News: June 2009 Archives

While swimming in the water at Montara State Beach on Monday afternoon, a mother and daughter were yanked in by a riptide. Several people, in fact, got caught up in the rip current. Acccording to CBS 5, "four adults were treated at the scene and two childen were taken bby helicopter to Stanford Hospital." An unidentified mother and daughter team, however, were later pronounced dead. Yikes. Also, here's a riptide reminder: Rip currents can be recogzined by “unusually calm waters, caused by the channel of water flowing out." The water color might also appear different from the surrounding water next to it. You should ALWAYS check for any possible rip currents before dashing off into the warter. If you find yourself caught in a rip current, you should fight it by swimming sideways, parallel to the beach, until you have reached safer, calmer waters . Read more about riptides at Wikipedia. UPDATE: The mother and daughter have been identified as Romila Higgins, 41, and Indali Higgins, 5, of Walnut Creek.

San Francisco Gay Pride Grand Marshal Lt. Dan Choi, the Army National Guard officer translator and West Point alum who came out as queer "to protest the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," could become the first New York National Guard member discharged for breaking the military's inane and bizarre policy on homosexuals. Or, as the military defines it, ousted "for 'moral and professional dereliction.'" A hearing today in Syracuse, NY at the headquarters of the 27th Brigade Combat Teamwill decide whether or not to rid the service of his esteemed and education, albeit gay, presence. According to AP, "Choi served as one of the grand marshals of last Sunday's LGBT Pride Parade in San Francisco, marching with a group called Knights Out, which supports gay military members."

We're receiving word that the Muni metro just went AWOL (color us shocked), at least outbound from Embarcadero, with one of those, "No service til further notice" messages. Anyone with info is encouraged to email us. UPDATE: It was apparently a computer outage/crash and drivers had to proceed, slowly, driving the trains underground.

Apparently, the world won't come to an end for BART riders on July 1. It seems the strike probably, most likely for all intents and purposes won't happen. (That is some shitty news, Bay Area bloggers and media outlets. A Bay Area-wide public transportation meltdown would've been traffic gold during the holiday week. Alas.) But do you know what will happen on Wednesday? Wide-reaching fare increases. Yay! What are those changes, you ask? Akit's Complaint Department has the lowdown. the skinny. the scoop. On Muni, Adult fare (cash) goes up to $2; the same goes for AC Transit. Ferry service goes up a tiny bit. And BART will see a 6.1% fare increase for all riders (that is to say, "Inter San Francisco fare increases to $1.75." (Which, as Akit points out, is still cheaper than Muni.) Read more about the changes, right here.

Proving clouds contain these alleged silver linings, the San Francisco Giants manged to avoid a three-game sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. Whew. Right-hander Ryan Sadowski, 26, also pitched his first major league game. "He looked very comfortable out there," Giants manager Bruce Bochy told CBS 5 / AP. "He threw quality strikes. He had good movement on his fastball. He had breaking balls going. He did a great job, swung the bat. He did it all today." Sadowski also took home several balls as a keepsake. Aw. Next up, the Giants will play the St. Louis Cardinals at 5:15 p.m. (PST).

A staple of the Sonoma-Marin Fair for 21 years, the World's Ugliest Dog Contest happened over the weekend. The winner? Pabst, this boxer-mix beauty, at right, with an extreme overunderbite. While the Chinese Crested breed has won the contest for more than seven years (they represented more than 50% of the entries this year), Pabst was easily the crowd favorite. According to the dog's owner, Miles Egstad from Citrus Heights, he was "given his name because he had a 'bitter beer face.'" Aw. What's more, Egstad took home $1,600 for "sweeping all three rounds ($100 for mutt class, $500 for runoff with the pedigree class winner, and $1,000 for World’s Ugliest Dog)," as well as an additional $1,000 and pupper jewelery that included "collars, leashes, and bowls plus a year-round modeling contract that Pabst signed with his paw."

Ponzi-schemer and former non-executive chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange Bernard Madoff was handed a 150 year prison sentence by U.S. District Judge Denny Chin this morning. In the courtroom, Madoff explained to Judge Chin, prosecutors and his victims that he thought he could "work his way out" of fraud and that he lives in a "tormented state." Also, he said that he "lied to his brother and sons and that his wife Ruth Madoff cries herself to sleep each night." Bernard, if you recall, plead guilty in March 2009 to 11 federal crimes, including securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, perjury, and false filings with the SEC. Read more about this morning's ruling at Gothamist.

