggan’s chapel at 3 p.m. Sunday. There will be another service there...

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Warfield reopens after four-month makeover

Fresh off a major remodel, the historic Warfield concert hall is reopening this weekend following a nearly four-month closure. In May, Los Angeles-based Goldenvoice took over management of the concert hall and poured in capital, adding a few dozen more seats, refurbishing existing furniture and upgrading stage and sound capabilities, said Bob Davis, executive director with The City’s Entertainment Commission. The remodeled Warfield is one step in a large-scale redevelopment of The City’s arts and entertainment district, also known as the Mid-Market neighborhood. In recent decades, the area west of Fifth Street has been plagued by drug dealing and violence, and city planners...

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Apple shows off latest gadget

San Francisco might not be the biggest apple in the nation, but it has certainly become the launching pad of choice for the company that’s named after the fruit. Cupertino-based Apple Inc. and CEO Steve Jobs staged another rock star-esque product releases in San Francisco on Tuesday, unveiling the new iPod Nano before eager tech executives and journalists. Along with the product launch was a surprise performance by iTunes top-seller Jack Johnson. It was the fourth consecutive year that the multinational company chose The City to hold its pre-holiday products launch. The City’s proximity to company headquarters and glut of tech-savvy consumers are partly why Apple chooses San...

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High-rises could propel change on Market Street

What is now a pile of concrete rubble on a plot at 10th and Market streets could become a catalyst for change in the area. The site will soon become a 30-story retail and apartment building with the potential for more than 750 housing units. The $350 million project, which is being built by Miami-based Crescent Heights, is just one of a flock of buildings slated for construction in a large-scale plan to revitalize Market Street west of Fifth Street, according to city planners. “It’s one of the quintessential smart-growth proposals,” said Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, a public-policy think tank. The...

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Opponents of ban on same-sex marriage open Castro office

The heated debate about same-sex marriage brought supporters of the nuptials together amid sweltering temperatures Saturday to establish a headquarters against a November ballot measure. Mayor Gavin Newsom, fellow dignitaries and same-sex marriage supporters gathered in the Castro district to establish the offices to fight Proposition 8, a November ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to eliminate same-sex marriage. If issues such as health care and education are more important than same-sex marriage rights, than let gay couples wed “so we can all move on together,” Newsom said during the rally in the old Tower Records building on Market Street. Newsom has...

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Violence continues with Western Addition slaying

Following a rash of killings in the Mission district in recent weeks, a frustrated Mayor Gavin Newsom said he visited the neighborhood Friday night in search of answers. Instead of answers, however, the mayor received word of yet another fatal shooting in the neighboring Western Addition district. An 18-year-old man, the mayor was told, had been gunned down on a busy stretch of Fillmore Street around 7:15 p.m. Friday. The shooter, a black man who appeared to be in his 20s, opened fire in front of about 20 witnesses at the intersection of McCallister Street, killing San Francisco resident Joshua Cameron, according to police reports. Upon hearing of the brazen homicide, Newsom said he...

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Former S.F. firefighter suspected of sex assaults

Authorities are searching for a former San Francisco firefighter accused of sexually assaulting several women, using his badge to garner their trust. Horacio Candia Jr., 48, is charged with three counts of forced oral copulation, one count of sexual battery, one count of making terrorist threats and another for false imprisonment, according to police. The latest alleged incident happened Aug. 22 near 16th and Carolina streets on the border of San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood. Candia reportedly used his badge to lure a woman into his car. The woman was able to escape and call authorities, but Candia is still on the lam, police said. A $500,000 warrant has been issued for...

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3-Minute Interview: Andy Kurtzig

The 35-year-old will officially launch his Presidio-based Web site JustAnswer.com on Sept. 15. The site allows users to ask more than 4,000 experts questions on any topic by pledging an amount they are willing to pay for an answer. How did you come up with the concept for JustAnswer.com? I came up with the idea when my wife was pregnant over five years ago. She was calling the doctor left and right and the doctor was getting tired of it. One day she asked, “What if I paid you $10 bucks every time I call?” How do you know if the experts are truly experts? Experts have to be screened through a five-step process. So let’s say you wanted to be an expert in immigration law....

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Hybrids flying out of Bay Area lots

When it seems that every other car on the highway around you is a hybrid, it may be true. More hybrids were sold in the Bay Area last year than in any other U.S. metropolitan area apart from Los Angeles, according to a recent study. Of 1,000 Bay Area households, nearly five had a new hybrid in the garage last year, according to a study from Hybridcars.com and the Polk Center for Automotive Studies. “California has been always been the most environmentally progressive state,” said Cynthia Harris, spokeswoman for AAA of Northern California. “And because we pay the highest gas prices in the nation, it’s just logical that Californians are looking for fuel...

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Personal Best: This guy's a real yo-yo

It came down to one fateful choice: A snow globe or a yo-yo? For Mission district resident and yo-yo master Doctor Popular, the decision was the difference between becoming a regular tourist or a bona fide champion. “I was buying a souvenir [at a gift store] in the Space Needle in Seattle and the choice was literally between the two cheapest things there,” said the 31-year-old also known as Brian Roberts. At $1.50, the yo-yo was the obvious bargain. But at the time, Popular had little idea it would become a rather lucrative career choice as well. In just 10 years, Popular has become an international yo-yo sensation, earning the inaugural National Trick Innovator Award and a...

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Accident with police horse kills 78-year-old man

A 78-year-old Roseville man was killed by a stampeding police horse in a Candlestick Park parking lot Friday night, about an hour before a 49ers exhibition game, police said. The horse was apparently startled after being blinded by a plastic bag that had been whipped up by the wind and caught in its bridle. It also injured two others, including the officer riding it, as it fled across a charter bus parking lot off of Ingerson Avenue, according to Sgt. Neville Gittens. The incident happened just before 6 p.m. As the horse tried to shake the bag loose, it bucked its head and tumbled backward onto the ground, bringing the officer down with it. The steed then scrambled to its feet, broke...

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Attorney who fought for gay-marriage rights weds partner

The eloquent San Francisco attorney who helped convince California judges that a ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional reaped the benefits of her hard work Friday. Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart married her longtime partner, colleague Carole Scagnetti, in the elegant South Light Court room at City Hall on Friday afternoon. Fittingly, the packed ceremony was a block away from the California Supreme Court building where Stewart earlier this summer argued for, and ultimately helped win, the right for same-sex couples to marry. “It feels very good,” Stewart said. “The case was not about me, but there was a piece of me that was a part of...

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Peninsula happy hours

Mark Grange says he works hard and parties just as hard. But the 27-year-old engineer from San Mateo says partying in San Francisco involves too much hard work. “Why train it to The City when there are plenty of bars here?” Grange said. Not long ago, residents living in the once-sleepy suburbs of San Mateo County had to catch a northbound train to The City for quality barhopping or wine-tasting. These days, however, fast-growing Peninsula cities are experiencing downtown renaissances that have brought a more vibrant nightlife to the locals, said Stephanie Fermin, spokeswoman San Mateo County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The Peninsula is becoming more of a hot...

