The mark of history is everywhere in San Francisco and the Historic Preservation Commission, by its very nature, leans toward preserving it.But Supervisor Scott Wiener wants more information on exactly how preservation goals might conflict with The City’s other priorities, like providing affordable housing near public transit, or even pedestrian safety.
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In an effort to curb unruly behavior that has plagued the Zazzle Bay to Breakers footrace in the past, organizers and city officials plan to operate several “sobering tents” along the route to detain drunken revelers.
Sam Singer, a spokesman for the event, said drinkers would be taken to the tents as an alternative to going to jail. Officials say the race has put too much stress on The City’s jails and hospitals.
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Dolores Park, the laid-back rolling knoll deemed a sacred space by many Missionites, is poised for a fight — over a taco truck.
Or, maybe not. This Saturday will be the test of whether park patrons will accept a controversial plan for new food vendors that has been the bane of "Chicken John" Rinaldi’s existence. The showman and onetime San Francisco mayoral candidate is planning a "puke-in" Saturday to protest what he has dubbed the commercialization of public space.
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Doctors working on the case of severely beaten Giants fan Bryan Stow are attempting to take him out of a medically induced coma for the third time this week, while funds raised for his recovery from community and celebrity sources continue to grow. Stow’s skull was fractured by two men in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium following the first game of the baseball season between the Giants and Dodgers on March 31.
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An organized opposition group representing three religions will attempt to block a November ballot measure that would ban the circumcision of boys under 18 in San Francisco.On Tuesday, city resident Lloyd Schofield submitted more than the 7,168 signatures needed to put the ban on the ballot, and if the Department of Elections certifies the proposal in 30 days, it will officially be up to voters. The measure would make circumcising a minor a misdemeanor carrying a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
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San Francisco’s Britons — and American anglophiles alike — will no doubt tune in to the blanket television coverage of Friday’s royal wedding, which begins in the wee hours of the morning here in the land across the pond. Yes, there will be theme parties where costumed hostesses serve gin-based cocktails, and maybe even some bland boiled food.
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A federal building shuttered since 2007 at The City’s Civic Center is on its way to becoming a functional office again for government workers, according to the U.S. General Services Administration.
By early 2014, the building known as 50 U.N. Plaza will get a $122 million facelift and serve as the main office for GSA’s Pacific Rim Region. The agency acts as the government’s landlord by securing office space for the federal workforce.
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The former site of a recently-demolished 1861 San Francisco cottage is once again the subject of conflict.
The Russian Hill historic structure, formerly at 1268 Lombard St., was torn down in the spring of 2009, despite the protests of preservationists who said it should have been saved.
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As Treasure Island inches closer to total transformation, current residents are wondering exactly how and when they will be asked to vacate their homes.
The Planning Commission’s narrow approval Thursday of environmental documents for the project was another reminder for islanders that change is coming for the former Navy base, and if the Board of Supervisors approves the plan, it could be as soon as next year.
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Funeral services were held Saturday morning for Andy Zeng, the slain 16-year-old who was found with a gunshot wound to the head this month at a home in The City’s Silver Terrace neighborhood.
Family, friends, schoolmates and teachers gathered around the open casket at the service at Halsted N. Gray-Carew and English in the Tenderloin, where Buddhist prayer songs and remembrance speeches for the teen went on for two hours. Family members declined to speak with members of the media, who were allowed to view the service from a front room outside the memorial service.
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Good news for The City’s housing market: Property tax reduction applications are way down from last year, according to a press release Wednesday from the office of Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting.Homeowners who bought their property at the height of the market would be the primary candidates for filing the applications, which prompt assessors to assign a new value based on changing market conditions. The release said applications submitted for fiscal year 2010-11 amounted to 6,462, while the 2011-12 applications (due annually in March) totaled 2,430.
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San Francisco’s Planning Commission on Thursday advanced the massive redevelopment of Treasure Island by a 4-3 vote, approving the $1.5 billion project’s environmental impact report.
The report was unanimously approved by the Treasure Island Development Authority, which held a joint hearing with the Planning Commission for more than three hours. Voting to send the impact report back for review were planning commissioners Kathrin Moore and Hisashi Sugaya and commission President Christina Olague.
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The embattled plan for a new North Beach Public Library branch took another step forward Thursday as The City’s Planning Commission unanimously approved an environmental impact report for razing of the current branch, construction of a new building and rearrangement of the Joe DiMaggio Playground.
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The proposed transformation of Treasure Island, which would involve $1.5 billion in road and infrastructure spending and the eventual construction of 8,000 housing units, reaches another milestone tonight when the Planning Commission considers whether to endorse the environmental impact report.
Developers envision a bustling, self-contained economy that revolves around idyllic, affordable living space in the middle of San Francisco Bay.
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On the heels of a labor agreement with Hilton last month, union leaders inked a tentative deal last week with three of the four Starwood hotels in The City.
Mike Casey, president of Unite Here Local 2, said he expects workers to approve the new agreement this week and the deal is identical to one reached in March with Hilton, The City’s largest hotel, which employs 800 workers.
The contract, which continues through August 2013, calls for a $2-per-hour wage increase retroactive to August 2010, fully paid health care for workers and their families, a workload reducti
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