A preschooler was safely rescued and uninjured after becoming stuck inside a 10-inch irrigation pipe for about 15 minutes outside a Fairfield preschool, prompting a response from firefighters.

The Fairfield Fire Department posted on social media Monday about the incident at Mary Bird Early Childhood Education Center where the four-year-old had managed to get himself stuck inside a 10-inch irrigation pipe.

Firefighters were able to free the boy in about 15 minutes. The department said he appeared to be uninjured and that he didn’t have any “complaints.”

The boy was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

The incident of course brings to mind the tragic story of Baby Jessica, who was trapped in an eight-inch hole in Texas for 60 hours before being rescued. (Sidebar: Sadly, Jessica was recently arrested for assault.)

Image: Fairfield Fire Department

A nanny and toddler were hit by a driver last month in a part of the Marina District that falls within SF’s High-Injury Network, and while the city is adding modest improvements, residents are demanding more drastic measures.

Last month, a dashcam video was circulating on social media showing the aftermath of when a pickup truck hit a nanny and a two-year-old in a stroller at the intersection of Chestnut and Laguna streets in the Marina District, as KTVU reports.

According to the family’s GoFundMe page, their nanny, Mily, was thrown several feet during the collision, and she’s still recovering from her injuries. The stroller was flipped upside down and destroyed, but fortunately the child did not have major injuries.

Witnesses say the truck was traveling at a speed of about 20 to 25 miles per hour. A group of children and their teachers from Hungry Caterpillars Preschool were also about to cross the intersection when the collision occurred. Priscila Eugenio Lopez, director of the school, described the sound of the impact to KTVU as “a loud, heavy thud." She says she and her staff see drivers blow through the four-way stop at the scene of the crash every day.

“This intersection is surrounded by parks, preschools, strollers, and families,” says the child’s mom, Lindsay Kinder, on the family’s fundraiser page. “We are working closely with the Mayor and city officials to make this intersection safer for all the children and families that pass through.”

The crash occurred at an intersection that falls within the city’s High-Injury Network, which encompasses streets that have seen 10 or more fatal or severe injuries. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency says it will be implementing daylighting at the intersection, which improves the sightlines by removing parking spaces near corners, as well as installing playground warning signs by the end of May.

District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill told KTVU that there have been two serious accidents at the intersection in the past five years. Sherrill says he’s calling for more traffic enforcement in the area, as citations are down 90% from a time when ticketing was at its highest in the neighborhood.

“Drivers know that if they run a stop sign,” says Sherrill, “they won’t get ticketed, and that’s wrong.”

Kinder doesn’t believe the SFMTA's improvements go far enough and is pushing for physical infrastructure changes like raised crosswalks and flashing lights.

Neighbors launched a petition addressed to Sherrill and the SFMTA demanding that the intersection be turned into a “slow street” by lowering traffic speeds and implementing traffic calming measures, including speed humps, clearer signage, and pedestrian priority signals.

“Implementing a slow street will not only increase safety but will also improve the quality of life in our neighborhood, making it more pedestrian-friendly and family-oriented,” says the petition. “A small change in infrastructure can make a monumental difference in everyday safety and peace of mind.”

Kinder writes that the family is working with insurance to cover Mily’s medical expenses, and the GoFundMe page is meant to help in the interim.

The UK’s Daily Mail picked up the story, noting that Kinder is a private chef, and her husband is an investment banker. The SFPD told the outlet that the incident is still being investigated, and no details were provided on whether the driver received any charges or citations.

Kinder goes into more detail on social media about the collision and the improvements being made.

Related: Speeding Juvenile Driver Arrested After East Oakland Crash That Killed Three Pedestrians

Image: GoFundMe

A young child was reportedly abandoned at San Francisco's Zoo Monday night, but by whom and why is a mystery.

CBS 5 reports that a man and woman drove up to the northwest corner of the then-closed SF Zoo at 8:30 Monday night, dropped off a 5-year-old kid, then fled.

According to CBS 5, an ambulance was passing through the intersection of Great Highway and Sloat Boulevard at the time of the incident. It stopped to help the child, who did not appear to have suffered any injuries.

Police are now seeking the occupants of the car that the child arrived in. According to CBS 5, "a woman was driving with a man in the passenger’s seat and, possibly, another baby in the backseat."

A man accused of violently attacking a 5-year-old girl as she walked down a Cow Hollow street will be sentenced to two years in prison, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said Tuesday.

It was April of this year when prosecutors say that 31-year-old Adras Kosdi approached a woman and her child at the corner of Union and Octavia Streets at 7:40 on a weekday morning.

