Fire engines blaring sirens and air horns down lower Polk Street have drawn the ire of residents who believe emergency situations could be handled with a more dialed-down approach.The root of the controversy is Station 3 at 1067 Post St. — the busiest fire station in the nation with 7,439 engine runs counted in 2007, according to San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Mindy Talmadge. The overwhelming majority of runs dispatched are medical emergencies, due in large part to the station’s proximity to the Tenderloin, where drug abuse is common, Talmadge said. Read More

Allan Lin sat transfixed before a pile of building bricks, focusing intently on how he would transform the aimless heap into a worthy architectural structure.Though it was a Monday, Lin, an 18-year-old senior at Galileo High School, wasn’t playing hooky, nor was he taking part in a new class devoted to construction toys. Instead, he was at the San Francisco firm KMD Architects, learning the principles of architecture via the valuable lessons of Legos, as part of a career day program sponsored by the Mayor’s Youth Employment and Education Program. Read More

Eight months after Mayor Gavin Newsom touted a budget infusion of $2.7 million into The City’s Recreation and Park Department for 15 new gardeners and 35 new custodians dedicated to improving the upkeep of The City’s parks, 35 gardening positions are on the chopping block. Instructed by the Mayor’s Office to slash $5.5 million from its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Rec and Park is considering such cost-cutting measures as abandoning subsidies to golf courses, eliminating 30 to 35 unfilled gardening positions and increasing fees for the Japanese Tea Garden. Read More

North Bay residents need to pay a fair share of the costs of seismically upgrading Doyle Drive since they compose the majority of Golden Gate Bridge commuters, the head of a San Francisco transportation agency said Tuesday.Despite accounting for only 16 percent of automobiles on the state-owned road, the city and county of San Francisco has secured $640 million in local, state and federal sources for the restoration of Doyle Drive, said Jose Luis Moscovich, executive director of the San Francisco Transportation Authority. Read More

One man was killedand another two were critically injured Monday when a five-story metal structure collapsed during demolition preparations at the former Pacific Gas and Electric power plant in Bayview-Hunters Point. Emergency officials were investigating the cause of the collapse, which occurred at 1100 Evans Ave. just before noon Monday, San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Mindy Talmadge said. According to Talmadge, the top section of the structure dropped in a "pancake collapse," causing the rest of edifice to twist and crumble to the ground. Read More

An elderly woman was injured Friday morning when she was struck by a school bus while darting across Bayshore Boulevard, officials from the California Highway Patrol said. Read More

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge could soon mean less green for drivers on the reddish span. A decision by the bridge’s board of directors gave the green light to a public-outreach process to investigate a proposed $1 fare increase.Commuters using the iconic span could face the higher toll as soon as July 1. "We know people aren’t going to like a toll increase, but we’ve got to balance the budget," bridge spokeswoman Mary Currie said. Read More