Enjoyed sitting down w/@jack today to announce @Bloomberg's new global 24/7 live news network w/@Twitter https://t.co/zEY9jnUHss #TheNewNews pic.twitter.com/wwkoxNQm5b

— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) May 1, 2017

Michael Bloomberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced today that they are partnering to bring a 24/7 streaming news service to Twitter later this year, something that will likely be to the benefit of both companies — Twitter in bolstering video ad revenue, and Bloomberg in widening its reach. As the Wall Street Journal reports via an event Monday hosted by Bloomberg LP, the channel "won’t simply rebroadcast footage from Bloomberg’s existing television operation, but will be made up of live news reporting from the news outlet’s bureaus around the world, as well as a curated and verified mix of video posted on Twitter by the social-media platform’s users."

Axios reports that Twitter is keen to capitalize on what it's already seen in terms of an uptick in ad revenue from live video, and this will be a boon for Bloomberg as well, broadening its content beyond the financial news that is the primary focus of its existing TV network. This is also what's known as a "second-screen" opportunity for getting users attention when they are flipping through apps on their phone while watching TV.

The new channel does not yet have a name, and the financial aspects of the deal have not been revealed.

This will be the first time Twitter has launched a continuous video feed on its platform. And, per the Journal, the company "broadcast 800 hours of programming in the first quarter of 2017, up from 600 hours in the fourth quarter last year." Twitter previously partnered with Bloomberg to broadcast the presidential debates.

Anthony Noto, Twitter’s chief financial and operating officer, suggests to the Journal that this is just the first of what could be many such partnerships. "We really think we can reach audiences that are not paying for TV and are watching television on the go and we think Bloomberg is the perfect partner for us to start with," Noto says.

The channel is expected to launch in the fall.

Previously: UGH: The Average Person Is Going To Spend Five Years Of Their Life On Social Media

BREAKING: #SF cable car operator injured in June crash dies https://t.co/rcBvLqGT7k #Muni #Transit pic.twitter.com/iuwbRSHIEV

— SF Examiner (@sfexaminer) January 12, 2016

Seven months after a San Francisco cable car operator was allegedly struck by an intoxicated motorcyclist, the veteran Muni driver has died, the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office confirmed Tuesday.

It was around 10:30 p.m. on June 11, 2015 when then-50-year-old Reynaldo Abraham “Avy” Morante stepped off his cable car at Taylor and Francisco streets. That's when he was struck by a motorcyclist who illegally passed the transit vehicle, KQED reported at the time.

Morante suffered a fractured skull and a traumatic brain injury as a result of the collision, KRON4 reported in June, and was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital. He has remained in a coma and on life support since, and was cared for at Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center until his death Tuesday morning.

The motorcyclist, then-22-year-old William Kanta Makepeace, remained at the scene of the crash and was "promptly arrested," police said at the time.

According to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, Makepeace’s blood alcohol level was .12 percent at the time of the collision. Any reading over .08 is considered over the legal limit in California.

As of June, Makepeace, who according to a LinkedIn page noted by KRON4 works in "Financial Sales and Analytics" at the San Francisco branch of Bloomberg, LLP had pleaded no contest to two felony counts of driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury, Bay City News reports.According to the Ex, Makepeace remains out on bail as of Wednesday.

However, that could soon change, as Makepeace might face additional charges in the wake of Morante's passing. A spokesperson for the DA's office said via written statement Tuesday that “we are in the process of evaluating what additional charges may be appropriate in the wake of the victim’s death."

According to the Ex, Morante has left behind two adult children, Josephine and Andrew, and his brother, Alan. A memorial service for Morante is tentatively planned for this Saturday at Grace Cathedral.

In a statement emailed Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Ed Lee said that Morante "served as a Muni operator for more than 20 years and became a cable car operator in 2014. He was a dedicated City employee who dreamed of being part of San Francisco’s historic cable cars, and he served our residents and visitors with great distinction."

"He will be greatly missed by all," Lee wrote.

"Our thoughts and prayers remain with his family, friends and colleagues during this time of mourning and sorrow."