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Hit the open road with Sunday Streets

Anna Leung usually spends her Sunday mornings practicing tai chi in parks surrounding Chinatown. This Sunday, however, Leung said she wants to expand her exercise repertoire. The San Francisco resident said she wants to capitalize on a pilot plan that will halt traffic on the northbound lanes for more than four miles, from Chinatown down The City’s waterfront to the Bayview. The popular thoroughfare will be open to a bevy of health-promoting activities. “I’m still going to do my tai chi, but I also want to try something new,” Leung said. The health initiative called Sunday Streets, proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom, will run along a 4.5-mile stretch of carless...

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Lesbian activist Del Martin dies at 87

Pioneering lesbian-rights activist Del Martin, whose two City Hall marriages in four years are considered iconic moments in the gay community’s longtime battle against homophobia, died today. She was 87. Martin, the first lesbian woman elected to the board of the National Organization of Women in the 1970s, passed away two weeks after a broken arm aggravated her existing health problems, said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. She died at the UC San Francisco hospice, at the side of her 55-year-long partner and spouse, Phyllis Lyon, 83. “I could never imagine a day would come when she wouldn’t be by my side,” Lyon said in...

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Ray appears on Market Street in ‘bizarre’ but ‘sad’ incident

You not only have to worry about stepping on gum on Market Street - pedestrians now apparently have to watch out for fish that might be flopping on the sidewalks, too. Animal Control and Care investigators are probing a series of strange and mysterious reports that at least one bat ray and a starfish were left for dead on the busy sidewalks of downtown San Francisco. Last week, a bat ray was spotted flopping around on the sidewalk near Market and Fourth streets around 1 p.m., amid the frenzy of the bustling workday. Julio Vasconcellos, a 27-year-old who lives in the South of Market neighborhood, said he was returning from his lunch break when he saw police and a crowd of onlookers...

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Back from his honeymoon, Newsom returns to work

Sporting a gleaming new wedding ring, a well-rested Mayor Gavin Newsom strolled through North Beach on Saturday afternoon in his first public appearance in The City since his honeymoon in Africa. The mayor, who recently wed actress Jennifer Siebel on her family’s sprawling ranch in Montana, appeared to be getting back into the swing of his political responsibilities following a long-overdue vacation. And it was not an African safari or the sweeping vistas that the mayor mentioned about his trip. “Sleeping and breakfast,” he said. “Those were my two favorite activities.” Now that the honeymoon is over, Newsom has little time for more shut-eye. His North...

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Company strikes back at agency’s trash talk

Trash talking persisted Thursday between the waste-management company serving central and southern San Mateo County and the oversight agency that has recommended dumping the garbage hauler. Allied Waste, the nation’s second largest waste-management company, currently collects garbage and recyclables for as many as 100,000 households and businesses in cities as far north as Burlingame to as far south as East Palo Alto. The company inherited the trash-hauling contract several years ago, when it bought out a previous provider. Its current contract ends in 2010. In recent years, however, relations have soured between Allied Waste and the South Bayside Waste Management Authority, the...

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Chambers may be a click away

The mayor who schedules monthly lunches to discuss concerns with residents is suggesting that locals should be able to connect with their city government in a new way. In a recent memo to council members, Mayor Warren Lieberman proposed that residents who follow the meetings from home via webcast could participate in real time by phoning in or e-mailing questions for an allotted period of about 15 to 20 minutes. The calls or e-mails could be sent anonymously, since community members are not required to state their name or residence when they speak at meetings, the mayor said. Councilmember Coralin Feierbach, however, is strongly opposed to the idea, saying the mayor hasn’t...

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Hunters Point: Real estate gold?

The mad dash to buy up property surrounding redevelopment-heavy Hunters Point has begun — a sign the neighborhood is already morphing from its middle-class roots, real estate experts say. As home prices plummet across the Bay Area, the neighborhood known for its toxic soil and aging 49ers stadium has emerged as the hot-ticket for property buyers searching for a return on their investment. Hunters Point has seen the largest increase in property values this year compared with other areas in San Francisco, shooting up more than 18 percent, according to the Assessor-Recorder’s Office. In comparison, property values citywide increased by just 8.74 percent since 2007. The...

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Central Subway project closer to shovels in dirt

Shovels could hit the dirt by 2010 for the Central Subway project since just a few bureaucratic nods are left. The 1.7-mile-long rail line would zip passengers between the South of Market and Chinatown neighborhoods by 2016 — theoretically relieving the few congested bus routes currently connecting the two busy districts, according to transit officials. The last big step before breaking ground is the completion of an ongoing federal environmental review, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Muni spokesman Judson True said. “Completing the environmental work represents an important milestone in getting the shovel in the dirt,” True said. Many...

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Preparing for the worst

Nearly five blocks surrounding California and Montgomery streets were closed to traffic for much of Saturday morning as part of a massive terrorist drill costing $250,000 in Homeland Security grants....

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Man fatally struck by train at Civic Center BART

Dozens of BART passengers witnessed the grim death of a man who stepped into the path of a southbound train at the bustling Civic Center Station on Saturday afternoon. Witnesses to the event say the man climbed down from the platform near the northern tunnel opening just before noon and was immediately struck and swept under the train, BART spokesman Linton Johnson said. The Daly City-bound train was traveling roughly 30 mph when it struck the man, he said. “There was no time to brake,” Johnson said. “There was literally nothing [the train operator] could do.” The incident shut down the Civic Center Station for nearly three hours and caused...

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On the dividing line between urban and open

Biologist and naturalist Steve Abbors, the new general manager of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, faces a two-pronged mandate — maintain the taxpayer-funded agency’s growth and protect the lands already under its care.

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Past meets future in SoMa

Amid the constant clanking of jackhammers and the rise of skyscrapers in the South of Market area, the significance of historic architecture may sometimes be overshadowed. But before The City gives the green light to razing buildings in the area, it wants to know which ones are important. As the massive Transbay Transit Center project moves forward, development in SoMa could mean the demise of a number of buildings that date as far back as the 1906 earthquake, according to a preliminary survey commissioned by The City. The drastic redevelopment, including the 1,000-foot Transbay tower and seven surrounding high-rise towers exceeding 550 feet, means a long list of historic buildings...

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City losing its younger residents

Mark Liese was graduating college around the time the dot-com industry went bust. The 27-year-old said the rumors alone were enough to dash dreams of working for a San Francisco-based startup, living in a swanky SoMa loft and retiring early. “Dot-coms are just too risky,” said Liese, who works as a loan officer at a downtown bank, commuting into The City from the Berkeley apartment he shares with three others. “Getting rich quick isn’t that easy anymore.” Liese is one of many recent college graduates who have opted for a safer jobs and less-expensive apartments outside The City. At the tail end of the dot-com boom in 2000, there were 91,393 San Francisco...

