After two years of hammering statistics, badgering telecom companies, and decrying the rise of smartphone theft in San Francisco, District Attorney George Gascon says he's been vindicated.
According to a Consumer Reports projection issued today, smartphone theft skyrocketed nationally, from 1.6 million robberies in 2012 to 3.1 million in 2013. That's a flabbergasting 94 percent uptick.
The news follows yesterday's press release battle between anti-theft crusaders and the CTIA, a trade group representing telecom companies. The CTIA opposes new legislation being enacted in four states to require all smartphone manufacturers to equip their products with anti-theft "kill-switches."
Phone companies argue that such security devices should be optional, rather than baked into every phone.
You always read about adorable dogs and sweet kittens who are in need of a home. Readers consistently get news updates about the ongoing problems with bunnies fucking like rabbits in Oakland. Even the Scrub Jay has gotten his share of (negative) press.
But never owls. Those birds are always left out of the headlines.
However, that may change in the next hour or so when the Peninsula Humane Society plans to re-nest three Great Horned Owls -- and all the media are invited.
New data from an apartment search engine has uncovered a not-so surprising fact about the Bay Area rental market: It's miserable.
Apartment List, which released a Rentonomics Data Report that provides information on rental trends across the top 100 U.S. cities, has declared San Francisco the second least affordable city in the nation. We spend 46 percent of our income on rent, versus "normal" cities where residents shell out 25 percent of their paycheck for rent.
What's more, rents have increased 6.24 percent since January 2013, according to Apartment List. San Francisco's average rental rate for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,824.99 while Oakland's is $1,514.43 (remember when Oakland wasn't cool and a one-bedroom by the lake was $800?).
See Also: Photog captures satirical pics of rental market in S.F
Other irritating facts:
It's remarkable how giddy this state's more left-leaning voters -- and that'd be most of us -- get whenever even the most tepid announcement is made about rejiggering Proposition 13.
The disturbing scene in Berkeley yesterday -- a teenage girl found naked and pepper sprayed -- may have been the result of sex trafficking, police say.
The 16-year-old girl is still in the hospital after neighbors found her in the early morning hours on Wednesday at Piedmont and Ashby avenues, screaming for help. Neighbors brought the girl bottled water, which she poured on her body. She told police she had been raped.
The cops tell ABC News that they're not sure how the girl got there, but they think this might be a case of sex trafficking.
Medical authorities say it was 32-year-old Esther Ioane and her 3-year-old son Santana Williams who were killed in yesterday's fire in the Sunnydale Housing complex.
The fire broke out just before 10 a.m. at 76 Brookdale Avenue. Mindy Talmadge, spokeswoman for the Fire Department told us that "there was a lot of commotion in the background -- lots of screaming and reports of people trapped in the building."
By the time fire crews arrived, people had jumped from windows to escape the heavy flames. But Ioane didn't make it. She died at the scene, and her boy was taken to a local hospital with critical burns. He died a few hours later.
Thanks to the general chaos from last year's 4/20 gathering, a whole lot of city employees will be working this Easter. That is right, the most cherished and anticipated day in all of weed culture, 4/20, falls on Easter Sunday.
But before you pack your special glass bubbler and vape pen for a picnic of edibles, hash oil, and weed at Golden Gate Park, be warned: Cops will be everywhere (so will queer nuns). The city plans to crack down on this year's 4/20 festivities on Hippie Hill after last year's event spurred a lot of traffic, trash, not-so-sober fights, and underage drinking.
Almost 15,000 people descended on Hippie Hill last year on 4/20 to ingest marijuana and bask in the glory of weed culture, leaving behind 10,000 pounds of litter. The irony of earth-loving stoners littering 5 tons of garbage in a single afternoon wasn't lost on anyone. But it was not so funny to the Parks and Recreation Department which got stuck with a $15,000 clean-up bill.
After that, the city started making plans to ensure the marijuana extravaganza didn't get out of hand again this year.
