The entertaining/controversial Chris Daly, who seems a bit quiet as of late, has a new target now: wafts of cigarette smoke. We're told that his latest push of legislation "calls for a smoking ban outside of restaurants, in waiting areas, within 20 feet of nonresidential buildings," and in common areas of apartment buildings. That is to say, you might have to look elsewhere to spark up that Capri or Virgina Slim while eating out. The Board of Supervisors will vote on the measure come Thursday.

Oh, and we're also told that this is the 59th piece of restaurant-related legislation pushed in 2008.

Also, yes, it's commendable of Daly to introduce yet another ban on rich, smooth, satisfying cigarettes. It's great. And keeps us healthy. Or whatever. If it passes, cool; if not, meh. Are you as chock-full of chic insouciance when it comes to this proposed ban as well? Or do you demand to get your fix in between bites at Orson? [Curbed, via ABC7]

Image of the "pathology of lung showing centrilobular emphysema characteristic of smoking. Closeup of fixed, cut surface shows multiple cavities lined by heavy black carbon deposits. (CDC/Dr. Edwin P. Ewing, Jr., 1973)": Wikicommons

Oh man. Like... wow. This is entertaining, exciting stuff.

Let's back up a bit: It all started last Friday after a not-so-innocent yet fraudulent slate card endorsing Migden boasting the SFBG logo (something SFist knows a little something about) showed up on doorknobs across the city. Of course, SFBG Editor Tim Redmond had to issue a WTF-we-didn't-do-this -shit post.

Also, and get this, Chris Daly was behind said slate card. Redmond says:

I called Sup. Chris Daly, who was behind the card, tonight and told him how unhappy I was, and he said he didn't care. "I'm unhappy, too," he said. "You endorsed Mark Leno, who is not a progressive."

Okay, we can argue that forever, but it's not the point. It's not cool to use the Guardian logo and (I hope) good name and reputation to confuse the voters.

But then in the comments is where it gets good. Real good.

Much to our surprise, the motion that almost allowed our fair Mayor Gavin Newsom to eschew his monthly cameos Board of Supervisor meeting was tabled. That is to say, it was killed. Dead. According to Sweet Melissa recounts today's nail-biting Board of Supes meeting thusly:

Supervisor Daly spoke twice against the motion, at one point reading off a list of donors to the Let's Really Work Together coalition which opposed Prop E. Supervisor Mirkarimi also spoke against the measure, as did Supervisor Dufty who suggested the tabling of the motion (rather than voting it down) because tabling would be the "nicest thing." (Yes, he did.) The motion's sponsor, Supervisor Alioto-Pier, bewildered at the length and intensity of debate on the issue, agreed to table the motion. So, at the Board meeting every third Tuesday of the month there will continue to be an agenda item calling for the Mayor to appear. "Bueller? Bueller?..."

We feel your pain, Gavin. Still, once a month isn't all that bad, is it? Of course not.

And on a more positive, Broadway-ish note? It seems the singing guy made a return to the meetings, crooning a parody of the theme song to Supervisor Aaron Peskin. For the love of God, someone tell us they have footage of it. Please.

Matier & Ross were all over this nugget of news today: bronze plaques will be placed in locations where the city's homeless have died. The "memorials" will be placed in Chris Daly and Ross Mirkarimi's districts, which include the Tenderloin, Civic Center, Haight-Ashbury and Western Addition. Each will be 2 feet by 2 feet "human-shaped plaques" and "[inscribed] with details of the deceased's lives and the circumstances of their deaths," according to the Chron. Let's just hope they don't look like the mockup the Gate created above.

Matier & Ross also couldn't help but get some digs in at both Mirkarimi and Daly, whose districts will be displaying the sidewalk plaques.

... However, it doesn't seem many of the supes bothered to read the resolution before voting "yes."

Mirkarimi, for example, was listed as co-sponsor - but he knew little about the project when we contacted him after the vote, and he referred us to Daly's office.

Great. Not only are we getting odd plaques about homeless people dying on our streets, but our supes barely read the proposal before approval. Perhaps it's a good idea to put up these plaques, but do they have to be "human-shaped"? It takes away from the seriousness of the plaque and makes the whole project seem like some viral Truth campaign or the like.

We'll 'fess up. We haven't been to the Cow Palace since the 2005 Tattoo Expo. With that said, we're a bit torn with how to feel about the possibility of the Cow Palace being demolished. With such historical events as the Beatles playing there and John F. Kennedy speaking to the masses about starting the Peace Corp, on that hand alone, we'd hate to see this place go.