In the ongoing competition to see whose city government can coddle its constituents more (and hopefully make kids less fat in the process), New York City's Mayor Bloomberg is attempting one-up San Francisco with a ban on sugary sodas served in unnecessarily large quantities. While the ban wouldn't apply to milkshakes, juices, diet sodas and other low-sugar items, it would eliminate any sugary beverage over 16 ounces from the menus at delis, fast food joints, ballparks and movie theaters.

Impressively-coifed former Mayor Gavin Newsom almost beat Bloomberg's receding hairline to the syrupy punch when he banned soda machines from all city property a few years back. While that ban did little more than deprive some City Hall aides of their life-giving Diet Cokes, if Bloomberg's first-in-the-nation measure passes we imagine it would only be a matter of time before someone on our own Board of Supervisors proposes similar legislation.

We reached out to Newsom this morning to see if the Lite Gov had any Gavin-isms to bestow on us about the matter, but we have yet to hear back from his office. Likewise, resident obesity watchdog Supervisor Eric Mar was has yet to return our requests for comment, possibly because he needed to get to McDonald's before breakfast ended. So, for now at least, San Francisco's freedom to enjoy five dollars and 64 ounces worth of corn syrup at the Metreon (where the smallest option is 32 ounces) continues unmolested.

Previously: San Francisco's Happy Meal Ban, Newsom's Insipid Soda Ban Won't Ban Fat
[Gothamist]
[Chron]

Here we have le Gav looking lover-ly while kicking it with some tired Ethel Merman tranny (excuse me, fabulous "Ethel Merman impersonator") in Jesse McKinley's stellar New York Times article about our personality-littered mayoral race. (And while a very interesting piece, why Rita's or Jeremy's brilliant coverage and point of views aren't mentioned is beyond any and all logic. We're just saying is all. We digress.) Almost all of the usual and self-consciously zany suspects are in there: Kenny the Clown (Kenneth Kahn), Chicken John (who, for some reason, I will always confuse with Big Brother's Chicken George [which, by the way, is so good this season!]), and almost the rest of the wacy gaggle. Interestingly enough, there’s no mention of journalistic martyr Josh Wolf, which we found bizarre.

Basically, McKinley points out that no "major contender" is going for Newsom's jugular this time around (a la Matt Gonzalez) -- even spot-on Chris Daly admits this as a “very difficult campaign” -- and that, of course, Newsom will be our mayor for four more years. Probably.

But you knew that already.

(Photo credit: Erin Lubin/Bloomberg News)

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities:

This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally completed, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang.

Bostonist watches politics as Mini Mitt makes the scene. Probably trying to upstage the bobble head of Whistler. Maestro gives them his thoughts on Pops Goes the Fourth: Keith and the Cougar. Meanwhile in law enforcement news JSYK OMG BPD <3 SMS, k. Oh, and Cocktail Condoms?!?

What a weird week for San Francisco! SFist called attention to the fact that KRON 4 will not broadcast the pride parade--wha huh? Island for sale! What a bargain! SFist yelped a bit about yelping with Yelp's founders. Super-dirty review of a super dirty movie, anyone? For your safety, a color-coded guide map to gang zones. And, finally, some urban repurposing: former car bonnets are now a nice band shell in Golden Gate Park.

LAist is asking the tough questions: Would you pay $3,121 for a pair of exclusive Prince tickets? How about $15 and a 2-hour wait in a line for a designer "I'm not a plastic bag" canvas bag? This all feels like an episode of HBO's Entourage, eh?. On the down and dirty side of things, the Valley's largest pet spa is accused of major animal abuse, Hermosa Beach has not one, not two, but three Cajun food restaurants and well, the Police are back in concert form (and a video of them singing Roxanne)!

Gothamist marveled at Mayor Bloomberg's second political party change in seven years. It set the pace for a week that included mice loving Pinkberry, freegans explaining the benefits of dumpster diving, and a weird incident involving a huge, faceless stuffed monkey. And that doesn't even include the crazy unfolding story about the people disrupting a Shepard Fairey street art gallery show - shades of the Splasher, you know!

Torontoist kicked off the week by liveblogging the Much Music Video Awards. But oh, that was just the beginning. They got excited over their police force's new fleet of smart cars, celebrated the joys of sheer pants, and enjoyed their city's new gay-visitor-targeting slogan, "As Gay As It Gets." Jealous?

