• Oakland will begin issuing speed-camera citations to speeding drivers Monday, as the 60-day grace period for the cameras has ended. Since the cameras were installed on January 15 — at 18 high-injury hotspots, 140,000 warnings were sent to about 74,000 unique license plates. [KTVU]
• A San Francisco tech worker named Alysa Liu recently had her Instagram account suspended for being an imposter the day after the figure skater warned fans about fake accounts. The SF-based Liu said she does frequently receive messages from fans meant for the figure skater, and she has 180 days to appeal the decision. [KGO]

• Around 3,600 addresses in the Richmond/Sea Cliff neighborhood were without power Sunday morning due to an unplanned PG&E outage starting around 8:54 am, which was fully restored by 12:30 pm. [Chronicle]
• Santa Clara County has begun providing people exiting jail with a 30-day supply of medication, along with extended case management and a treatment plan through Medicaid. [Hoodline]
• The city of San Francisco will be setting up dumpsters in Bayview-Hunters Point on Fridays and issuing steep fines to curb illegal dumping in the neighborhood, which is most frequent on Friday nights, littering the neighborhood with trash and hazardous materials. [KPIX]

• Oakland Restaurant Week is in full swing through March 22, featuring a variety of delectable gourmet dishes, prix-fixe menus, and lunch deals from over 135 restaurants — remember to tip your wait staff well! [KQED]
• The Brides of March took over San Francisco Saturday, along with a plethora of St. Patrick’s Day festivities. [Stories in SF/Instagram]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

The cause of Iraqi refugees, thousands of whom aided the U.S. military during the Iraq War in exchange for visas, was much in the news in the last 24 hours. There was this NPR story about Iraqi interpreters who are stuck in Iraq, waiting for the American bureaucracy to give them their due, meanwhile hiding out in their homes because militants would like to see them dead for having cooperated with Americans. Then the Chron publishes a story about Iraqi refugees who got visas and were provided places to live by the government, only to find that those places — mostly in East Oakland — were more hellish and dangerous than Iraq.

"Had I known about this place, I'd never have agreed to come," says one 33-year-old refugee, Oday Fatah, who hails from Baghdad and was relocated to the Fruitvale area. Another refugee, Ghazwan Al-Sharif — whose sister was brutally attacked in Iraq and his family threatened because of his job as an interpreter — was beaten and mugged in the Fruitvale, and later attempted suicide. After these incidents, he was given new housing in the Tenderloin. Refugees like Fatah and Al-Sharif are at the mercy of the nonprofit International Rescue Committee which works with the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration to resettle the refugees. They often choose places like East Oakland because they are not only cheap, but they're diverse, and they offer some possibility for the refugees to pay their own rent — something they must do within a couple of months of resettlement.

Of the 60,000 Iraqi refugees to settle in the U.S. since 2003, some 14,000 have done so in California.

NPR also had a related story by one of their Baghdad producers, himself a former interpreter who gave up the job because it was too dangerous, and became a journalist instead. He remains in Baghdad, and sounds fairly scared now that there are "no American boots in Iraq."

[NPR]
[Chron]

After hurling his black dress shoes at President George Bush last week, Muntader al-Zaidi, a journalist for an independent Iraqi television station, is being hailed as somewhat of a hero. (Word is that he was given an award for courage in Libya.) Also, according to Tim Redmond over at SFBG, just after tossing his heels, Muntader al-Zaidi had the proverbial crap kicked out of him.

Iraqi security forces have beaten him pretty badly -- they "kicked him and beat him until he was crying like a woman,” said Mohammed Taher, a reporter for Afaq, a television station owned by the Dawa Party. You can hear him howling on the YouTube video; it's almost painful to listen.

While saying it's dead wrong to throw anything at a president, Redmond goes on to suggest that we "call on Bush to ask the prime minister of Iraq to pardon Muntader al-Zaidi" (which, really, would be a much-needed gentlemanly gesture on Bush's part.) And we agree, but only because anyone who provides such top-notch entertainment should be pardoned.