The other hand, however, has to admit that the Cow Palace is an eyesore. The proposal on the table is to allow Daly City to purchase the property and bulldoze to bits redevelop the Cow Palace's 68 acres. According to the Chron, the plan is to "build a grocery store, bank, housing and other projects that will benefit people in the underserved areas - including San Francisco's Visitacion Valley - that border the Cow Palace."

We're all for creating some business for the Visitacion Valley area and helping create a better neighborhood and environment near the Cow Palace. And while we're not die-hard historical site preservationists, we have a soft spot for the Beatles, too. The Chron article has some good arguments for/against the venue that's worth reading over to help confuse you more make up your mind.

Tonight will be a public forum at the Bayshore Community Center at 450 Martin St. in Daly City. If you feel very strongly about the issue, attend and see what has to be said about the proposal. (And let us know how it goes, will ya?)

Hundreds of people whose homes and yards were sprayed in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties from September to December have filed reports that said the pesticide seems to have caused coughing, wheezing, muscle aches and headaches, among other symptoms. One Monterey family reported that a child had a first-time asthma attack.

While reading the article, we imagined that the spray will hit the air around early morning hours to minimize exposure, but the spray time mentioned was 8 p.m in Monterey. Looks like no one will be dining al fresco when the weather gets nicer.

Update: Looks like Sentaor Migden is getting in on the fight and trying to keep pesticides from being sprayed on the masses.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Of course Hillary Clinton is still a formidable candidate, especially in the bigger states. This all adds up to a certain humdinger of an election. This campaign trail is heading right to your doorstep, San Francisco. The establishment vs. the indies -- who will win? Enjoy your evanescent enfranchisement while it lasts!

Oh, the jokes about Chris Daly and/or the Marina bar scene just write themselves -- but seriously, SF Animal Control reports that there's a rabid bat in the Marina. The bat was found alive and wrapped in a towel at Beach, Cervantes, and Mallorca, right off Chestnut Street last Saturday night, and the tests have only just now come back positive for rabies.

If you think you or your pet might have been bitten, call health officials at 415-554-2830 to get tested and if necessary, get shots. If you wrapped the bat in the towel, you should definitely call ASAP!!! You don't have the whole regimen of five bazillion shots in the stomach if you've been exposed to rabies anymore, but if you don't get the vaccine within a very short window of time, the disease will probably be fatal. (We watched a totally terrifying special about rabies on TV last month, so now we're totally freaking out!)

They find about one to five rabid bats in the city of San Francisco every year. Who knew?

Picture of Ozzy Osbourne not biting the head off a bat. There's YouTube footage of the actual bat-biting, but it's actually kind of disturbing, which is why we didn't embed the picture for this post.

We like one of the SFGate commenters' take on the sitch: hit by a car "after getting thrown under the bus by Newsome [sic]." We hit the recommend button on that one! You may recall that Newsom has been pestering Leal to resign, either because she wasn't considered a sufficiently loyal Newsomite (she ran against him for mayor), or because she was pushing for public power. You know, if Newsom actually is cleaning house for his second term, the PUC is not the place where we figured he'd start.
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Newsom's got an alibi, anyways -- he's in Iowa with Hillary Clinton -- but the message has been sent! Chris Daly, be careful out there!

The commission that said no to the Panhandle Bandshell a while back, has just said yes to Segways in Golden Gate Park. Enjoy the Channel 7 video but try not to chuckle at the part that goes, "officials say the Segway's top speed of 12.5 miles per hour is slower than most joggers." (Of course "most joggers" in the park go much slower than 12.5 mph, but oh well.)

This new rule allowing access to the park should be great news for people like the infamous stroller-pushing Segway Mom. They see me rollin'...they hatin', indeed. Look for more celebrities like Amy Tan and Steve Wozniak to be turkey fleeing, book shopping and injury avoiding on Segways. (Yes, that is our spry President George Bush taking a tumble.)

And speaking of injuries, check out this compilation video and also see how you can break three ribs here. If only we were all as skilled as these people. See you out there on your Segway PT!

-- Smell that? It's the stench of awards season underway. And the San Francisco Film Critics Circle nominees are... [Hartlaub, Maximum Strength Mick]

-- Rincon Hill? Is fit to be tied. [Curbed]

-- The Hayward fault is coming to get you, us. [The Snitch]

-- Mark and Carole and Tim and SFist. [SFBG]

-- "[C]od sperm crostini." (Also: barf.) [Eater]

-- Will you buy us this incredibly well lit house? [The Front Steps]

-- That Giuliani guy was in SF. [SFGate]

-- Sandoval to support... [FCJ]

-- ...Daly's affordable housing measure. [Daly Blog]