Mike Aldax

Winter homeless shelter to open this weekend

The homeless in San Francisco will have an additional shelter option during the cold days of winter, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office announced Friday. A winter shelter program for adult males begins Sunday and runs through Feb. 27, the Mayor’s Office said in a statement. The so-called San Francisco Interfaith Winter Shelter Program will offer both housing and support services for guests, it said. The St. Boniface Church at 133 Golden Gate Ave. will be the first program location offering shelter. Spaces are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. Those interested in a sleeping unit Sunday should come to St. Boniface no earlier than 5:30 p.m. to receive a ticket, the...

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High-profile PR man steps into hotel fight

Well-known public relations guru Sam Singer has been hired to represent the Hotel Council of San Francisco during the ongoing hotel labor dispute, the council announced Friday. And not surprisingly, slams against the union have already begun. Local 2 Unite Here! – which represents 9,000 hotel workers at 61 city hotels – has been staging separate, multiday strikes at various major downtown hotels during the last three weeks in order to obtain a desired contract. The contract between the union and hotels expired Aug. 14. The union, which is in its third day of a strike at the Westin St. Francis, says the hotels are using the downward economy as an excuse to offer its...

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Newsom Tracker: Just meetings?

Mayor Gavin Newsom is conducting meetings at City Hall on Friday and has no public appearances scheduled — at least that is what his official schedule says. Then again, Newsom has been showing up to events that are not on his schedule. Take Thursday, for instance, when the mayor appeared at a Project Homeless Connect event in Golden Gate Park. Time will tell where the mayor makes an appearance....

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Park homeless spurn outreach

Mayor Gavin Newsom experienced firsthand Thursday morning that outreach efforts to some hard-core homeless in Golden Gate Park are failing. During a Project Homeless Connect event near Hippie Hill, an area on the eastern end of the park where transients are known to gather only a field away from a children’s playground, the mayor tried — in some cases unsuccessfully — to persuade habitual park campers to utilize the housing and health services offered by The City. “We met a guy [who’s received] 52 citations,” Newsom told The Examiner in an interview. “I said, ‘Hey, I got housing for ya.’ He said, ‘Oh, that’s great,...

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Strikes may upset shopping season

The extended hotel labor dispute in San Francisco could send a negative message to holiday visitors and shoppers, discouraging them from spending money in The City during an already rocky economy. Stalled contract talks between six major hotel chains and the union Unite Here! Local 2 — which represents 9,000 workers at 61 San Francisco hotels — led to a walkout and strike at the Westin St. Francis in Union Square on Wednesday. It is the third picket at a San Francisco hotel in as many weeks, and there are no scheduled talks between the two sides. The negotiations, which center on health care costs, have soured to the point that unions have been launching weekly unannounced...

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Stabbed S.F. artist to make return

The San Francisco artist who was recently stabbed while painting a mural on Market Street to benefit a city beautification project will resume work on the piece on Saturday. Glen Park resident Jason Hailey, also known as “Chor Boogie,” has been painting a nearly half-block-long mural in the 1000 block of Market Street as part of a series of city projects intended to beautify the seedy strip and attract more pedestrians and bicyclists. He was stabbed while doing so at around 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 7 by thieves attempting to steal his paint. “Chor is in pain, but resting up and preparing for a resilient return to this amazing creation for Market Street,” the San...

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Bad biz can’t mess with Herrera

City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s vigilant attacks on businesses that harm consumers have earned him a national award. The National Association of Consumer Advocates said Tuesday Herrera won the 2009 Consumer Attorney of the Year Award at their annual meeting in Philadelphia. Herrera was described by the Los Angeles Times as “the most effective public office in the country,” NACA said in a release. NACA pointed to a case last year in which Herrera obtained a court order prohibiting credit card collection agencies from publishing debtors’ Social Security numbers and other private information in court documents, which the city attorney called “a clear invasion...

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Newsom Tracker: Meetings, game plans

Mayor Gavin Newsom continues to lock himself in City Hall, reportedly conducting meetings, according to the Mayor’s Office. Newsom has been dealing with city budget issues and has also been finalizing his game plan for the remainder of his mayoral term ending January 2012, among other tasks, staffers...

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Newsom’s chief spokesman stepping down

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s chief spokesman resigned Monday, marking the latest in a number of top-tier personnel departures from the Mayor’s Office during the last half-year. Nathan Ballard, who became Newsom’s director of communications in February 2007, will officially step down from the post in February of next year, the Mayor’s Office announced this afternoon. No specific reason was given for Ballard’s departure. A press release this morning did not indicate whether Ballard resigned or was asked to step down. The announcement of Ballard’s departure follows a strange few weeks in City Hall that had presented some clues, and certainly ignited plenty of...

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Newsom Tracker: City Hall meetings

Mayor Gavin Newsom is conducting meetings in City Hall, but has no public events or appearances on his schedule today. That doesn’t mean the mayor won’t be out-and-about. Newsom has made a sport out of showing up to events that aren’t on his schedule. And while he may have made commitments to arrive at certain city events, his calendar, which the media tracks closely, often don’t mention them. The mayor shunned reporters for weeks following his Oct. 30 departure from the 2010 governor’s race. He has since begun to answer some questions from reporters, but has refused to address inquiries on his failed campaign or his whirlwind vacation to Hawaii....