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Homeland-security grant would bolster county emergency needs

San Mateo County may soon be a little more prepared for a major emergency. The Sheriff’s Office has applied for a $2.5 million grant in the past from the Department of Homeland Security and received it each time. The county already has a bevy of projects lined up to use the money, county Emergency Services Supervisor Bill O’Callahan said. In the past, the county, which receives the money and disburses it to local agencies, has used the grants to create the SMC Alert system and Community Emergency Response Team training for residents, O’Callahan said. The Board of Supervisors approved the request for the Sherriff’s Office at its meeting Tuesday. Last week, the...

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Feds ask Newsom to ease city's sanctuary policies

Federal immigration officials have asked Mayor Gavin Newsom to ease sanctuary laws following a triple homicide last month in which the main suspect was an illegal immigrant undergoing deportation proceedings.Edwin Ramos pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three counts of murder with special circumstances attached because of Ramos’ alleged gang affiliation. The 21-year-old from El Salvador is charged with gunning down Continued...

 

No suspect caught yet in string of suspicious fires

Authorities are continuing to probe a series of arson fires that were set early Monday morning in the entrances of several residential buildings in the densely populated Pacific Heights and Nob Hill neighborhoods.At least three suspicious fires were reported overnight, and in all cases, a stack of newspapers was set ablaze near or inside entrances to the buildings, fire officials said.The first blaze was reported at Franklin and Vallejo streets; the second at Sacramento and Leavenworth streets; and the third on Clay Street between Hyde and Leavenworth streets, fire officials......

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More people looking for work in area

While the Bay Area typically boasts some of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, it has not been entirely immune to an ailing U.S. economy.More than 48,000 residents of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties were unemployed in June, nearly 10,000 more than last year, according to a report by the state Employment Development Department. The statewide rate was 6.9......

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3-Minute Interview: Chris Brockway

The 40-year-old founder of Broc Cellars and four other resident San Francisco winemakers will join forces for a tasting at Arlequin Wine Merchant in Hayes Valley on Sunday. The winemakers will talk shop with the public and pour from more than 20 wines from 1 to 5 p.m.So you aren’t from wine country royalty? I’m from where all the best winemakers come from — that’s Continued...

 

From heat to meat, fuel is driving up prices

Jim Shelton says he was happy to sell his old, gas-guzzling Mazda CRX when he moved into The City from the East Coast a year ago."It’s hard enough to afford an apartment here without paying for gas and parking tickets," Shelton said.But even without the car, Shelton is not free from nationwide pain at the pump. Rising gas prices have driven up shipping costs to the point where everything costs more — from the heating bill to groceries to a new wardrobe, economists say.Since last year, Bay Area transportation costs......

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Victim dies in alleged DUI crash

A San Francisco man died early Saturday morning after a suspected drunken driver made an unsafe lane change and rear-ended the man’s motorcycle on the Bay Bridge, the California Highway Patrol said.Ryan Willis Jones, 30, was headed eastbound in the tunnel just west of Treasure Island around 5 a.m. when he was knocked off his 2004 Harley-Davidson, the CHP said.Jones was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital and died from his injuries less than one hour later, according to the San Francisco medical examiner.Daniel Olivera, 31, of Oakland, was the......

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The young and rich

Sitting back in his tech-swanky SoMa office, Sanjit Biswas, co-founder of a new San Francisco-based wireless venture worth millions, has been asked to spill his guts about his latest extravagant purchases and his wild, Cristal-drenched social life.Staring up at the ceiling, the 26-year-old tech genius struggles for an answer."I guess I get blamed for the Prius as an extravagant purchase," he says after a long pause. "And I eat less ramen these......

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Wreck disrupts Muni

An unsuspecting driver collided with a Muni power pole in Glen Park early Saturday morning, disrupting service on several major Muni lines for much of the day.The popular lines of F-Market, J-Church and N-Judah lines were either rerouted or replaced with bus shuttle service following the collision, which occurred about 3 a.m. on South San Jose Avenue near Randall Street, spokeswoman Kristen Holland said.The driver of the car apparently drove into a......

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Airbus to set down at SFO

The world’s largest airplane will touch down at the busiest airport in the Bay Area on Aug 4.Emirates Airlines said it will showcase one of its fully outfitted Airbus A380s at San Francisco International Airport in early August. The plane offers 76 business-class seats, 399 seats in economy and 14 first-class suites, the airline said. Airport spokesman Continued...

 

Comedian’s passion for Newsom is no joke

With his dashing good looks and flashy politics, Mayor Gavin Newsom was bound to attract a few diligent stalkers during his career.Meet 24-year-old Mary Van Note. The San Francisco comedian insists Newsom is already in love with her."He just doesn’t know it yet," she said.Van Note says the hunky 40-year-old mayor will break off his engagement with actress Continued...

 

Parking in The City costs a pretty penny

Parking-garage rates in San Francisco are nearly double the national average, according to a new survey.Along with soaring gas prices and rising bridge tolls, commuters opting to drive into The City are paying some of the highest parking prices in the nation, according to real estate broker Colliers International.On average, downtown parkers pay $350 per month. That compares with a nationwide average of $153.79, the survey found.Only the downtown......

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Hundreds assist man through city on reclined ride

It may have been the laziest tour of San Francisco in history.While sitting idle on a ratty La-Z-Boy chair propped on top of two dollies Wednesday, San Francisco filmmaker Tyler MacNiven, a winner on the reality show "The Amazing Race," trekked 8 miles from the Mission district to the Golden Gate Bridge......

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3-Minute Interview: Peter Gosselin

The author of "High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families" will join a panel discussion titled "Surviving the Great Recession" at the Commonwealth Club on Thursday at 6 p.m.Will the economic downturn be short-lived, as some experts say? No, I think it’s going to be with us for a long time because it’s not a normal downturn, it’s being fed by the housing-market slump. ... I think it will continue well into next year.How much have rising gas prices contributed? Fuel and food prices are the prices we......

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Rare photo puts Google operations on view

It was a case of the photographer turned subject. Recently, North Beach resident Damian Spain snapped a photo of a Google car equipped with roof-mounted cameras on one of its secretive missions to capture images for its Google Maps street view, a handy Web tool that allows people to navigate within street-level imagery. The driver of the Continued...

 

Hazardous trees not going down easily

As hundreds of trees in Stern Grove are aging and falling apart, city officials have learned it will take years to remove many of them.Three months ago, 50-year-old Kathleen Bolton of San Francisco was killed when the branch of a redwood tree crashed down on her in a Stern Grove parking lot. That redwood tree was found to have had significant structural defects and should have been taken care of well before the tragedy, according to an arborist’s report four years ago. About 550 of Stern Grove’s 2,600 trees are......

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County needs larger jails

San Mateo County’s overcrowded jails will continue to swell if a new facility isn’t built soon, a new grand jury report warns.The report, released Monday, says the county will struggle to rehabilitate inmates and will end up paying millions more dollars in the long run if a new, large facility is not built immediately. The women’s facility on Maple Street is packed too tight with inmates, says grand jury foreman Gerald......