But what say you? Take our poll to find out if you're a pinko commie tool or an apologist for tortured journalists.

Around 150 protesters were arrested during yesterday's anti-war protest -- "a lesson on how to do it right," raves C.W. Nevius! -- during a rally that was, for the most part, a peaceful affair. Although a few hooligans hurled glass Christmas ornaments loaded with paint at San Francisco police, which seems a bit unnecessary considering how tolerant the police force here acts compared to larger cities such as Los Angeles, people were rather friendly compared to protests in the past. Scrumptious birthday cake, emblazoned with the message "Unhappy 5th Birthday Stop the War Now," oranges, and coffee were handed out to hungry passers-by.

Aw.

Oh, and you remember yesterday's momentary shutdown at the Third and Market intersection? Turns out it was because of the Collective Liberation, a clan that helps fights racism. Some of its members were arrested at the intersection. According to CBS 5, they claim that it was a demonstration "to give a voice to those who didn't have one."

Huh.

And proving himself to be a repeat offender, and that life on the outside is just too much to handle, former mayoral candidate and activist/blogger Josh Wolf was arrested again at the Third and Market protest.

Our buddies over at Curbed just received word that things are getting zany at Market and Montgomery, gangland territory for the messenger community. In yet another of moment of annoying and effective-free protest happening around the city today, cyclists and gimmicky Code Pink are currently acting up. Check it:

The scene surrounding Market and Montgomery Streets has turned tense as what was a peaceful protest has erupted into a confrontation between police and the usual suspects: hipster radical bikers and Code Pink. According to our on-the-ground informant, a team of earnest 10-speeders just bombed into the intersection, circling incessantly and blocking traffic as Code Pinkers jumped around with their pink boas and screamed a lot. Or something.

Also: this? Is insane. And, in typical fashion, misguided. If anyone wanted to have a lasting impact, then they would head over to, say, Presidio Terrace where they might actually find an actual living and breathing Republican who disagrees with them. Or better yet: carpool to Tracy, Stockton, Fresno, etc. and try to change some minds.

Image credit: Curbed

Congressman Tom Lantos died this morning from esophageal cancer at the age of 80. He represented most of the Sunset, as well as a big chunk of San Mateo County. He was the only survivor of the Holocaust to be elected to Congress, and worked for years on human rights issues. That said, he ticked off quite a few people locally by supporting the Iraq war, although he had recently been pretty critical of the way things were going Over There. Before he died, he endorsed State Sen. Jackie Speier as his successor - no word yet on whether the Governator will decide to hold a special election (that would be our fourth of the year if he does) to replace him.

If you're leaving a comment about Rep. Lantos and how he lived, please respect the dead, ok?

Let's get right to the question for it is most pressing, shall we? An SFist reader asks:

When should you give up your college email address? I see this from friends who graduated years ago, and it's annoying.

Agreed. While not on par with the war in Iraq or the under-salting of dishes, people who insist on keeping their alma mater's email address, ones usually containing a prestigious suffix, should give them up, say, no later than a year after graduation or dropping out. After that, it's a virtual Lexus emblem.

Any thoughts?

This morning a press conference was held in front to City Hall about this Saturday's March to End the War Now. The parade (grumble), which will start at City Hall and drain into Dolores Park (next to the worldwide Michael Jackson choreography routine), will be honored with its own day. It seems that the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution making October 27 "End the War in Iraq" Day (and that day only.) Hopefully, Newsom won't wuss out, look forward into the re-election future of offices to come, and pull the resolution like he recently did with el Snoop Dogg.

What's more, we hope for a few more things: that the protest is less a social-gathering-of-the-year and more of, well, a protest; that our local politicos running for office can get along for at least one day to showboat together in harmony at DP; and that the "Thriller" routine is spot-on and flawless. One false step, and you've ruined it for everyone.

The protest starts Saturdqay at 11 a.m. at City Hall. Find out more about it here. (An aside: How many more times will we have to see that black & white shot of the crying girl? Be careful before she turns into lolcryinggurl.)


Image: IndyBay / Bill Hackwell