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Union Square to receive holiday cleaning

If you’re going to have a lot of people over for the holidays, it’s probably best to clean up the front yard before their arrival. Union Square is about to receive a major cleaning in preparation for a glut of holiday shoppers. Between Nov. 19 and Nov. 25, volunteers and staff with the Department of Public Works will pick up litter, care for trees, paint trash receptacles and remove graffiti in the area. Crews will also steam clean, repair and repaint curbs as part of an effort to provide the central shopping district an air of holiday cleanliness, DPW said. They will also help clean up and decorate Hallidie Plaza, it said. Along with DPW, the Market Street Association,...

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City to create energy from water pressure

Mayor Gavin Newsom offered a thumbs-up today regarding a plan to build a 200-kilowatt hydroelectric plant at a Portola District reservoir. The project is the first in San Francisco to generate clean energy from excess, previously untapped water pressure in The City’s water distribution system, the Mayor’s Office said in a release. The plant will be built at the University Mound Reservoir, which provides drinking water to eastern districts of The City including the Marina, South of Market and Treasure and Yerba Buena islands, it said. The reservoir is currently undergoing a major seismic retrofit. Energy from water pressure will essentially derive from good ole gravity,...

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Newsom Tracker: 13 days of silence

Today is raring to be the 13th straight day Mayor Gavin Newsom has not talked issues with the media. As has become typical, Newsom has no public events scheduled. He’ll be in meetings all day at City Hall, a mayoral staffer said. He is also listed tonight as a VIP at an event honoring Glide’s Rev. Cecil Williams, though his schedule does not say his attendance is definite. We have at least seen a bit of chatter on Newsom’s Twitter account. Could Newsom be taking a page from cyclist Lance Armstrong, whose ability to avoid the media forces reporters to rely on his Twitter account for quotes? Maybe that works when chatting about a cycling race but we imagine it would...

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SFPUC approves $250M tunnel project

Spending $250 million on anything raises eyebrows. But since it means San Franciscans will be able to drink water after a massive earthquake, it is money well spent, according to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The agency recently approved construction of a 3.5-mile-long water delivery tunnel that is seismically superior to an existing 78-year-old tunnel. Like the aging tunnel, the new tunnel will deliver water from the Hetch Hetchy Water System to 2.5 million Bay Area customers. The existing tunnel is called The Irvington Tunnel. The new tunnel, appropriately, will be called The New Irvington Tunnel. The new tunnel will be placed parallel to the existing tunnel,...

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Will Newsom talk about Rev. Williams?

It will be interesting to see if Mayor Gavin Newsom can continue ignoring the media at a celeb-packed event Thursday to honor Rev. Cecil Williams. Newsom is one of a number of big-timers listed to attend a lavish ceremony at the San Francisco Opera House honoring Williams’ 45th anniversary with Glide, the Tenderloin-based foundation and church that has long served The City’s poor and disenfranchised. Event organizers list poet Maya Angelou, actor Danny Glover, San Francisco Giants President Larry Baer and other big-shot attendees. Newsom is listed as one of many VIPs. Will he attend? And if so, will he address questions from the press? The mayor has been giving the media...

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SFGH neighbors continue helipad fight

A Potrero Hill group continues to fight the possibility that San Francisco General Hospital will build a helipad. The so-called Neighbors of San Francisco General Hospital – which operates the Web site, www.stophelipad.com – is hosting a fundraiser for the effort Saturday at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House. The cost to attend in $100. “There’s a state bill that will require SFGH to build a helipad and we need to fight that bill,” according to an advertisement for the fundraiser. The bill, AB 1272, “would require a local emergency medical service to include within its trauma system plan the provision of air transport of trauma patients to, and...

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Anti-graffiti coursework starts in schools

There’s a big difference between art and vandalism – and the former is certainly more productive than the latter. That’s the key lesson in new anti-graffiti courses being implemented at six San Francisco Unified School District schools. The new curriculum is aimed at teaching students between grades four and six the negative effects of graffiti in neighborhoods. The idea is to redirect the creative energy that would go into tagging a bus shelter into the creation of artwork that doesn’t cost millions of dollars in taxpayer money to clean up, according to the San Francisco Arts Commission. The City spends more than $20 million annually cleaning up graffiti,...

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Newsom Tracker: 11th day of silence

Today will presumably be another day in San Francisco without Mayor Gavin Newsom – as far as we know. The mayor’s schedule indicates no public events or meetings at City Hall. Newsom has not talked issues with the local press since Oct. 30, when he quit the 2010 governor’s race. That time period is long enough to launch a daily counter – it’s now been 11 days of relative silence. Are we having fun yet?...

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Newsom keeps low profile after return to city

Gavin Newsom keeps a low profile after returning to City Hall for the first time since a trip to Hawaii. The mayor has not been seen publicly for a week, when he dropped out of the race to be California governor.

