On the steps of City Hall today, Mayor Ed Lee rolled out a new plan -- and the money to execute it -- that he hopes will curb pedestrian accidents and fatalities across the city.
Last year, San Francisco had 21 pedestrian deaths -- a record high for San Francisco; so far five pedestrians have been killed as of 2014 and plenty more have been injured. And those are only the ones you hear about. According to WalkFirst, an average of three people are hit by cars everyday.
Community groups have been calling on the Mayor to put an end to the pedestrian deaths. So today, he did just that, leveraging $17 million for improved pedestrian safety at 170 of the most dangerous locations in San Francisco over the next five years.
Update: Creator of glasshole-free.org Daen de Leon explains what's up with the new "glasshole" website. Read at the bottom of this story.
Earlier this week, we incited readers with the news that a popular pub in SOMA, The Willows, made it official: no Google Glass-wearing patrons were allowed inside.
At least as long as they were donning the wearable computers.
It appears, other bars are following suit. According to glasshole-free.org., there's plenty of local watering holes that prohibit Google Glass "or otherwise restrict audio & video recording on their premises."
Here's the updated list as of lunchtime:
It seems that everywhere you turn now, someone has an e-cigarette dangling from their mouth -- whether you're at the bar or on your lunch break at work. While manufacturers claim these electronic stogies help people kick the habit of smoking cigarettes, a UC San Francisco study released today finds just the opposite. In fact, the study says, e-cigarettes might actually be a gateway for youths who get hooked on real cigarettes.
Released by Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, UCSF professor of medicine and postdoctoral fellow Lauren M. Dutra, the study interpreted data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by 40,000 middle and high school students in 2011 and 2012.
The research found that during that time, youth use of e-cigarettes doubled from 3.1 to 6.5 percent. On top of that, researchers found that some kids were introduced to nicotine through e-cigarettes, which Dutra says opens up a "whole new market for tobacco."
A troop of sturdily built, blue-shirted men cart a hulking mass of particle board out of the Market Street storefront and, on the count of three, heave it into a truck. Until the moment it leaves their hands it's a vestige of Kaplan's Surplus & Sport Goods, a 75-year-old mainstay of mid-Market and a family business on its fourth generation of Kaplan.
Update, 1:10 p.m.: United Airlines responds (see bottom).
Few processes on Earth are more time-consuming and byzantine than filing a claim with an airline carrier -- even for passengers with good cause.
Ask Henrik Zilmer, irritated traveler-turned-amateur-claim-expert, who had an epiphany a couple years ago, after getting jettisoned from a Singapore Airlines flight to Denmark. After spending three months navigating a tangle of links and negotiating on the phone with airline representatives, he finally snagged an $800 check.
Zilmer's travails inspired him to co-found a new start-up, AirHelp, which helps other beleaguered travelers demand remittance. For a 25 percent cut, Zilmer and his staff do all the legwork and recoup big chunks of cash for their clientele.
A 21-year-old man is recovering this morning after he was stabbed in the stomach while walking through the city's Tenderloin neighborhood yesterday afternoon.
According to Officer Gordon Shyy. the victim was walking along Golden Gate Avenue and Jones Street at about 3 p.m. carrying a wad of cash in his hand.
Enter the robber.
Since pissing wherever you please is a popular pastime in Dolores Park, the city has decided to go ahead and install a public urinal, offering up a new kind of relief to park goers.
We came across the news on KTVU this morning, which detailed the plans to follow the French and build a $15K "Pissoir" in the park. The goal here is obvious: to potty train everyone all over again.
As part of the park renovation, the city does plan to add 31 new bathroom stalls to the existing potties in the park. But anyone who's spent gay pride in the park knows that no amount of outhouses will ever be enough to satisfy the masses who visit Dolores Park every week -- many of whom are boozing, which really doesn't help the bladder.
See Also: A Urinal Grows in the Tenderloin