As reported at the time, Kosdi allegedly "grabbed the girl by the neck, lifted her up and pushed her into a wall."

The girl's mom called 911 immediately, and Kosdi was arrested at the scene. The child, who did not know Kosdi, sustained bruises and a bloody scratch, from which she has recovered.

Kosdi, who told arresting officers that he was homeless and had a medical illness, was initially evaluated to determine whether he was mentally competent to participate in criminal proceedings.

Once he passed that evaluation, it was on to court, where he pleaded not guilty with a certain level of success: According to the Chron, even after the child testified against him, "the jury hung 10-2 in favor of guilt."

Prosecutors were ready to retry the child's alleged assailant, but the Chron reports that they managed to reach a plea deal with Kosdi, instead. On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to felony child abuse, and will be sentenced to two years in state prison as of next month.

“There’s no excuse to assault anyone, ever, but assaulting a 5-year-old girl is cowardly and particularly egregious,” Gascón said in a statement to the Chron.

“I can’t imagine how traumatic this was for the little girl so I commend her for being so brave and having the courage to testify about such a frightening experience.”

Previously: 5-Year-Old Injured In Unprovoked Marina District Attack
Man Accused Of Attack On 5-Year-Old Might Not Face Charges After All

The San Francisco Police Department is asking that you keep your eye out for a 12-year-old San Francisco girl who disappeared on her way to school a bit more than a week ago.

According to San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Officer Albie Esparza, Imani Howell (that's her on the right) left her San Francisco school on Monday, November 10, but didn't make it to class. She never returned home.

Esparza says that police believe that Imani 's been spotted once, on Monday at around 2 p.m., on International Boulevard in Oakland

The 12-year-old is described as standing 5' 4' and weighing about 161 lbs. She has brown eyes and black hair. Imani was last seen wearing black yoga pants, a cut-off shirt, and high heels.

Esparza asks that anyone with information on Imani 's whereabouts contact SFPD anonymously at 415-575-4444 or to text-a-tip to TIP411 with SFPD at beginning of message.

A second Newsom is on the way, folks. Leah Garchik has the scoop.

And on Masonic Street, there's reason for the Newsoms to rejoice (having nothing to do with Larry Ellison). Raise your Christmas Eve glasses tonight to toast Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Gavin Newsom, and baby Montana, who'll become a big sister in June. I'd made some inquiries about this a few months ago, but the first family was shy about it until late Wednesday, when Siebel Newsom called with confirmation. Thursday, mayoral evasion on the issue led Ronn Owens to figure it out.

The baby-in-the-making is a boy, and his due date is June 19, which is Siebel Newsom's birthday. The family plans to keep on living here, in the Upper Haight, while the new lieutenant governor commutes to his job in Sacramento.

An heir to the Newsom throne? Delightful.

Congratulations to the entire Newsom family.

[Chronicle] [SF Appeal]

Newsom spokesman Nathan Ballard just confirmed it.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - February 18, 2009 -- "We are pleased to confirm that Mayor Gavin Newsom and First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom are starting a family. The Mayor and the First Lady are thrilled to be embarking on this adventure together, and they appreciate your good wishes."

Why can he write pregnant or with-child? Are they adopting? Confusing. Anyway, we're getting him or her an Easy-Bake Oven.

Congratulations, G&J.

And congrats, Valleywag, for getting the scoop. (Note to City Insider: Why call it a blog if you don't link to any publications besides your own? Especially since you weren't the first to confirm the story.)

Say it ain't so, Bernie!

Wow. Former Catholic priest and SF radio talk show host has been "indicted on federal child pornography charges," according to the Chronicle.

It seems that the popular KGO 810 AM host turned himself in to authorities earlier today. Although the "specifics of the allegations against him are under seal," said the authorities, we're dying to know exactly what happened. Because: whoa. Like, really.

In addition to being a reporter for KGO, Ward hosts both "the Bernie Ward Show" and "Godtalk." (Bet he yearns for the halcyon days of only having to apologize to the Jewish community.) More -- much, much more -- on this later.

Update: According to Dan Noyes at ABC7:

Ward’s attorney, Doren Weinberg, tells the I-Team the charges relate to Ward’s book project from several years ago. According to Weinberg, Ward was exploring "hypocrisy in America", and decided to look at child porn – how it’s acquired and hidden from society. As part of the research for the book, Weinberg says Ward acquired several images of child porn from websites, and "he exchanged them with adults who do the same thing."

Read more about it here.