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Man hit multiple times on highway

A body found on the right-hand shoulder of southbound Interstate 280 in San Francisco early Friday morning was the victim of a hit-and-run collision, according to the California Highway Patrol.Amilcar Rodriguez, 25, was struck around 2:10 a.m. just south of San Jose Avenue. His body had been run over multiple times before a passing driver called authorities, CHP spokesman Continued...

 

You’re not superstitious? Better cross your fingers

Juliet Critchlow said she wouldn’t want to break her mother’s back, but she went ahead and stepped on the crack anyway."I step on cracks all the time, and my mom’s never broken her back," the 12-year-old reasoned.Of course, Critchlow says she isn’t superstitious, so she had little trouble waltzing under a ladder, shattering a mirror and letting the black cat stroll by Thursday afternoon in an exhibit at the Exploratorium that challenges visitors to butt heads with their bad-luck fears —......

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Pride party is prepared for record attendance

Imagine planning the largest wedding reception in U.S. history — with a guest list nearly doubling The City’s population — in less than a month.That’s what preparations for the 38th annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade have felt like since May 15, when California’s Supreme Court authorized same-sex couples to marry in the state, according to Brendan Behan, the festival’s communications director."We were gearing up for the final push for [Pride weekend], and this huge watershed historical moment just hits us," Behan said.Organizers for the massive downtown festival......

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Peninsula continues to be pummeled by bank heists

The list of Peninsula bank robberies this year continued to climb with two more heists in the last two days as local enforcement agencies and the FBI hunt down a possible serial robber.With bank heists Tuesday and Wednesday, the tally of robberies this month in San Mateo County has reached four. Through May, there were 124 bank robberies throughout the Bay Area, a 59 percent jump from the first......

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Segways booted from BART

When the doors on BART trains swish open, there will be one sound absent from the area: the dim whir of Segway scooters.Last week, a rider lost control of a Segway PT at the 24th Street BART station in San Francisco, sending the two-wheeled scooter onto the train tracks. The scooter was struck by a BART train, which halted train service for more than half an hour, causing passengers to miss their flights at San Francisco International Airport, according to BART spokesman Linton Johnson.After that incident, BART officials decided to......

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Open space up to voters ballot

The battle between environmentalists and lawmakers over the future handling of Redwood City’s open spaces will be decided in the November election.The architects of the open space vote, which includes Save the Bay, Friends of Redwood City and the Sierra Club, said Monday that the city clerk has validated more than the 5,300 resident signatures needed to qualify the measure for the November election.If passed, the measure would bar any new development......

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Music medics mend health center’s costs

Rock fans who party too hard at Bay Area concerts over the decades have helped to keep a San Francisco health care clinic open.For 34 years, Haight Ashbury Free Clinics Inc. has staffed volunteer doctors and nurses at most major concert venues in the Bay Area, including Golden Gate Park, The Warfield and Continued...

 

Dog takes flight after plane lands at SFO

A dog that may have been restless after a long flight bolted from Continental Airlines handlers, jetted across the bustling lanes of U.S. Highway 101 and disappeared into a nearby neighborhood after arriving on a flight from Texas on Thursday night.The search continued Friday for Sassy, the 4-year-old German shepherd mix who was reportedly hot from the weather and none too happy about a lengthy plane trip when she fled from her......

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Same-sex couples feeling the pressure to rush to the altar

Although California now offers same-sex couples a historic opportunity to get married, some say they’re not ready to make such a commitment. Nonetheless, they’re now feeling the same pressures heterosexual couples have long endured, with family and friends saying, "So when’s the wedding?""It’s getting a bit annoying being asked multiple times a day if I’m getting married," said Jasmine Smith, 27, of Noe Valley,......

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Courts shoot down last-ditch efforts to halt marriages

As same-sex couples stepped up to be married Tuesday, two last-ditch efforts to halt same-sex marriages were batted down by courts.The conservative group Liberty Counsel had asked a three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal to stop the weddings until November, when voters will decide whether the state constitution should be changed to limit marriage to being between a man and a woman.The judges rejected that request Tuesday, saying the high court made it clear May 15 that the same-sex marriages should be allowed.Also Tuesday, a Sacramento Superior Court......

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Man’s collapse scares joyful crowd

For one supporter of same-sex marriage, the day was not entirely a celebration. Just after the unions became legal, a man who had been playing his guitar and singing songs outside of City Hall collapsed onto the sidewalk. One witness said the man was known throughout the community. Two women who saw the man collapse went in the ambulance with him to San Francisco General Hospital. An update on the man’s condition was not available.......

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‘Love’ drowns out cries from opposition

They promised to speak now and to never hold their peace before any "I do’s" were uttered at City Hall on Monday — but the few who arrived to protest the same-sex marriages could hardly be heard over the hundreds of cheering, weeping supporters.Waving signs denouncing same-sex marriage and warning that God would deliver San Francisco a shattering earthquake for allowing gay couples to marry, about a dozen or so protesters assembled on City Hall steps one hour before city officials......

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Two men flee from freeway accident

Police were combing the city late Wednesday afternoon for two men who reportedly ditched their mashed-up pickup truck on the northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 101 following a traffic-snarling four-car collision.Witnesses told the California Highway Patrol that two Hispanic men hopped out of their banged-up red Toyota pickup and fled into Burlingame after the 3 p.m. crash, which occurred near the Broadway......

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Big-rig crash spawns big traffic mess

An out-of-control big rig keeled over onto U.S. Highway 101 on Tuesday morning, causing a seven-vehicle pileup that injured four people and snarled commuter traffic for more than two hours.The collision occurred about 9:50 a.m. in the northbound lanes just south of Woodside Road, a stretch of highway that has suffered at least three major tractor-trailer collisions in the last year.In January, a big-rig that was clipped by a minivan crashed and spilled approximately 1,600 gallons of fuel, forcing full closure of several northbound lanes for a handful of days.......

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Vacation trend: Forget traveling

John Garcia says he isn’t planning to visit his sister in San Diego this summer.The San Francisco resident said he doesn’t think his family will make it farther than Marin County this year. "We’ve decided to split rent with friends on a vacation home at Continued...

 

Peninsula’s future dwells in the clouds

Imagine the Peninsula borough, circa 2035, the West Coast version of Queens, N.Y. Long rows of residential high-rises sprawl across the skyline, 10- to 15-story complexes clinging to transportation corridors from Daly City to Palo Alto.It’s not the sleepy commuter suburb of today, but the transit epicenter of tomorrow — where nearly all residents take the railroad instead of the highway.Imagine all this......

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Pitbull attack fetches attention

A vicious attack by two pitbulls just inches from a1-year-old child severely injured an Australian Shepherd mix puppy and has police hunting for the dogs’ owner, according to the injured dog’s owner. Catheryne Nicholson of San Carlos told police she strolled into a children’s park on the 2400 Block of San Carlos Avenue around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday when two unleashed pitbulls viciously attacked her Australian Shepherd mix pupppy named Riley. "The two......