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The race for government transparency

The scorecard has been published on the race to see which San Francisco agency is most eager to increase its transparency. Mayor Gavin Newsom in recent months announced the launch of DataSf.org, a Web site where The City publishes all kinds of government information in hopes that tech professionals will harness it and make user-friendly applications. Newsom has called on city agencies to release as much data as possible as soon as possible. DataSF.org is listing which agencies are leading the way in publishing sets of their data. The lead agency is sort of obvious: The Department of Technology has released 78 so-called datasets. The Department of Public Works is second with 18,...

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You can identify SF trees on iPhone

If you care to know what those trees are that you pass on the way to work, there’s an app for that. A new software application allows you to search and identify trees in San Francisco from where you’re standing, using information provided by the San Francisco Department of Public Works. Just type in an address, the cross streets or even a ZIP code and mapping software will pop up with images of the trees on your block. The application, which costs 99 cents “contains details of the nearly 65,000 trees from the Golden Gate Bridge down to Daly City that they keep track of and/or maintain,” according to an advertisement for the application. The use of city data to...

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Newsom Tracker: Quietly back in The City

Mayor Gavin Newsom is back in City Hall, though you wouldn’t know it by his schedule Friday. Newsom reportedly walked into his office around 9:30 a.m., according to a television news crew that was camping out in front of Room 200, the mayoral quarters. The reporters said Newsom would not comment. It has been a week days since the mayor has appeared publicly following his withdrawal from the 2010 governor’s race. The mayor abruptly left The City on Tuesday morning to join his family at a Big Island resort. Nathan Ballard, the mayor’s spokesman, said Newsom may or may not speak publicly Friday. He will hold meetings Friday, possibly with the players involved in an...

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Hotel workers take to picket line

Hotel walkouts such as the one at the Grand Hyatt Union Square on Thursday will be occurring regularly in coming weeks as union workers move to pressure 61 San Francisco hotels to approve a contract. The six major hotel chains are trying to hammer out deals with their workers to avoid a strike, which could cripple The City’s tourism industry. The contract between the hotels and their employees expired Aug. 14. The unexpected, three-day strike at the Grand Hyatt — which was called “irresponsible and stunning” by hotel management — is the first action against a business since the 9,000-member Unite Here! Local 2 union approved a strike two weeks ago. Rather...

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New lease for Mexican Museum

The Mexican Museum will not be homeless this Christmas. The museum’s collection of 12,000 objects, including paintings, sculptures and folk art, is currently in storage at Fort Mason and awaiting a new home in the culturally-rich Yerba Buena district in downtown San Francisco. That new location, however, likely won’t be ready until after 2014. Keeping the museum’s pieces at Fort Mason until it has a new home hasn’t been easy. Lease negotiations have been contentious. However, the museum recently struck a short-term agreement that will allow it to remain in its current location through the end of December, Arts Commission chief Luis Cancel said today. The...

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Swine flu vaccines in short supply — again

The City has used up most of the 28,000 injectable doses of H1N1 vaccine it received from the federal government last week and there is no clear indication as to when more will arrive, the Department of Public Health said. State officials told the DPH that more swine flu doses will be shipped out “in the next week to 10 days,” DPH spokeswoman Eileen Shields said. But those doses will be in the form of the nasal spray – aka FluMist – and not the injectable kind, she said. The nasal spray vaccine is not safe for some of the most susceptible groups: pregnant women and people with chronic health problems. Last week’s shipment of swine flu vaccines was the...

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Newsom cancels speaking event today

Just days after stepping out of the race to be the governor of California, Mayor Gavin Newsom canceled a public-speaking event. Newsom reportedly canceled an appearance Monday morning at the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association awards luncheon. He has no other public appearances scheduled Monday, the Mayor’s Office said. Officials in the Mayor’s Office did not offer a reason for the cancellation, saying only that Newsom is attending to other matters. The Silver SPUR Awards event at Moscone Center West will recognize six individuals “who make our city and region a better place to live and work,” according to the SPUR Web site. Newsom was supposed...

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Newsom abandons 2010 governor's race

Mayor Gavin Newsom has dropped out of the 2010 governor’s race. Newsom, 42, bowed out Friday after struggling to match the millions of dollars that his expected Democratic primary opponent, state Attorney General Jerry Brown, had raised. Newsom also trailed Brown in the polls even though Brown, a former governor and former Oakland mayor, has yet to declare his candidacy. Brown announced an exploratory committee for the post in September. Brown raised $3.5 million in the first six months of the year — ostensibly for reelection to his current post — according to the California Secretary of State's Web site. The site showed he had $7.4 million saved up after the June 30...

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Oil spill smaller than 2007 incident

An oil tanker Friday morning spilled “less than a few thousand gallons” of fuel into the Bay, rather than the 100-gallon figure reported by officials earlier in the morning, Mayor Gavin Newsom said. The spill, which has produced a 1-mile-long sheen on the Bay, was reported at 6:48 a.m. from a vessel anchored at Anchorage Nine, located about 2.5 miles southeast of the Bay Bridge, the U.S. Coast Guard said. A Panamanian-flagged tanker, named Dubai Star, was reportedly fueling up when one of its fuel lines ruptured, the Coast Guard said. Coast Guard vessels are assessing the spill, hoping to come up with a more exact amount of oil that has leaked into the Bay. A 100-yard...

