• A federal judge in Missouri dismissed a lawsuit filed by the sister of OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who’s nine years younger, alleging he sexually abused her as a child — due to the statute of limitations expiring in 2008. The judge did however say she could refile the claim under Missouri's Childhood Sexual Abuse statute, while also approving a counter suit from Sam Altman against his sister for defamation. [Reuters]
• Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputies took a suspect into custody in Lafayette after they found a dead body while conducting a welfare check Saturday morning. [SFGate]
• Fremont police arrested a man who allegedly rammed the car multiple times of the mother of his one-year-old son while the child was in the car. [KRON4]
• Children's entertainer Ms. Rachel recently announced she’s begun working to free children from ICE detention centers and aims to force the closure of the Dilley location in Denver, with the help of lawyers and activists. [NBC News]
• Steph Curry will be back participating in full team practices soon, as he's missed 21 consecutive Warriors games while recovering from a knee injury, and he’s scheduled for an evaluation Tuesday. [KPIX]
• Spring is here! Behold, two colorful and up-close-and-personal vignettes of Saturday’s spectacular Tulip Day at SF’s Union Square. [OnlyInSF, nanaraya_ / Instagram]

• Merih Fssha Solomon, 47, of Walnut Creek was arrested in connection with the crash that killed a two-year-old and injured her mother in SF’s Mission Bay earlier this month. Solomon was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, red light violation, and failure to yield to pedestrians. [NBC Bay Area]
• The family of Sean Monterrosa of San Francisco received a multi-million dollar settlement from the city of Vallejo over the killing of  Monterrosa by a police officer in 2020, who said he mistook the hammer in Monterrosa’s pocket for a gun. [KRON4]
• The San Francisco Zoo announced it’s eliminating a “small number of positions” amid financial challenges following a scandalous 2024 report that revealed leadership struggles and concerns surrounding animal welfare and employee safety. [Chronicle]

National:

• Thousands were told to evacuate immediately and hundreds were rescued amid severe flash-flooding on Hawaii’s Oahu Island, as a local dam is on the verge of collapsing. [CNN]
• The FDA announced the recall of almost 90,000 bottles of children's liquid ibuprofen made by Strides Pharma for Taro Pharmaceuticals, with the product number D-0390-2026, after the company received complaints they contained "a gel-like mass and black particles." [Associated Press]
• CBS News is shutting down its radio division in May after 100 years in business, and all jobs in the department will be eliminated. [CBS]

Video of the Day:

As thousands prepare to descend upon Union Square for Tulip Day Saturday — early, we suggest, check out this cool video of crews setting up the spectacular installation this week.

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Thousands of flower lovers will be lining up Saturday to receive eight free tulips at Union Square’s annual “Tulip Day,” which is held annually in honor of International Women’s Day, and it’s advised to get there early, since, naturally, long lines and snarled traffic are to be expected.

Union Square’s annual Tulip Day returns Saturday, featuring a free public giveaway of 80,000 tulips — eight per person — sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. The event marks the start of Union Square in Bloom, as Bay City News reports, featuring floral displays, food, and themed cocktails from nearby businesses.

The tulips are grown in the United States using bulbs sourced from the Netherlands, continuing a floral tradition that dates back to the first Tulip Festival in 1929 in Holland, Michigan, according to a Union Square Alliance press release.

“Each year, Tulip Day draws thousands of residents and visitors to Union Square, bringing great energy to the heart of our city,” said Mayor Lurie in the release. “I’m thrilled for the return of Tulip Day this March as we continue working hand-in-hand with the Union Square Alliance to drive foot traffic, support local businesses, and accelerate our downtown recovery.”

As to be expected, the influx of visitors means long lines and gridlocked traffic downtown, so attendees are advised to get there early. As NBC Bay Area reports, the line starts at 9 am ahead of the gates opening at 1 pm.

Last year, KTVU spoke to Sarah and Phillipa Colborne of San Francisco who got to the event at sunrise after missing the previous year’s event due to the long lines. "We were people-watching while the sun came up, and it’s just fun. It’s worth making the effort," they said.

In 2024, NBC Bay Area spoke to Woodland resident Ruth Delemos, who had also missed the previous year’s festivities and made sure to got there early the second time around.

“Last year we came and we missed out, because there were so many people,” Delemos said. “We gave up, and went to the store and got tulips. This year, we planned it a lot better. It’s absolutely stunning. What a great community thing to do.”

Image: Union Square Alliance

Related: Go Get Some Free Tulips In Union Square On Saturday

This week: The SF Columbarium, tulip season, Silicon Valley repair cafes, Marin dad punk band, and an Iranian-American fashion line. Plus: finding unique SF trees, connecting with deceased loved ones, and author Kate Schatz’s new novel focusing on the fight for women’s rights in 1960s SF.

Where the city keeps its ghosts

When you step inside the San Francisco Columbarium, the noise of Geary Boulevard fades into a kind of quiet museum of lives once lived. The 1898 structure is one of the last surviving pieces of San Francisco’s old cemetery system, after most burial grounds were cleared and moved to Colma in the early 1900s.

Inside the copper-domed building, thousands of niches hold urns alongside personal mementos — photographs, letters, trinkets — turning the walls into a patchwork of family memory. The Richmond District landmark is open to visitors daily from sunrise to sunset. — GhoulHost/City Days

Trees near you

San Francisco tree fans have a handy way to spot notable specimens around the city. This map of landmark trees, which works on mobile, displays nearby rare or historic trees wherever you are.

