More than 9,000 people sought treatment at local hospitals for health problems stemming from the massive fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond last week, a health official told the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Dr. Wendel Brunner, the county’s public health director, said residents who were exposed to particulate matter complained of a variety of problems, including irritation to the nose, throat and eyes, along with asthma attacks, wheezing and difficulty breathing.
Read More
The California Department of Motor Vehicles’ computer system was back up and running Tuesday afternoon after a problem knocked the DMV and a number of other state agencies offline for about four hours, a DMV spokeswoman said.
The connectivity issues, which shut down computers at DMV offices statewide around 8 a.m., were resolved just before noon with help from the state Office of Technology Services, DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez said.
Read More
A health advisory was issued Tuesday because of flaring at the Shell refinery in Martinez, but it was canceled an hour later.
Randy Sawyer of Contra Costa Health Services said a vessel at the refinery became “overpressurized,” which activated a safety mechanism that releases pressure through flaring, which creates black smoke that contains sulfur dioxide and other combustible products.
The health advisory was issued at 1:31 p.m. and lifted about 2:45 p.m.
Read More
San Francisco police Chief Greg Suhr last week cited a recent policy change in Memphis, Tenn., as a reason for why his department needs Tasers.
However, Suhr had the wrong Memphis.
Police in Memphis, Mich., rather than the much larger city in Tennessee, were the ones who adopted the use of the stun guns last December, San Francisco police spokesman Sgt. Mike Andraychak said today.
Read More
The San Rafael teenager accused of attempting to steal Guy Fieri's Lamborghini was apparently part of a a plot to break out of Marin County Juvenile Hall early Friday morning.
Max Wade, who turned 18 on Friday and was scheduled to be transferred to the county jail in the morning, was apparently the target of the attempted break-in around 4:30 a.m. at the juvenile hall facility at 16 Jeannette Prandi Way in unincorporated Marinwood, sheriff's Lt. Barry Heying said.
Read More
Immigration experts are encouraging undocumented San Francisco youths to prepare for next week when they will be able to apply for deferred deportation.
The policy change, announced by President Barack Obama in June, provides a two-year deferral of deportation for people who came to the U.S. before the age of 16, are under 31 years old and meet other requirements.
The first day to apply for the policy is Aug. 15, and members of the coalition San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network encourage people to prepare ahead of time.
Read More
About 1,000 claims have been filed since thick smoke and soot from a massive fire at Chevron’s Richmond refinery Monday evening sent 950 area residents to local hospitals, a Chevron spokesman said.
Claims for compensation to cover medical costs, wage losses and property damage have poured in since Chevron established a claims process through insurance services firm Crawford and Co., Chevron spokesman Sam Singer said, adding that he did not have a breakdown of the specific costs the claims sought to cover.
Read More
A small fire damaged the former administration building at San Francisco State University this afternoon, a university spokeswoman said.
The fire was reported at about 4:05 p.m. at the building known as the Old Administration Building, university spokeswoman Ellen Griffin said. Firefighters responded and extinguished the fire within about 20 minutes, Griffin said.
Read More
As East Bay residents recovered Tuesday from the effects of a massive fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond on Monday night, the head of emergency services at the facility provided updates on the blaze.
Mark Ayers said a hydrocarbon leak was initially detected in the No. 4 crude unit about 4:30 p.m. Monday. He said the leak was minor. When asked why Chevron didn’t notify county health officials, Ayers said there were “no thoughts it would impact the community.”
Read More
Two San Francisco firefighters suffered minor injuries while battling a blaze in the Ingleside neighborhood Tuesday morning, but others escaped a potentially dangerous situation.
The fire was reported at 5:50 a.m., and responding firefighters saw flames coming from a row of businesses on Ocean Avenue, Fire Department Chief Joanne Hayes-White said.
Read More
San Francisco police say officers shot a suspect who allegedly pointed a gun at them during a pursuit Saturday night. The officers were on the first block of Dakota Street shortly after 6:30 p.m., towing a vehicle, when they received a report of a suspect in the area with a gun, police said. The suspect fled, and police pursued him on foot, ordering him to stop. On the 800 block of Missouri Street, the suspect allegedly turned toward the officers with a firearm in his hand. The officers opened fire, and the suspect fell to the ground and dropped the gun.
Read More
Two Muni vehicles sandwiched a car on Market Street on Friday afternoon, injuring nine people.
The crash was reported around 12:20 p.m. on Market Street near First Street and involved a white car that got smashed between a Muni bus and streetcar, San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said.
Nine people suffered minor injuries but six declined transport to the hospital, Talmadge said.
Read More
Construction equipment toppled in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood Friday morning, narrowly missing two construction workers and closing a street for hours.
Click on the photo to the right to see more pictures of the accident.
A large forklift crane fell down at the intersection of Ellis and Leavenworth streets at about 7:30 a.m., Officer Gordon Shyy said.
Ellis Street was initially closed between Leavenworth and Jones streets, Shyy said.
Muni buses had to be rerouted as a result of the accident, Shyy said.
Read More
A man who scaled aGolden Gate Bridge tower and spent the night atop the historic span was in custody Friday morning, a California Highway Patrol sergeant said.
Bridge traffic was briefly shut down twice Friday morning to search the towers for an apparently suicidal male, CHP Sgt. Diana McDermott said.
He was spotted around 6:15 p.m. Thursday on the cabling of the bridge, but went above the fog line and was no longer visible after the CHP last had contact with him around 8 p.m., McDermott said.
Read More
The San Francisco Police Commission on Wednesday night decided again to hold off on allowing the Police Department to use Tasers.Police Chief Greg Suhr had asked the commission for permission to allow the department to start a pilot program with the stun guns following a fatal officer-involved shooting in The City’s Financial District last month.
Read More
URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/user/2781/2781?page=13&field_author_value=&quicktabs_1=1&quicktabs_6=1
