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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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Marie Anglin Widner and Mearl Anglin Taylor both believe their brothers, John and Clarence, successfully escaped from Alcatraz 50 years ago — and they say they have proof.
Every Christmas until their mother died in 1973, hand-written notes were delivered to the house, Widner said. Additionally, John Anglin — the older of the two — would make leather wallets with intricate designs while at Alcatraz. Several years after the escape, Widner said, a leather horse figurine with a similar pattern was sent to older brother Alfred, with a note inside from John.
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The plan to remove more than 18,000 trees from dozens of parks received heat from neighbors last year. As a result, the public comment period for the draft environmental impact report has been reopened.
Comments on the natural areas plan are due by 5 p.m. Monday.
One reason public comment was reopened is because the plan and its impact report were not well-circulated, according to neighborhood groups opposing much of the proposal.
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It’s been a half-century since three convicts disappeared from Alcatraz in the former prison’s most famous escape attempt.
At least three dozen other prisoners tried to escape from the island, but it wasn’t until 1962 that anyone was successful. Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin developed an elaborate plan, and ultimately climbed over the walls and entered the frigid San Francisco Bay. They were never seen or heard from again.
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A Bay Area organization is holding a regional adopt-a-thon this weekend to match up pets and people.Maddie’s Fund, a nonprofit based in Pleasanton, hopes to connect 3,000 pets in local shelters with new homes. That number is 700 more pets than last year, and San Francisco is being added to the mix.
Additionally, each adoption will result in a grant for the shelter the animal belonged too. The age and health of the animal will determine the grant amount, but older dogs with health issues can fetch $2,000, Maddie’s spokeswoman Jenny Kunz said.
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