We've already noted plenty of time that Assemblywoman Fiona Ma is a total killjoy -- or at least she's trying to be. However, her effort to poop all over the party has its limits. It turns out that the San Francisco Democrat, who once tried to ban raves in California, can't outlaw a certain style of music, including the dance crap that's played at raves.
What Ma was able to get passed was the Concert and Music Festival Safety Act, a new law that requires public agencies to assess any health and safety threats of large gatherings -- not just raves -- held on state property.
Still, after attending a rave herself, Ma concluded that, at the very least, the signifiers like LED gloves, pacifiers, and stuffed animals should be outlawed at raves.
San Francisco, a competitive news market that has been home to a number of pioneering media enterprises, has also led the way in one journalistic sub-genre: Nagging government over the pace of infrastructure repairs.
The now-defunct "Chronicle Watch" feature of the San Francisco Chronicle was perhaps the best-known example of this type of watch-dogging. Basically, a news publication spotlights various public-works projects -- potholes and the like -- recording their state of disrepair and who's responsible for fixing them, or leaving them unfixed.
The Richmond District now has its own localized version of this type of news service, a Facebook page called "Fix the Richmond."
We all know the query about who will watch the watchmen. But what about the watchmen's consultants?
After Dennis Herrera's tubthumping that a full-blown investigation was required of alleged money-laundering after shuttle bus drivers claimed they were made to donate to Mayor Ed Lee, District Attorney George Gascón has done just that.
You'd think it's a no-brainer to open an investigation into financial improprieties when the Bay Citizen quotes drivers baldly alleging a conspiracy to evade campaign finance laws and benefit the mayor. And this is true. But mayoral candidate Herrera and DA candidate Gascón share more than the opinion this matter bears looking into. They also both have Whitehurst and Mosher Campaigns calling their shots.
Saturday morning, you will find screaming victims writhing on the ground throughout city parks. Throngs of trained rescue workers will be on hand to carry them off on stretchers.
Be not alarmed, dear San Franciscans. This is not a zombie flash mob, and no, you didn't miss Halloween. Loma Prieta II did not strike while you were sleeping off your hangover.
Around 9:16 p.m., the shuttle stalled on Junipero Serra Boulevard near Brotherhood Way and was rear-ended by another vehicle carrying five passengers, according to San Francisco police.
Three passengers were hospitalized, including a 77-year-old man with life-threatening injuries as well as a 76-year-old female and an 89-year-old male, both with non-life-threatening injuries.
And you thought your neighbor sucked...
Police arrested a really grumpy man after he allegedly threatened to blow up his neighbor's house with a Molotov cocktail. The incident unfolded in the Panhandle at midnight on Tuesday when two the neighbors' schedules were clearly out of sync.
The suspect was having trouble getting sleep because his bedroom window faces his neighbor's kitchen, which was emanating bright light. "Instead of getting curtains, the neighbor told him impolitely to turn his f-ing light off," said Officer Jim McMahan.
At first, the neighbor complied and turned the light off, only to come back a few minutes later, perhaps for a midnight snack. When he flipped the light back on, his neighbor, well, flipped.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi -- who, despite no longer being House Speaker, is arguably still the most powerful resident of San Francisco -- is a very busy politician. Just this week, the highest-ranking woman in American political history commented on everything from the Chinese Yuan to abortion policy, and found time to speak in favor of the Occupy Wall Street protest, while deflecting scrutiny for irregularly reporting one of her husband's real estate investments.
Yet it appears Pelosi, who has represented San Francisco in Congress since 1987, no longer has time for medical marijuana. For three sessions in Congress, Pelosi was a regular co-sponsor of medical marijuana bills, records show, but quit her public support once she assumed Democratic leadership positions.
And this week, as even Republicans have joined cannabis advocates in decrying the Justice Department's new, improved, and relentless crackdown on state-legal weed, Pelosi has been conspicuously silent on this issue, while opining on others including an off-color remark by Massachusetts' Scott Brown.
So where's Nancy been on this key constituent issue? A silent supporter, at best.
Police arrested a 16-year-old kid on suspicion of shooting a 5-year-old girl as she walked home from school with her father in the Bayview last month.
On October 12, police were tipped off to suspicious activity in the Kirkwood and Mendell area in the Bayview which is a known spot for gang activity and gun arrests. When police approached, one of the individuals took one look at the cops and took off running along with others in the group. As he fled, he was trying to remove a gun from his waistband, police said. He was arrested and booked on gun charges.
Among the fleeing group of teens, police recognized the suspect they were looking for in connection with the Sept. 20 shooting of the young girl, who was only injured in the crossfire.
A record amount of San Francisco compost is being shipped to Napa and Sonoma Valley vineyards this season, acting as an important chemical-free and nutrient-rich fertilizer that grows healthier grapes.
According to Robert Reed, a spokesman for Recology, Inc., the city's waste management company, San Francisco's composting laws provide ample fodder for the finished garbage that is trucked up daily from Recology's compost plants around the Bay Area. The compost makes its way to organic farms and other agricultural outposts -- including Napa and Sonoma vineyards.
