Turns out that even this modest-by-San-Francisco-standards piece of public-health legislation has been eviscerated at the request of the city's Small Business Commission, which worried about its effects on small tobacco retailers. Accordingly, Newsom has agreed to write exemptions into the law for "tobacco shops," "bars," and "taverns."
At least any schoolchildren who buy their smokes from dog-grooming salons will be spared a lifetime of addiction.
Tuesday
2 p.m.: We at The Snitch have been pretty put out over the travails of Louis' restaurant, the beloved greasy spoon that has teetered on a cliff above the ruins of the Sutro Baths for the better part of a century. The chow's not bad, the views are great, and, of course, the federal government has to come and fuck the whole show up with a strictly regulated bidding process to determine whether this family-owned establishment gets to stick around.
If you, too, want to voice your discontent over the feds forcing Louis' to abide by the laws of the United States, this Tuesday afternoon is your chance. As we reported here last week, Richmond District Supervisor Eric "Natural Light" Mar has drafted a non-binding resolution expressing support for Louis', which will take up some of our government officials' precious time at this week's full Board of Supervisors' meeting.
Also on tap at the full board meeting: A revision of the city's building code that requires commercial building
owners to increase the efficiency of their light fixtures. The intent
of this legislation, according to language
in the bill, is to reduce the effects of global warming. Will there at least be an exemption for commercial building owners who like the exciting-to-contemplate prospect of sea-level rise?
Lastly, the San Francisco Urban Gardeners League (SLUG), a now-defunct community gardening group that allegedly breached grant agreements and as a result owes the city a pile of money, is trying to square its obligations by giving the city a garden lot on Dearborn Street. What tawdry tale of vegetables and betrayal lies behind this arrangement? And who in hell thinks it's a good idea to name a gardening group SLUG -- or give said group significant sums of taxpayers' money? Tomorrow we find out.
Friday
3:30 p.m.: Are you concerned that the absence of summer school this year could leave the city with too many devilishly idle young hands to cause trouble? Well, so is Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who's holding a hearing this Friday on "the need for programming and activities" to fill in for canceled summer school sessions. Heck, we're not too worried -- the kids can always go work for free over at the Bay Guardian.
Photo | SuperFantastic
