The United States Senate is embroiled in a debate over SB 1955, a bill that purports to help small businesses purchase health insurance. Offered by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the dialogue on finding solutions for small businesses is critical.
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More than 50,000 cruise ship passengers will flood The City's waterfront this month, during the peak season of what is expected to be a record year for an industry aggressively courted by the Port of San Francisco.Port Maritime Director Peter Daly said Tuesday that during the weeks between May 8 and May 23, about 20 cruise ships will visit The City, bringing with them a total of about 52,000 passengers. Fifteen different cruise lines are expected to make 90 calls in San Francisco this year, transporting about 238,000 passengers, up from 197,573 just three years ago.
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With homicide rates in San Francisco at their highest levels in more than a decade, residents in many of The City’s most violence-plagued neighborhoods are pleading with city officials to increase efforts to stop the bloodshed. A new emphasis on security cameras at high-crime street corners could serve as a valuable tool in fighting the troubling wave of violence that has taken scores of young lives in recent months.
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A youth soccer club has filed suit in U.S. District Court against the city of San Carlos, alleging the town violated its constitutional rights by denying it field time and the right to post signs.Use of sports fields on the built-out eastern Peninsula is often as competitive as the teams that play on them. Ten children in the San Andreas Youth Soccer Organization, a regional group with offices in Belmont, complained in a lawsuit filed Friday that they and 60-odd other San Carlos players are being unfairly denied the opportunity to play on San Carlos fields.
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A teen drug treatment program is seeking a charter for a high school tonight from the San Mateo County Board of Education.Daytop California, a nonprofit that runs the Daytop Preparatory Academy residential rehabilitation program, hopes to open a charter school with a class of 25 ninth- through 12th-grade students with substance-abuse problems. The organization treats more than 40 children with drug abuse issues in its facilities in Redwood City and Belmont, many referred by county mental health officials and various courts.
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Hospital execs list things to cut out as bill rises; helipad endangered, Voters might end up with less hospital than they expected when Peninsula Medical Center is rebuilt if construction costs continue to climb past the project’s $488 million budget, Mills-Peninsula Health Services officials said Tuesday.
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We all remember the inspiring children’s tale about the little engine that could. The engine chugged up the steep tracks saying, "I think I can. I think I can."We forget where the little engine was going and don’t think to ask where it got its fuel, or whether the little engine was on the right track.The saga of the California high school exit exam is a lot like the story about the little engine. We challenge students to get up the tracks but aren’t really sure we’ve supplied adequate diesel fuel or sent them in the right direction.
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San Francisco’s Office of Emergency Services Director Annemarie Conroy defended her office Monday against a searing audit that characterized it as a top-heavy organization and called into question the viability of her own job.Conroy questioned the accuracy of the report, released Monday by Board of Supervisors budget analyst Harvey Rose, but said she would comply with "the vast majority" of its recommendations. She said her office is "always happy to hear constructive criticism."
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The county-run San Mateo Medical Center has canceled patient appointments, diverted ambulances to surrounding hospitals and refused new patients Monday, in preparation for a two-day nurses strike scheduled to begin Wednesday morning.Dozens of patients were immediately affected Monday, with that number expected to increase as the strike continues through Friday at 7 a.m., officials said.The medical center plans to bring in 50 temporary nurses to care for patients during the strike, spokesman Dave Hook said.
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The county-run San Mateo Medical Center has canceled patient appointments, diverted ambulances to surrounding hospitals and refused new patients Monday, in preparation for a two-day nurses strike scheduled to begin Wednesday morning.Dozens of patients were immediately affected Monday, with that number expected to increase as the strike continues through Friday at 7 a.m., officials said.The medical center plans to bring in 50 temporary nurses to care for patients during the strike, spokesman Dave Hook said.
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A broken PG&E gas line prompted theevacuation of an office building for several hours on Monday.A contractor digging a trench with a backhoe around 11:20 a.m. near an office building located at 1450 Fashion Island Boulevard hit a gas service line used exclusively by that building's tenants, PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno said.The high-pressure pipe leaked gas for approximately an hour, but no gas made it into the building and no one was injured, San Mateo Battalion Chief John Healy said. Building tenants were evacuated as a precaution, Healy said.
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More than $45 million worth of repairs are needed for neglected residential streets in San Mateo, according to Public Works officials lobbying the City Council for a new tax to pay for the work.Nearly 24 miles of roads are in "very poor" condition, according to a report issued by Public Works acting Deputy Director Susanna Chan. Approximately 37 percent of the city’s streets require resurfacing or being rebuilt altogether, including sidewalks and curbs. Thirty percent of residential streets are in dire condition, plagued by potholes, cracks and uneven surfaces.
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Moments before Marlin Coats raced into the 52-degree waves at Ocean Beach to try and save two drowning children, he had endured good-hearted jibes about his timidity in entering the chilly waters.The 29-year-old died after getting caught in a strong current after he jumped into the water near Stairwell 28, by Lincoln Way, to help two drowning brothers, 11 and 14 years old, and another man around 6:25 p.m. Sunday.
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Devil's Slide, a narrow stretch of scenic Highway 1 connecting San Francisco to the San Mateo coast, will remain closed for another four months while undergoing repairs, officials announced Monday.The ongoing closure means coastside residents will continue to feel the economic pinch, cut off — to a large extent — from visitors and tourists from San Francisco. Many businesses have been seriously impacted, seeing sales drop 35 percent to 50 percent, area Chamber of Commerce President Charise McHugh said.
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The dangers threatening the long-term prosperity of the Bay Area’s revived economy are easy enough to identify. But overcoming them would require a forceful exercise of political willpower.By far the worst culprit is the runaway cost of local housing, which can eat up twice as much income percentage as in other expanding business centers such as Seattle or Charlotte, N.C. Other prosperity killers are painfully long commutes, increased immigration obstacles for highly educated foreigners and a lack of tax breaks to attract growing companies.
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