This responds to my friend Randy Brasche’s letter in the Friday, May 12 Examiner.As a supervisor, I have worked to expand home ownership opportunities in San Francisco.Last year, I co-authored legislation with Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier to allow all 100 percent owner-occupied buildings to convert to condominiums. While the legislation was not passed, the debate on new home ownership shifted.First-time tenancy-in-common homeowners turned out in large numbers at City Hall. They were teachers, firefighters, artists, writers and yoga instructors.
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Today, the Pacific Gas & Electric Company officially turns off its controversial Hunters Point Power Plant for good. But the switch was actually flipped earlier this month, and local residents said they are already breathing easier.The Huntersview Mothers Committee and other neighbors of the plant had a celebratory outdoor dinner Friday night to rejoice in the plant’s closure, a goal they’d been working on for 10 years, committee member Marie Harrison said.
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If the majority of the faces exiting AT&T Park on Sunday afternoon bore looks of disappointment, one pair bore looks of torture.David Baum, 43, and his son, Jake Baum, 16, didn’t have the easy grimaces of fans who had merely endured the Giants losing the finale of their series with the Dodgers 6-3; they had careworn looks that come from enduring seven straight games of disappointment.San Francisco was able to scrape out a successful 4-3 record in those games, but Barry Bonds remained one home run short of Babe Ruth in the pantheon of baseball sluggers with 713.
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Peninsula residents may notice a reduction in aircraft noise this summer due to new technology being tested at San Francisco International Airport.The technology, software called En Route Descent Advisor, is designed to queue landing aircraft from as far away as 300 miles, guiding them in at low power on a gradual descent, rather than forcing pilots to level-off, or step down, at various altitudes as is done currently, officials said.
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BART on Sunday unveiled its newest marketing blitz designed to increase ridership to San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport.The effort, which includes four "train wraps" — peel-off decals covering an entire train car — encourages riders to take BART to both of the Bay Area’s busiest airports. Officials hope the campaign will bring more riders to its Peninsula extension, which hasn’t been living up to ridership expectations.
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The San Francisco Transportation Authority is embarking on a study to see if a concept known as "congestion pricing" might work to reduce traffic congestion here in San Francisco.
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The complex, multiyear $5.7 billion settlement of the school financing dispute involving the governor and the state teachers’ lobby, announced Wednesday by the Schwarzenegger administration, drastically changes the playing field for California politics and education. The agreement brings wide-ranging immediate results. The California Teachers Association lawsuit, which charged Gov. Schwarzenegger with shortchanging the schools, is expected to be taken off the table, and CTA spokespersons were careful last week not to criticize the governor.
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Today kicks off Small Business Week, a weeklong salute of small businesses and the people who pioneer them. Each year the federal Small Business Administration salutes small business through awards, events and celebrations.
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Today kicks off Small Business Week, a weeklong salute of small businesses and the people who pioneer them. Each year the federal Small Business Administration salutes small business through awards, events and celebrations.
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This Clarendon Heights home is one of The City’s newer properties. Built in 1996, the home has a quintessential Mediterranean style to it with the extensive panoramic views of the Bay and the downtown area. Nestled among tall trees and rich foliage, the home has a very open floor plan. The main level has arched room entrances and hardwood floors. The living room has a fireplace, bay window, built-in bar and terrace.
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The chief executive of the California power grid went to Washington D.C. on Wednesday to tell the national industrial media that the state would have enough power to meet this summer’s peak demands. This is good news in itself, especially for those of us who survived the great California electrical shortages of 2001, when the state apparently could not access enough power to meet a steadily growing wattage demand.
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Mayor Gavin Newsom came under fire Friday after his office issued a set of emergency preparedness directives Wednesday that appeared to answer criticisms made in a yet-to-be released audit of The City’s Office of Emergency Services.The audit report has attracted buzz because early drafts of the report have been critical of the office’s director, Annemarie Conroy, and suggest that her position cease to exist when her tenure ends. It also concludes that the office has not produced an overall emergency plan for The City.
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Nineteen percent of flights at San Francisco International Airport were delayed in the past year, levels not seen since the dot-com boom days of 2000 and 2001.The percentage of delayed domestic flights increased 2 percent in the year ending March 2006 over the previous year, and 6 percent from the year ending March 2004, according to figures released Thursday by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The number of flights remained relatively stable during that time, around or just under 130,000 per year.
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Embattled from fighting potholes and street flooding from behind his steering wheel in North Fair Oaks, John Shott hopes some relief may be on the way for local drivers in the form of $18 million for county road repairs.His neighborhood, in unincorporated San Mateo County, has among the county’s worst roads and storm drains in places, officials said. "Some of the streets are just crummy," said Shott, president of the North Fair Oaks Council. Among the worst is Placitas Avenue, he said.
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Some days are better than others for us columnists. As enthusiastic members of the fourth estate, we are certain of variousfacts. For instance, no columnist is ever going to be on the cover of Time, Newsweek or People. We will never own four houses, three cars and racehorses. Expensive jewelry will never drip from our significant others. Let’s face it, we ain’t gonna get rich on this gig, folks. However, before the violins show up for the dirge and you coax that one crocodile tear out, let me tell you about the other side of the coin.
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