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Andrea Koskey

San Franciscans willing to shell out dough for a Valentine’s date

Paying for a date on Valentine’s Day has taken on a whole new meaning. A dating website that lets you bid on the chance to spend a few hours with someone has been popular among San Franciscans leading up to the holiday. And as the big day approaches, the price is increasing. According to the dating website www.whatsyourprice.com, men and women are offering to pay someone to be their date more often in the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day than any other month of the year. Read More

Bay Area journalist Kevin Weston, wife holding bone marrow rally in San Francisco

kevin westin
Five months ago, Kevin Weston and Lateefah Simon were married after five years together, but their venue was not the most ideal: the ICU of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center  in Santa Clara. Today, the couple plans to renew their vows at City Hall while also calling on people to become bone marrow donors. That’s because Weston is in dire need of a transplant; the 
44-year-old was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia six months ago and needs a 
transplant to stay alive. Read More

With the gay community’s greater social acceptance, San Francisco’s bar scene has changed

Three years ago when Shawn Vergara opened Blackbird, his Market Street bar, he consciously didn’t label the establishment as specifically targeted for just gay or straight patrons. Instead, he welcomed everybody. Vergara, who is gay, considers Blackbird a “people bar,” a concept that has proven successful. On any given night, the bar hosts a mix of gay and straight patrons who sip beer, wine and cocktails. Read More

CCSF officials say progress on accreditation deadline is coming, but slowly

CCSF
City College of San Francisco officials say progress has been made on a key report designed to persuade an education panel not to strip the school’s accreditation, but they agreed Thursday evening that much work still remains before a March 15 deadline. Accreditation liaison Gohar Momjian told the trustees that college officials should be honest about whether their progress to date meets the standards set forth by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. And in many cases, she said, it does not. Read More

SF cable car stops suddenly, injuring passengers

A Powell-Hyde cable car that stopped abruptly at Powell and Washington streets Wednesday morning injured seven people and delayed a cruise ship scheduled to set sail for Hawaii. The cable car was traveling toward downtown about 10:20 a.m. with about 40 people aboard when it apparently hit a bolt in the tracks, causing the incident, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said. Click on the photo to see the slideshow. Read More

California Supreme Court answers questions, hears cases at University of San Francisco

The California Supreme Court justices stepped down from their dais during a special visit to the University of San Francisco campus Tuesday to educate the public about their branch of government. Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said the justices, who also heard oral arguments in three cases while at USF, are committed to informing California communities about their courts during their statewide tour. Read More

Sullen San Francisco 49ers fans keep calm after Super Bowl loss

All Jenny Chen could do was hold her head in her hands when the Super Bowl ended. “Next year,” the 29-year-old Burlingame resident said after the 49ers lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday night in New Orleans. “But I was hoping for a miracle.” That sentiment was felt throughout San Francisco after a close contest in which the 49ers came just short of making the ultimate comeback, losing 34-31. Read More

San Francisco party for Baltimore Ravens fans canceled after SFPD warns of safety threat

Apparently not everyone was able to celebrate the Super Bowl in San Francisco. Ravens in the Fog, a Facebook page dedicated to Baltimore fans living in the Bay Area, said the several hundred people who were poised to take over Dear Mom in the Mission district Sunday had to cancel their party Friday due to fears about their safety. A post on the page Friday said the Police Department had “heavily urged Ravens in the Fog and Dear Mom to cancel the event in-light of their concern that they can not guarantee the safety of those in attendance.” Read More

Increase in homelessness upsets Duboce merchants

Merchants in the Duboce Triangle neighborhood are concerned about what they say is an increase of homeless people in the area — enough to call for a meeting with police and elected officials. Business owners say they worry that violence and theft are increasing in the area, too, due to the presence of people on the streets who are mentally ill or have substance-abuse problems. Read More

San Francisco works to keep 49ers celebrations peaceful

Doré Studio, a photography studio on Mission Street, is one of dozens of businesses vandalized after the Giants won the World Series in 2010 and 2012, but owners are hoping any post-Super Bowl celebration Sunday will be more respectful. “I’m not sure it will happen though,” said Doré Studio owner Patty Alvarez. “I always have concerns anytime anything big happens.” Read More

San Francisco 49ers fan obsession grows with popular video tributes

Roll Call — 49ers Anthem,
It only took 20 minutes for Andrew Redden and his sister Sarah, both big-time fans of 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, to make the video “Kaeperknicking,” which has become an Internet sensation since debuting in December. The video, which features Redden’s 6-year-old sister spitting original lyrics about the 49ers’ playoff push, was such a hit that it inspired the Ohio siblings to create another one as the team prepares for the Super Bowl on Sunday. Read More

San Francisco nudity ban set to start Friday after challenge tossed out by court

San Francisco Nudity Ban
Come Friday, San Franciscans must put on their clothes. A law banning public nudity in The City will go into effect after the U.S. District Court in San Francisco dismissed a challenge Tuesday. The case was filed last year by four nudists who said covering up violated their First Amendment rights to express their political views. However, the court disagreed. In a hearing earlier this month, the judge in the case said it takes more than disrobing in public to make a political statement. Read More

San Francisco students to receive mentoring from District Attorney’s Office

District Attorney George Gascón
When Ruben Urbina was in the fifth grade his parents separated, sending his life into turmoil, he said. The youngster turned to his uncles, brothers and sisters to keep him off the streets. Today, Urbina is a mentor to students who go through the San Francisco Unified School District and need guidance. He said he was fortunate enough to have three uncles, two older brothers, one older sister, and a Rec and Park director who kept him on the right path. “I owe it to these great people to go on and do something great with my life as well,” he said. Read More

CCSF is not too big to fail, state official warns

city college of san francisco
The state chancellor for California Community Colleges had a chilling message for the City College of San Francisco board of trustees Thursday: City College is not too big to fail. Brice Harris spoke directly and candidly to the board about its accreditation and financial crisis. Harris said no other two-year college in the state is in the same situation.  He also said the problems with City College are well-documented in the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team’s report released in September, as well as the accreditation report released in July. Read More

San Francisco schools to retool the way they address special education students

The San Francisco Unified School District is poised to introduce new principles for including students with disabilities in regular classrooms, but some parents say it’s not going far enough. The effort is the district’s latest push to educate students with disabilities alongside their nondisabled peers. At Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Education, Superintendent Richard Carranza will introduce a proposal that urges school district employees to treat special-education students like general-education students who need additional services. Read More
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