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Tears dry as Guardsmen touch down at SFO

There were never enough of the heart-wrenching phone calls — the harsh, popping sounds of heavy artillery behind the voices of their sons and daughters at war. "It’s hard to get any sleep," said Cindy Sill, the Mill Valley mother of a U.S. soldier. "Last night, I couldn’t sleep at all." Today, she can rest. The teary-eyed mom and her family welcomed home......

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Breaking down lighthouse history

Long assumed to have been built on Yerba Buena Island in the 1920s, lighthouse historians say they now have pictures that prove the aging cast-iron tower dates back at least until 1881, when it was originally perched on a scenic slice of Cape Cod coastline.The discovery solves an 80-year-long mystery into the disappearance of the 30-foot-tall tower, which was decommissioned in 1922 and thought to have been dismantled and destroyed, said Bob......

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Going green could keep port in the black

The Port of Redwood City is pushing toward a revenue evolution.In an effort to offset a lull in shipments and a recent decline in revenue, port officials are beginning to diversify operations at the only deepwater port in southern San Francisco Bay, renting out land for a wood recycling company and a possible biodiesel facility.Approximately 70 percent of the port’s revenues come from shipments of housing construction materials, which......

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Two attorneys face off in judicial race

One local attorney claims to be the missing club in the county’s judicial golf bag — another says he’s all the clubs put together.The one divisive difference between Don Franchi and Jerry Nastari in their race for a San Mateo County Superior Court Judge seat Tuesday is that Franchi says the county needs a specialist and Nastari says it needs a utility player.The county’s presiding judge rotates its 26 judges to various assignments biannually so that all can accrue experience in a variety of cases — from criminal to probate......

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Fake football star may be headed to the bench — for life

A convicted rapist who lured his victims with tall tales of playing football for the 49ers is facing 75 years to life for his latest assault, prosecutors said.Charles Carter, 40, of San Ramon, was found guilty Thursday of raping an ex-girlfriend in her Foster City apartment last year after she let him sleep on her couch following a party, Continued...

 

‘Dire financial situation’ results in reductions to police benefits

The usually safe streets of San Carlos could see a rise in crime as a result of recent reductions to police retirement benefits, according to the city’s finest.While the Police Department appeared to have survived a recent round of sweeping cuts to city services, local lawmakers this week approved rolling back the age police personnel can receive retirement benefits from 50 to 55 — a measure the city says will only apply to new hires and could save $500,000 annually on its ailing budget, said Brian Moura, assistant city manager."We......

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Flier who caused melee reaches deal

An Atascadero man who allegedly went on a drunken rampage after missing his United Airlines flight — accosting an airline employee, brawling with police officers and hurling bomb threats — faces a maximum six months in county jail, prosecutors said Tuesday.Joel Elliott Decou, 25, pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges of felony assault on a police officer for the Sept. 8 incident. The alleged rampage occurred in front of a United Airlines boarding......

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Don’tbreak out your shorts just yet

Bay Area residents who may have packed away their winter clothes during the recent heat wave should prepare for long-sleeve weather through the weekend, forecasters say.A cooling trend persists in The City and around the region, with cloud-covered mornings and partly sunny afternoons expected for much of the week, said Diana Henderson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. Temperatures in The City are expected to range from the upper 50s......

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Police struggling to catch roving band of con artists

They’ve allegedly talked their way into at least 30 houses in the Taraval and Richmond districts during the last two years and have been seen by the people they robbed.But catching a band of con artists posing as utility workers still hasn’t been easy, police said.The suspects reportedly show up on doorsteps in a uniform, claiming they’ve been assigned to test the home’s water pipes or other utility devices, according to San Francisco......

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Strap in, but keep your wallet out

After checking in for her American Airlines flight, Mary Anne Donohue pointed at her watch and said, "Imagine if the company that sold me this watch charged me for every hour it ticks."The 56-year-old San Rafael resident then held up her boarding pass."That’s how I feel when I buy a plane ticket," she said.Donohue is one of many travelers frustrated by the mounting number of fees and charges U.S. airlines have recently placed on amenities that were once free for fliers. New fees on once-complimentary perks, such as food, seat......

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Fans: Time was right for Magowan to leave

Some Giants fans say Peter Magowan’s name has been tied too closely with baseball’s steroids scandal. Others say the longtime executive is an old man on a slumping team and it’s about time he moves on.Whatever the longtime executive’s reason was the for leaving the Giants, fans hanging around AT&T Park before Friday’s game had about as much fun batting around the rumors as they did discussing the team’s dwindling winning percentage."Who......

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Celebration time for marriage advocates

As soon as the state Supreme Court announced Thursday morning that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry, the celebration began on the steps of City Hall with crowds of gay men and lesbians cheering and sobbing. Some said they were exhausted from weeks of sleepless anxiety, waiting on the court ruling."Oh my god, I just love her so much," sobbed Jeanne Rizzo, 62, of Tiburon, speaking of her 19-year partner Continued...

 

3-Minute Interview: David Bowers

Published: May 16, 2008

The 61-year-old and his partner, Bruce Ivie, 51, have been together for 27 years. The San Francisco couple were at City Hall on Thursday to celebrate the state Supreme Court ruling that they have a right to remarry. The two were unofficially married in 1981, married again in 2004 and are preparing to tie the knot for a third time.What was your first reaction when you heard the news you could officially......

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Ruling reprieve in the works

Published: May 16, 2008

Those opposing same-sex marriages say they are hoping the state’s Supreme Court will withhold any "I do’s" until after the November election.In response to a decision by the state’s highest court that gay couples have a constitutional right to marry, one of the attorneys who argued before the court against same-sex marriages said Thursday’s ruling proves why the state constitution should be changed.A ballot measure has been submitted to the California Secretary of State’s office for the November election that would amend the state constitution to recognize marriage as only......

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Name mix-up slips by airport security

Published: May 14, 2008

It wasn’t until Jeff McNulty boarded his United Airlines flight last week that he realized he’d become a major breach of security at the busiest airport in the Bay Area.The 36-year-old salesman waltzed right past several checkpoints at San Francisco International Airport, showing identification to at least three security screeners along the way, and was allowed on the plane with relative......

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Alleged driver in fatal shooting heads to court

Published: May 13, 2008

While an investigation continues into the escape of a suspected killer from a county juvenile hall, his alleged accomplice in the 3-year-old murder is set for trial Thursday, prosecutors said.Josue Orozco, 17, and his accomplice, Faustino Ayala, 23, are charged with murdering rival gang member Francisco Rodriguez, 21, in Redwood City on July 12,......

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3-Minute Interview: Mark Klaiman

Published: May 13, 2008

The senior counselor at San Francisco’s Pet Camp, which runs solar-powered pet-boarding facilities in the Bayview and Presidio Heights, accepted the PG&E Green Business Award on Monday at City Hall as part of Small Business Week. How has solar power worked for your business? We have more than 320 solar panels installed on our two roofs. We use solar thermal, so we use the sun to make our hot water — we......

