• Pam Moore, who anchored at KRON4 for more than 30 years, was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame on Friday. During the ceremony, she announced $50,000 in new college scholarships for students in Detroit and the Bay Area. [KRON4]
• Lawyers in San Francisco are using habeas corpus petitions to quickly free asylum-seekers detained at immigration court. One 20-year-old Colombian man was released three days after his arrest. [Mission Local]
• Oakland police arrested a man they suspect shot at officers on the 1000 block of West Grand Avenue around 1:30 a.m. Friday morning after they were called to a domestic dispute incident involving one adult and two children. [KPIX]
• Eli's Mile High Club is raising funds to keep the bar open during their ongoing zoning dispute with the city of Oakland. [GoFundMe]

National:

• Walmart has settled a lawsuit filed by district attorneys in Santa Clara, San Diego, Sonoma and San Bernardino counties alleging they violated the California’s False Advertising and Unfair Competition Laws. The company paid $5.6 million in a suit that claimed the company charged customers for baked goods and produce that weighed less than labeled. [Bay Area News Group]
• Voters in Lincoln, Nebraska grilled Republican Rep. Mike Flood at a packed town hall this week, including one woman whose smackdown quickly went viral. Flood later dismissed the crowd as “unrepresentative” and defended the Medicaid cuts as necessary. [NPR]

• The recent wave of dildo-throwing incidents at WNBA games may be linked to a stunt by promoters of a new memecoin, whose value has spiked since the incidents began. [New York Times]

Video of the Day:

• A trio of young musicians from Marin — 18-year-old Gus Mehrkam and brothers Kai and Manoa Neukermans, 21 and 17 — take the stage at Outside Lands Friday night as shoegaze band, Midrift, before they embark on their tour across the US and the UK. Check out one of their videos featuring what appear to be some scenic North Bay views. [SFGate]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Police were called to the scene at a San Leandro Walmart on Sunday afternoon following reports of a robbery and found a man just inside the store entrance wielding a baseball bat.

It turned out there was no robbery taking place, but San Leandro police arrived just after 3:30 p.m. and confronted the man, who can be seen in Twitter video of the incident continuing to hold onto the bat as officers aimed weapons at him. He allegedly threatened one or both of the police officers, and one of them shot him in the torso. He can be seen walking away from the officers after the shot was fired, and then dropping the bat just before collapsing on the floor.

The man has been identified as 33-year-old Steven Demarco Taylor of San Leandro, as KTVU reports.

In a statement to media, Lt. Ted Henderson of the San Leandro Police Department said, "Both officers deployed their tasers which was not successful. After those deployments, one officer fired one shot. The report is he was swinging a bat. We don't know how close he was to the officer."

Lt. Henderson further said, per ABC 7, "If there is a taser deployment, there has to be some type of perceived threat and this is an active threat."

A shopper at the store told ABC 7 that it was fairly crowded at the time of the incident. "It's scary. I was at the back of the store and all I heard was a bunch of people running," she said. And another anonymous shopper tells KTVU that some people thought there might be an active shooter situation. "Not knowing what’s going on you get kind of a lot of emotions, lotta fear," the shopper said. "You kind of want to cry just kind of based on the history that we have with active shooters..."

Reportedly, 20 witnesses are being interviewed in connection with the shooting. As the Chronicle reports, three investigations are now underway: an administrative review of the shooting, a criminal investigation, and an independent investigation by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

It remains unclear why Taylor was swinging the bat or how the incident began.

In a caper that could only happen at a Walmart, San Leandro police thwarted a Monster heist of energy drinks where the accused scared off security by saying he was a coronavirus carrier.

San Francisco does not have a Walmart, so many of us in this fair city are oblivious to the rich tapestry of humanity that the chain discount hypermarket stores attract. As the crow flies, the closest Walmart to us is located in San Leandro, with another one about three miles south of there in San Lorenzo. It is at that San Lorenzo Walmart from whence KPIX brings us the story of a man who allegedly shoplifted $780 worth of energy drinks, and managed to scare off security guards by falsely claiming he was infected with coronavirus.

It is not disclosed in the San Leandro police report of the incident exactly how they knew he “falsely claimed to be sick with COVID-19.” But maybe this is one way of getting a free coronavirus test?

Per that police report, that mask-wearing man was Serrell Gordon of Oakland. His scheme did initially work; upon loading the inexplicable loot of nearly $800 in brand name caffeinated soft drinks, he made for the Walmart exit. Loss prevention staff initially tried to stop him, at which point the claimed he had the dread highly infectious virus and security backed the eff off.

