San Francisco Gay Pride wouldn't be the colorful carnival it is without the assistance of hungry goats.
It's true -- 50 grass-eating goats have been employed to munch away the shrubbery on Twin Peaks Hill this weekend, clearing space for the city's annual Pink Triangle installation -- a fixture of Gay Pride.
According to the Public Works Department, the cleaning crew is an environmentally friendly alternative to clearing the weeds with machinery and herbicides. The herd arrived at the site on Thursday evening and are expected to be on the job throughout the weekend.
They will be supervised by (human) goat herders.
[image-1]Spring brought a spate of bad luck to Fillmore boxer Karim "Hard Hitta" Mayfield -- who, until recently, was considered one of San Francisco's beloved rising stars.
In March, Mayfield's manager Marlon Sullivan was indicted on federal drug and murder-for-hire charges, in the same sting that ensnared state Senator Leland Yee. Three days later, Mayfield lost a junior welterweight bout against Puerto Rican boxer Thomas Dulorme, which was widely characterized as an "audition" for a title fight in June.
Then, he was dropped by his promoter, Top Rank.
And through it all, he remained unflappable. Asked to comment on his bad break during an SF Weekly interview in May, he offered a snappy rejoinder: "Minor setback, major comeback."
Timothy Midgett, the first inmate to escape San Francisco County Jail in a dozen years, did so via a plan in which the details did not overlap.
While taking out the trash, he ran out the door. And kept going. There you go.
Midgett was this week spotted at a homeless shelter and re-arrested by sheriff's deputies; he has since been hit with felony escape charges atop the 12-month narcotics stint he was 11 months through when he, inexplicably, bolted.
The escapee's two weeks of freedom are far more than most prisoners who elude county jail here go on to enjoy. Most are recaptured within days or even hours. But most manage to go a bit further than Midgett. After fleeing 850 Bryant Street, he turned up at 525 Fifth Street.
How far is that?
A San Francisco jury sided with a local cyclist, saying he wasn't at fault when plowing into a pedestrian who was allegedly jaywalking through Noe Valley last year.
The incident happened on Sept. 23, 2013; the cyclist -- 20-year-old John Kewin -- was pedaling along 24th Street between Castro and Noe streets in broad daylight when he struck a female pedestrian.
The woman was knocked unconscious and suffered facial injuries. Kewin, an avid cyclist who is known as being cautious and careful (he was wearing a helmet at the time), stopped at the scene, cooperated with authorities, and was later charged with reckless driving.
You can be as defensive, cautious, and protected as possible, but that won't necessarily prevent a car from hitting you while you're riding your bike. That's why the San Francisco Bike Coalition has started offering classes teaching professional drivers how to drive.
The SFBC has been developing a curriculum to help drivers better handle streets populated by an increasing numbers of cyclists. What started as a class for Muni and taxi drivers only, is now being embraced by tech-shuttle operators, including Compass Travel, the company that runs buses for pharma giant Genentech. The classes teach drivers the best techniques for sharing the road with cyclists.
With all the crazy stories that have consumed the news cycle this week -- multiple murders, incredibly hot felons, and a pyromaniac drivers -- we decided to bring it down a notch just in time for the weekend.
So meet this adorable Golden Retriever named Murphy who was reunited with her family this past weekend -- two years after getting lost in the wilderness in Tahoe. According to news reports, the pup was with her parents -- Nathan and Erin Braun -- in October 2012 when she vanished into the woods. The couple posted flyers and even created a Facebook page dedicated to finding Murphy. But she was never found.
Until now.
The San Francisco Police Department wants to make sure your weekend booze bender doesn't turn into a fender-bender -- or worse.
Take BART, Muni, or a taxi tonight or grab a sober driver, because police will be looking for drunk drivers at a sobriety checkpoint somewhere within city limits between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m.
