News: October 2009 Archives

While everyone and their pet goldfish thinks they're the only ones to have predicted that SF Mayor Gavin Newsom would withdraw his bid for California governor -- in related news, we predict you will have a bowel movement within the next 24 hours! -- this has been ancient watercooler talk for months. Why, just last week, if you recall, Newsom not only denied but chided reporters for having the gall to question him about it.

Alice Waters, Cambodian dictator? [SFGate]

Due to the Bay Bridge being closed over the weekend, BART will run on a 24-hour schedule for Friday and Saturday. According to BART.gov:

Speculation time, folks! Los Angeles politics blog Mayor Sam's Sister City reports that SF Mayor Gavin Newsom will (allegedly!) announce his withdrawl from the California gubernatorial race this afternoon. Mayor Sam says:

In addition to raising the car toll another $1 come 2013, the board of directors of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District is considering charging bicyclists and pedestrians to cross the bridge following the completion of seismic upgrades to the pedestrian walkways. The board meets today to review these proposals, which are meant to close a projected $132 million deficit over the next five years.

In 1987, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, the Department of Health and Human Services added HIV to the list of communicable diseases that barred tourists and travelers from entry into the U.S. In 1993, Congress went further to list HIV-positivity as the only medical condition listed as grounds for inadmissibility for immigration into the country, and therefore no major AIDS conference has taken place here ever since.

Before we begin, "Steven Free" is a far better name than "Girafa." It's action-packed! But since male artists love, love, love using stage names, he obviously had to get a new one; after all, he was committing illegal acts of painting. We digress.

While transferring oil from a barge to an oil tanker a little after 6:30 a.m. this morning, oil spilled into the San Francisco Bay this morning, leaving a big sheen. (Ugh.)

Yep. It's still closed.

The second phase of the Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Plan was released yesterday by Lennar Corporation. If approved by the City's Redevelopment Agency next Tuesday, the second phase will add 159 townhomes and flats (and a bocce ball court, because you know, we're worldly and Euro-sophisticated here in San Fran-Cisco!) to the 88 townhomes that will be built during the first phase, starting early next year.

Apparently Mayor Newsom left Proposition D sponsor David Addington a voicemail Thursday, officially enthusing his support for the controversial Proposition D, which would allow for 500 square foot electronic billboards to be plastered over every available surface on Market Street between 5th and 7th Streets.

Bay Bridge could -- could -- reopen tonight. [CBS 5]

Brace yourselves. This one is hard to watch. Mainly because they're so young. Because they shouldn't have to be doing this. However, we cannot commend high school student Kami Baker (friend of the 15-year-old gang rape victim/survivor) enough for blasting Richmond school officials for lack of safety, lack of forethought, and lack of above average job skills.

Last night at 16th and Valencia around 7 p.m.-ish, a man climbed atop a building and threatened to jump. The incident stopped a Trauma shoot, which was filming in the area.

We hope you've been keeping up with the crazy family rape-and-money scandal going on between Korbel Champagne Cellars owner Gary Heck and his 39-year-old daughter Richie Ann Samii. They just settled in court for an undisclosed sum (after she'd been seeking tens of millions), ending a long and heated battle over insurance money, trust funds, and other inherited wealth that Richie Ann thought she was being denied. Court documents refer to the father and daughter dropping all claims against each other "from the beginning of time" and "throughout the universe" -- language we're guessing the daughter came up with to be dramatic.

A clinical trial is taking place in San Francisco for HIV+ people who are exhibiting flu symptoms in which they can qualify for free in-home doctor visits. Quest Clinical Studies, Conant Medical Group and Adamas Pharmaceuticals are testing a triple combination antiviral drug (TCAD) therapy for influenza. If you or someone you know has HIV and is exhibiting 100-degree or higher fever in addition to fatigue and other symptoms, you should call 1-888-5-HIV-FLU to see if you qualify. In addition to receiving home treatment, study subjects will have all their treatment, including prescriptions and lab costs, covered, and will be compensated for time and travel.