“Fearing the risk of contracting the virus if they apprehended Gordon, Walmart loss prevention staff backed away from Gordon and allowed him to leave with the stolen merchandise,” according to the San Leandro police report. “Walmart loss prevention then notified SLPD and provided a description of Gordon and the vehicle he was in when he fled the scene.”

This wacky incident took place on March 17, the first day of the shelter in place orders, which also applied to the Alameda County location where this Walmart energy drink heist occurred. The accused beverage burglar is currently in custody at the Santa Rita Jail on $60,000 bail

Related: Workers at Still-Open, ‘Essential’ Businesses Face High Risk, Low Financial Reward [SFist]

Image: AlienFood via Wikimedia Commons

If you picked up some vegetables in the past few weeks or so, then you should double check to see if your purchases ended up in this massive recall. Mann Packing in Salinas has issued a recall for vegetables sold in the United States and Canada, mostly from Walmart, Safeway/Albertsons and Trader Joe's grocery stores, reports KRON 4. The recall is over listeria outbreak concerns, as a random sampling of some of Mann Packing's products tested positive for the bacteria. There haven't been any reported cases of people falling ill from consuming any contaminated product, but it's better to be safe than sorry, of course.

One way to tell if your purchase is part of the recall is to check the "best by" date. Affected products have a best by date that reads anywhere between October 11th and 20th. If you suspect that your product may be contaminated, you can check the Food and Drug Administration's full report, which has brand names, descriptions, and UPC codes. The Chron also created a helpful, condensed list of the recalled products:

United States:

Walmart store brand Broccoli Florets; Broccoli Cauliflower Florets; Broccoli Slaw; Stir Fry Medley; Cauliflower Florets; Cauliflower; Super Blend and Vegetable Medley.

Trader Joe's store brand Kohlrabi Salad Blend.

Aldi store brand Little Salad Bar Broccoli Florets and Broccoli Slaw.

Safeway and Albertson's store brand, Signature Farms, Meat & Cheese Tray; Broccoli Cauliflower Florets; Broccoli Slaw; Broccoli Stir Fry; Broccoli Florets; Veggie Tray with Ranch Dip; Vegetable Medley; and Veggie & Hummus Tray.

H-E-B store brand Broccoli Carrots; Broccoli Cauliflower; Broccoli Florets; Broccoli Slaw; Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad; Veggie Toss Kit; Caulibit Mushroom Sauce; Caulibits Chopped Cauliflower; Cauliflower Florets; Fiesta Salad; Power Slaw; Stir Fry Medley; and Vegetable Medley.

Archer Farms Broccoli Florets; Broccoli Cauliflower Florets; Broccoli Slaw; Broccoli Medley; Cauliflower Florets; Brussels Sprouts; and Shaved Brussels Sprouts.

Cross Valley Farms restaurant food service bags of Shaved Brussels Sprouts; Cauliflower Florets; Spiral Cut Kohlrabi; and Superfood Slaw.

Sysco Natural restaurant food service bags of Broccoli Cole Slaw.

If you have any of the above products, then the FDA advises that you either discard it immediately or return it to its point of purchase for a full refund. Mann Packing also says that if you have any other questions, you can reach out to them at 1-888-470-2681 or visit veggiesmadeeasy.com/products.

According to the CDC, listeria has a variety of symptoms associated with it, though it can often cause fever or diarrhea like many other foodborne illnesses. Pregnant women, older folks, and people with weakened immune systems are especially at risk for further infection if exposed to listeria or listeriosis.

Related: SF Restaurants Might Have Served Hepatitis-Tainted Fish

Betty Dukes, the woman who led a class-action civil rights lawsuit against Walmart that reached the Supreme Court in 2011, has died at age 67. As the Associated Press reports, Dukes passed away on July 10 at her home in Antioch, and she had been working for Walmart up until last year.

Dukes was the lead plaintiff in the case, Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which first reached federal district court in San Francisco in 2001. She argued that after six years of working for the chain she had been denied training and the ability to get promoted, and that Walmart systemically paid women less than their male counterparts, and promoted men at faster rates. The case sought to represent all 1.6 million female employees of the store chain, making it the largest gender bias class-action lawsuit in U.S. history.

The case was affirmed twice by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, however divided panels of judges repeatedly split over whether the plaintiffs' class could be certified — given the wide variability of the 1.6 million plaintiffs' circumstances.