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Clinics begin offering H1N1 vaccinations

The lines were long but not unbearable this afternoon at city clinics offering swine flu vaccinations to at-risk San Franciscans. The Department of Public Health opened nine vaccination clinics citywide after receiving the largest shipment of swine flu doses to date this week. The 28,000 doses are being doled out to at-risk residents, including pregnant women, anyone from 6 months to 24 years of age, health care and emergency responders and adults between 25 and 64 with medical conditions that put them at risk for life-threatening illnesses. The clinics opened at 4 p.m., but long lines formed in front of them well before then. Folks showed up at the St. Anthony’s clinic on...

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Newsom endorses Prop. D

Just days before the November election, Mayor Gavin Newsom has thrown his support behind Proposition D. The proposition would create an exception to a law banning new billboards and other general advertising signs citywide, allowing property owners to erect them solely on Market Street between Fifth and Seventh streets. The advertising would ideally be lit up as a way to increase the safety and vibrancy of the historically down-trodden Market strip, said Nathan Ballard, spokesman for the Mayor’s Office. “When you think about the great boulevards in the world, they’re all bright and lit up at night,” he said. “Market Street needs a lot of work, and this is...

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Community event starts in Bayview Friday

The second installment of the Arts in Storefronts pilot program starts Friday in the Bayview district, city officials said. Vacated storefronts will morph from failed businesses into art exhibits. The work of San Francisco-based artists will be on display. The idea is billed by city officials as a creative way to inject vibrancy into neighborhoods hit hard by the downward economy. The project is a citywide effort, having kicked off last Friday in the Mid-Market and Tenderloin districts. The Bayview launch event will kick off at 4900 Third St. with a community celebration featuring remarks by District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, an art walk, jazz by youth group Pop Lyfe and the...

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City takes aim at Kellogg's advertising

City Attorney Dennis Herrera has sent a scathing letter to Kellogg Co. today for claiming that Cocoa Krispies and other of its “sugar-laden” breakfast cereals will help boost children’s immunity to illnesses. In the letter sent to the company’s president and CEO, Herrera expressed “serious concerns” about the large font printed on the Cocoa Krispies cereal box that reads, “Now Helps Support Your Child’s Immunity.” The city attorney says that is likely false advertising, a potential violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law. He has asked Kellogg’s to prove its child immunity claims within 30 days. If the company...

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Reward upped to bust graffiti vandals

The reward has increased from $250 to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever vandalized a freeway sign at Highway 101 at Bayshore and Third streets two weekends ago. The City’s Department of Public Works typically offers $250 for help busting graffiti vandals, but has upped the reward as an extra incentive to prevent continued graffiti at the site. The vandalism occurred at the southbound 101 off-ramp during the early morning hours of Sunday, Oct. 18, DPW said in a release. “The graffiti damaged sign has been cleaned up at taxpayer expense,” DPW said in a release. The City spends more than $20 million annually cleaning up graffiti,...

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SFPUC supports revised water bill

San Francisco officials are backing the latest bill to overhaul the state’s water system, saying it addresses protection of The City’s water supply unlike previously proposed legislation. The show of support is a significant step forward following weeks of strenuous negotiations between lawmakers and officials in Sacramento and San Francisco. The City, which receives only about 1 percent of the Delta’s water supply and is mostly supplied from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, will have to contribute some of its supply to drought-ridden regions that aren’t getting enough water from the aging Delta system. The question is how much water will go south – and...

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City clinics injected with H1N1 vaccine

The largest shipment of swine flu vaccines to date has arrived in San Francisco, though the allotment is smaller than expected and could mean long lines at vaccination clinics scheduled to open Thursday. The shipment came after President Barack Obama late last week declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency. The federal government has provided around 28,000 doses of the injectable H1N1 vaccine to The City’s Department of Public Health. The City originally expected to receive 100,000 doses by mid-October, and around 30,000 each week thereafter. Shipments were delayed due to production and distribution issues, city officials have said. Public Health Director Mitch Katz...

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Technology will keep police accountable for crime

Police Chief George Gascón was extra clear Wednesday about wanting to hold the Police Department accountable for crime trends in The City. Gascón told the 10 district station captains during the first of many regular CompStat meetings that they cannot be insincere with him about the crime trends. CompStat is a new SFPD crime-fighting tool that uses mapping technology to expose where, when and how often crimes are happening in neighborhoods. The technology helps the Police Department predict future crimes and analyze what needs to be done to curb negative trends. Wednesday’s meeting was scheduled to last four hours at the Cathedral Hill Hotel and feature 45-minute...

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New eBay item: Muni bus

Of all the bizarre items you can buy on eBay, this one takes the cake – an antique 60-foot articulated Muni bus. The odd, oversized item is currently being auctioned on the popular Web site. The vehicle, built in 1984, is somewhat of a star in Hollywood – its post-Muni career included “a small role in the movie, ‘The Italian Job,’” and a few appearances on television, the eBay advertisement says. “The bus is now in storage and is collecting dust and is in need of a wash and a good home,” the ad says. The starting bid for the bus is just $2,300. No one has made an offer on the vehicle yet. If you decide to buy it, you’ll have to pay...

