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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Need a Lift, San Francisco? Try a Cargo Trike.

Posted By on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 2:59 PM

Getting things done by bike, one load at a time. - ANNA MCCARTHY
  • Anna McCarthy
  • Getting things done by bike, one load at a time.
This rare cargo trike was spotted parked on 18th Street  between Mission and Capp today. We thought it looked like a pretty sweet ride -- even compared to the Beamer parked next to it.

You don't see a cargo trike every day -- Adam May of Mike's Bikes told SF Weekly he only knows of three in all of San Francisco. Yet when it comes to hauling loads on a bike, the Xtracycle trailer is a mildly ubiquitous attachment seen frequently around

the city.

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Eco-Curious: Open Source Carmaker to Build Electric Car Inspired By S.F.

Posted By on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 1:59 PM

Unlike the vehicles in this classic Quinn Martin production, the S.F.-inspired car LocalMotors hopes to build won't be a giant gas-guzzler that gets great air on the hills
  • Unlike the vehicles in this classic Quinn Martin production, the S.F.-inspired car LocalMotors hopes to build won't be a giant gas-guzzler that gets great air on the hills
Carmaker LocalMotors is planning to build a vehicle based on San Francisco. But here's the catch. You have to design it.

The competition--which starts today--has just three requirements: The vehicle must be electric, it must be a shooting-break design, and it must capture the spirit of our City by the Bay. Of course, there couldn't be better timing. There's been a lot of mayoral chatter lately about making San Fran the electric car capital of the United States.

The final product must be a single-engine car that goes from 0-60 in about nine seconds and will have an end-of-life battery range of 80 miles. Similar in build to a Volkswagen Scirocco, the car should be a two- (or possibly four-) passenger vehicle. And the door style needs to provide easy access but also be workable for tight parking spots or steep hills. Designers, here's a hint: rent Back to the Future.

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Were S.F. Public Works Jobs Part of Massive Fraud Scheme? Union Officials Say Yes.

Posted By on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 12:30 PM

Police escort a woman from NBC General Contractors' Oakland offices during a May raid - DON FERIA
  • Don Feria
  • Police escort a woman from NBC General Contractors' Oakland offices during a May raid
If you're looking for the Lord Voldemort of local labor, Bay Area union officials have a nomination: Monica Ung. The owner of NBC General Contractors has been charged by Alameda County prosecutors with methodically defrauding her limited-English workers -- and the state -- of millions or even tens of millions of dollars.

In a nutshell, Ung is accused of exploiting her Chinese immigrant labor pool by stiffing them with substandard wages, then turning around and reporting hourly payments more than double what employees were actually earning on public works jobs. What's more, she reportedly forced her laborers to toil up to 12 hours a day, six days a week -- but reported to government overseers that they were working only 20-odd hours weekly. The rise and fall of her alleged criminal scheme -- and how local governments failed to intercede -- is the cover feature in this week's East Bay Express. But while Ung is facing dozens of felony counts in an Alameda County courtroom, union officials told SF Weekly they believe she may have defrauded workers -- and the government -- here in San Francisco, too.

"We think that she was able to pull off this fraud in San Francisco, Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, and throughout the Bay Area because of the how she did her time cards and intimidated her workers," said Victor Uno, the business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 595.

Uno added that the numbers Ung reported to the government ought to have raised serious red flags -- but didn't.

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So You've Been Banging Your Co-Worker... Yes, It's the Oddest Office Spam We've Gotten Yet.

Posted By on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 8:30 AM

end_of_the_affair.jpg
When your e-mail address ends "@NameOfANewspaper," you get some very odd messages in your inbox. Somehow, I have ended up on a country music mass-mailing list. I regularly get dispatches intended only for municipal city managers ("New Dynamics in Tertiary Sewage Treatment -- Is it a Good Fit For You?"). But, to the best of my knowledge, the very oddest bit of e-spam I've gotten yet just arrived in the form of a missive promoting the charmingly named Web site Divorce360.com and titled, "4 Tips to End an Office Affair and Save Your Marriage."