The Supreme Court in 2011 would later rule unanimously that the class could not be certified as comprised, however they split in a 5-4 decision over whether the class action could proceed in some other form, with the conservative end of the court siding with Walmart's attorneys and prevailing. The case was therefore dismissed, and Betty Dukes continued working for Walmart for another five years.

Justice Scalia wrote for the majority that the plaintiffs' evidence, which relied heavily on statistics and talk of the corporate culture, was too weak and "worlds away from ‘significant proof’ that Wal-Mart ‘operated under a general policy of discrimination.’ ”

The New Yorker's Jeffrey Toobin wrote of the case at the time, "The conservatives on the Roberts Court have a well-earned reputation for hostility to civil plaintiffs of all kinds, and especially those who raise civil-rights claims. But it’s worth noting that there was a good degree of ideological agreement in this case — that there are some things simply beyond the abilities of our federal courts. And cases with a million plaintiffs are among them."

Dukes established a small foundation, the Betty Dukes Foundation, that accepted donations to help her activism in the cause of the betterment of the lives of marginalized workers.

Walmart has repeatedly come under fire over low wages, poor treatment of workers, and lack of adequate health insurance for its staff. Though Dukes's lawsuit was ultimately unsuccessful, Walmart was forced to settle 63 separate lawsuits in 2008 related to wage violations in 42 states.

Related: SF Indie Online Retailer ModCloth Sold To Walmart

At an all-hands meeting at its San Francisco headquarters Wednesday, the CEO of online independent clothing retailer ModCloth, Matthew Kaness, disclosed to his staff that the company had been sold to another online retailer, Jet.com. Walmart announced last August that it had acquired Jet, a fast-growing e-commerce site. Jezebel reported news of the sale, which they write will be formally announced tomorrow, disclosing that current ModCloth employees received offer letters from Walmart yesterday and adding that the deal is said to be closing today.

ModCloth, a darling among customers for its feminist, body-positive credo, was co-founded by Susan Gregg Koger and Eric Koger in 2002. An advocate for equal pay and representation for women, Gregg Koger wrote that she and many of her colleagues would take the day off recently to participate in the International Women's Strike.

"As the founder of a business that sells to and employs women (in fact, 64% of our workforce is female), it has always been important to me that ModCloth supports women, too. That is part of why the “gender pay gap” is a deeply personal issue for me." By contrast, Jezebel points out that Walmart was sued for discrimination based on gender in 2011 in a case that made its way to the Supreme Court before it was sent to back down to a lower court.

Like many other San Francisco-based companies, ModCloth, which employs more than 350 people at its SF, LA, and Pittsburgh offices, was founded in a college dorm room (this one at Carnegie Mellon). Of late, financial difficulties have led to rounds of layoffs employees reportedly refer to as "reapings" for their frequency in a reference to the brutal lottery of the Hunger Games.

"When I think about the quality of people I‘ve met at Jet and their ambitions and how it aligns with ours,” Kaness reportedly says in a recording of the meeting provided to Jezebel. "And when when I think about their parent company Walmart, who has the resources — but also has when you’ve spent time researching it and understanding it, they’ve spent a lot of time working on corporate responsibility and environmental initiatives and opportunities for their employees and their careers. I think there’s a lot of overlap culturally with what they’re about and what we’re about. I think over time this is going to become an incredible marriage.” Here, some in the room were said to have been laughing uncomfortably.

Related: SF's 13 Best Local Fashion Labels

• Vacaville police are looking for a woman accused of grabbing women's groins in three separate incidents at Walmart over the last couple of days. [KRON 4]
  
• Uber drivers vastly outnumber Lyft drivers — but the latter say they are happier and better paid. [SF Chronicle]
  
• San Francisco continues to have the highest-paying tech jobs. [SF Business Times]
  
• Adobe Books was robbed for the second time this year on Monday night. [Mission Local]
  
• Officer who shot Tatiana the tiger among those promoted at SFPD. [SF Examiner]
  
• The San Francisco Ethics Commission, long criticized for lax policing of ethics rules, campaign regulations and whistle-blower complaints, has a growing backlog of cases because it has no full-time investigators. [SF Chronicle]
  
• Munchery, which just laid a ton of people off, now says they are going national. OK! [Eater]
  
• Bomb threat empties San Rafael JCC. [KRON 4]
  
• Twitter is phasing out their “Buy” button. [TechCrunch]
  
• Theranos failed a second lab inspection but didn't tell anyone. [Wall Street Journal]

The horror show of Black Friday is over, and of course brawls broke out in various parts of the country as they always do. But things turned deadly Thanksgiving night outside a Reno Walmart when a road rage incident lead to a person being shot and killed. As ABC 13 reports, this was a dispute over a parking spot, and the suspect fled the scene. NPR is reporting that the person or persons suspected in the shooting have been "located" and the gun recovered, however no arrests have been made. Apparently both the victim and the suspect were armed with guns.

