Bay Area animal-rights activist Eric Mills has gathered 1,500 signatures in hopes of cowing the California State Fair into ceasing its practice of displaying live animal births.
Hoping to continue with live piglet and calf birth exhibits, State Fair officials have recruited experts to criticize Mills, the famed scourge of live animal sales in San Francisco's Chinatown.
"We are proud of having the opportunity to expose our urban patrons to the reality of the world of animals and the sources of our healthy food," fair manager Norbert Bartosik wrote in a public letter.
One of the most interesting aspects of Anonymous' BART protest Monday is the guy -- or girl -- who claims to have listened to BART's radio communications and tweeted information to the protesters doesn't even live in the Bay Area.
Such is the claim of @AnonyOps, a major Anonymous Tweeter, who has been voraciously tweeting about Anonymous' assault on BART this week.
Earlier this month, denizens of the Mission District were horrified when a headless goat and dead chicken were found on the sidewalk along Capp Street. That only crystallized fear and longtime suspicion that residents are practicing Santeria religion on top of the lonely Bernal Hill.
Santeria -- a religion mostly practiced in the Caribbean -- includes animal sacrificing; goats' blood is thought to help cure diseases and prolong life. But is this religious sacrificing a myth? The other day, a Bernal Heights resident who calls herself Agent Amy says she came across this eerie Satanic pentagram.
This is the week of all Anonymous all the time in San Francisco. With one protest that shut down four BART stations, and two major hacking incidents of BART websites, the irascible online collective has shown that it can compel a very real-life response: Cops in riot gear, hovering helicopters, BART's accusations of being low-down "cyberthugs," and pissed-off commuters who just want to get the hell home.
Earlier this week, we warned readers about the rash of bike thefts happening in the Inner Sunset. The thief appears to have migrated to Cole Valley, where there have been increased reports of a cycle crook.
Police Captain Denis O'Leary told SF Weekly that the thief has hit garages on Carl Street from Cole to Arguello over the last week.
"He pries open garage door vents, breaks garage door windows, or reaches through mailbox slots to reach garage door openers," O'Leary tells us.
BART has been floating three design concepts, asking for feedback at open house meetings and online -- each that feature seats that are "easier to clean" and "wipeable."
And since they're asking ... here's what we believe will improve the commute home.
Escalating fuel prices will push just about any driver into a convulsing rage. But one San Francisco man decided that if he was shelling out that much money for gas, he might as well take the pump with him.
According to Ingleside police, a young man recently pulled up to a gas station on the 5000 block of Mission Street to fill up his tank. He prepaid the clerk, however, as he started to pump the gas, he had a change of heart -- he didn't want the fuel after all.
Update (10:30 a.m.): Sadly, the man's pet lizard died.
Sometimes domestic disputes involve children and other times they involve pets. A San Carlos woman is in jail after she had it out with her ex-boyfriend and took a knife to his pet lizard.
Police arrested 37-year-old Shawna Kim Apour and charged her with domestic violence, vandalism, and animal cruelty. She was booked in San Mateo County Jail.
The unfortunate fight started Saturday around 3:40 a.m. inside the man's home on the 1000 block of Crestview Drive. Amid the heated argument, Apour pulled out a knife and sliced the man's 14-year-old bearded dragon.
Celts player Patrick Power was officially suspended from playing with his Gaelic football team for 96 weeks after his alleged involvement with the off-the-ball fracas that put 22-year-old Mark McGovern in a coma.
All along, police have said Power, 27, is a "person of interest" in the June 25 incident, but they have yet to formally charge him with any crime. Officer Albie Esparza told SF Weekly recently that police are looking for more witnesses to come froward and they have unsuccessfully tried to talk to Power.
A mating pair of federally endangered San Francisco Bay clapper rail -- a once abundant species thought vanished from San Francisco -- have been discovered alongside some chicks in Heron's Head Park.
The park is on a pier made of gravel that was dumped into the Bay to provide footing for what was to be a third crossing automobile bridge to the East Bay. Since then, however, it's been converted to a marshy natural preserve -- jealously guarded by Hunters Point community groups and school children as a refuge for wildlife in the city's most hardscrabble neighborhood.
Local avian expert Dominick Mosur, who discovered the birds, said it's unlikely such a find would be possible at the city's other industrial area-turned-marshland habitat -- Crissy Field.
"Unlike Crissy Field, which is a playground for rich people and their dogs, Hunters Point is passionate about preserving wildlife at Heron's Head," Mosur said.
