WHAT: Bankruptcy filings are on track to reach 1.7 million this year, nearing the record 2 million in 2005, when a tougher new law took effect to shut out deadbeat borrowers.
SIDE EFFECTS: Student loan defaults and home foreclosures also are rising. In March, bank-card defaults increased to 9.1 percent from 7.7 percent.
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Do you lose sleep at night knowing that Attorney General Eric Holder is the country’s chief law enforcement officer?I sure do. Now, I slept pretty good when Holder made his first major gaffe as attorney general, and he did it early on. That was when he presumed to chide Americans for not speaking candidly or courageously about matters of race. Translation: Today’s white Americans don’t grovel enough, flagellate themselves enough or feel guilty enough about the racism of their long-dead ancestors.
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Would you rather have your next car designed by automotive safety experts, or by a jury of your peers?
If the question seems stupid, you might consider asking Democrats in Congress why they are so intent on the latter. Their new Motor Vehicle Safety Act contains a provision that would literally take detailed questions about automobile design safety away from the people who test cars and make the rules on how they are built, and hand it instead to randomly selected state juries.
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San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe has been elected the county's next top prosecutor after more than 30 years at the district attorney's office.
Wagstaffe ran unopposed in Tuesday's primary election and will take office in January. He succeeds District Attorney Jim Fox, who has held the position since 1983.
Surrounded by pictures of victims and their family members from trials he has prosecuted, Wagstaffe said in a recent interview that he expects little will change when he becomes district attorney.
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San Francisco 49ers president Jed York today hailed Santa Clara voters' approval of a ballot measure to relocate the team to that city with a new $937 million stadium, while San Francisco's mayor issued a statement warning that funding for the project is destined to fall apart.
"I think this is a very, very big day, not just for the 49ers but for the NFL," York said during a brief conference call with reporters this afternoon.
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A man accused of murdering the daughter of a Hall of Fame football player in 1999 made his first appearance in San Mateo County Superior Court today in connection with his second trial for the crime.
Mohammed Haroon Ali, 35, was convicted in San Mateo County Superior Court in 2001 of the strangulation murder of his girlfriend, Tracey Biletnikoff, but a federal appeals court last year overturned the conviction, thus requiring a retrial.
Biletnikoff, 20, was the daughter of former Oakland Raiders wide receiver and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Fred Biletnikoff.
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After weeks of committee hearings deliberating the merits and necessity of a proposed sit-lie ordinance, this afternoon the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted down the measure, which is now likely to come before voters on the November ballot.
Since March, when Mayor Gavin Newsom introduced the measure, his office has delivered a steady message: if the ordinance fails to pass at the board, the mayor will let the voters decide in November.
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San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has won the Democratic primary for California lieutenant governor.
Newsom beat Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn on Tuesday to face the top Republican in November.
Newsom had touted his small business background and leadership on gay rights and universal health care.
The 42-year-old Newsom sought to appeal to young voters.
The lieutenant governor steps into the shoes of governor when that officeholder is out of the state or incapacitated.
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About 400 hotel workers at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco are walking off their jobs today to highlight months of contract disputes, according to union representatives.
The walkout marked the beginning of a planned three-day strike and was timed to coincide with the Hyatt Regency's first-ever shareholders meeting, which is being held in Chicago this week, Unite Here! Local 2 spokeswoman Riddhi Mehta said. The company went public in November.
San Francisco workers began leaving at 6 a.m. and are walking throughout the day, Mehta said.
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San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris has won the Democratic primary for state attorney general.
Harris will face Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley in the general election in November to replace Democrat Jerry Brown, who is running for governor.
Harris beat Facebook executive Chris Kelly and five other candidates Tuesday. Kelly had sunk more than $12 million into the campaign.
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Two pedestrians were struck by a vehicle near San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf this evening, an official with the Fire Department said.
The pedestrians were struck shortly before 7:20 p.m. near the intersection of Jefferson and Taylor streets, the official said.
The victims were taken to San Francisco General Hospital to be treated for their injuries, according to the official. He did not know the condition of the victims as of 7:45 p.m.
A witness at the scene reported that a white Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle was the car that struck the pedestrians.
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WHAT: One week before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, Minerals Management Service approved three requests by BP to change their oil well design, including removal of an extra pipe which would have reinforced the pipe that burst.
HOW QUICK: Minerals Management approved two of the three requests within 10 minutes after receiving them. And the third change was authorized within 24 hours. Did the inspectors even read BP’s plans?
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A $2 million arrest warrant has been issued for a man wanted on suspicion of sexually assaulting a young family member on the campus of Sanchez Elementary School this afternoon, a police spokesman said.
Officer Samson Chan said Pedro Hernandez arrived at the campus at 325 Sanchez St. to bring the girl lunch some time between noon and 2 p.m.
"Today during the afternoon, a male relative of a female student brought lunch for her," Chan said. "The male suspect brought the girl to a secluded area and engaged in sexual acts with her."
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