Needless to say, sending material about office affairs to people's office e-mail addresses is a bit creepy. If you're not married and not having an office affair, it's just odd. But if you are guilty as charged -- boy, imagine the bile hitting the back of your teeth when you see this e-mail's subject line pop up in bold!

Of course, the best way to avoid wrecking one's marriage by having an office affair is ... wait for it ... to avoid wrecking one's marriage by having an office affair. Naturally, that doesn't come up -- but this does: "Office affairs and romantic relationships at work must be handled delicately and on a case by case basis." In other words, don't confuse Lena and Gina and Tina when you're breaking up with them at 10:15, 10:30, and 10:45 in the break room. And don't hit "reply all."

Other pearls of wisdom:

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BART Union Approves Contract; Workers, Management Go Back To Talking Trash *Without* Specter of Crippling Strike

Posted By on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 7:30 AM

bart_train_thumb_222x170.jpg
The union for BART's drivers and station agents blamed the system's financial woes on George W. Bush and greedy management while the system pointed the finger at well-compensated, overtime-hoarding employees.

And the riding public can offer a Mercutio-like pox on both their houses while dozing off on the Pittsburg-Bay Point train, because the union-management sniping is no longer being made with the prospect of a disastrous rail strike hanging in the balance. Yesterday around 80 percent of the holdout Amalgamated Transit Union Local No. 1555 ratified the contract hammered out hours before that strike would have commenced on Aug. 16, staving off the Bay Area's last, best chance to experience gridlock woes that would have landed us on the front page of the New York Times.

Before slipping out of the public eye until the next contract go-round, ATU President Jesse Hunt had some harsh words for BART management -- after the contract was ratified.

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Iguana Man Optimistic He Won't Have to Give Up His 'Service Lizard'

Posted By on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 6:30 AM

Cosmie Silfa and Skippy - JOE ESKENAZI
  • Joe Eskenazi
  • Cosmie Silfa and Skippy
Yesterday we reported that Cosmie Silfa was at risk of having to give up his doctor-prescribed "service iguana" Skippy. Today, however, Silfa is optimistic he won't have to surrender the arm-sized, green lizard his psychiatrist describes as "an essential component of our treatment plan."

Silfa -- who was profiled in a June SF Weekly cover story about the city's intriguing rules and regulations regarding service animals -- has been entitled to keep "Skippy" the iguana in his well-heated room at the Knox SRO for years thanks to a note from Dr. Cynthia Resendez.

Yet for reasons that are not totally clear, building management has recently decided it wants more than the aforementioned note, and asked for Silfa's doctor to fill out what appear to be reasonable accommodation request forms. Silfa reported, however, that his doctor felt uncomfortable filling out the forms, and believed providing the note was enough -- setting in motion a situation in which he could be forced to remove the iguana from the premises. The John Stewart Company, which manages this SRO, has not gotten back to us yet, and this move puzzled Chuck Hauptman, HUD's regional director of fair housing and equal opportunities.

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Is Mexico Big Enough for Gavin Newsom and David Campos?

Posted By on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 12:01 AM

¿Dónde estan Gavin Newsom y David Campos?
  • ¿Dónde estan Gavin Newsom y David Campos?
This was as good a time as any for Gavin Newsom to get out of town (and he's out of town a lot, so he should know).

While Newsom is off on a PG&E-funded jaunt down Mexico way, the mayor's paid apologists are left here to explain away recent polls that show him getting thumped by Jerry Brown in the governor's race in every part of the city but the Marina ( the chicks at Jones Roadhouse prefer Gavin!). Newsom's crew is also left to quell the furor over the mayor tossing the Chronicle a confidential memo regarding Supervisor David Campos' proposed revisions to San Francisco's sanctuary policies.

We called Campos to get his take on this, but heard ... nothing. That's unusual, as Campos is usually excellent about returning calls (you'd be shocked at how much crossover there is on the lists of "politicians held in high regard by the local media and often given the benefit of the doubt" and "politicians who return phone calls").

Finally, we got a call back from Campos' legislative aide, Sheila Chung Hagen. She said Campos wasn't able to take our call as he was out of the country. Jokingly, we asked if he was in Mexico. "Yes," she replied.

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