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Caltrain deaths a fact of engineers’ lives

Published: May 12, 2008

Sean Morgan heard the hollow thump as the Caltrain rumbled through a narrow San Francisco tunnel. The 12-year engineer didn’t have to see what he hit to know he wouldn’t sleep for weeks."I knew right away it was a person," he said. "The sound is unlike any other."Many engineers say suicidal pedestrians will look them straight in the eye before being bludgeoned by a train. But it’s the sound the human body makes upon impact that keeps many engineers awake at night, Morgan says."It’s like a sledgehammer on a watermelon,"......

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3-Minute Interview: Jasmine Nachtigall

Published: May 06, 2008

The San Mateo 17-year-old is a finalist in the international Build-A-Bear Workshop Huggable Heroes competition, which honors 12 of 13,000 nominated youths. The Stanford-bound teen will learn if she made the final 12 on May 21.What inspires a teenager to spend 20 hours a week helping people in addition to school? In my English class junior year, I read "The Grapes of Wrath." ... Everyone in the book was interdependent of each other. I could see how that’s really true in our world. Everyone has their place, we all have......

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Chihuahuas unleash their speed in race for regional title

Published: May 03, 2008

The day before one of the biggest races of her life, Clarabelle slept. The champion Chihuahua spent the afternoon stretching her little legs, yawning and nodding in and out of long, blurry naps. "She does a lot of sleeping," Clarabelle’s owner Kristel Krepelka said. This weekend, the 11-pound pooch will attempt to chase down a fairy-tale finish on a 35-foot Chihuahua racetrack in San Bruno. She is the returning champion of the......

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School district prepares for budget shortfall with list of potential cuts

Published: May 02, 2008

The state’s soaring deficit projection has drawn concern from Redwood City School District officials, who are looking for ways to retain about three-dozen teachers who face layoffs. The district board met Wednesday to pore over a new list of recommended cuts meant to lessen the effects of a projected loss of $6 million in state funding. The district is considering axing some teachers and offering early retirement incentives to others, although discussions are preliminary and no decisions will be......

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City aims to brake darting drivers

Published: May 01, 2008

Drivers charging down Redwood City’s residential blocks are causing fender-benders, endangering pedestrians and raising concerns that some city speed limits are set too high, officials said.In May, the City Council will discuss lowering the speed limit for six residential stretches of road from 30 mph to 25 mph. A few have already seen sign changes, but they haven’t officially been entered into the city ordinance, city spokesman Malcolm Smith said."The accident rates [for all residential streets in question] were higher, and sometimes significantly higher, than the state," Smith said.On Broadway......

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Virgin takes off while competitors lay low

Published: Apr 30, 2008

While most of the airline industry keeps one finger on the ejectbutton, Virgin America continues rocketing planes off the busiest tarmac in the Bay Area.The rookie airline announced an expansion of its summer schedule with additional flights to and from San Francisco International Airport — including four daily flights to Seattle and another two dailies from Continued...

 

Worker accused in metal theft

Published: Apr 29, 2008

A San Carlos recycling center’s efforts to help police track down copper-wire thieves helped the company spot an alleged scammer on its own staff, police said.A Sierra Pacific Recycling employee was arrested last week for allegedly falsifying 38 customer weight receipts and pocketing at least $15,000 in cash during the last three months, San Carlos police Sgt. Eric Stanley said.Management at the recycling center suspected Continued...

 

Charter school settles down, draws praise

Published: Apr 26, 2008

It may have been nomadic, but Summit Preparatory High School has established itself as one of the state’s elite charter schools.Summit was named a Certified Charter School this week by the California Charter Schools Association. Only about 10 percent of nearly 1,000 charter schools statewide have received the honor, according to CCSA.Though charter schools continue to garner mixed......

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Employers make pricey Bay Area living worthwhile

Published: Apr 26, 2008

Bay Area residents might need deep pockets to live here, but at least their pay is among the highest in the nation, according to federal data.In terms of average wages, San Francisco and San Mateo are among the top 15 highest-paying counties, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The top-notch pay is relative to the cost of living in......

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Open-space fight closer to the ballot

Published: Apr 25, 2008

Environmentalists say they’re gaining ground on a proposed ballot measure that would likely hinder plans for housing on the Redwood City salt ponds.On Thursday, a coalition of environmental groups said they had gathered about 2,500 signatures for its proposed measure — about half of what is needed to qualify the measure for the November ballot. The coalition needs signatures from at least 15 percent of the city’s registered voters.The proposed ballot measure — which has been lambasted by city officials as......

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Man up against life sentence for force-feeding son

Published: Apr 25, 2008

A Burlingame man is facing a possible life sentence for allegedly forcing his 13-year-old autistic son to drink more than a dozen juice boxes as punishment for being sent home from school, prosecutors said.Jason McGlown, 35, pleaded not guilty Thursday to allegations that he brutally punished the developmentally disabled child Feb. 13 after the boy got into trouble for stealing a juice box at a San Bruno middle school, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.McGlown reportedly went to the school to pick up his son, who lives with McGlown’s......

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San Carlos sharpens budget ax

Published: Apr 25, 2008

A long list of programs and services are on the chopping block after the city manager Thursday confirmed a deficit of more than $2.7 million for the coming year.The city has called for 15 percent cuts as a downward economy persists with no end in sight, City Manager Mark Weiss said.Weiss recommended slashing morethan 30 various expenses ranging from a special needs program, the Police Athletic......

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Language-test numbers static

Published: Apr 24, 2008

As California’s non-native students showed improvement in English proficiency this school year, the same can’t be said for those in San Mateo County, according to the results of a statewide exam.In 2007-08, nearly 36 percent of English-learning students scored as "early advanced" or "advanced" on the California English Language Development Test, up from 32 percent the previous year, the state said. In San Mateo County, however, the number hadn’t budged from about......

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San Carlos says go, Speed Mayor, go!

Published: Apr 23, 2008

San Carlos Mayor Brad Lewis announced Tuesday he will not soon try out for the NASCAR circuit. At least not until he can keep from crashing. The Pixar producer/director entered last weekend’s Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach to immerse himself in the world......

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Gas prices continue to climb

Published: Apr 22, 2008

There was a time when motorists could avoid soaring gas prices by driving the longer distance to the cheapest gas station in town. "Not so anymore," said San Mateo resident Chris Sheldon. "It seems like it almost costs as much to drive the distance." With the average price of regular unleaded teetering just below $4 per gallon in the Bay Area, Sheldon said it’s becoming harder each day to call the cheapest......

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High pesticide numbers linked to data error

Published: Apr 21, 2008

What appeared to be a major increase in use of a particularly harmful weed killer in San Mateo County turned out to be an error in reporting by the state.The state’s most recent data on pesticide use in the county indicated an alarming increase in the spraying of Oryzalin, from 1,900 pounds in 2005 to 105,000 pounds the following year.The Department of Pesticide Regulation launched an investigation into its......

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Teacher who allegedly taped girls in school bathroom quits

Published: Apr 19, 2008

The Mills High School teacher accused of filming girls as they used a school bathroom has resigned.The San Mateo Union High School District board accepted David Lista’s resignation during a closed-door meeting Thursday night, according to an attorney for the district.The 35-year-old had been on paid administrative leave since allegations arose last month that he had stashed a camera above a bathroom stall and filmed students, storing the......