Our local sanctuary city drama continues as Mayor Newsom went ahead yesterday with his threat to veto legislation passed by the Board of Supervisors amending a local ordinance that governs when city employees can report young illegal immigrant hooligans to the Feds. Currently, the city's ordinance requires city employees to report illegals to the Feds upon arrest. New Supervisor David Campos, the author of the vetoed legislation and reportedly a former illegal himself, hoped to change all that by not allowing anyone to report the accused until he or she was actually convicted of a crime.

              

The Bay Bridge is, as most of you already know, still closed today. Yesterday's BART commute was either "just fine" or "insanely crowded," depending on the passenger. Eastern SOMA still remains joyfully (albeit eerily) quiet. No word of when, exactly, the Bay Bride will reopen, though some media outlets are suggesting it might be ready for traffic come nightfall.

Three teenagers allegedly involved in the Richmond High School homecoming dance gang rape -- where a 15-year-old girl was beaten and raped on school grounds for at least two and a half hours, due in part to the school's lack of security -- could, hopefully, spend the rest of their lives in prison. According to KTVU, they will be "charged as adults with an enhanced rape count."

Prompted by City Attorney Dennis Herrera, notorious Tenderloin strip club Pink Diamonds was forced to shut its doors yesterday. According to SFGate, a judge ordered the, eh, burlesque club to officially close for a year and "directed its operator, Damone H. Smith, to pay at least $688,500 in fines after he violated a court agreement to bring the club into compliance with local and state laws." (The club actually ceased operations in early October, but this final nail in the strip pole, a request Herrera made to a SF Superior Court judge on on Sept. 30, made the closure official.)

While the Bay Bridge remains closed this morning, Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney told reporters, "We are going to do everything we can to open the bridge today." Caltrans is working on inserting new tie rods into the "repaired" portion of the bridge.

• Cool aerial shots of San Francisco. [Laughing Squid, Telestar Logistics]
• Politics, crippling state-funded services to the disabled? [SF Weekly]
• All you need to know about Bay Area beers. [SFBG]

Schlomo snapped and posted this image of the car injured in yesterday's Bay Bridge snafu.

Yesterday, we talked to you about Schwarzenegger's clever missive to Asm. Tom Ammiano, where the governor tossed him a good ol' fashion "fuck you" while informing him that he vetoed his Port of SF bill. SFBG editor Tim Redmond called the governor's press office to ask about the now famous veto message with a little something special. Redmond reports:

Three more men were arrested in connection with the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a Richmond High School homecoming dance. The latest arrests, according to CBS 5, include a 21-year-old man and two teens, 16 and 17. Their names have yet to be released.

            

After a cable rod snapped during last night's commute, the Bay Bridge closed down indefinitely. Here are some images of just how the closure is affecting San Francisco and the Bay Area today.

Speaking of BART, if you have a BART ticket, TransLink or Transbay pass, you can score a free hot dog today. Zog's, located at the tip of Market and Post, is offering free hot beef injections today in order to ease your nightmareish BART commute.

After a 15-year-old girl was gang raped for an estimated two hours by at least 10 men, with an estimated two dozen people egging it on, on the school grounds at Richmond High, West Contra Costa Unified School District spokesman Marin Trujillo had this to say:

Another thing regarding today's Bay Bridge closure: please send us you images of your packed BART rides. We imagine today's commute will be hellish, and we'd hate for the world not to see. So, if you can, please snap a few shots of riders complaining about overcrowding your BART ride today.

Maybe you haven't heard, but due to a snapped cable during yesterday's evening commute, the Bay Bridge is closed today. And possibly tomorrow. It's closed indefinitely. Anyway, 511 has a list of Bay Bridge alternatives.

This couldn't come at a better time, and leave it to a snapped eastern span Bay Bridge cable to make us find this: Baynewser reported just two weeks back about a joint venture between McSweeney's and the Public Press to examine (in old school investigative journalist style) and report on the whole Bay Bridge fiasco. The project to build a new eastern span is 6 BILLION DOLLARS over budget and already ABOUT A DECADE LATE, and honestly, today's event should be enough to make everyone who uses this bridge majorly fucking furious. It wasn't even an earthquake and that wasn't even a suspension span!

