United Airlines really managed to outdo themselves with their latest mechanical problem this weekend, as a flight bound for SFO had to be diverted because of sewage flowing into the flight cabin.

Mechanical issues on board United Airlines flights to or from SF International Airports are starting to feel like an everyday occurrence. The latest of these was on Thursday night, when a flight from SFO to Paris had to be diverted to Denver because of engine issues.

But boy did United Airlines passengers have a terrible Friday night, the very next evening. The Hill reports that seven passengers had to be hospitalized after turbulence and high winds forced a flight from Newark, New Jersey from Tel Aviv to be rerouted to New Windsor, New York. Then according to the Chronicle, another United flight Friday night from Frankfurt, Germany to SFO had to be rerouted because its toilet was overflowing into the flight cabin.

Man, talk about a shitty flight!

The plane was reportedly forced to fly over the North Sea for a while a flummoxed crew tried to figure out how they were going to resolve this mess. After two hours that must have been excruciating for passengers, the flight did eventually divert back to Frankfurt. And notably, this was a Boeing 777, the same company that is currently facing a criminal probe by the Department of Justice over a January incident where a plane’s door plug blew off during a flight.  

With regard to Friday's incident, United Airlines said in a bare-bones statement to The Hill simply that there was a “maintenance issue with one of the aircraft’s lavatories.”

But there certainly have been maintenance issues with a lot of United flights lately. In addition to the above-mentioned incidents, there was a tire falling off a jet and landing on cars in the SFO parking lot on March 7. Two weeks prior to that, a piece of a wing flap tore off of a United flight from SFO to Boston. On March 8, a United Airbus jet from SFO to Mexico City had a hydraulic problem and was forced to land at LAX. And three days later, an SFO-bound United flight from Sydney, Australia had to turn back to Sydney over an unspecified "maintenance issue."

Plus on March 23, a United flight from SFO to Denver had to turn back to San Francisco after the plane struck a bird.

Related: Japan-Bound United Airlines Flight Out of SFO Loses Tire During Takeoff, Gets Diverted to LAX [SFist]

Image: Arkin Si via Unsplash

The head that made headlines for nearly a year and a half over its initial $1.7 million price tag has finally squatted down in Noe Valley, but it won’t be up and flushing until the end of the month.

When the news came out in October 2022 that the Noe Valley Town Square was getting a public restroom that would cost $1.7 million, that shocking seven-figure cost released a load of controversy. But a Nevada company stepped into the mess and donated a free prefab toilet, which the city happily accepted. Still, the city’s red tape still gave the restroom’s installation some timeline over-runs, and we last heard in February that the public toilet would be “delivered” on March 7.

And it actually was delivered on Thursday, March 7. “The eagle has landed!,” the SF Rec and Parks Department declared on Twitter Thursday. “A few final touches, like utility & landscaping, & this project will be in the can by the end of March.”

Wait, why will it take another three weeks for this already-built toilet to start functioning? The image above was taken Wednesday evening at the toilet’s installation site, the night before the toilet’s arrival from the Nevada-based Public Restroom Company.

“This area will be closed for six weeks beginning mid-February 2024 for construction,” the site’s signage explains. “Recreation and Parks will be installing a new restroom structure, including related utilities, and landscaping.”

Peeping over the fence at the site at 24th Street between Church and Sanchez streets, we saw Wednesday that there is a fair amount of plumbing work and other infrastructure installation that still needs to be done.

But Rec and Park does have this rendering of what the toilet will look like once installed.

So this whole saga will likely finally have a happy outcome by the end of March. Though if you’re in the area of Noe Valley Town Square and really need a bathroom, there is still a porta-potty available at the site.

Related: ‘$1.7 Million Toilet’ Controversy Toilet Comes Out OK In the End, Supes Approve Lower-Cost Project [SFist]

Top Image: @RecParkSF via Twitter

Hey, remember that “$1.7 million toilet” that had the local media flush with outrage back in 2022? The cost got squeezed down, but still no toilet, and it won’t be plopped down 'til April at the earliest.

San Francisco media outlets had their underpants in a bunch with the October 2022 revelation that one single public toilet at the Noe Valley Town Square was estimated to cost $1.7 million — which was held up as an example of SF's absurd and bloated bureaucracy, because a lot of that cost was just planning and design. The whole thing was slated to be paid for by state funding anyway, or it was until Governor Gavin Newsom threatened to yank the funding appropriation unless the cost came down.

Sweet relief arrived when a pre-fab bathroom manufacturer offered to donate a free toilet, which would bring the cost to around $300,000, and the new, more affordable loo was approved in April 2013.

But hey, did we ever get that public toilet at Noe Valley Town Square? To this day, we have not.

