It’s been a half-century since three convicts disappeared from Alcatraz in the former prison’s most famous escape attempt.
At least three dozen other prisoners tried to escape from the island, but it wasn’t until 1962 that anyone was successful. Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin developed an elaborate plan, and ultimately climbed over the walls and entered the frigid San Francisco Bay. They were never seen or heard from again.
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A Bay Area organization is holding a regional adopt-a-thon this weekend to match up pets and people.Maddie’s Fund, a nonprofit based in Pleasanton, hopes to connect 3,000 pets in local shelters with new homes. That number is 700 more pets than last year, and San Francisco is being added to the mix.
Additionally, each adoption will result in a grant for the shelter the animal belonged too. The age and health of the animal will determine the grant amount, but older dogs with health issues can fetch $2,000, Maddie’s spokeswoman Jenny Kunz said.
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Three people were injured Monday afternoon when overhead Muni wires on Market Street snapped and fell to the roadway.
The incident forced the closure of main thoroughfare into downtown for several hours during the busy evening commute.
The incident happened about 4 p.m. at Market and Fifth streets when the cables that provide power to Muni coaches came down and struck the pedestrians. A Muni spokesman said the exact cause of the cable break is unknown and being investigated, but it appears a 5-Fulton bus heading toward the Transbay Terminal was involved.
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Neighbors in Alamo Square say the number of tour buses coming through their historic district has increased dramatically over the past five years and something needs to change.
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When Margherita Stewart Sagan and Sheryl Rogat decided to open a restaurant six years ago in the Dogpatch, none of their friends knew where the neighborhood was.
Now, Piccino Cafe is a neighborhood staple and has grown from just 25 seats to more than 100 in a brand-new building. Sagan said the Dogpatch was the right fit for the business they wanted to establish.
“The people in this neighborhood are real,” Sagan said. “They’re knowledgeable. They know good food and they know good wine. It’s great here.”
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The folks behind “Catlandia,” a video spoof, are hoping to make “San Francisco a better place” by trapping feral cats and getting them the care they need.
The two-person team spoofs the popular TV show “Portlandia.” The video was created by the San Francisco SPCA to bring more attention to the need to spay and neuter the population of roaming cats.
Laura Gretch, head of the SPCA’s community cat initiative, said fixing and vaccinating these felines will reduce the number of strays.
“Block by block, house by house, we will do this,” Gretch said.
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Teachers, parents and staff at Martin Luther King Academic Middle School are unhappy with the school district’s refusal to give the troubled campus new administrators, even though the district says recent changes meet its expectations.
A complaint filed Monday with the state Public Employment Relations Board alleges violations of rules requiring safe and healthy work environments, said the United Educators of San Francisco union.
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Military veterans reportedly have been waiting an average of 320 days for claims to be processed through the Oakland office.
Bay Area Democratic Reps. Jackie Speier and Barbara Lee on Monday held a three-hour hearing to listen to more than 300 people affected by delays that have created 34,000 backlogged disability claims at Oakland’s Veterans Affairs office.
Speier said veterans deserve to have their claims processed quickly.
“Our country is swift to go to war, but not swift in responding when our war heroes come home,” she said.
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A man collapsed while running in the 101st Zazzle Bay to Breakers race Sunday.
About 8 a.m., the man went down at Hayes and Laguna streets, according to racers running beside him. One participant said he did not notice the man before he collapsed and could not say whether the man was struggling during the run.
That same participant stopped racing to help the man, holding up his neck while another runner summoned police. The Fire Department also responded to the scene.
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When Shannon Osaki and her friends participated in the Zazzle Bay to Breakers for the first time last year, they did not wear costumes. This year, they realized they needed to step up their game.
The group spent the past few months creating “wind dancers,” the blowup ornaments that are often found outside auto dealerships, complete with 3-foot-tall hats made of felt and small pieces of fabric cut loose to flutter in the wind.
They fielded many requests for pictures, but instead of standing still they waved in the wind much like their inspirations would.
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When one of John Howett’s tenants was sued for ADA violations because of a concrete lip that prevented some customers from entering the Grant Avenue business early last month, he sprang into action.
Howett hired a lawyer and ordered a portable ramp the business could set up or remove for wheelchair-using patrons entering and exiting the nail salon.
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The annual Bay to Breakers race across The City will bring tens of thousands of people to town Sunday, impacting general travel and public transit.
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Training to break your own world record for any footrace can be difficult. But when you’re trying to break the record you set last year as a member of a 13-person centipede team, the task can seem daunting — if not silly.
At Sunday’s 101st Zazzle Bay to Breakers, the LinkedIn centipede will try to do just that: beat the 37 minutes it took them last year to run 7.46 miles from The Embarcadero to Ocean Beach.
Armen Vartanian, a member and organizer of the team, said the team can reach its goal.
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Just 12 days before San Francisco is set to commemorate the 75th anniversary of one of the most iconic structures in The City, the Golden Gate Bridge, another landmark reached the same milestone Tuesday.
The U.S. Mint celebrated its 75th anniversary at its current location on Hermann Street, on the hill between the Castro and Lower Haight. The Mint itself has been producing coins in The City since 1854.
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Drivers can now park at night for two hours longer on one of North Beach’s most notorious thoroughfares thanks to merchants and a community coalition.
Business owners and the Voice of Broadway had been petitioning The City for more than six months to change tow-zone restrictions, said Nader Marvi, head of Voice of Broadway and a co-owner of Monroe nightclub.
Businesses were increasingly being negatively affected by patrons who needed to leave to move their vehicles, because many did not return after being discouraged by the restrictions.
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