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Restaurants serving choice profits

Published: Apr 19, 2008

Serving up a top-selling restaurant in The City is like following in the footsteps of Rice-A-Roni: you have to get tourists and locals believing it’s a San Francisco treat, according to local eatery owners.That’s been one of the key ingredients fueling the four San Francisco restaurants named this week among the 100 highest-grossing independent eateries in the nation. The list, published in Restaurants & Institutions, included Scoma’s (No. 23), Boulevard (59), The Slanted......

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Sex offenders found in child care centers

Published: Apr 18, 2008

Registered sex offenders in the Bay Area are living in state-licensed facilities that care for children, elderly and mentally disabled people, a recent state audit has found.Nearly 80 state licensed facilities in the nine-county region, including 11 in San Francisco and three in San Mateo County, are housing registered sex offenders, according to the audit. Seven of those facilities are believed to be child care centers.State officials have said they are......

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Confusion reigns as pesticide usage jumps

Published: Apr 17, 2008

Was it a glitch in the state’s database or has San Mateo County been doused with an unhealthy dose of one of the most toxic weed killers?State and county officials have launched separate investigations into reports of a dramatic rise in nonresidential pesticide use in 2006.The state’s most recent data indicates an alarming increase in the spraying of a particularly harmful pesticide called Oryzalin, a chemical commonly used to stunt weeds from curling around roadways, railroads and power lines. The......

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Judge tells teacher schools are off-limits

Published: Apr 16, 2008

The English teacher accused of filming girls as they used a Mills High School bathroom is out on bail but barred from lurking anywhere near minors or schools, prosecutors said. A judge on Wednesday denied prosecutors’ motion to raise David Lista’s bail to $300,000, but imposed several restrictions on the 35-year-old Belmont resident, Chief......

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3-Minute Interview: Debra Waller

Published: Apr 16, 2008

The chairman and CEO of apparel giant Jockey International, Inc. and mother of three met with San Mateo County women Tuesday night to discuss the relationship between being the head of a major company and the head of a household. Three years ago, she founded Jockey Person to Person, which lets women operate an in-home Jockey sales business on their own schedule.How does being the CEO of a business relate......

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Child abuse reports surge in county

Published: Apr 15, 2008

Reports of child abuse in San Mateo County have risen at a rate not seen in more than a decade, a new study says.More than 4,500 children were referred to Child Protective Services in 2006, about 3 percent of the county’s children, according to an annual report by Sustainable San Mateo County, a community-based organization.The rate of abuse cases reported in the county increased to 27.8 referrals per 1,000 children in 2006 as compared with 24.9 in 2005. In 1998,......

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Sparse turnout spurs call for change

Published: Apr 15, 2008

There was such a dismal turnout at the polling sites during last week’s special election, the entire election might as well have been done by mail, San Mateo County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum said.Only 25.9 percent of San Mateo County voters turned out for the 12th Congressional District special election won by Jackie Speier, elections officials said. The city and county of Continued...

 

New round begins in open-space fight

Published: Apr 12, 2008

The long-brewing battle over the future of Redwood City’s open space is spilling into the streets. Environmentalists will begin gathering signatures around town this weekend in support of a charter amendment that would bar any new development on city parks and open spaces without a two-thirds public vote.The initiative comes amid plans to redevelop Cargill Inc. salt ponds on a 1,433-acre property at the Bay’s edge in Redwood City, an......

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Water shortage could stifle growth

Published: Apr 11, 2008

The probability of a boom in population, major earthquake or drought could spell a water shortage for San Mateo County in coming years, a factor that might drive away housing developments and stunt the local economy, according to a new report.Although a wet spring coupled with the county’s recent conservation and recycling efforts have helped reduce water use, a projected boom in population is expected to increase demand for nature’s most necessary liquid nearly 25 percent by 2030, according......

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BART nearing deal for Wi-Fi in trains

Published: Apr 10, 2008

BART might soon log on to a wireless deal that would allow commuters to send e-mails or play online video games right from their train seats — even while darting under the San Francisco Bay. Officials from the transit agency say they’re in the midst of negotiations with Sacramento-area startup WiFi Rail Inc. to provide wireless Internet to all......

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Mills instructor accused of taking pictures from desk

Published: Apr 09, 2008

The English teacher accused of secretly videotaping girls in a Mills High School bathroom also peeped on students using a hidden camera stashed under his classroom desk, prosecutors said Tuesday. David Lista, 35, had stored well more than 20 images of girls he reportedly filmed in a bathroom stall onto a school-issued computer, Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.......

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Pedestrian fatality on Caltrain tracks delays train service

Published: Apr 08, 2008

An unidentified man was struck and killed by a southbound Caltrain just north of the Menlo Park station Monday morning, snarling train service for several hours and canceling a special service train for baseball fans en route to the Giants’ season home opener.The man was reportedly trespassing between Encinal and Glenwood avenues at about 8:30 a.m. when a Baby Bullet commuter train making limited stops slammed into him,......

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Ex-teacher linked to more porn

Published: Apr 05, 2008

A former Mills High School teacher who allegedly filmed girls in a school bathroom also had circulated hundreds of lewd images of children on the Internet using his home computer, prosecutors said.David Lista, 35, who faces four felony counts including possession and distribution of child pornography and possession of methamphetamine, did not, however, circulate the images he allegedly captured at the school, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.The teacher faces a pair of misdemeanor charges for allegedly taping students through a camera that he reportedly situated in a......

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State ranks low in per capita earmarks

Published: Apr 04, 2008

Although California lawmakers this year set aside millions of taxpayer dollars in pet projects, the state ranked 49th in the nation for pork-barrel spending per capita, according to a new report.As the nation flirts with recession, a total of $17.2 billion was earmarked on nationwide pork projects, a 30 percent increase from last year, according to an annual report titled "Pig Book" from the Citizens Against Government Waste. The......

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Bay Area losing foreign-born workers to other markets

Published: Apr 02, 2008

Foreign-born whiz kids turned off by restrictive immigration policies and soaring housing costs are passing up high-tech Bay Area jobs for opportunities overseas, economists say.Such factors are threatening the Bay Area’s stronghold on the technology and innovation markets, where local high-tech companies and universities are staffed, for the most part, with foreign-born workers, according to a new report by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. Most professionals are opting for jobs in emerging foreign markets such as China and India, where they can afford to purchase a home and where......

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High-speed rail bond has strong Bay Area support

Published: Apr 01, 2008

Bay Area residents fed up with bumper-to-bumper traffic overwhelmingly support shelling out nearly $10 billion in state funds for a 200-mph train connecting the state’s major cities, a recent poll indicates.A statewide survey of 800 registered voters shows that 67 percent of Bay Area residents plan to vote "yes" on a $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond in November, an approval rating higher than any other California region. Statewide, 58 percent of voters approved of the bond measure, and 61 percent said "yes" in the Los Angeles and San Joaquin areas,......