Former Chronicle and now New York Times columnist Heather Knight, who broke the original toilet-gate story, is back on the case. Heather Knight's latest “My Latest” is an NY Times investigation into whatever happened with that toilet plan, which found that it’s still — not shockingly — hunkered down in city bureaucracy. It picks up the story in this past December, when SF Rec and Parks was apparently pretty huffy with the company donating the toilet, Nevada-based Public Restroom Company.

“Your team was unresponsive to our repeated attempts to engage,” the December letter from Rec and Parks reportedly said. “We are receiving inquiries from citizens, journalists and local lawmakers on the status of this highly publicized project. We will need to answer questions.”

Public Restroom Company president Chad Kaufman contended that other City Hall departments were still tying him up with permits, but the end is in sight.

The headline of this post declares the pre-fab bathroom is “still not built.” But it is built, alright, just not in Noe Valley. It has technically been constructed and is sitting in a yard in Minden, Nevada.

“My portion is done,” Kaufman told the Times.

The model is likely to look a little like what's seen above, though it may be slightly different, as this is just one of the Public Restroom Company’s models. But the Times reports that Public Restroom Company currently assesses it will be delivered to the Noe Valley Town Square in the next couple of months, and “should be ready for use by April.”

Related: $1.7 Million Noe Valley Public Toilet Will Now Only Cost the City $300K [SFist]

Image: Thomas D. via Yelp

UC Berkeley Police officers say they think they know who put a camera in the restroom of a women's dormitory this April, but so far, no arrests have been made in the super creepy case.

The camera was discovered a week ago in a restroom on the lower level of the Unit 1 Central Building, Bay City News reports.

According to the Unit 1 website, "The Central Building is the main hub of Unit 1 that is located beneath the plaza and includes Lower Levels of Christian and Slottman halls."

In a UC Berkeley campus crime alert issued yesterday, police said that in late April, signs were posted indicating that the women’s public restrooms in that building were closed. The signs instead directed women to use a staff restroom down the hall, by the building's loading dock.

The camera was found in that restroom, which the San Jose Mercury News identifies as "Room L72" on Friday, May 8. Police did not specify where the camera was located in the restroom, or how it was discovered.

US Berkeley Police say that they have "a person of interest" in the case "who is no longer associated with UC Berkeley." They declined to provide additional details on the suspect as of publication time.

They did say, however, that maintenance staff will be checking all residence hall restrooms for other recording devices.

Police are eager to find any victims of the covert photographer, and ask anyone who might have used that bathroom in April or May to contact Detective Pete Odyniec at 510-642-1606 or to email him at odyniec@berkeley.edu.

Ladies, if you're using the can at the tony Westfield Centre in downtown San Francisco, keep your belongings close — a robbery pair is apparently seeking bathroom-using victims and swiping items from their bags.

According to the Examiner, a 29-year-old woman was using the restroom at the Market Street shopping place for the well-heeled (stores there include Burberry, Tiffany & Co, and Valentino) at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The trouble began when the woman, who is employed at the mall, put her bag down, perhaps to wash her hands. At that point, another woman in the ladies room gave her a shove, stole the mall staffer's cell phone and wallet from the bag, then ran from the restroom.

The victim gave chase, but was met at the door by a man who blocked her path, saying "Get out of here, bitch, she don’t have nothing."

According to the Ex, the imposing man and his partner in crime left the mall unimpeded.

When contacted today, SFPD did not have any additional details or suspect information to provide, but did say that no arrests had been made in the case.

[SF Examiner]

More bad behavior unveiled itself at Candlestick Park on Sunday. During the Niners victorious opening game, a (presumably intoxicated) man was pinched by stadium fuzz for trying to pee on other fans. SF Examiner reports: "According to police, security reported the man was 'attempting to urinate on people in the bathroom and trying to incite fights with other fans.' It took several officers to get the man handcuffed and on the ground, but the man kicked one of the security guards in the shin, police said."

How very Power Exchange.

While being escorted out of the area, the suspect spat in an officer's face and tried to break free, which caused the golden shower fan and the cops to fall down a staircase.

This most recent incident comes on the heels of a parking lot assault during a Cal-Fresno game and a violent preseason game.

We here at SFist receive up to a hundred press releases a day. Sometimes we use a few of those press releases to inform you of something we consider noteworthy. And sometimes, though very rarely, a press release is so astounding that it's best to let the missive speak for itself. Behold:

Zazzle, the title sponsor of this year’s 100th Zazzle Bay to Breakers, today announced its Potty Hero campaign, aimed at encouraging participants in this year’s centennial race to make use of the 1,200 port-a-potties stationed along the course, double the amount from last year. Race participants who elect, rightfully so, to utilize the port-a-potties, will earn Potty Hero wristbands from Zazzle crews stationed at each mile along the race route and will have the opportunity to partake in photo opportunities next to large posters featuring speech bubble phrases such as “Mission Accomplished” and “I hit the mark today.” Race participants who collect a Potty Hero wristband will receive special discounts on official Zazzle Bay to Breakers merchandise at the Zazzle Footstock concert at the end of the race.

