The mayor’s proposal for an onerous cleanup fee on motorists who have been in an accident is misguided. We have already paid for these costs through the funding of wages and benefits (including their pensions and medical care) for the fine members of our Fire Department. Charging a redundant fee for cleanup on either the motorists or the insurance company is double taxation and frankly un-American.
Michael McGreevy, San Francisco
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Unemployment among government workers last month was 3.4 percent, according to Bureau of Labor statistics, meaning government workers are about three times less likely to be jobless than the general population. From this disparity, Democrats have somehow concluded that what we really need is a greater disparity. How else can one explain their plan for an additional $50 billion bailout to prevent further job losses among state and local government workers?
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An Oakland man was charged with murder Monday for the shooting death of former University of San Francisco basketball player Hyman Taylor Jr. during what prosecutors believe was a failed attempt to rob a marijuana dealer.
The shooting occurred at about 7:30 p.m. last Tuesday in the parking lot of the Ikea furniture store at the border of Emeryville and Oakland.
Alameda County Chief Deputy District Attorney Tom Rogers identified the man charged in Taylor’s death as 20-year-old Cassidy O’Connor.
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The annual Fourth of July parade and festival in Redwood City will not include a fireworks show this year for the first time in more than a decade, an event coordinator said Monday.
“Unfortunately, fireworks have gotten exceedingly expensive,” said Robert Slusser, event coordinator for the Peninsula Celebration Association, the nonprofit that hosts the event.
Slusser said costs include materials, transportation and liability insurance, all of which have gotten pricier over the years.
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The San Francisco Water Department talked of the need of water rationing for this summer where customers would be limited to a small patch of lawn. To enforce this rationing, 177,000 water meters are being modified to transmit to a central office the amount of water being used.
Now SmartMeters permitting time-of-day rate adjustments will connect us to our water, electric and gas meters. It appears that just like the bridge tolls and parking meters, The City’s utilities have discovered a new cash cow.
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Who’s in town
Folk-rock singer-songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov performs at Café du Nord. [8 p.m., 2170 Market St., S.F.]
At the colleges
Gentle chair yoga: Class meets on Mondays. [10 a.m., UCSF, Mount Zion campus, 1701 Divisadero St., Suite 150, S.F.; RSVP: www.osher.ucsf.edu/register]
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Bam! Zap! Whammo! It's a battle royale between two of the toughest heavyweights in the superhero business. The fate of the world doesn't hang in the balance, but a lot of money probably does.
Sci-fi writer Neil Gaiman and former Spider-Man artist Todd McFarlane's attorneys have been sparring for years over Gaiman's claims to a handful of characters created for McFarlane's classic Spawn series, which features a murdered CIA agent who becomes a demon.
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Germany scored two goals in each half and Tim Cahill was sent off as three-time champion Germany beat Australia 4-0 Sunday in Group D of the World Cup.
Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose scored in the first 30 minutes as Australia coach Pim Verbeek's defensive tactics backfired.
Thomas Mueller and Cacau also scored against an overwhelmed Australian defense in the second half after Cahill was red-carded in the 56th minute for a late tackle on Bastian Schweinsteiger.
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Roger Federer remains confident heading into Wimbledon even after losing on grass for only the second time in more than seven years.
The No. 2-ranked Swiss, who came into the final at the Gerry Weber Open with a 76-1 record on grass since 2003, lost 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 to Australian Lleyton Hewitt in Sunday's title match.
Federer's only other loss on the surface before Sunday was against top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final.
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A San Francisco city commission delayed deciding whether to ban the selling of dogs, cats and other small mammals Thursday after a two-hour discussion unearthed extensive new information, a member of the commission said.
Philip Gerrie of the San Francisco Commission of Animal Control & Welfare proposed the ban to discourage excessive animal breeding and minimize the number of animals euthanized in The City’s shelters, he said.
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Susan Desmond-Hellmann, the chancellor of UC San Francisco, will release a report today that shows the university is a major economic engine for the area in both industry output and jobs. Since a report in 2003, UCSF has nearly tripled in size and completed part of its new campus in Mission Bay, attracting significant attention from the biotech industry and spawning 30 startups based on University of California research.
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Nelson Mandela's 13-year-old great-granddaughter was killed in a car crash on the way home from a concert in Soweto on the eve of the World Cup, his office said Friday.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation said Zenani Mandela died in a one-car accident and no one else was injured. No other details on the crash were immediately available.
Zenani, who celebrated her 13th birthday June 9, was one of the anti-apartheid icon's nine great-grandchildren.
"The family has asked for privacy as they mourn this tragedy," the foundation said in a statement.
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WHAT: An Army inspector-general report uncovered gross mismanagement at Arlington National Cemetery, home of the Unknown Solider. Problems include at least 211 misidentified graves, slipshod record keeping and one case where a service member was buried on top of another.
HOW LONG: Problems first surfaced in 2008 when the widow of a staff sergeant complained that the wrong headstone had been placed on his grave. An investigation found that an Air Force master sergeant had been buried on top of her husband’s body in the same site.
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Jury selection is expected to continue Tuesday and Wednesday in the murder trial of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle, who fatally shot Oscar Grant III on the Fruitvale station platform in Oakland on New Year’s Day 2009. After filling out surveys last week, remaining jurors will be questioned in a Los Angeles courtroom. Opening statements are expected to begin Thursday.
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Taxpayers get fined when they do not pay what they owe for city, state and federal taxes. But when they do not vote — the most important responsibility in a representative republic form of self-government — registered nonvoters do not receive a fine.
Perhaps cities like San Francisco could offer inducements to encourage qualified voters to register to vote, such as cash awards funded from penalty assessments on registered nonvoting citizens.
Frank Norton, San Francisco
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URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/people/rob-nagle?page=67&%24Version=1&quicktabs_6=1&quicktabs_1=0