Too old, young, married with children, in the closet, cracked out, hungover or far away to watch this morning's Gay Pride Parade? Relax. You can watch it within the warm, glowing, comforting glow of your computer screen. Check out the parade live at 10 a.m. this morning over SFPrideLive.com, hosted by alleged celebrities Jai Rodriguez, Michelle Meow and Sebastian Kunz.. (An aside:? Where the fuck are Jan Wahl and Donna Sachet? It's not a LGBTTQGLGQ Pride parade without Jan and the Castro district's tranny of note. This is bullshit.) You can also watch it live on Comcast channel 99 starting at 10:30 a.m. Who knows? Coverage might just border on 'almost interesting.' Oh, and also be sure to send SFist your Pride pics. If you want to, that is You can do by by electronically mailing them to editor@sfist.com, or simply tag them with 'sfist' IN Flickr. Have fun, kids.

Billy Mays, 50, famously loud and bearded informmercial spokesman, died this morning. (Egads! First Ed, Farrah, Jackson, now this. Too much to bear, folks.) According to reports, Mays finished wrapping up an Oxiclean commercial in Philadelphia the other day, and returned home to Florida. He was found dead early this morning in his Tampa, Florida home by his wife. No word yet on his exact cause of death. But Deborah, Mays' wife, released the following statement, "Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

The plan will go ahead, folks. It seems that 15 or so minutes ago, according to a source, the SFMTA Board of Directors "unanimously voted to adopt The SF Bike Plan." And while not every one of the 60 or so projects will get done -- there are at least 15 still "on the back burner/needing further study and community input," yada, yada, uada -- all systems are a go. However, they removed the 2nd Street idea because "it would remove left turn lanes and received huge neighborhood and resident opposition.

Jason Everett Keller, 40, the San Mateo man who attacked another sans maison gentleman with a skateboard during a presumably heated quantum physics discussion, was acquitted of all charges on Thursday. During said conversation, Keller, according to authorities, went berserk and thrashed Stephan Fava in the mug with his board. But, after a four-day trial in Redwood City, "the jury deliberated for less than a day" and let hum off the hook. Now that Keller is free, please use discretion when dialoguing in public about splitting atoms. Hen. Meh. Yeah.

The National Weather Service is warning of a "heat advisory" this weekend. Ugh. All North Bay valleys and East Bay valleys should be on alert for oppressively hot weather continuing until Sunday. "High temperatures are expected to reach the 90s and as high as 101," reports the NWS. Also, an "excessive heat warning" has been placed on Santa Clara and San Jose until Sunday. So, if you can, stay out of the sun, turn up the air-conditioning, wear a hat, and check on the elderly folks who wilt under this kind of heat San Francisco, however, will be delightful throughout the weekend. Check Weather Underground for more information.

The largest union representing BART workers voted overwhelmingly last night to authorize a strike, which btw people, would take place next Wednesday if a deal isn't reached by then. The unions have called in a mediator who arrives in town today, and it was a mediator who helped hammer out an eleventh-hour deal that averted a strike in 2005. BART workers are asking for a 3% cost of living increase in their new contract, which the agency doesn't want to give them because they're facing a $250 million shortfall over the next four years and they're already going to be hiking fares in July and December. BART, for its part, is already battening down the hatches and preparing commuters for the worst.

Sadly, the answer could be no. SFAppeal has a phenomenal video that highlights the declining bison population of San Francisco. Although only five of them remain in the city today, "the bison recently returned to a new, $1.2 million dollar improved paddock in Golden Gate Park." Which is good news, right? But with the city budget getting slashed to bits, their maintenance could prove hazardous to their survival. Be sure to check out this heart-warming and unique look at the city that many of you, and a few furry fellas, call home.

