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Mike Aldax

Newsom Tracker: Quiet day?

After vetoing sanctuary city legislation and trumping successes of his homelessness initiatives Wednesday, Mayor Gavin Newsom appears to be having a much quieter day today. The mayor has no public appearances scheduled, the Mayor’s Office said. His gubernatorial campaign calendar also shows no events today. Stay tuned, of course. Newsom is known to abruptly spring into action.   Read More

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. Read More

Stem cell research grants bring millions to Bay Area

Bay Area researchers were awarded a significant portion of the $250 million in grants announced by the state’s stem cell institute. Researchers at the UC San Francisco, were members of teams that received nearly $20 million to discover how to implant insulin-producing cells in diabetes patients, and $19.2 million to develop a treatment for brain tumors. Stanford University researchers were on teams that received $20 million to treat stroke using implanted stem cells and $20 million for leukemia therapy, among other funding.   Read More

City’s homeless programs touted

Cindy Chew/The Examiner
An estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people are homeless on any given night in San Francisco, according to officials with Project Homeless Connect, which was launched by Mayor Gavin Newsom. But the program, and others he’s championed, has resulted in 10,000 people leaving San Francisco’s streets and shelters since 2004, he said. Read More

Newsom vetoes sanctuary city bill

As expected, Mayor Gavin Newsom has vetoed legislation amending The City’s controversial sanctuary policy. The legislation, introduced by Supervisor David Campos, prohibits city officials from reporting undocumented youth arrested on felony charges to federal authorities for possible deportation. They can only be reported if there is a conviction. The legislation was adopted by supervisors Tuesday in an 8-3 vote. Read More

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.” Read More

Assembly to weigh Ammiano bill legalizing marijuana

State legislators will debate the implications of taxing and regulating marijuana similarly to alcoholic beverages — an idea proposed through legislation earlier this year by state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano. Ammiano, a former San Francisco supervisor who had made marijuana offenses the lowest priority for The City’s police to pursue, introduced AB 390 earlier this year, legislation to decriminalize marijuana statewide and tax it to address California’s budget deficit. Read More

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. Read More

Mayor drives Muni-free Market plan

Cindy Chew/The Examiner
Mayor Gavin Newsom envisions Market Street without cars — and without the nearly dozen Muni bus lines and the historic F-line. The City is in the midst of a six-month trial that aims at limiting the amount of private automobiles on the major thoroughfare, and the mayor says that if the data backs it up, he favors an expansion of the vehicle ban — and also moving toward removing Muni from the street. Read More

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. Read More

City clinics injected with H1N1 vaccine

AP
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. Read More

Newsom strolls Market Street, touts improvements

It was an odd vision: Mayor Gavin Newsom spray-painting a public wall on the seedier section of Market Street, an area he's trying to clean up. The mayor was actually helping an artist from Glen Park, Chor Boogie, create a colorful mural that is meant to help transform Mid-Market into a cleaner, safer and more attractive region for residents and visitors. Newsom strolled down Market Street from Eighth Street to Sixth Street Friday to point out how new improvements made by The City are reshaping the area. Read More

Police chief announces restructuring

As promised, Chief George Gascón has scheduled the first major realignment of the Police Department command staff in decades. Read More

Volunteers rack up change for The City

If you didn’t think volunteers make a big difference, consider this: Between February and October, more than 3,300 volunteers clocked in nearly 10,000 hours to clean and green The City’s neighborhoods as part of one city program, according to the Department of Public Works. They planted 1,155 trees, bushes and plants; removed more than 58 tons of litter and debris from the sidewalks and parks, plus 22 tons of “green waste”; and cleaned and weeded 55,400 square feet of center islands and lots, DPW said. Read More

Newsom Tracker: A stroll down Market Street

Mayor Gavin Newsom will stroll down Market Street on Friday, possibly to admire how few cars are on the road following recent traffic adjustments. What the mayor will be doing there is slightly a mystery. The Mayor’s Office has called this a “wait and see” event. But the language promoting the event in Newsom’s schedule provides enough clues: Read More
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