And check out the favorite posts on Austinist, Chicagoist, DCist, Houstonist, Londonist, Sampaist, Seattlest, and Shanghaiist.

Do you guys think it's true that Gavin Newsom refused to do anything with Conan O'Brien when Conan was in town last week because his feelings were hurt by Conan's jokes about him? If so, that is so lame! (Also, you can just scratch SFist off the Gavin Newsom party invite list right now.)

So the official story is that Mayor Newsom didn't show up for NBC's Conan celebration day last Wednesday because Newsom was "accidentally overbooked" and was doing an interview on SportsCenter about Barry Bonds instead. Oh, . Who cares what Newsom has to say about Barry Bonds. Do they call Michael Bloomberg for a comment on Wang Chien-Ming's hamstring? Was Gavin just calling up like every single TV show that tapes on Wednesday afternoons to overbook himself? "Ladies! I'll totally host The View!" (Though Elisabeth Hasselbeck does kind of seem like his type, doesn't she?)

Anyhow, so thoughtful readers were kind enough to send to us all the Gavin Newsom jokes Conan told, which are after the jump. Every day is Conan O'Brien Day at SFist!

We've been dying for a chance to use this picture from Gavin Newsom's reelection Flickr site. Feel free to Photoshop that marquee and send it back to us if you're so inclined!

Guess it's not that much of a nutty idea.

Now because it's New York, it's instantly taken more seriously because it's New York and everything is taken more seriously there (damn East Coast bias). In a way, it’s kind of like Jamba Juice--everyone thought it was some crazy only-in-California idea and now they're everywhere. Already, the New York Times has jumped in and said it's a fabulous idea and the New York Post, not known for it's liberal ideas, thinks it's well worth considering. A poll was also taken earlier which said that a majority of people in the city support it and just from comments on Gothamist, it looks like readers are in favor.

The idea, called congestion charging, was actually proposed a year ago but is now being championed by Mayor Mike. The idea is to charge commuters $8 ($21 for trucks) for driving into Manhattan and people could pay for it using the EZTrak system or their license plates could be photographed and sent an invoice. The whole plan is expected to bring in about $500 million annually into the city's coffers which would be used to help finance transportation related issues.

Here in SF, the idea is being studied and the results of the study should come out, hopefully, sometime soon.

ANYWAYS, let's take a look at all the big picture stuff out there, starting with the rumor that DiFi wanted Gavin to resign. This morning, the rumor was completly denied by DiFi's people. As to Gavin's political future, it appears other potential gubernatorial 2010 candidates are singing "oh, happy day" now that Newsom is busy self-destructing all over the place. Then there's the Republicans trying to add gas to the flames and blaming it all on Nancy Pelosi (see what happens when you elect Democrats into power-- straight people get caught having sex with people of the opposite sex as opposed to people having sex with pages). The fact that the Chron is even reporting that info is driving SFist Cedric out of his kitchen to rant about it.

As for the reaction, my, aren't we all a cynical bunch? Everybody seems to be thinking this whole thing is more PR than anything else. Maybe it's because, as a commenter said, rehab is the new black. Articles however from PR experts saying that it's the right PR move probably doesn't help nor does Ted Haggard suddenly coming out of rehab to announce he is straight again help (you can make your own jokes in the comment section below-- we're going to stay out of it). We would like to repeat the fact that Gavin's drinking has been a pretty open secret these past couple of years so maybe, just maybe, he really does need help.

Let's see, what else is there? Oh, all this is making Ken Garcia cranky again but he's always cranky. The Chron has the typical Man on the Street interviews but we've heard from good sources that most of those are written in a bar because they're such cookie cutter jobs that they can just make them up. There's also the always fun and exciting Two Cents thing which Gavinwatch says reminds them of a similar bit in the Onion. Man, that's our favorite part of the Onion. Beyond Chron, of all sites, actually praises Gavin for doing what he did and wishes that Gavin's supporters were strong enough to talk to him earlier about his problems.

If you want to good recap of the stories out there, our beloved Eve has a good wrap up on SFGate.