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Newsom Tracker: Gearing up for online town hall

Mayor Gavin Newsom has no public appearances scheduled today or meetings at City Hall. The mayor, who spent much of last week on the gubernatorial campaign trail, is gearing up for another online town hall...

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Water woes likely to drain local supply

Water that is now reserved for San Francisco and the Peninsula will go toward the drought-ravaged state, but how much and when is being hammered out in Sacramento. Drought conditions, an aging distribution system and environmental restrictions on water usage have dried up farms and left 23 million Californians who get their drinking water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta with a shortage. But as state legislators work on fixing the Delta — a crisis that has decimated farming output, a major contributor to the state’s economy — one vexing issue is how much of The City’s water supply should flow to the rest of the state and whether San Francisco will have to...

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Newsom: Congrats, green grads

Graduates of The City’s first training program for green jobs received praise today from Mayor Gavin Newsom. The students successfully passed the “Environmental Field Technician” training program, preparing them for jobs in a growing environmental remediation field, according to the Mayor’s Office. Students learned to sample, analyze and monitor groundwater, storm water, surface water, sediments and air and dust, among other entities. “Times are tough, so we need to get creative about how we find people jobs,” Newsom said in a statement. The program is “one module” of The City’s Green Skills Academy, which is scheduled to launch...

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Judge grants change of venue in BART shooting case

The murder trial for former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle will be moved out of Alameda County due to the massive amount of publicity the case has received, a judge ruled today. Mehserle, 27, who is charged with murder for the shooting death of unarmed passenger Oscar Grant III, 22, at the Fruitvale station in Oakland early New Year's Day, is “a real lightning rod for the community,” according to a consultant for Mehserle’s defense team. Jurors “are sure to be frightened, intimidated and influenced” if the trial were to be held in Alameda County, according to a ruling issued today by Alameda Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson. The ruling noted...

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Newsom Tracker: Unique in Texas

Mayor Gavin Newsom will spend part of today in Texas under the label of being a unique person who gets to hang out with fellow unique people. Newsom has been invited to speak this morning at the annual UP Experience conference in Stafford, Tex. (near Houston), where organizers are calling invitees “some of the most unique people on our planet.” Now you know what the U and P stand for. “The UP Experience offers the unique voices of 16 passionate presenters, each speaking for 20 quick and powerful minutes on their domain expertise,” organizers said. Newsom was invited to discuss how local government is leading the world in responding to today’s significant...

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Prominent SF Latinos selected for national posts

Luis Cancel, The City’s director of cultural affairs, and Arts Commissioner Lorraine Garcia-Nakata have been elected to serve on the National Museum of the American Latino Commission. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Cancel and Garcia-Nakata to the commission posts, according to the San Francisco Art Commission. The two will join 23 other prominent Latinos – including actress Eva Longoria-Parker – in helping to study a proposed national museum for American Latino culture in Washington D.C. The Commission will submit a report outlining a plan for the museum to Congress and the White House within two years, the commission said....

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Sacramento mayor receives present after being robbed

Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office is showering Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson with gifts the day after a San Franciscan turned in a stolen garment bag. The ordeal began when Johnson, who was visiting The City, was helping an elderly man get into a taxi near Union Square. Johnson says a thief made off with his garment bag containing a suit and pair of shoes. Dean Nastahowski, a 36-year-old Tenderloin resident, told The Examiner on Tuesday that he and his girlfriend found the former basketball star’s bag at Ellis and Powell streets, only blocks from where it allegedly was stolen. Nastahowski said that after reading about the lost bag in The Examiner, he called Newsom’s...

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Home prices stable, rents going up

OK news for homeowners. Not so OK news for renters. The median price of a home in The City was stable in August, albeit weak, according to the Controller’s Office. The median price was $635,000, a 17.5 percent drop from the previous year. “July and August brought continuing signs of stability in residential real estate, as median prices have stayed within 5 percent of each other since March,” the city controller said in a statement. As for renting a place in The City, the asking price for a one-bedroom residence has risen for a third consecutive month, up .2 percent to $1,919, the report said. That reverses a downward trend seen in the first half of the year, it...

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SF unemployment reaches record 10.1 percent

A record 10.1 percent of San Franciscans were out of work in August, according to the latest report from the Controller’s Office. The unemployment rate was the highest recorded since the Employment Development Department began releasing monthly data in 1990, the city department said in a statement. The good news: Since The City has been hovering at around 10 percent for some time, “this may indicate that we are reaching a peak,” it said. And then the Controller’s Office brings us back to Earth. “Although there is no sign yet of any local job recovery,” it...

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New Newsom YouTube video about to air

Watch out, YouTube – another Gavin Newsom video is coming your way. But don’t worry, this one won’t take 7½ hours to watch in full. The mayor’s gubernatorial campaign is about to debut a flashy new spot on YouTube and its Web site that will last a swift 60 seconds, said campaign manager Nick Clemons. The gist of the clip: “It’s basically a call for a constitutional convention to fix the broken system in Sacramento,” Clemons said. “We’re talking about starting from scratch.” It will be the first in a series of TV-like campaign spots, Clemons said. The video will be released later this morning, he...