The map inspires users to discover unusual trees hidden in spots they might otherwise walk past. — SF Tree Guy/Instagram

Calls into the wind

Near Ocean Beach, a small booth known as the Heaven Phone invites people to speak to loved ones who’ve passed on. Visitors drop a stone into a tube, lift the receiver, and look through a butterfly-shaped window toward the sea while the wind carries their words.

The installation sits at the ocean’s edge near Ortega Street, offering a brief, personal pause along the beach. — Whimsy Soul/Instagram

Dadpunk in the minivan lane

A group of Marin fathers has turned the daily chaos of parenting into a scrappy punk project called Le Minivans. Frontman Matt Swanson — who once played in Oakland dream-pop band Minipop — writes many of the songs while waiting in school pickup lines, turning routine domestic moments into fast, cathartic riffs.

The band formed in 2018 with four other local dads, leaning into what they call “dad punk,” where the stakes are low and the material comes straight from everyday life. Le Minivans will be performing Saturday evening, March 7 at Smiley's Schooner Saloon in Bolinas. — Marin Independent Journal

Second life for small things

Instead of throwing away broken appliances or torn clothing, some Bay Area residents are heading to pop-up repair events where volunteers take a crack at fixing them on the spot. Repair Café Silicon Valley sets up at libraries and community centers, pairing visitors with experienced “fixers” who troubleshoot everything from hair dryers to ripped seams.

Each person can bring two items, and most repairs wrap up in about half an hour once a station opens. Upcoming gatherings include March 14 at Willow Glen Community Center in San Jose, March 29 at Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, and April 26 at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto. — Bay Area Toddler Explorer/Instagram

Tulips by the windmill

Spring color is spreading across the lawn at Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden, beside the park’s historic Dutch windmill, where thousands of tulips are reaching their peak this month. The small garden sits near the western edge of Golden Gate Park and fills with bright rows of blooms each March, many planted from bulbs sent by Dutch growers.

Just steps away, the towering Dutch Windmill — built in 1902 to pump water for the park — still anchors the landscape after its restoration decades ago. — Secret San Francisco

Threads of freedom

Bay Area siblings Kristin Vartan and filmmaker Sean Ansari Vartan carry a family story shaped by exile. Their mother fled Iran as a teenager after the Iranian Revolution, when strict dress codes and public expression tightened under the new regime. One keepsake remains — a prom dress sewn by their grandmother that Kristin still wears today.

The pair channel that history into their creative project, Style Speaks, exploring how clothing and movement tell personal stories. Their work reflects both grief for those still living under repression and gratitude for the freedom to create here. — KPIX

Letters never sent

In her new novel, author Kate Schatz of Rad Women fame visits 1968 San Francisco, where a high school senior’s brief brush with the Fillmore’s counterculture leads to an unplanned pregnancy and a quiet exile to a private maternity home. Where the Girls Were, from The Dial Press, draws on Schatz’s own family history and the thousands of young women who were sent away under a veil of secrecy before Roe and reliable birth control were widely accessible.

Through clipped letters and institutional rules, the novel traces the tension between the tumultuous time period — assassinations, anti-war protests, the Summer of Love — and the rigid expectations still governing “good girls” at home. — KQED

Top image: Kate Schatz/Instagram

Previously: Field Notes: ‘Run’ Club Comedy, Too Short’s ‘Blow the Whistle,’ and Black History on the Pacific

SFist provided you with a rundown of the plethora of St. Patrick’s Day festivities, which started over the weekend and will continue through Monday.

Here are a few more things happening this week, March 17-23.

Free Tulips at Union Square

• Spring is almost here, and so are the free tulips at Union Square. The square will be decked out with 80,000 tulips grown from Dutch bulbs in celebration of American Tulip Day. Head on over on Saturday afternoon and grab a small bouquet of stems to take home. Last year there were six free tulips provided per person, but it’s unclear how many will be available this year. Expect long lines.

Screaming Queens Documentary

• The Tenderloin Museum and Frameline Film Festival are hosting a rare screening of the documentary, Screaming Queens, at the Roxie on Wednesday. The documentary chronicles the historic 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria riot, a pivotal moment in trans history that predates Stonewall. (The site of Compton’s at Turk and Taylor in the Tenderloin recently received two historic designations.)
  
  After the film, there will be a Q&A with the filmmakers, Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman. Advance tickets are sold out, but there might be tickets available at the door if you get there early.

Books and Bikes on Clement Street

• The SF Bike Coalition and Spokes + Folks are hosting a bike-centric event in front of Green Apple Books during the quarterly Clement Street Art Walk on Thursday. Beloved mobile library, Biblioteca Bicicleta, will be on location, and there will be giveaways and other activities.

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Bay Area Living Legends Burlesque Weekend

• The Bay Area burlesque community comes together for the annual Bay Area Legends Challenge, a weekend-long fundraiser for sending retired performers to Las Vegas’s big Burlesque Hall of Fame event in June. This weekend’s events include a variety of showcases, as well as a brunch and a workshop series.

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Free Bayview Game Fest

• Local gaming enthusiasts are invited to the first annual Bayview Game Fest on Saturday, which is free and open to all skill levels. Participants can compete for prizes by demonstrating their skills at NBA 2K25 and Mario Kart and learn about the world of gaming, including careers and content creation and streaming.

Image: Larry Zhou/Ghetty Images