After Monday's chaos, San Francisco police are promising a "very high visibility" for Wednesday's parade down Market Street celebrating the Giants' World Series title. All days off for the officers have been canceled.
The department is warning that this is a "family event," and there will be no tolerance for alcohol or any criminal activity. Read: no mattress burning, no hopping on cop cars, no careening through crowds of people in your old car.
The Bay Citizen had an interesting piece today about how the San Francisco Giants' thrilling World Series victory could boost Democrats' chances in today's election. We're not so sure about the repeated shots of George W. Bush's futile attempts to root on his Rangers leading to a blue stampede among the nation's voters. But the notion that positive vibes about San Francisco will help Mayor Gavin Newsom in his quest to finally get out of San Francisco politics -- that sounds about right.
If Newsom has ever been sincere about anything, it's his love for the Giants. A former talented ballplayer and local guy, we take Newsom at his word when he professes his fandom. The bend on his cap is authentic. He's a fan. Still, it makes sense that there had to be something more behind his glee.
A colleague recently plopped his accumulated political mail of the last three-odd weeks down on our desk. Campaign fliers alone stacked more than an inch high and weighed around a pound. The voter information pamphlet for the city and state nearly tripled the poundage.
That's a ton of political mail -- isn't it? Yes and no, says a veteran campaign consultant.
It seems the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has accomplished what the Hamburglar never could. They've made off with McDonald's fare.
The supes today passed an ordinance that will require meals to meet nutritional guidelines if restaurants wish to include a toy with the food purchase.
More importantly, the supes passed the so-called "Happy Meal Ban" by an 8-3 vote -- meaning it can survive a promised veto from Mayor Gavin Newsom. That's right: San Francisco done banned the Happy Meal. Robble robble.
BART riders spotting a man decked out in ill-fitting Giants gear, handing out treats, and serenading them with local ditties need not be alarmed. It's just Gary Thomas, the executive director of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, paying off his World Series bet.
For a number of San Francisco and California politicians -- and, in the case of Meg Whitman, likely soon-to-be-ex-politicians -- today is payday.
Actually, Arlington Mayor Dr. Robert Cluck isn't sure when he'll be living up to his obligation to wash the fetid feet of Civic Center Plaza transients while wearing Willie McCovey's old jersey.
The trial of a former NFL and USC lineman accused of racially motivated attacks on a homeless man has ended with a jury refusing to convict him on any charges.
Chris Brymer, who was the subject of a September cover story in SF Weekly, was acquitted yesterday on two counts of hate-crime battery and one count of criminal threatening. The jury hung on a fourth charge of assault, though it was deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquittal, according to Brymer's lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Nicole Solis.
Say what you will, Richard Lee is no Joe Namath.
The New York Jets quarterback, against all odds, guaranteed a Super Bowl victory. Lee, the pot entrepreneur behind Oaksterdam University -- and the driving fiscal force behind Proposition 19 -- was decidedly noncommittal when queried about electoral success.
"Who knows? We'll find out tonight," he said.
Recent polls have shown Prop. 19's support is waning. But, then, people may not be giving their honest opinions to pollsters regarding marijuana. Lee's own polls test whether one sees the bong as half empty or half full:
Hundreds of Giants fans lined up past Juan Marichal, over the Lefty O'Doul Bridge, and snaked close to "Weed Rock" to be the first to pick up a World Series Championship T-Shirt.
When it comes to Giants paraphernalia, this city's fans have demonstrated that, if you hawk it, they will come. The cultural relevance of a black fake beard is mayfly brief. But, hey, you paid for it.
I'll admit it: Attendance in our office is pretty light. Things got a bit hot 'n' heavy last night. City economist Ted Egan may later be forced to calculate the cost to our fair city when workers opt to celebrate World Series wins by drinking heavily, destroying municipal property, and not showing up for the job on Tuesday.
But this isn't just any Tuesday. It's election day. Are San Franciscans too drunk to vote?
The answer: Perhaps!
In the 1980s, comedian Bobcat Goldthwait observed that, following your team's victory in a championship game, you "can legally do anything you want."
Now, in San Francisco, it's almost literally the truth. Regarding last night's wild, fire-lighting, window-breaking revelry following the San Francisco Giants' World Series title, a police source told SF Weekly "Apparently the word of the day from our brass is 'avoid.' As in avoid doing anything police-y to people near the celebration."
