When asked for the real reason why Susan Leal was forced out as head of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom, Susan Leal said: more ›

Without providing an answer for firing San Francisco Public Utilities Commission chief Susan Leal, the SFPUC officially sacked her this morning after a nine-minute closed door City Hall meeting. As part of her severance package, she will receive a delightful $400,000. The former city treasurer was asked to pack up and get the hell out last December as part of Newsom's second-term staff cuts. more ›

-- Van Halen jumps. [SFGate] more ›

Did she find a horse's head in her office chair the day before? Embattled Susan Leal, who's refused to bow to pressure from Gavin Newsom to resign her position as the general manager of the SF Public Utilities Commission, was hit by a car outside City Hall as she was leaving meetings just before noon today. She was rushed to the hospital, where they found she was okay, if a little shaken. more ›

-- Coit Tower murals. Just loverly. [WhatImSeeing] more ›

Although her contract ends in 2009, former SF Mayoral candidate and current San Francisco Public Utilities Commission chief Susan Leal might get the ax, according to Cecilia M. Vega over at the Chronicle. Her removal could kickoff a bloodbath of staff cuts by Newsom. And although her dismissal would need approval by committee, this seems like a done deal. According to the article: Leal received a telephone call Friday evening from Newsom's chief of... more ›

So San Francisco's Department of the Environment-- you know we had one didn't you?-- has come out with their plans to make this city go green. Or more like cutting down on those nasty, nasty greenhouse gases so we can cut emissions to pre-1990 levels. The report was called for by Gavin as part of his Climate Action Plan, which he introduced in 2004. more ›

Months ago Gavin talked up the idea of placing turbines into the Bay to generate energy for the city and on Monday, he made it official. At a press conference at Crissy Field, Gavin and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Susan Leal announced that they will begin the initial stages of getting this thing going. The turbines supposedly will create 38 megawatts of power, or enough to power 38,000 homes. more ›

This is how WE roll. But first, some sad news…minutes after the end of the 49ers/Broncos pre-season game, Niner offensive lineman Thomas Herrion collapsed and was pronounced dead upon arrival at a Denver hospital. The autopsy results were inconclusive and it could take weeks to determine the cause of death. Herrion is not the first football player to die during the season as heat, atmospheric conditions and the huge size of football players can be somtimes be a toxic mix. He was 23. And here's an update on the exploding transformer -An angry Gavin demanded an investigation into the cause of the explosion and called for accountability on PG&E's part. Quoth the Gavin: "enough is enough. Excuses be damned, there will be accountability." And in a statement that will warm the cockels of Bruce Brugmann’s heart, Susan Leal, the head of the Public Utilities Committee, says that these type of incidents made her even more determined to "aggressively look at alternatives" to PG&E. In response, PG&E has annnounced that they'll soon inspect all 540 of the city's transformer vaults to make sure there won't be any more explosions. The poor woman injured in all this is still in critical condition at burn center at St. Francis but is said to be doing better. more ›

Last week's winner. the SF Weekly. Yikes, a free AOL cd fell out of our weekly! Throw it away. Hey, a letter about Mission Housing from one of our commenters, Jim Ausman! Moving up into print media, Jim, we like it! Cover article: one of those SF Weekly Card Games (tm), this time for baseball. We do not have time in this life to read Meredith Brody's thoughts on Cuba, but the other food columnist has a dandy time ordering lots of different dumplings at the Shanghai Dumpling Shop. Nate throws a good party and the Bravery is already overhyped. New Hot Band Stars! (Canada: the new Seattle!) And Savage Love: people who send out mixed signals. The Guardian: Does Susan Leal love public power now? A seven point test. Dufty and Alioto-Pier take on the Chris Daly TIC machine -- fight! fight! Trying to reduce the murder rate in the city. Cover article: Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you (9/11 edition). Annalee Newitz has a good time at the emerging technology conference. Dan Leone makes no fricken sense yet again. New Hot Band Stars! (Canada: The New Seattle!) And Kim Chun has a good time at SXSW. No EBXs made it to our usual pickup point this week, but we have the Metro and the Weekly of the Week after the jump. more ›

At the beginning of the year, our earnest Boy Wonder of a Mayor said that in the spirit of sharing the pain of the inevitable budget cuts, he would cut his own salary 15% percent. The total amount of his cut? $25,000 -- taking his salary down from the $168,867 being Mayor pays. Sure living on a salary around $140,000 isn't that difficult. And sure it's easy to give up money when you're already rich. Or the wife has a high-paying gig. Or you have the Gettys around in case you need a few bucks. But we appreciate the effort. He then called on other high-wage earners who worked for the City Government to do the same thinking that if others followed suit, that $25,000 the Mayor was saving could turn into much more, $10,000,000 more. Considering how bad the cuts are turning out to be, that little could still mean a lot. more ›

Oh, San Francisco Board of Supervisors Class of 1995 -- where are you now? more ›