With police calling it less of a protest site and more of a homeless camp, Occupy San Francisco’s year-old sidewalk outpost at the doorstep of the downtown Federal Reserve Bank was cleared and fenced off late Wednesday night.
The camp was surrounded by dozens of police officers around 11:30 p.m. and 45 Occupiers were arrested and cited with illegal lodging. The vast majority were processed and quickly released from County Jail, although three suspects were booked for misdemeanor warrants, and one more for a felony warrant.
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In the realm of local activism, next week’s planned protests against the installation of San Francisco’s new archbishop could reach biblical proportions.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — a group of gay-rights activists whose members satirically wear the garb of Roman Catholic nuns — is furious about the recent naming of Oakland Bishop Salvatore Cordileone to lead San Francisco’s 91-parish archdiocese. The Sisters are targeting Cordileone mostly for his central role in advocacy and fundraising for Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage statewide in 2008.
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Resurgent perjury allegations against Mayor Ed Lee have fueled political tension at City Hall in advance of a special Oct. 9 Board of Supervisors hearing that is expected to conclude the nine-month hullabaloo about suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi.
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Increasingly detailed perjury claims against Mayor Ed Lee will be highlighted in a much-anticipated Board of Supervisors hearing to determine if suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi should be permanently removed from elected office.
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The Twin Peaks Tavern — the first gay bar known to have its activities in clear public view at bustling 17th and Castro streets — could be on its way to becoming a San Francisco landmark.
At its Wednesday meeting, The City’s Historic Preservation Commission discussed beginning the complicated process of declaring landmark status for the picture-windowed Castro neighborhood watering hole. Supervisor Scott Wiener, the neighborhood’s openly gay representative, said the bar’s historical significance should not be understated.
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San Francisco’s bid to secure a backup supply of water from the Modesto Irrigation District is dead for now after negotiations between that entity and The City’s Public Utilities Commission officially broke down Tuesday night.
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Treasure Island radiation levels are not known to be dangerous for those living on the former Navy base, officials reiterated Tuesday night at a meeting with concerned residents. But even as speaker after speaker presented a highly technical recap of cleanup assessments revealing no major health danger, island dwellers remained uneasy — many of them vocally angry.
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The final step in Mayor Ed Lee’s case to remove elected Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi from office will take place Oct. 9, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu announced Tuesday.
The sheriff-in-limbo has been undergoing The City’s rarely used official misconduct removal proceedings since March, when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor false imprisonment charge that resulted from a physical argument with his wife Dec. 31. While Mirkarimi has decried the process as political, the mayor has said he’s simply upholding his legal duty under the City Charter.
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As if to defy the notion that their movement is irrelevant just one year after its inception, more than 200 Occupy San Francisco demonstrators snarled traffic in The City’s Financial District on Monday.
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After a contentious fight over restoration and maintenance policies at Coit Tower in the spring, the Board of Supervisors is getting down to the tricky business of interpreting and implementing a vague policy statement that requires San Francisco to “strictly limit” private events at the landmark and to “prioritize” revenue earned there for its upkeep.
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With expansive outdoor tent villages, commandeered vacant buildings, occasional violence and traffic-snarling marches, Occupy SF’s influence was certainly felt on street level here in The City. Nationwide, Occupy became a household name — a moniker brought up with admiration, admonishment or anything between.
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Few local tragedies resonated so widely as the deadly tiger mauling at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas Day 2007. But that horrific incident appears to have sparked a new push for updated infrastructure and other methods to increase “psychological wellness” among The City’s captive creatures.
The zoo has recently solicited the help of trained psychologist and former Atlanta Zoo director Terry Maple — a real-life Dr. Doolittle of sorts — although he isn’t so sure that’s the nickname he wants.
“I would like to be Dr. Do-A-Lot,” Maple said.
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It remains unclear whether suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will have his political future decided by the Board of Supervisors before or after the Nov. 6 election.
The elected sheriff-in-limbo, who has been facing The City’s meticulous removal process since March, asked that a final judgment be delayed until after the election, in which five supervisorial seats are up for grabs.
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Suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi wants his former colleagues to be protected from an election-season political bombshell as the Board of Supervisors prepares to decide the future of the embattled official next month.
Mirkarimi pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment related to his wife, Eliana Lopez, in March, after which he was suspended without pay by Mayor Ed Lee on charges of official misconduct. In a 4-1 vote last month,
The City’s Ethics Commission upheld two of the mayor’s six charges of official misconduct.
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An unpermitted “Human Be-In” at Golden Gate Park this weekend will take aim at The City’s practice of drawing revenue from private corporate-sponsored events in public spaces.
The event’s title takes its inspiration from San Francisco’s hippie counterculture be-ins of the late 1960s. But instead of rallying around poet Allen Ginsberg as a spiritual guide, these modern-day revelers will be raging against the practices of Phil Ginsburg, the head of San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department.
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