In an effort to make itself relevant again, Yahoo will undergo an extreme makeover. According to All Things Digital, "in what many sources at the company said is a major push, Yahoo (YHOO) is working on a massive plan to overhaul its brand in order to repair a damaged public image and focus consumers on what defines Yahoo." Just what that definition is these days is anybody's guess -- that is, aside from the wildly entertaining / scary Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz. The onetime internet giant, we're told, hired San Francisco branding gurus Landor Associates to help re-imagine the Sunnyvale-based portal. So, dear readers, do you have any advice for Landor and Yahoo? We're certain they'd love to hear your ideas. Let them know in the comments.

While SFist likes to bitch about Mayor Gavin Newsom, as any self-consciously and affectedly pissed-off San Francisco voter does, we also love us some Chelsea Handler. (If you don't know who she is, please watch Handler's interview with T.I. right this second.) So, it came as a bit of a surprise when the host of E's superb Chelsea Lately asked her Twitter followers to donate to Newsom's campaign. It seems she's quite the Gav fan. You see, Newsom needs even more money for his gubernatorial campaign, so he's holding an unfortunately-titled online event called a "tweetraiser." While not necessarily the most innovative thing a candidate can do to raise money, as NBC Bay Area's Owen Thomas points out, "looking is the part is where the youthful Newsom, who loves to hobnob with the founders of Google and other young tech entrepreneurs, really shines." (At this point, Newsom needs to start talking in a robotic voice while making herky-jerky movements. "Beep bop boop. I. am. from. the. future. Give. me. your. earth. money." Like that.) Anyway, if you have an extra $25,900.00 lying around, go here.

A San Mateo man is currently on trial for allegedly putting a beatdown on another homeless man. Why? Well, according to SFGate, Jason Everett Keller, 40, reportedly attacked fellow happy-wanderer Stephan Fava in South San Francisco this past March. It seems that Fava "was chatting with an acquaintance, who is also homeless, about 'quantum physics and the splitting of atoms' [when] Keller joined in the conversation and, for reasons unknown, got upset." The report goes on to say that Keller, presumably demonstrating how atomic and subatomic systems can be created or whatever, "picked up his skateboard and hit Fava in the face with it, splitting his lip." Keller is expected to take the stand soon, testimony that we very much look forward to hearing.

New laws proposed and authored by City Supervisors Eric Mar and Chris Daly last fall and receiving their final votes yesterday would make it illegal for landlords to a) impose banked rent increases, in which allowable percent increases are saved up and imposed all at once; b) evict families with children under existing owner move-in provisions; c) increase a tenant's rent to more than 1/3 of their income; d) increase rents for tenants who have lost their jobs, whose income has fallen 20%, or whose sole income is from government assistance. Though we are not property owners and wonder about the constitutionality of all this, it all sounds relatively reasonable to us -- especially since landlords shouldn't be raising rents in a shitty economy anyway. But certainly this all would make it extra-impossible for any landlord ever to get rid of any tenant for any reason. Supes Mirkarimi, Chiu, Avalos and Campos joined in supporting the proposals, most of which are expected to be vetoed by Mayor Newsom.

UPDATE: The Appeal clarifies the specifics of the voting. None of the proposed laws received a veto-proof 8 votes.

According to first word on the scene, this morning’s BART delays were due to an underground pursuit. It seems police officers chasing a suspect on the tracks between the 16th street and Civic Center stations lead to system-wide delays. Nail-biting! Power on the tracks were shutdown temporarily to let the fuzz safely run after the rapscallions. No word yet as to why the chase was all about. SFAppeal goes on to report that "as of 7:45, service had resumed, but BART anticipates delays in excess of 20 minutes for lines that pass through the Mission-Civic Center set of stops."

Thank God for garbage disposals. Seriously. On your knees. Because Mayor Gavin Newsom just signed a ruling calling on all San Franciscans to compost their eggshells, coffee grounds, apple peels, dead roses and other food rubbish and garden clippings. While city officials will give residents time to adjust to storing their waste in a green bin, they "could eventually start levying fines of $100 on rubbish recidivists." (Thankfully, many residents are now too cash-strapped to afford real, non-prepackaged food, so many of you don't have to worry. Yay, hunger!) If you recall, the Board of Supes OK'd the country's toughest composting law earlier this month.

