A teacher at a Richmond Elementary school was told by school authorities to go on a leave. So what did she do? Go quietly and spend her time wasting away in Margaretville? Nope She refused to leave campus, went all "Fight the Power" with her kids, and then used a girl as a shield when the police came. more ›

This was first mentioned in a Leah Garchik column, but we have actual first-hand knowledge of CapGate from someone who was involved in l'affaire. Our story began last week when a mens softball team headed off to the Connecticut Yankee for some post-game celebratory drinks. As is softball players' wont as the Yankee is known as a sports bar and a good home for wayward New Englanders. So the group began to order and when the last person, a person who was most definitely wearing their baseball cap backwards, ordered, the bartender told him that they wouldn't serve him unless he turned his cap around. When the guy protested, the bartender announced to all of the backwards baseball cap wearers in the group that none of them would be served again unless they all turned their caps around. Some stayed (hey, they already paid for their drinks), some left in protest. more ›

The Asian-American civil rights community has lost a hero with the passing of Fred Korematsu yesterday in his daughter's home in Marin. Korematsu, an American citizen and Bay Area resident, was 22 years old when FDR ordered the internment of all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Reluctant to leave his Italian-American girlfriend, Korematsu refused to go, and was arrested. He then sued, claiming that the internment camps violated his right to equal protection under the law. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, and established, in Korematsu v. United States, the principle that lasts until today, that the government must provide a compelling reason before race-based classifications will be upheld. Ironically, despite the strong language, the Supreme Court found that FDR's justification of a possible threat by the Japanese was in fact a compelling reason to justify incarceration of over 100,000 American citizens. The Korematsu decision is widely considered an embarrassment of American jurisprudence, and most recently, has been cited as a cautionary tale by the Muslim-American community in the wake of 9/11. In 1983, Korematsu, through the Asian Law Caucus, sued in San Francisco federal court to reopen his case and clear his name, and won. He spent the rest of his life dedicated to ensuring that injustices like the ones he faced would never happen again. We'll keep his memory alive. Picture of Fred Korematsu with Rosa Parks by Shirley Nakao and Asianweek more ›

As expected, the Municipal Transit Authorities proposal to increase fares by $.25 went over as well as Tara Reid's attempt to play a brainy archeologist in her new movie. So far, it's led to a protest, a rowdy committee hearing and some waffling on the part of the Gavster. Not to mention some spirited debate on SFist. The proposed fare increases are in an attempt to try and close a projected deficit of over $50 million for the upcoming year. more ›