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Newsom Tracker: Happy birthday, mayor

Even though he has no appearances on his public calendar, Gavin Newsom likely has the day marked for another reason. The mayor turns 42 years old on Saturday . But don’t expect any big Hollywood-style birthday bashes in honor of the new father. Newsom, who has no public appearances scheduled Saturday, will be treated to a “quiet celebration with family,” said Nathan Ballard, spokesman for the Mayor’s...

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Brown camp: Newsom likes Republicans, too

Mayor Gavin Newsom would play hopscotch with a Republican, too, according to Attorney General Jerry Brown’s camp Steve Glazer, Brown’s senior adviser, shot back Friday afternoon at suggestions by the Newsom campaign that the attorney general was wrong for praising a Republican district attorney from San Bernardino at a recent fundraiser. Glazer pointed out an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show in May when Newsom mentioned he would accept an endorsement from Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger “in a second.” “Is this ‘sleeping with the enemy?’” Glazer said, referring to how we phrased the Newsom campaign’s...

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Graffiti vandals, meet your new foe

Graffiti vandals beware: Before you mark up that storefront, know that police have started using new software to better track where you will strike next and how many incidents you will be charged with. The Police Department recently deployed a relatively inexpensive tracking system that sorts information from photographs, incident reports and other intelligence to link graffiti vandals to the monikers and images they leave around The City and beyond. The software uses mapping technology to help police figure out where and when “taggers” have left their marks. With that information, police can pinpoint where the individual might strike again, said Officer Christopher Putz of...

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You can choose Newsom’s campaign logo

If you just can’t wait to vote in next year’s gubernatorial elections, pay a visit to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s campaign Web site. There, you will be able to vote on six campaign logos the mayor might display on signs, billboards and newsletters throughout his 2010 hunt for the governor’s seat. The logo choices indicate Newsom is running as a shining light of the environmental movement. Four of themhave some form of a beaming sun, and one is colored green. You make the call....

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Newsom Tracker: A southern sweep

Mayor Gavin Newsom is going to spend a good portion of today in southern sections of The City. At 11 a.m., the mayor will appear at a dedication ceremony for the new First Tee Grounds at Visitacion Valley Middle School. At 1 p.m., he will zoom to City College to launch a pilot program benefitting impoverished families. And finally, Newsom will head to Harding Park to hang out with big-time golf pros. He will attend the PGA President’s Cup Opening Ceremony at 3 p.m., according to the mayor’s office...

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Vaccine delay could cripple city

Delayed shipments of swine flu vaccine will leave most of San Francisco’s high-risk population vulnerable to the extremely contagious virus. If an outbreak were to hit The City, the Department of Public Health said it fears an epidemic would overwhelm hospitals because of a shortage of beds. In an effort to combat potential infections and hospitalizations, the federal government is supplying free doses of swine flu vaccine to municipalities. However, the “complex” distribution process has been slower than expected, said Dr. Susan Fernyak of the Public Health Department. The City was anticipating its first big shipment of 100,000 doses in the last week of October and...

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Newsom: I am not pressuring Muni

Mayor Gavin Newsom denied reports from a transit blog Web site that said the mayor has been pressuring Muni chief Nathaniel Ford to hold off on extending parking meter hours in The City. “That’s just factually incorrect,” Newsom said Friday following an unrelated press conference in City Hall. “Though blogs often are.” No one wants to extend parking meter hours, including Muni, he said. There’s no arm-twisting going on here, he said. “We balanced a budget with Muni without extending the parking meters from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.,” he said, adding the report was creating a “false controversy.” Then again, Newsom has made it clear...

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Feds, city haggle over cost of isle

How much The City will pay for Treasure Island has left plans to develop the former Navy base adrift. For the island in the Bay to transform from federally owned land to a new environmentally friendly community, the land, which was last used by the U.S. Navy in 1997, must be deeded to The City. However, the Navy is driving a hard bargain in these recessionary times. The debate over the man-made island is whether the land should be handed over to The City for free or if San Francisco should pay hundreds of millions of dollars up front to the government. After more than a decade of planning, The City says it is ready to begin building one of the “greenest developments in the...

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Newsom tracker: Heading to Texas

Mayor Gavin Newsom appears ready to fight for gay rights anywhere at any time — even if it means a trip to Texas. The mayor is scheduled to travel to the Lone Star State Saturday to deliver the keynote address at the Dallas Human Rights Campaign's Annual Black Tie Dinner. Black Tie Dinner Inc. is a nonprofit that raises funds for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender supportive organizations serving North Texas. The mayor is also gearing up for an important gubernatorial campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles next week that will be attended by his pal, former President Bill Clinton. The fundraiser marks an important endorsement by Clinton that political strategists are calling a...