After a snapped support cable struck three cars on the upper deck at around 5:45 p.m., the Bay Bridge was shut down in both directions this evening to check the structural integrity, according to ActionNewsSF.

SF supervisors approve Sanctuary City law changes. [CBS 5]

The fine folks over at SFBG did a little sleuthing over Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent vetoing of Assemblymember Tom Ammiano's AB 1176, a simple bill that involved the Port of San Francisco and some sort of financing issues. Basic stuff, really. According to SFBG Editor Tim Redmond, "It’s the kind of bill that legislators offer on behalf of their cities all the time," the kind of bill that is routinely passed.

Though not a new idea, its sanity level, or lack thereof, remains the same: permanently removing vehicles and Muni lines from Market Street. This is the latest idea tinkering around inside Newsom's sleek head.

Additional high wind advisories are in effect for two Bay Area bridges this morning. "Motorists on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge are advised that gusts reaching 50 mph are forecast for both roadways today." This, of course, is in addition to the high wind advisory for the entire San Francisco Bay Area.

During Friday's Richmond High School gang rape that now, according to new reports, lasted somewhere around two hours, only two suspects have been arrested so far. Manuel Ortega, 19, was arrested at the scene. He is being held on $800,000 bail at a Contra Costa County jail.

Novelist Andrew Sean Greer watches Glee, enjoys The Usual Suspects, but doesn't care much for literary blogs. [NYT]

Today the Department of Energy announced a pretty big windfall of funding "for 37 ambitious research projects," ones that involve energy sources such as wind and solar, something crazily awesome about bacteria being used to to "produce automotive fuel from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide," and more. In total, the Golden State received $20.8 million in new funding to help improve the environment. Which, of course, is necessary.

Over at CAV on Friday night -- right next to Cafe Zuni -- Justin of JustInSoma and his girlfriend, Stephanie, were looking for a little wine, food, and relaxation. They got two out of three. While visiting the esteemed wine bar, Stephanie was robbed of her wallet and iPhone. Within 45 minutes, the thieving duo used her cash and cards to purchase $500 worth of groceries at Safeway, $40 worth rental DVDs from the Safeway kiosk, and $700 worth of clothing from Old Navy.

Putting aside the fact that the ladies, if you will, involved in the infamous Muni bus fight lacked moral character, tact or basic human decency, community leaders hosted a panel discussion and media roundtable today "to reduce tensions between the city's Asian and African American communities." The discussion was sparked over the videotaped Muni fight that captured the internet's attention a few weeks ago.

It was only a few short weeks ago that, in a moment of complete naivety and optimism, I declared (using ALL CAPS, nonetheless) the Niners were going to the playoffs. First of all, let me be clear that neither "naive" nor “optimistic” are words that have ever been used to describe me; I blame my bizarre moment of positivity and hope based solely on the power the 49ers have over me. See,they turn me into a passionate, emotion-filled, fiercely loyal version of myself. They make me believe, even when I know better. They make me forgive, even when I’m known for holding grudges. They make me bi-polar, even when… well, okay, fine…. There is a slight chance I actually should be on some kind of medication other than the self-prescribed white wine/vodka love affair I’ve got going on.

Long seen by economists as a truer marker than the traditional unemployment rate, CA's underemployment rate hit a shocking 22% in September. Per the Chron: "That figure includes 1.9 million jobless Californians, 1.4 million people who had to work part time, and 865,000 adults loosely described as discouraged." (Full chart after the jump.) Many of those working part time are people who were furloughed or otherwise given fewer work hours rather than being laid off. And those "discouraged" folks are the ones who no longer qualify for unemployment and who have basically given up on looking for work.

We just came across this amusing post via The Muni Diaries' counterpart in commute-blogging, The BART Diaries. Apparently this blogger *really* hates Muni, and here are her highly generalized observations as to how Muni riders have fewer manners than BART riders. She has seen/heard Muni riders:

Last week, we brought your attention to the sale of this 1984 articulated 60-ft MAN bus, once used by Muni to carry passengers around the city back in the day. With a vehicle of such girth and length and reputation, we assumed no one would bid on the monstrosity.

