DeSoto Boss: "I'd be a big hypocrite ... But I have to survive."
It's July, smack in the middle of tourist season, supposedly one of the hottest months of the year for San Francisco taxis.
And yet, at any given time of day, you'll see about a quarter of every cab company's fleet idling in its lot.
That's a sad state of affairs, says Hansu Kim, co-owner of DeSoto Cab Co. and vociferous critic of predatory practices within the industry. He's long bemoaned the liberties bestowed on so-called "TNC" services like Uber and Lyft, which seem to operate in a deregulated environment. He also decries new rules for state-regulated livery vehicles, which allow any driver to apply for a limo license, slap it on an ordinary Prius, and turn the car into an on-demand "rideshare" service.
"Here's my dilemma," Kim says. "I see a driver pool that is shrinking fast. I see the city has a completely deregulated industry. And I see 'limousine' vehicles acting like taxi cabs." Kim adds that because he's playing by a stricter set of rules, the competition is threatening to put him out of business.
So now he's adopted a different credo: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Under intense public and legal scrutiny -- and with a class-action lawsuit still undecided in federal court in Oakland, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has jettisoned a controversial name-likeness release form that Division 1 student athletes have to sign annually.
For years, athletes in high-revenue sports have signed forms allowing the NCAA to use their names and images to promote games and championships without any compensation. The form has allowed the association and its licensing arm to form partnerships with outside parties -- such as the video game maker Electronic Arts -- which have helped render the student athletes into a brand identity.
See Also: Don't Hate the Player: Are College Athletes Working for a Cartel?
Twenty-five years after he helped the Oakland Athletics win the 1989 World Series, former A's pitcher and Series MVP Dave Stewart returned to the mound this weekend.
Although it was at the O.co Coliseum, not at Candlestick, and it was only a ceremonial first pitch capping a pregame celebration honoring heroes of that long ago series, Stewart's toss to catcher Stephen Vogt on Saturday night brought fans to their feet.
The earth didn't shake, as it had during warm-ups to Series Game 3, when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake devastated the Bay Area, but 36,067 cheering fans made enough noise to rattle the roof.
Concerned neighborhood types residing in the city's southeast are circulating reports of a pair of men talking their way into Excelsior District homes, hitting up concerned residents for donations to "The Child Fund," and then walking off with the cash.
San Francisco police have arrested 35-year-old Jeffrey Bugai, after he allegedly posed as a police officer to lure victims to his home and then sexually assault them, according to authorities.
Officer Albie Esparza says that Bugai would target people who recently arrived here from Central America and were immigrants with limited English-speaking skills. He would don a police uniform and dupe his victims into going with him.
Esparza says Bugai would take the victims to his house and administer intoxicants then force them into sexual acts. Bugai reportedly handcuffed several of his victims.
Lest you have any doubt about Silicon Valley's influence over future political campaigns, consider Hillary Clinton's itinerary as she graces the Bay Area's tech beltway for the second time this summer.
Clinton, who recently began a book promotion tour that could also be a 2016 campaign launch, will host special Q&A sessions at both Facebook and Twitter today.
According to Twitter's blog post about the event, the former Secretary of State will discuss her tenure in the White House, and how it informed her views on "human rights, domestic policy, and other topics.
San Francisco police say it was 28-year-old Benjamin Martinez who was gunned down early Saturday morning in the city's Potrero Hill neighborhood.
The cops were called out just before 1:30 a.m. on Saturday on reports of a shooting along the 1600 block of 16th Street. When they arrived, they found Martinez with a gunshot would to his chest, says Officer Gordon Shyy.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
New York -- After recent announcements that by 2015 Thor will be a woman, Captain America will be an African American, and Iron Man will move to San Francisco and redesign his armor to look like an Apple device, Marvel Comics issued a stunning new announcement about its most popular character this week.
"Beginning next year, Wolverine will -- once he comes back to life -- be a transgender Samoan atheist whose bones are made out of 100 percent recycled metal," said Marvel's Executive Editor Tom Brevoort. "S/he will dedicate ze's awesome mutant powers to the fight against microaggression."
This, Marvel Editor Will Moss said, "isn't a gimmick. This isn't a temporary twist or a replacement 'trans-Asian-athiest' Wolverine. This is the real Wolverine, just the way fans have always loved zhim: a complex anti-hero who won't rest until all of America composts."
Police this morning said it was 40-year-old Matt Sheahan, a Sausalito resident, who was killed over the weekend during an argument at a local hotel.
According to police, Sheahan was at a hotel on the 1000 block of Geary Boulevard at about 6:15 a.m. on Friday when he and a woman inside the room began to argue. The verbal altercation escalated and the woman allegedly stabbed Sheahan in the upper body.
He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he later died at about 8 a.m.