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Smoking fee burns businesses

Smokers will have a new incentive to quit starting Thursday, when the cost of a pack of cigarettes in San Francisco increases 20 cents. Money generated from the new city fee will pay for cleaning up cigarette butts that are illegally discarded on streets and in gutters, Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday. Smokers already pay an 87-cent state tax for cigarettes. A federal tax increased 62 cents April 1, bringing the total to $1.01. Some packs cost as much as $7 in The City. Newsom originally proposed a 33-cent fee, but reduced it to 20 cents after a final study found that the cost to clean up butts was lower than expected. The City spends $7.5 million annually on cleanup, a Health...

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Documentary by local filmakers debuts Thursday

San Francisco resident Austin Chu and his brother, Brian, will premiere their documentary, “The Recess Ends,” at the Victoria Theatre in the Mission district on Wednesday. The brothers traveled for five months [across the country] to document personal stories involving the greatest economic meltdown since the Great Depression. Why did you make this film? In December I got laid off from my job. I’ve always had this idea of driving through [the country]. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to capture history in its making. I convinced my brother to quit his job. Two weeks later we left. What was one moment you witnessed during your travels that significantly...

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Partial closure detours traffic on Market Street

Starting today, drivers headed eastbound on Market Street will have to detour around stretches of the thoroughfare. The plan is part of a study that will examine limiting personal vehicles and boosting transit service and pedestrian usage along Market Street. Eastbound drivers will be encouraged to turn right off Market Street at 10th Street, but will be forced to do so 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 will be exempt from the required right turns. The trial period will last six weeks. Full implementation of changes on Market Street is scheduled to begin in 2013,...

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Down but not out, Newsom readies the cavalry

Money talks or candidates walk. That has been the strategy adopted by Jerry Brown’s campaign to persuade gubernatorial candidates to abandon their Sacramento dreams, and it has succeeded — with the exception of Mayor Gavin Newsom. Gone are Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and former state Controller Steve Westly. And without even declaring his candidacy for governor, Brown has amassed a political war chest that dwarfs Newsom’s. With nine months until the June 8 Democratic primary, Newsom is facing harsh criticism for his lack of fundraising. But the young mayor claims this...

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Mayor, wife welcome Montana

San Francisco, meet Montana Tessa Siebel Newsom. The baby girl was born to Jennifer Siebel Newsom, 35, and Mayor Gavin Newsom, 41, at 12:39 p.m. on Friday in San Francisco. The 7-pound, 12-ounce baby was born at an unnamed hospital in San Francisco, according to the Mayor’s Office. The arrival of their first child has been highly anticipated event -- by the public, media and family members. Since the couple married last year, friends and relatives had been pushing the two to have children. The mayor’s father, retired judge Bill Newsom, told The Examiner in February that he was “one of those that was prodding and saying, ‘Move it along before I’m stricken...

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Study reignites push for soda fee

Buying a soda or other sugary drink in San Francisco will cost you more if Mayor Gavin Newsom has his way. As a nationwide debate rages about taxing soft drinks and a new health study says sodas are linked to obesity, Newsom said Thursday that he is prepared to push legislation that would impose a fee on sugary drinks sold in The City by large retailers. The mayor first pitched the fee idea in 2007, but it fizzled due to legal restrictions. Under state law, new taxes require voter approval. Local governments, however, can charge a fee for programs if they can prove there’s a cause-and-effect link. To gather that evidence, Newsom ordered the Health Department to launch a two-year...

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Newsom Tracker: How to remember a big quake

Mayor Gavin Newsom will spend part of this morning at City Hall to let city folk in on upcoming plans to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The 6.9 magnitude earthquake shook the greater San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas on Oct. 17. He has no campaign events scheduled, although Friday his staff will host a campaign briefing online at www.ustream.tv. Stay tuned today for possible unscheduled appearances by Newsom....

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Newsom cuts travel while awaiting daughter’s birth

Mayor Gavin Newsom hasn’t been doing much lately on the gubernatorial campaign trail, but that by no means indicates he is having second thoughts about running, according to aides. Newsom is staying close to home so that he doesn’t miss the most important event of his life – the birth of his daughter, said campaign manager Nick Clemons. Newsom’s wife, actress Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is due with the couple’s baby Sept. 24, said Nathan Ballard, the mayor’s spokesman. That seems like a good reason to not be traveling around the state on the hunt for voters. And it certainly provides an answer to the public and folks around City Hall who have questioned...

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More shots come with flu season

Swine flu is not only rattling nerves before the winter season, it’s also making the vaccination process quite a chore. San Franciscans should plan to receive not one but three flu vaccines this year — one for the regular flu and the double-dose swine flu vaccine, said Dr. Susan E. Fernyak of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The seasonal flu vaccines are available now, she said. Public Health Department officials kicked off the annual flu season at their headquarters Thursday by providing those shots to residents and several top officials, including Supervisor Bevan Dufty, Muni safety chief James Dougherty and fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White. The two swine flu...

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Newsom tracker: Healthcare summit

Mayor Gavin Newsom will briefly speak this morning at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual CityBeat Summit at the University of California, San Francisco, at Mission Bay. Newsom is among the big names that have been invited to the event, which will discuss how President Barack Obama’s health care reform package will impact Bay Area hospitals and businesses. Other high-profile attendees include San Francisco health department chief Mitch Katz, UCSF medical center CEO Mark Laret, Chamber President and CEO Steve Falk and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to event organizers....