Time to break out the Aqua Net. A wind advisory is in place for San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Marin, Monterey, Contra Costa, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Clara and Alameda counties counties, lasting until 11 am tomorrow.

After being beaten and allegedly raped by several men on the Richmond High School grounds after a homecoming dance, a 15-year-old girl remains hospitalized this morning. The incident happened on Saturday night. According to reports:

Gavin Newsom creating artisan graffiti, 10/23.

J-Schoolers downward spiral into insanity continues unabated. [Daily Clog]

At 5 pm today, SF Mayor Gavin Newsom will take a tour of the charm-free middling area of Marker Street. You know, the area between Sixth and Eights Streets where you were mugged. Twice. Yes, that one.

"Festive atmosphere so far, but I suspect emotions are coming.," reports the photog whpo shot the image from today's Don Fischer memorial.

Pompous Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson is, for lack of a better word, dim. And old. Case in point, he was, for some inexplicable reason, asked to speak at Web Summit 2.0 in San Francisco this week. During a panel discussion with Google executive Marissa Mayer, he accused her of "unintentionally encourag[ing] promiscuity." (Odds are he never would have said the same thing to Sergey Brin.)

In what could be the story of the century, a Target store might be coming to one of the floors at the Metreon.

Will you become mayor of BART? Now it's possible with BART becoming the first major transit agency to partner with Foursquare, the social media thingy where you check-in at certain locales to gain points and bragging rights.

Obama's Justice Department may be loosening up about medical marijuana, but right on cue the DEA just busted a huge marijuana grow operation that was running out of dozens of half-million-dollar homes in the towns of Elk Grove, Lathrop, Modesto, Sacramento, Tracy, and Stockton. A total of 24,500 plants in 50 different homes-turned-grow-houses were seized, and the whole operation was estimated to have grossed about $100 million a year. Federal agents and the IRS had apparently been investigating some individuals at lower levels of the operations for several years, and the 18 people arrested in yesterday's raids were all low-level, gardener-type employees. The DEA has said that these houses were all being run by "a San Francisco-based organized crime syndicate." Who knew we had one of those? Anyway, here are pictures of the four dudes arrested in Elk Grove.

• People to freak because an affordable store -- one that sells neither salted-caramel ice cream to covert yuppies nor the joys of print publishing to locals youths --opening up. [Curbed, Streetsblog]
• Congress expands hate protection to gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. [Associated Press]
• Woo hoo! Controversial chef David Chang will make SF appearance in early November. [Eater]

Richard Ramirez (AKA The Night Stalker, AKA the man who had the single most profoundly negative impact on the life of your SFist editor when he was just a wee lad during the summer of 1985) is a suspect in a 1984 San Francisco homicide, according to CBS 5. "Police said a DNA match identified Ramirez as the suspect."

Our guest Day-Around-the-Bay aggregator Chris Daly pointed you to this cover piece about Theresa Sparks in the new issue of SF Weekly last night, but having just read it ourselves during a long F-Market trip last night, we thought we'd encourage you again. It's a compelling profile by Lauren Smiley of the woman who could be our next District 6 Supervisor (should she officially decide to run), and the main photo by Frank Gaglione (at right) makes Sparks look downright Lorraine Bracco-ish, no?

Brittney Gilbert at Eye On Blogs brings our attention to what could be our new favorite blog, The Pedestrianist. More than any driver or cyclist, the delicate pedestrian is the single most maligned minority in the history of the world, ever. (Examples: Where are our energizer stations? Where are our street closures? Where are our coalitions? Where in the hell are our biergartens with porta-potties?) Apparently, jaywalkers make streets safer. We're living speed bumps, if you will. The Pedestrianist says:

Trailing behind Jerry Brown in both the polls and fundraising, one might assume SF Mayor Gavin Newsom would bow out at this point. Not so. Even though rumors are swirling -- swirling! -- that Gavin will either a) drop out of the gubernatorial race to focus on bettering San Francisco, or b) leave the race and instead run for Lieutenant Governor on Brown's ticket, this just isn't the case. At least, so says Team Newsom.