A power outage brought the world as we know it to a halt today in the SOMA / LORI neighborhood, most egregiously affecting SFIst HQ. (Damn you to hell again, PG&E.) From what we can tell, power along Third Street from Townsend up to Harrison is sans electricity as of 1:15 p.m.. For those of you who need electricity and a wireless connection in the hood, we recommend going to Epicenter Cafe at 764 Harrison, between Third and Fourth streets. They have wifi, power, passersby AND great coffee. UPDATE: Power had been restored. Please leaved 21 Amendment and South Park, and return to your offices at once.

A company that provides a service we never even heard of called the Clear Registered Traveler Program has abruptly gone out of business, KCBS reports. Clear operated special security lanes at 20 airports around the country, including all 3 Bay Area airports, purporting to provide (for a $200 annual membership fee) a pre-screening service for frequent travelers that would allow them to scoot through security as if they were trusted government dignitaries. But as the WSJ puts it, "TSA never was comfortable with the notion of 'trusting' any travelers, so the security benefits of a Clear card boiled down to getting a special lane and some staff to help carry plastic tubs for you." Yeah, no wonder it flopped.

This is coming from Page Six, so take it a massive salt lick. Kimberly Guilfoyle, Fox News Channel anchor and former wife of SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, has allegedly called it quits with her second husband, Eric Villency. When the two met in 2006, according to Page Six, "[p]assions flared, a prenup was signed, vows were swapped, and Ronan [their son], now 2, came along." Now, it seems, the two will get a divorce while sharing custody of their son. Alas. But is Kimberly hatching a plan to return to the warm, sinewy, long arms of Gavin? We can dream, can't we? (Oh, we kid, Jennifer! We kid! Sort of.)

Ready to throw down money for a place in San Francisco to (finally!) call home? Well, for mere pennies (i.e., $189,000) you can own this downtown micro-condo. This hypercozy 441 square foot studio, located at 333 Grant Avenue, #405, is smack-dab on the border of Union Square and the Financial District. While this pad looks perfect for, say, a blogger with a feline fetish and little belongs, it is pretty small. Cubix small, maybe. But seeing as how the place went for $234,000 back in November of 2004, reports Curbed, it looks like the steal with this pricetag. Especially with such a choice location, and a pad featuring exposed brick and a washer and dryer. Check out even more shots of the small space, and judge for yourself.

According to the scary red font at CBS 5, "A strong earthquake has just jolted urban centers of Alaska." Earthquake.usgs.gov, lists "5.7 Southern Alaska, 36 minutes ago." Which sounds like it was a big one too. Well, sort of. More info as it comes in. Update: The epicenter, reports Seattle PI, "was 58 miles from the state's largest city, Anchorage, where the rumbled continued for several moments." Also, "the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center reported the magnitude at a slightly weaker 5.3 and said no tsunami will be generated." This, of course, is bittersweet news on a relatively tepid news day.

American Apparel is offering "Legalize Gay" shirts for those of you who feel the need to (gaudily) show your support for same-sex marriage on your chest. You can even get one for free with a purchase of $50 or more. Cool, huh? But, at the risk of nitpicking, we're not entirely comfortable with a company making money off of discrimination. While American Apparel's heart is in the right place, if Prop. 8 went away, their market for this item would dry up. Maybe they should donate even a scant bit of the proceeds to an equality organization? Like, for example, Act Blue, who need money to help defeat the same people who ran the yes on 8 campaign in California who moved to Maine to crush gay marriage. Or, better yet, something like this. At least then we'd know that some of our money is going towards a good cause rather than being crammed into the sweaty pockets of a tiny little pair of track shorts.

credit: CBS 5

A wayward sea lion was found by Oakland police early this morning after it took a stroll onto northbound Interstate Highway 880. The rapscallion sea lion was detained in an Oakland police vehicle for being very, very bad. Eventually, someone from the Marine Mammal Center arrived to take the animal. While the creature's condition is not yet known, judging by the image at right, it looks like it got a good scare. (Adorable little sea lions shouldn't be anywhere near Nimitz Freeway, officials scolded.) According to KRON 4, when the OPD officers pulled up and opened the back door of their squad car, "the sea lion hopped right in."