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Recalled meat delivered to districts

Published: Mar 29, 2008

Eight school districts in San Mateo County received a cut of the 143 million pounds of beef that was recalled last month due to a Southern California slaughterhouse’s questionable practices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture disclosed.Although only one-third of the 24 Peninsula school districts received the beef, the report does not indicate how many pounds they received or how much, if any, the students ate. So far, no illnesses have been linked to the meat.Pressure from lawmakers prompted the USDA to list all U.S. school districts affected by the massive......

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BART plans to make its cushions cushier

Published: Mar 28, 2008

Many BART riders said they can’t help but wince at rows of browning seats in some grimy trains. Jim Maitz, for instance, opted to stand for his ride from Millbrae to San Francisco on Thursday afternoon, though plenty of seats were available.BART officials, however, say riders won’t have to be disgusted much longer.On Thursday, BART directors finalized a two-year plan to......

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State wants to shift funds to parolees

Published: Mar 27, 2008

Fewer police officers could be patrolling the streets of San Mateo County as part of a state plan to transfer "low-risk" parolees to the county’s probation departments.Under a new proposal meant to narrow the state’s $14.5 billion deficit, the state would slash or redistribute three separate funding streams allocated to all police departments throughout the county. The funds saved would finance the transfer of some of the state’s "low-risk" parolees, excluding those on parole for violent or sexual crimes,......

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Lantos reverently remembered at memorial service

Published: Mar 27, 2008

From Tibet to the Bay Area, Rep. Tom Lantos, who always called himself "an American by choice," left behind a world of heavy hearts, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday during a memorial to the 27-year Congress member. "Without Tom, I wouldn’t have been able to make that trip to meet with the Continued...

 

Alleged arsonist, vandal pleads not guilty to DUI charge

Published: Mar 25, 2008

A man accused of setting fire to a historic San Francisco home of the fire chief pleaded not guilty Monday to driving drunk on a San Mateo County stretch of highway the night of the blaze, prosecutors said.Lance Farber, 47, allegedly toppled furniture and smeared tomatoes on walls before igniting a mattress inside the Dennis T. Sullivan Memorial Fire......

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Tuberculosis cases on the rise in Bay Area

Published: Mar 24, 2008

A rising number of tuberculosis cases in the Bay Area should make everyone think twice when someone around them coughs without covering their mouth.Last year, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties saw some of the steepest inclines of infections in the state, according to a recent study. The......

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Three-minute Web dates offer chances for love

Published: Mar 22, 2008

Francesca Salcido has tried a variety of online dating sites and says she’s ended up with more awkward experiences than dates with Mr. Right.The problem, according to the 26-year-old San Franciscan, is that a picture, a profile, and a few clever e-mails rarely say enough about the person you’re about to meet. "I mean, is he really that funny in person?" she said. "Is he as comfortable with himself as he seems? Or as attractive as his picture?"That’s why Salcido said she turned on her webcam and joined speeddate.com, a......

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City kills squirrel to save levees

Published: Mar 20, 2008

There was little to no protest from residents or animal rights groups Wednesday when city contractors began carrying out death sentences on a bevy of levee-damaging squirrels. Pest-control workers plopped poisonous bait along the levee near the Belmont Slough and Sea Cloud Park area in an attempt to control what city officials claim is an exponential growth in the ground squirrel population. City officials first considered poisoning the squirrels in November, saying the pesky rodents could damage the levee, creating a flood risk and posing a health threat to humans.......

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Teen credits YMCA for life’s turnaround

Published: Mar 15, 2008

Peter O’Dell can’t say where he’ll end up in 10 years. "I guess I’ll figure it out when I get there," the 17-year-old San Mateo resident said. A year ago, O’Dell said, the life he led was much more predictable — he was the boy who found drugs too early, ditched school too often, joined a gang and landed in juvenile prison. O’Dell said he was living a cliché from the newspaper’s crime section. "I was sick of living that life," O’Dell said. "Everything was always so negative." Today, he......

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Young robot builders race into future

Published: Mar 15, 2008

In a footrace, "Star Wars" droid R2-D2 wouldn’t stand a chance against the robots built by San Mateo County’s youngest engineers.Take El Toro’s Revenge, for example. It may not be the best looking robot ever made, but it can rip around a racetrack, according to the Mills High School students who built it."He’s the highest-performing robot at the......

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Experts to examine Ravenswood district

Published: Mar 14, 2008

A team of education experts will soon assess and suggest improvements to the troubled Ravenswood City Elementary School District, one of 97 school districts in the state that have consistently failed to meet federal standards on standardized test scores. Last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended light to severe sanctions for 97 California school districts for the first time under the federal No Child Left Behind Act because they have failed to......

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Potholes digging into cars, wallets

Published: Mar 13, 2008

The potholes you ran over on the drive to work this morning won’t rattle you asmuch as what they cost in car repairs each year.Bay Area drivers are paying an average of $761 more than they would usually spend per year on gas and trips to the mechanic, according to a national report on road conditions, because highways and city streets in San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin and Continued...

 

Man’s grudge vanishes as blaze begins

Published: Mar 12, 2008

Eddie House says he has never been fond of the apartment complex he claims was built too close to his San Carlos home, but that didn’t stop him from dousing a fire that broke out there early Tuesday morning, possibly saving the lives of some of the building’s occupants.House, 53, said he was in the kitchen of his Cedar Street home when he saw the complex "lit up in orange" at around 4:30 a.m. He said he immediately called 911, rushed outside for his hose and helped quell the flames......

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Gas prices steadily climb upward

Published: Mar 11, 2008

Gillian Russell was pumping gas into her car at a San Bruno Chevron station early Monday afternoon, knowing very well the 20 dollars she planned on spending would not fill her tank."I never spend more than $20," the 27-year-old San Mateo resident said. "I know it’s stupid. I know it......

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‘Survivor’ star Kwon decides against congressional bid

Published: Mar 08, 2008

It’s official: One of People magazine’s sexiest men of 2006 will not vie for the congressional seat the late Tom Lantos held for nearly three decades. Yul Kwon, a San Mateo management consultant better known for winning the $1 million prize on "Survivor: Cook Islands" two years ago — an honor garnering him a sexy spread in the celebrity magazine — opted not to file for the San Mateo-San Francisco House ofRepresentatives seat vacated by Lantos, D-San Mateo, who died from cancer in February. Kwon, a Yale Law School graduate......

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Call for public vote comes as surprise to lawmakers

Published: Mar 07, 2008

Environmentalists denied blindsiding city government or attemptingto undercut lawmakers Thursday when it called for a public vote on all future plans to develop open spaces in Redwood City.A coalition of environmental groups is seeking a charter amendment that would bar any proposals to build upon the city’s parks or bayside wetlands until the plans garner at least two-thirds voter approval. The initiative comes amid plans to redevelop the Cargill Inc. salt ponds on a 1,433-acre property at the Bay’s edge in Redwood City, an idea vehemently opposed by environmentalists and......

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