Between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. today, a high surf advisory is in effect for the Bay Area coast. This, according to Appeal/BCN, is "due to a forecast of swells of up to 15 feet between Sonoma and Monterey counties."

If you're heading down to Santa Cruz this weekend to buy and take illicit drugs -- a common practice in a city that seems to have crashed into the side of California -- remember on thing: you won't be able to smoke outdoors starting today. IN certain areas, at least. Santa Cruz's outdoor smoking ban went into effect today. According to KTVU, "[a] new ordinance, approved by the City Council on Sept. 22, prohibits smoking on Pacific Avenue, Beach Street between the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf and Third Street, and West Cliff Drive." Over the last ten years, Pacific Avenue -- once a bastion of unwashed, methed out looking for a tuppence or two -- has turned into more of a boutique street.

According to SFist Jonathan, "My train is stopped in Burlingame @ 6:20 pm -- the conductor says the train is being held here due to a bomb threat at Millbrae."

Every Wednesday for the next two months, 'Day Around the Bay' will be edited by a San Francisco Supervisor. (All of them will get a shot at it, hopefully, depending on their love, or lack thereof, for SFist.)

Are you looking for authentico journo cred? Yes? Well, get your weblog over on the New York Times' new Bay Area blogroll section. (Yes, people still have blogrolls. We're not sure why, exactly.) The Gray Lady says they will promote "honest" work, if your online diary meets the following astute criteria. Ahem:

    

A blue whale, the world's largest mammal, was found washed ashore near Fort Bragg this week. The whale, a female, was spotted near Fort Bragg in Mendocino County on Monday night a few "hours after an ocean survey vessel reported hitting a whale a few miles away," reports AP.

Sad news. Due to the state's continuing economic woes, the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for the first time in its 141 year history, will close on Mondays. According to DogBlog, "the SPCA has suffered from reduced contributions and staff layoffs (16 employees were let go earlier this month) and its Maddie’s Adoption Center will no longer be open on Mondays in an effort to eliminate a $3.5 million deficit.

Do you miss those plastic bags that have been banished from San Francisco? Well, boo hoo! You might soon be getting a rebate for the bags you bring with you to the store! Attractive young Supervisor Ross "Boots" Mirkarimi introduced legislation today that would send paper bags packing after their forlorn plastic cousins require retailers to provide a rebate of ten cents to each customer for each bag the customer has brought and uses to carry out their purchases. The new legislation would affect the same grocery stores and pharmacies that have been forced to abandon plastic.

Legislation introduced by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mate, which will spare domestic violence programs from budget cuts, is expected to be signed by Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday. SF Appeal/BCN reports that the legislation would "restore $16.3 million to shelters and centers across the state." In July, Schwarzenegger used a line-item veto to slice $20.4 million from the much-needed Domestic Violence Program.

Check it, check it... A Vacaville boy was about to turn one last week, yo. He and his cuzzes and his parents were going to kick back and chill at a park with some beers and some cake and some skunky green weed that his dad was bringing. The problem is, his dad gave him too big a hit before the party started (or was it a pot cookie?). And then, since he was only one year old and couldn't really hold his own, his dad dropped him back home at his ma's because he was turning into kind of a buzz kill. But now she's pissed and got the po-po involved, and Dad's being held under suspicion of child endangerment. [Ed. Note: A paltry 14% of NBC Bay Area readers are "laughing" about this. Come on guys. Do us proud. Go to work against those "furious" clickers.]

OK, yes, this was yesterday, but we had to show you this waterfall created at the DeYoung during yesterday's storm. [FAMSF, via Curbed]

According to SFGate, crack-cocaine sales have waned while downer pills are white-hot. It seems crack-cocaine, the Tenderloin'a peppy poison of choice, isn't as popular as it used to be. But it's not for lack of demand. Something called "Operation Safe Schools," put in place by Cheif Gascon, focused "on heroin and cocaine sales within 1,000 feet of schools," prompting a slight decline in crack's retail sales. Why? Well, "[u]nder California law, such deals come with a bail enhancement and an extra three to five years in prison." Since nothing rains on a drug dealer's day like an extra three-years in the clink, crack sales have dramatically declined.