While some of us are more than content with our MetroPCS phones (questionably referred to as GhettoPCS in less esteemed circles), people are finally getting their first iPhones. So much so that Apple sold 1 million of them in just five days after the iPhone 3G S went on sale last Friday. What's more, more than six million customers have downloaded the new iPhone 3.0 software, according to San Francisco Business Times. "After using a 1960's-era Motorola Razr for years, I couldn't be happier with the new iPhone. Now the last five years are starting to make more sense" squees one friend of SFist.) Although stock prices had dipped after news of Steve Jobs' health was made public over the last few months, their stock has shot up since then, "closing up nearly 80 percent from those lows on Friday at $139.48."

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple CEO / His Holiness Steve Jobs just underwent a successful liver transplant. While initially reported back in 2004 that Jobs took leave of Apple due to a "hormone imbalance" -- a problem that can easily be cured by a case of Activa yogurt and a couple of Luna bars -- word is his (alleged) pancreatic cancer might have spread to his liver, hence the need for something as serious as an organ transplant. Much to the delight of fans and Apple investors, Jobs will be back to work at the end of June.

The body of a 61-year-old woman was found at the Glen Park BART Station yesterday. The unidentified female body was discovered in the bushes just outside the station. BART spokesperson Linton Johnson confirms to the Appeal that "foul play is not suspected." BART police are investigating it as a suicide

Don't let the Obama's defense of DOMA get you down this Pride season. City Attorney Dennis Herrera just filed a brief in federal court yesterday stating the obvious: Proposition 8 has no constitutionally legitimate purpose. Which is to say, SF has demanded a federal judge to overturn California's unfortunate ban on gay marriage. This latest war tactic against bigotry and slack-jawed mentality "uses a different tactic and argues that Proposition 8 violated the federal constitutional guarantees of due process and equal treatment," according to SFGate. In other Prop 8 news, a census study of gay married couples found striking similarities to husband-and-wife couples. (Pluming fixtures aside, of course.) Also, the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people killed in because of their sexuality are at their highest since 1999. For comprehensive coverage on civil marriage equality in California and elsewhere, please visit Stop8.org.

Kicking off the United We Serve summer service initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama, as well as a gaggle of Cabinet secretaries and senior administration officials, will visit San Francisco on Monday to promote volunteering. And while her do-gooding event in San Francisco is closed off to the public and press -- along with KaBOOM!, she will help construct a public playground at Bret Harte Public Elementary School -- you can still lend your time and effort to a needy cause, one that won't involve getting frisked by secret service agents. Check out All for Good to find out more about different projects in the Bay Area that need a few good hands.

The U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime is reporting a sharp drop in cocaine production in Colombia -- down 28% in 2008 over the previous year. Apparently the value of the coca leaf has been dropping, due to (what's this?) decreasing demand from the world's main coke markets, making the crop less attractive to farmers. Also, increased law enforcement both locally and internationally has disrupted the cocaine trade quite seriously, with 200 tons of cocaine seized in 2008 -- up 57% from 2007. In the face of Colombia's slacking, Bolivia and Peru have upped their production of the booger sugar 9 and 4% respectively. They don't call it Bolivian marching powder for nothin!

In some not-so-cheery Friday news, California's unemployment rate skyrocketed to 11.5 percent in May, making it "the highest in modern record-keeping," according to the U.S. Department of Labor. NBC Bay Area reports that "[a]lthough the federal agency reported that 48 states and the District of Columbia saw their unemployment rates rise in May, California's rate was substantially higher than the national rate of 9.4 percent for the month." Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.are the only states with higher unemployment rates. (Again, this isn't fun for anyone.)

The unidentified man suspected of killing Geraldine Karina Latchison, 23, and her sister, Angel Latchison, 20, was arrested by police at around 2:30 a.m. this morning. Police found him inside a house at 16th Street and Myrtle. The man reportedly called the police too. Strange. Anyway, if you recall, the two sisters "were found shot dead at the Value Inn on West MacArthur Boulevard in North Oakland on Monday night." The sisters' family members claim that they were living there since June 5, after "being evicted from their West Oakland home in an ongoing dispute with a landlord." (Er, apologies if we ever suggested otherwise.) The two reportedly had an ongoing relationship with a man, although we can't say for sure if it's the same man who, most likely, will be charged with their murders.