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You could pay more for less Muni service

Muni is considering axing bus and light-rail service in order to save money. There are also proposals for riders to fork over more money to pay for the decreased service. The transit agency, which is facing a whopping $129 million next fiscal year, has unveiled a long list of cost-cutting ideas that could include significant fare hikes — including a 50 cent charge for transfers. The agency is also proposing to raise its single-ride fare by 50 cents to $2 in September and its monthly Fast Pass to $60 on Jan. 1. The Fast Pass is already scheduled to go up from $45 to $55 in July. Muni is also considering reducing its rail and bus service by as much as 6.3 percent — or by...

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Modern lights being tested on BART train

Reading the newspaper on BART trains may become a little easier as soon as the transit agency tests new, brighter lighting fixtures that can adjust automatically based on need. The transit agency is currently testing light-emitting diode bulbs in one of its 669 train cars, with hopes of one day having all cars lit with the modern, energy-saving lighting, spokesman Linton Johnson said. Currently, lighting being used on cars has been around since BART began service in 1972. LED technology can save up to 50 percent in energy costs and is noticeably brighter, Johnson said. "Customers have told us they like that cool, white appearance of the lighting," Glenn Dodo, principal...

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Two men arrested for Mission District graffiti spree

Two men armed with black marker pens were arrested Monday for going on a late-night graffiti spree in the Mission District, police said Tuesday. Scott Cuilty, 28, and Cameron Jeffries, 24, both of San Francisco, allegedly marked up a storefront on the 600 block of Valencia Street at around 12:30 a.m. Earlier in the night, police said they scribbled on an exterior restroom wall at Dolores Park and possibly other city targets. Officers said they detained the men about a block away from the Valencia Street business. The owner of the business, who said he spotted the two defacing his property, identified them as the vandals, police said. “Police found a marker in possession of each...

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State rings up higher sales tax

The cost of your purchases today might appear a tad inflated — but don’t dupe yourself into thinking it’s some April Fools’ Day prank. Today is the first day of a statewide 1 percent sales-tax increase that’s here to stay for at least two years. The temporary hike will affect most “hard-good” items, such as televisions, laptops, CDs and cars — almost anything except food, said Bill Dombrowski, president and CEO of the California Retailers Association. The increase, expected to add revenue to state coffers, brings San Francisco’s sales tax to 9.5 percent. Consumers in San Mateo County will now pay 9.25 percent. The tax increase was...

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Raw federal agents stymie BART

A Department of Homeland Security program that sends federal agents to BART stations as a firewall against terrorism is endangering riders, a new report said. The Transportation Security Administration has periodically deployed teams of federal law enforcement and security officials during the past two years to help beef up safety at transit systems nationwide, including Muni and BART. Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams perform hundreds of operations at transit systems annually, often providing additional staff for special events, said TSA spokesman Nico Melendez. “We share our operating plans with [transit systems] and we train their folks on the procedures ....

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Board of Supervisors makes time for Opening Day

The wheels of government appear ready to move quickly when it comes to an afternoon of hot dogs and baseball. As part of a decades-old tradition, members of the Board of Supervisors and other elected officials have been invited to attend Opening Day of the Giants’ season, which is April 7 against the Milwaukee Brewers. The game is seen as an opportunity for The City’s lawmakers to show their allegiance to the home team. The problem this year, however, is that the game poses a scheduling conflict: First pitch is less than an hour before the board’s regularly scheduled Tuesday meeting. Fear not, Giants fans, your lawmakers still want to show love for the men in orange...

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BART ups ante for probe into passenger shooting

The cost of an investigation into the fatal shooting of a BART passenger by a transit police officer has already ballooned to more than twice the original estimate. 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. On the station platform, Mehserle fatally shot Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Hayward man, who was laying face down and unarmed. BART hired Oakland-based law firm Meyers Nave on Feb. 11 to conduct an independent probe of the shooting. BART sought outside investigative assistance following public allegations that it had mishandled...

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The 3-minute Interview: Mark Kingdon

The CEO of San Francisco-based Linden Lab, maker of the virtual Internet world Second Life that’s imagined and created by users, explains why his company launched the $10,000 Linden Prize to honor the site’s most innovative user. The winner is slated to be announced by April 30. Why give this award? There’s an incredible amount of innovation inside of Second Life. There are many examples ... where resident or community groups created something really wonderful that had a real-world connection and impact. What are some examples of the virtual world having a real-world impact? Some examples of projects, initiatives or experiences residents have created include the Relay...

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Respondents to survey favor high-speed rail instead of air travel

A majority of California voters favor cutting flights between airports to boost ridership on a high-speed rail in the state, according to a new survey. California is working toward building a high-speed rail line that would shuttle passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles in just under three hours. Even though a bullet train between Los Angeles and San Francisco takes about an hour longer than a flight between those cities, 56 percent of the survey respondents said they’d prefer stifling airport activity in order to lure more riders onto a high-speed rail. Rod Diridon, a member of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, said he’s not surprised by the survey...

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