• 40-year-old leather bar SF Eagle was officially granted historic landmark status at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting. We knew this was likely to happen after that committee approval the other week, and the vote was unanimous. [Hoodline]
  • A juror in Elizabeth Holmes's fraud trial in San Jose was excused today because she said her Buddhist beliefs prevent her from wanting to punish anyone. The juror said she'd be unable to vote on a guilty verdict because she believes everyone should be forgiven, and the judge dismissed her and replaced her with an alternate. [NBC Bay Area]
  • The Ninth Circuit today upheld the California state law, AB5, that forces companies to classify workers as employees (and give them benefits) if they are doing regular work for the company that is part of that company's scope. A group of freelance journalists have been challenging the law in court, saying that it violates the First Amendment and that companies often don't want to add more employees but do make freelance work available. [Chronicle]
  • There is some batshit craziness happening in Idaho politics, with a rogue lieutenant governor who just issued an executive order while the governor was out of state to lift a vaccine mandate for state employees. Idaho's constitution puts the lieutenant governor in charge if the governor leaves the state, and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin sounds like a real piece of work who doesn't believe COVID was a pandemic. [Washington Post]
  • A fire hydrant was spewing water onto both decks of the Bay Bridge, causing traffic delays in both directions Wednesday afternoon. [KRON4]
  • The SFPD is seeking a suspect who was seen early Wednesday morning in the area of San Bruno Avenue and Mansell Street throwing rocks at cars — and he allegedly also threw a rock at a woman and injured her. [KRON4]
  • Governor Gavin Newsom today signed a group of bills aimed at forcing the Employment Development Department to fix itself and expedite unemployment claims. [KTVU]
  • And Newsom signed a bill that state Senator Scott Wiener authored that ends the use of mandatory minimum prison sentences for non-violent drug offenses. [Bay City News]

Top photo by Gooch