The area just south of the East Meadow Drive crossing in Palo Alto has turned into something of a destination spot for depressed teenagers looking to end it all. Since May of this year, there have been three teen suicides at the spot. Last night, at around 10:50 pm, it played host to its fourth.

In what we hope looked like a comedy of errors, two men in Bayview shot each other last night at around 8:30 p.m. According to reports, the two men were injured "in what appears to be a shootout involving two groups."

It's time to haul out those handy, dandy slop buckets, boys and girls. Starting tomorrow all residents and businesses in San Francisco will be required to start composting or face fines for improperly sorted garbage. Keep an eye open for the arrival of green bins alongside your blue and black bins in which you can dump "anything that used to be alive" along with coffee filters, greasy old pizza boxes, yard trimmings, and a plethora of other fine compostables that will be rotted down into "nutrient-rich soil that helps produce the organic food and wine that San Francisco is famous for." Blessed be!

First of the freeway lots grow at Octavia Court. [Curbed]

Due to extensive flooding, Muni temporarily shutdown subway service at 4:15 p.m.

      

Even more rain blanketed the city today, flooding streets. From the Mission to Hayes Valley, the streets are soaked. Please drive carefully.

What with Christmas and Hanukkah right around the coroner, this Muni bus is the perfect gift for the holiday season. Starting out at $2,300.00 on eBay, this 1984 articulated 60-ft MAN bus began life carrying passengers throughout the streets of San Francisco before being hauled down to SoCal to star in the movie The Italian Job and a couple of other small television bit parts. This Muni bus is still in its original condition, complete with of-its-era colors, logos, and original roll signs.

We're biased. We love us some Kamala Harris. She's pretty. She has the loveliest hair we've seen since we last looked into a mirror. She will temporarily stop an interview to give the proper pronunciation if the reporter fucks up her name. And, arguably, she's been a might fine DA. (Aside: You can sign up for a new SFist commenter account here.) While Harris has been criticized for being a bit of a softy (i.e., she refuses to take part in state-sanction murders in order to appease the Nancy Graces of the world), Harris scored a major endorsement today from a tough-on-crime kind of guy.

With an estimated 700,000 boardings per day, 1 out of 10 Muni riders jump aboard without paying. (For shame! Two dollars is a bargain for this kind of entertainment.) According to a report by SF Chron, "[f]are evasion on Muni occurs most frequently in the afternoon and at night ... Among the lines where the problem is most prevalent are the 9-San Bruno, 14-Mission, 38-Geary and 47-Van Ness."

On Friday night, a dead body was found on a 5-Fulton Muni bus. The body has been identified as Christopher Feasel of San Francisco. As the corpse showed no signs of trauma, investigators are still trying to determine the caused of death. (Our guess is the excruciating wait for an elusive 5-Fulton bus did him in.) According to police Sgt. Lyn Tomioka, "Workers discovered Feasel around midnight Friday at the bus yard at Presidio Avenue and Bush Street," but the bus was parked at around 6:30 pm that night.

As the nation stays turned to find out what's going to happen to balloon boy's parents -- the Heenes, if you recall. recruited their children to take part in a balloon hoax to promote a reality show -- a new attempt at d-listed stardom was revealed over the weekend. This video here, done in homage to the gangsta rap genre, has Richard Heene's kids, who should be getting a visit from CPS any minute now, singing a ditty called "Pussification." Which is not about feline transmogrification.

Larry Ellison has the worst sense of style. [Valleywag]

Looking to cause mayhem and hate in the Castro this Halloween, teenagers? Look elsewhere. (SFist's official stance on Halloween in the Castro's ruination is this: scary, scary teenagers are to blame. They always are.) The Castro is, once again, not having a massive bash on Halloween night. SFGate has the police department's official press release. Ahem:

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Let's check in on the Board of Supes shall we? The Chron's Insider column brings us a couple notes on Board happenings this week, noting firstly the non-news that Michela Alioto-Pier has too few allies left and therefore can't get anything done, such as her proposal to allow public comment at committee meetings. Sad.

DNA Lounge owner and LiveJournaler jwz went riding the other day with his pal netik on Harrison Street. Things did not go well.