Meanwhile, a brawl broke out over a parking spot at a Houston shopping center, according to CNet. (There's video of that here.)

And a brawl between what appears to be a group of teens or young adults broke out at a Modesto mall, as CBS 5 reports. The fight doesn't appear to have been over any Black Friday deal items, and this occurred overnight on Thanksgiving night according to KRON 4. This happened around midnight at the Vintage Faire Mall, and as you can see in the video below, it spilled into a JC Penney.

Who's the most powerful person in your food world? Is it your roommate who always leaves leftovers unattended in the fridge? The bartender you're dating who sometimes gives you free drinks? Is it Jeremy Stoppleman, the Yelp CEO who also happened to make The Daily Meal's list of America's 50 Most Powerful People in Food for 2014?

Stoppelman joined local luminaries like Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and Thomas Keller of The French Laundry on the list, which also includes a gaggle of notorious celebrity chefs, critics, and businesspeople running gargantuan food entities like Pepsi, Nestlé, Trader Joe's and Tyson. Stoppelman made the cut for starting Yelp, which with 47 million local restaurant reviews and 117 million monthly unique visits, is the so-called "place to go before going out."

"With the recent creation of a political action committee and the hiring of lobbyists, there appears to be no stopping this growing behemoth," notes The Daily Meal.

Waters is a natural for the list, which did a fairly good job of including women (unlike Time magazine's recent Gods of Food issue, which only touted 13 men). Tapped for being "nutritionally conscious when nutritional consciousness wasn't cool," Water gets credit for introducing a whole generation of Americans to the notion of organic and locally sourced food. And up in Yountville, Keller got the nod for being "arguably the most respected chef in the country."

Neither could complete, though, with our gastronomical overlords in chilling positions of power. Behold, your Top 5:

1. Thomas Vilsack, Secretary, USDA
2. Hugh Grant, Chairman, President, and CEO, The Monsanto Company
3. Doug McMillion, President and CEO, Walmart
4. Michael R. Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Food, Federal Drug Administration
5. Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO, Pepsi

[The Daily Meal]

In honor of Black Friday, and the horrifically-named Gray Thursday, workers will protest at Walmart stores around the country today. Rev. Ed Middelton, a pastor at First Community Church in Dallas, Texas, who was arrested this morning, sums up the mega-chain's problems nicely: "Walmart makes billions of dollars in profit while paying workers so little that many cannot afford Thanksgiving dinner. It shows a complete disregard for employees and their families. Walmart’s business model is morally indefensible, and we won’t stand for it.”

Here in the Bay Area, a protest led by workers will go down at the San Leandro store (1919 Davis) at 3 pm. And over in Roseville (near Sacramento), a protest will happen at 10 am at 900 Pleasant Grove Blvd.

Elsewhere this morning, Walmart workers were arrested for protesting and drawing all sorts of attention to their important cause. For example:

· In SoCal, workers, supporters, and someone dressed as Santa, were arrested.

· Nine concerned supporters were arrested in a peaceful civil disobedience in Alexandria, VA.

· Over a dozen people were arrested in Dallas Ft. Worth, for sitting down in an intersection in the city.

· In Chicago, at least ten were pinched today, in one of four protests at Walmarts within the city limits.

Walmart, along with other retail stores like Macy's and Gap, opened their doors on Thanksgiving, a day typically reserved for family and friends and a day off. Alas.

Today, Hate Hurts America (chortle) and the Interfaith Coalition announced that WalMart and AT&T either stopped advertising or now refuse to place ads on Michael Savage's "Savage Nation" program, joining a list of advertisers that have shunned the talk show host. (AutoZone, Citrix, TrustedID, JC Penney, and OfficeMax have also pulled their advertising.) Why? Because Michael Savage is a big ol;' meanie , crusher of warm fuzzies, and wisher of AIDS upon you sodomites. That's why.

But in a strange twist, WalMart's and AT&T's ad withdrawals have inadvertently rendered Sir Savage Nation a little less savage. A little more, dare we say, Green. Unwillingly, Savage has returned a wee bit closer to his left-leaning roots. He's proving to be the epitome of San Francisco by having limited corporate/big-box advertisers. Way to go, Savage! Dolores Park picnic together this Sunday? You bring the homeopathic meds and grass, we'll bring the organic pears and goat feta.