They came, they partied and they left behind a massive mess.
Thousands of people celebrating the Fourth of July descended upon Fort Mason on Wednesday and brought with then thousands of pounds of trash. An estimated 30 cubic yards of garbage — 1 cubic yard holds about 200 gallons — decorated Fort Mason’s meadow Thursday morning, forcing federal park officials to spend the day cleaning up following the midweek Independence Day festivities rather than catch up on work or move federal projects forward.
Read More
A bill that would require party buses to verify the age of passengers or face fines was approved Tuesday by the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee.
The legislation, introduced by Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, will be heard by the full Senate in August.
Read More
Legislation that would require party bus operators to check identification of those on board or face hefty fines is before the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee today.
The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, is aimed at curbing underage drinking by closing a loophole in a law adopted in the 1980s that required similar actions by limousine drivers.
Read More
Update: Transbay BART service has resumed after being suspended for nearly an hour.About 1 p.m., police detained the person who reportedly went onto the tracks in Oakland. BART officials said service was stopped around noon. Trains were halted at San Francisco’s Embarcadero station and at the West Oakland station. Because of the activity, electricity to the trackway had to be turned off. There were systemwide delays of up to 30 minutes after the issues was resolved.
Read More
Two months ago, Vincent Lackey moved his house to India Basin — literally. Lackey’s two-story houseboat now sits in the middle of India Basin, roughly 50 feet from land and Shoreline Park. It’s also stuck in the mud.And now neighbors say the home is not welcome.Lackey said he’s been building the houseboat over the past 20 years and hopes to turn it into a floating restaurant, the San Francisco Bay Sanctuary restaurant. It would be parked at Pier 1 in time for the America’s Cup in 2013.
Read More
Sunday’s annual Pride parade was fueled this year by major gains in the push for LGBT equality in the past 12 months, even if many revelers acknowledged there’s still much progress to be made.
Under the theme of “Global Equality,” hundreds of parade participants marched down Market Street for tens of thousands of onlookers during the 42nd annual parade that culminated in a celebration at Civic Center Plaza.
Read More
Connecting Alcatraz Island to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area — including Fort Mason and Muir Woods — is one possibility for the National Park Service as it looks to find a more permanent home for the popular ferry service.
The current contract expires in 2016, and park service officials say they would rather create a permanent facility instead of relocating every 10 years, regardless of the company providing ferry service. The ferry has been located at Pier 31½ on The Embarcadero since 2006, and that space also will be considered as a permanent location.
Read More
An accidental fire caused more than $2 million in damage to one of San Francisco’s historic waterfront pier buildings, but the blaze did not affect the structural integrity of a space that’s expected to be used by the America’s Cup.
Pier 29 went up in flames Wednesday afternoon. It took firefighters about two hours to contain the blaze. There were no injuries, and damage is estimated at $2.37 million.
However, damage appeared to be confined to the roof and the front of the building, fire spokeswoman Lt. Mindy Talmadge said.
Read More
A four-alarm fire destroyed three-quarters of Pier 29 on Wednesday afternoon, halting traffic along the busy Embarcadero corridor and causing a historic archway to tumble to the sidewalk.
Click on the photo to see more. Scroll down to see video of the fire at Pier 29.
Read More
After nearly 2½ years occupying a 2.2-acre parcel off Laguna Street, Hayes Valley Farms’ days are numbered.
The urban farm — one of The City’s first and largest — used a former freeway off-ramp as a temporary location to compost, grow food and plants, harvest honey and educate the community about agricultural techniques.
Read More
Christina Tanunliong and her husband, Marc, had traveled from Las Vegas to San Francisco to see their very first U.S. Open tournament in person. And the couple managed to see some of their favorites — Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods — during the past four days, even staking out seats at the 18th green in hopes of spying some dramatic moments.
Read More
The disparities in the number of men testing positive for HIV and AIDS in minority communities has long been known to researchers. The challenge is in getting them into testing facilities and then treated.
Read More
The fire that shut down cross-Bay BART service Thursday may have been intentionally lit, Oakland fire officials said.
The blaze began about 2:18 a.m. in a senior housing project that was under construction. It spread to tracks near the West Oakland BART station.
Oakland Battalion Chief Lisa Baker said a security guard was on the property moments before the fire started. She would not confirm the number of suspects, but said suspicious activity occurred in the area.
She asked anyone with information to call (510) 238-4031.
Read More
A neighborhood group opposing increased use of the Nob Hill Masonic Center filed a cease and desist order this week to stop the venue from hosting events until an environmental review is completed.
If the order is not complied with by Friday, the Nob Hill Association will file a lawsuit.
“They’re almost certainly going to ignore us,” said David Harmer, vice president of public affairs for the association. “The City is allowing and encouraging them to be so devious. We feel we’ve got no choice.”
Read More
The population of Black Rock City can grow to as many as 60,900 people this year.
A new permit was issued Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for the temporary city in the Nevada desert, where the annual Burning Man festival is held. But organizers will need to keep a close watch on the number of people entering the festival or face further permit sanctions.
Read More
URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/user/182/182?page=15&=&quicktabs_1=0&quicktabs_6=1