• Inside SOMA's Ironside. [Eater]
• Adios, unfinished electronic sign on Oak Street. You looked like you were dying to pour forth pearls of information. [SFCitizen]
• Leather community mourns 'Mister Marcus'. [BAR]

A dimwitted justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, recently denied an interracial couple a marriage license. Why? Like we need to tell you why. But we will: said justice of peace, Keith Bardwell, explained to Associated Press his reasoning, "'I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way ... I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

We are highly offended that, in a headline, SFGate uses an acronym that includes a letter that stands for the word "fuck."

Protest-fetish protest group CodePink -- a social circle whose members wear pink feather boas and zany hats while shouting -- will be in Union Square tonight, protesting President Barack Obama's visit. According to Appeal.BCN. CodePink"will ask the president to commit to an exit strategy from Afghanistan." Also, they will display a banner in Union Square, "while a Code Pink member will try to deliver petitions to the president inside the fundraiser." Outrageous.

In what could be the most bizarre yet amusing pairing this city has seen since bacon met ice cream, Senator Leland Yee and violently-vegan musician Moby will join forces today on the steps of City Hall. Why? To combat domestic violence.

Two days before President Barack Obama touched ground in San Francisco, an indictment was issued against John Gimbel, 59, of Crescent City, accused of threatening to kill the President in an electronic message sent to an unidentified recipient.

At 10:15 a.m. today, all 93 emergency sirens in San Francisco will go off. It's all part of the Great Shakeout. Millions of Californians will take part in in "the largest earthquake drill ever." Will you? Here's what you're supposed to do:

A little early for breakfast (7 p.m. last night), a two-alarm fire broke out at 360 Post on Union Square, otherwise known as the Tiffany's building, whose upper floors are home to various office and doctor-type tenants. The fire is said to have been in the basement of the eleven-story building and was contained within a half hour. No word on how many little robin's egg blue boxes were destroyed, or how long Tiffany's might need to be closed.

Taking a closer look at Mission hipster bar The Phone Booth. [SFBG]

Westbound travelers going over the bridge, listen up: a Safeway big rig truck overturned on the Bay Bridge, which has since caused an INSANE amount of traffic back-up. According to KTVU, the big rig tipped over at the new s-curve portion of the bridge on the top part of the span. The accident happened around 2:30. It's blocking "4 out of 5 lanes."

Every week at noon, we hear SF emergency sirens fill the air with their hypothetical shrieking. This isn't unusual.

A woman riding her bike this morning was stuck and killed by a dump truck in Redwood City. According to KTVU, the accident, reported at "7:51 a.m. at the intersection of Shoreway Road and Holly Street," was of the hit-and-run variety. Redwood City police Sgt. Kathy Anderson said "it appears that the driver may not even be aware that he struck anyone." Also, the cyclist died at the scene.

       

Here are some lovely images from the aftermath of yesterday's storm. Thanks for washing the city, Mother Nature!

Forget the Nobel Prize. Screw having your own pencil sharpener in the Oval Office. Real power comes from your mere presence being able to alter Muni's schedule. And that's just what President Barack Obama has done. When he visits San Francisco tomorrow, Muni reroutes will go into effect.

Are you receiving us? Do you have electricity and such? Apparently 10,000 Bay Area residents still do not, and some major power line connecting Northern and Southern California was knocked out near Monterey and total power coming our way has been cut by a third.

Whether you want to admit it or not, this is what we've all been waiting for. The money shot. The big reveal. Move that van. Here is what Jaycee Dugard looks like today. The most recent edition of People released an exclusive photo of the adult Dugard early this morning. And, well, here it is.

We don't really think the narration for this new Gav-for-Governor spot is the *strongest* bit of campaign ad copy we've ever heard. And is it wrong to say the whole circular thing ("...that will join the race, that will shake the system, that will change the state Constitution...") reminds us of that late 80s anti-drug ad with the business guy in the toilet going, "So I can work harder, so I can make more money, so I can do more cocaine, so I can work harder..."?

Sacto Mayor Kevin Johnson, who was robbed in Union Square over the weekend, gets his stuff back. [Matier & Ross]