Last week, after Yahoo's share price dropped when the company's profits failed to reach analyst's expectations, Chairman Terry Semel conceded in an interview with SFGate, "Frankly, Google has done a better job than us."

Bloggers are talking about Decker's comments under headlines like "Yahoo gives up quest for search dominance" and "Yahoo exec concedes defeat" and "Yahoo throws in the search towel". Here in the SFist Tech Labs, we've always been more of the glass-is-half-full type. Buck up, Yahoo! When the stock market hands you lemons, do something with it!

This could be the perfect opportunity for Yahoo to refocus its efforts as a web portal instead of simply another search engine. Google's search engine is what made it ubiquitous, but its commitment to innovation is what secured it as a company to watch. As Ars Technica's Ken Fisher said in his blog: "Investors should be on notice, however: it's not the market share that matters, but what you do with it." The same could be said for search engine results.

Yahoo is finally starting to show a consistent focus in its acquisitions and developments, instead of just being another participant in the search engine arms race. News, commercial, and personal websites are becoming more interconnected, and it's now possible to see dozens of different takes on the same story, from both professional and amateur journalists, within an hour after a story "breaks." This implies that search engine results are going to become less important than their context. It's not the information, it's what you do with it.

Duane Baughman, you're our big winner! The political consultant is getting $15,000 to resolve the lawsuit that Supervisor (and newly-announced candidate for assessor/recorder, courtesy of the Sentinel) Gerardo Sandoval filed against him for those anonymous flyers sent out in the 2004 supervisors' race. Sandoval also, through gritted teeth, issued the following statement:

I regret pursuing this matter against Democratic political consultant Duane Baughman in the courts, and for any personal and professional trouble this may have caused him. We have settled the matter, and I consider it closed.

You can practically see Sandoval kicking the ground as he says it! Baughman, in response, magnanimously responded:

This settlement is proof that this was never about money. It was always about vindication in a public arena. Supervisor Sandoval has expressed his sincere regret to me personally about this entire matter. I consider the matter now closed, and I am happy to get back to the business of electing Democrats around the country.

A wiser reader than we are tipped us off to the words that are bolded in the quotes. Wasn't Baughman supposed to be the big Republican (gasp!) consultant? No no no! He's a gun for hire! Baughman's worked for both NYC Mayor Bloomberg the donkey with the mostest, Howard Dean! Sandoval should've offered a discount for each time he said the word "Democrat."

Baughman's actually only getting about 20% of the fees he was awarded, and Sandoval confessed to the Chron that his fundraising appeal only raised about $1000. "I don't have any assets. I don't have any money to speak of in the bank. I don't own any stock. The only thing I have is my house, and like most San Franciscans, I barely bought my house." Mr. Sandoval, maybe it's time to start looking into IRA plans!

We can't tell from the article if this resolves the entire case or if Sandoval's still on the hook for the attorneys' fees from the other defendant, the "No on F" committee. Does anyone know?

Our super-secret SFist sources have notified us that Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, repping the eleven for the Excelsior, is holding a rally today at noon, on the steps of City Hall.

, you ask. Is he that worked up about line-item veto power over the MUNI budget? Well, no. So when Sandoval was running for reelection to the Board of Supes, someone anonymously started putting out flyers calling him anti-Semitic. (Sandoval made some unfortunate statements back in 2001.) Sandoval handily won District 11, but was so upset about the anonymous mailers that he sued.

Funny, that First Amendment. So Duane Baughman, the political consultant whose clients put out the flyers (and who's now working with Mayor Bloomberg in NY), claimed that Sandoval's lawsuit impinged on his First Amendment rights to call anyone a Nazi that he wants -- and he won. So, under California law, Sandoval is now on the hook for Baughman's legal fees, to the tune of $143K. Sandoval is now saying he might have to sell his house to pay.

So Sandoval's holding a rally today to bring people's attention to the issue of anonymous mailers -- he's never figured out who paid for the flyers, but he suspects it's Don Fisher from the Gap -- and to protest the fees being assessed against him. It sounds like the whole progressive gang's gonna be there! And -- dare we dream? Maybe even Chris Daly? Oh, you better believe we're checking this one out!