Funny that. Your SFist editor uses similar reward techniques when babysitting our two-year-old godchild who's in the process of toilet training. Fascinating.

Also, "socia media" aspects will be interwoven throughout Zazzle's (awesome) attempt at getting racers to pee like proper adults. You can use the hashtag #pottyhero on Twitter or, better yet, do a Foursquare potty check-in to receive points at each port-a-potty station. (Have you ever wanted to be mayor of a toilet? Now's your chance!)

The 12K Bay to Breakers race takes place this Sunday, May 15.

A constituent asked BART staff a question about the potties during a public meeting yesterday. The inquiry? Would BART consider removing sex designation on single-stall bathrooms inside the stations.

Bart director Tom Radulovich, according to SFGate, responded thusly:

In San Francisco we've got unisex bathrooms. They're called elevators.

Hee. Also: true.

Cintas Corporation, a company that manufactures poo and pee toiletries, is having their annual America's Best Restroom Competition. And the Union Square Macy's 6th floor crapper made the top ten. Yay!

Although females neither urinate nor defecate -- because that's unlady-like -- for some reason they feel the need to have their own bathrooms just like men. (Blame it on women's lib penis envy; we see no other reason.) See, ladies digest food and drink into perfume, sunshine, and lollipops, so public restrooms setup for them are typically more flowery and impressive than bathrooms for men. That's why Macy's female restroom is so smashing.

The contenders are:

• Macy's Department Store: San Francisco, California, 6th floor -- "Art deco design, featuring Italian marble, chandelier with carved ceiling medallion, and full-length stainless steel stall doors.
• Shoji Tabuchi Theatre (Branson, Missouri): "Marble fireplaces, hand-carved mahogany pool table, antiques, lion's head sinks, leather chairs, stained glass and chandeliers."

• Radio City Music Hall (New York, New York): Designed in the early 1930's, restroom and lounges feature classic tile work, art deco furnishings and unique materials, including cork- covered walls.

• Canlis Restaurant (Seattle, Washington): Zen-like atmosphere, featuring handmade organic wall coverings, designer fixtures, Japanese art, with large picture windows overlooking garden.

Here are some early images from today's tamed Bay 2 Breakers race.

Sammy Kitwara of Kenya was the male winner of today's race, with Teyba Erkesso of Ethiopia snatching the women's race.

Stay tuned for more. We'll be uploading images from today's race all day. If you have a photo you'd like to see here on SFist, please tag them with 'sfist' iin Flickr, or you can send them to editor@sfist.com.

Check out even more pics from Bay to Breakers 2009.

Made by Toto (no, not this Toto, but a swank Japanese company) , Google employees at their California offices can release their urine and evacuate their bowels like space-age kings using this ultra-modern and terrible chic toilet. Not happy with merely wiping, Google employees have the option to wash the rear area, wash the front area (something people should really do more often), dry, perform something called "wand cleaning," and so much more.

Sure, it's more than you've ever wanted to know about Google, but... well, you're welcome.

Mills High School English teacher David Lista, 35, of Belmont has admitted to filming underage girls using the bathroom at the high school where he taught. it seems he was arrested yesterday afternoon after a Mills technology coordinator came across Lista's cinematic restroom work while checking the school computer server. Police then searched Lista's home, which turned up a "small amount" of methamphetamine as well. Ouch. But this wasn't the first time Lista's alleged actions have stirred controversy at the high school. According to the San Jose Mercury News:

Several students also said Lista was caught up in an episode last year involving links on his YouTube video-sharing account.

"I saw it myself," said Alfred Tam, a senior who was in Lista's leadership class. "He had links to his favorites' that were all these videos of underage girls dancing in bikinis." ... Mills principal Paul Belzer declined to address either the petition or the YouTube allegation Tuesday, saying both were personnel matters

Lista posted $100,000 bail this morning and has since been put ion administrative leave. His exact charges have yet to be announced while the police investigation is still underway.

The wait is over.

Curbed has some gorgeous shots of the new apartment building recently erected on Folsom and Second Streets. Take, for example, the bathroom above in Penthouse Unit A at BLŪ, which comes complete with marble furnishings. Isn't it divine? And divinely exotic? While many well-funded hipsters would cringe at the thought of, um, dropping the kids off in such an inviting space -- you know, the kinds of kids who live with roommates for a communal experience, not out of economic necessity? -- we would displace an entire continent of people to live here. It looks super nice, is what we're saying. Anyway, check out Curbed for more apartment shots and details on when you can start throwing money at them.