SF Politics Peskin Campaign Releases First Campaign Donation Numbers, Which Seem Good But Not Great Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s mayoral campaign has revealed to the press what the fundraising numbers look like in his first month in the race, but like another late entry, Mark Farrell, these numbers cannot be independently verified and we’re just taking their word for it.
SF News Waymo Spotted Driving in Red Bus Lane, About to Make Illegal Left-Hand Turn A video from Sunday shows a self-driving Waymo robotaxi driving in the red ‘bus only’ lane on Van Ness Avenue, and apparently about to engage in an illegal left-hand turn.
SF Politics New California Bill Would Eliminate or Severely Curtail Self-Checkout, In Hopes of Reducing Shoplifting A SoCal state Senator is pushing a new bill that would eliminate self-checkout from many stores in California, under the reasoning that self-checkout is responsible for a whole lot of shoplifting, and to keep more human cashiers employed.
SF News Mayor Breed Touts New Numbers Saying SF Tents and Encampments at a Five-Year Low London Breed’s office is making a big to-do over the latest city numbers that indicate tent encampments are at a five-year low, and while these numbers vary wildly over time, it does look like the trend line is going in a positive direction.
SF News Gavin Newsom Trumpets Record California Tourism Spending; Critics Say It’s Just Driven by Inflation California Governor Gavin Newsom climbed atop the Golden Gate Bridge to tout the supposedly record-breaking $150 billion tourism dollars spent statewide in 2023, but cynics point out that may just be because of inflation-driven higher prices.
SF Restaurants, Food & Drink 36-Year-Old Haight Street Bar Hobson’s Choice Is Closing Permanently Another punch in the gut to the SF bar scene, as the owner of Upper Haight rum bar Hobson’s Choice has announced the place is closing, though the establishment’s final day has not yet been determined.
SF News US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Bay Area Today There may be a motorcade or two complicating traffic near Moscone Center Monday afternoon, as Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will be downtown to give a keynote at the RSA Conference.
Arts & Entertainment Mayor Breed Proposes ‘Entertainment Zone’ Where Bars Can Sell Open Containers for Outdoor Events SF Mayor London Breed’s latest gambit to get you to please go downtown and spend money again is her new proposed “entertainment zone” where establishments can sell alcohol to street patrons, and the first of these could be on the Financial District’s Front Street.
Arts & Entertainment SF’s Three-Legged Dog Picnic Aims to Set World Record for Largest Gathering of Three-Legged Pups This Summer This year’s annual “Tri-Pawed Picnic” meetup for three-legged dogs hopes to unleash an all-time record, as the event is gearing up to set the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of three-legged dogs ever in one place.
Arts & Entertainment Watch: Yet Another Brood of Baby Falcon Chicks Has a Nest Cam, This One on Alcatraz Island It’s a baby falcon bonanza this spring for those who love fluffy little raptors, as a second peregrine falcon livestream is now up and running from a nest on Alcatraz, and the mama falcon there was actually born to Berkeley falcon Annie in 2018.
Arts & Entertainment Saturday’s How Weird Street Faire Abruptly ‘Postponed,’ Not Even 48 Hours Before the Event Saturday's 25th annual How Weird Street Fair will not be held on Saturday, as organizers suddenly blame a bad weekend weather forecast, and will “postpone” the event until maybe June.
SF News Day Around the Bay: Popular LED Forest ‘Entwined: Elder Mother’ Has Closing Party Saturday The wife of the doctor who drove his family off a San Mateo cliff is asking the court for leniency; a big new UC Berkeley student housing complex will be given an Ohlone name; and Golden Gate Park’s beloved annual LED forest Entwined has its closing party Saturday.
SF News Black Man Found Hanged Near Bernal Heights Park, Case Currently Ruled a Suicide There are more questions than answers about the hanging death of 34-year-old Randy Dudley, whose body was discovered hanging from a tree at a Bernal Height park Tuesday morning, but authorities have made a preliminary ruling that it was a suicide.
SF News Feds and State Both Sue SF, Claiming the City Lets Sewage Spill Into the Ocean and the Bay The EPA, state Attorney General, and SF Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board just dropped a combined lawsuit onto the City of San Francisco, claiming the city has allowed “more than 1.8 billion gallons of untreated sewage” to flow each year into the Bay and Pacific Ocean
SF Restaurants, Food & Drink Many In the Beer Community Are Big Mad That People Are Bringing Their Kids to Taprooms There's tempest in a pint glass brewing over pint-sized patrons being brought to breweries and taprooms, as a social media flare-up reignites the debate over parents who bring their kids into drinking establishments where minors are legally allowed.
SF News Trial Underway for Vacaville Mormon Bishop Accused of Sexually Abusing Adopted Daughter A former attorney and Mormon bishop in Vacaville is on trial for the sexual abuse of his then-11-year-old adopted daughter, and other church associates are giving some pretty damning testimony on the witness stand.
SF News Viral ‘SF Karen’ Goes on Dr. Phil Show, Blames Her Troubles on Cancel Culture Remember that one lady in Pac Heights who gained unfortunate viral fame for confronting a man who wrote “Black Lives Matter” on his own property? She just went on ‘Dr. Phil,’ and had a very sympathetic audience of concerned-looking white people.
SF News ‘California Forever’ Outfit Claims They Have Enough Signatures to Make Solano County Ballot The tech billionaire class will be popping more Champagne than usual this week, as they appear to have enough signatures to get their utopia thingy “California Forever” on the November ballot in Solano County.
SF News Oakland Approves $365,100 Salary For New Chief of Police Floyd Mitchell, Who Starts Next Week The City of Oakland's 15-month saga of not having a full-time police chief will officially end next week when former Lubbock, Texas chief of police Floyd Mitchell takes over the job, but his compensation package is already drawing some complaints.
SF News UC Berkeley Gaza Solidarity Encampment Grows to 175 Tents; Violence Breaks Out at UCLA Protest The college campus protests sweeping the nation have of course also swept UC Berkeley, with an estimated 175 tents now pitched at Sproul Plaza — up from just a dozen last week — and classes have been canceled at UCLA today amidst an outbreak of violence at that school’s protest.
SF News Day Around the Bay: Golden Gate Ferry Set to Resume Sausalito Service The Biden administration just eased marijuana restrictions nationwide; Sharon Stone has a new art show in SF; and the Golden Gate Ferry will resume service from SF to Sausalito on Wednesday.
Arts & Entertainment Outside Lands Will Provide a Wedding Chapel This Year, Performing Real, Actual Weddings Is there really some pent-up demand for people that want to get married at Outside Lands? They must think so, as the festival has added an on-site wedding venue, performing real weddings for $349 (plus fees).
SF News Pier 39’s Sea Lion Population Surges to Seven-Year High, Fueled by Delicious Anchovies There may be more than 1,000 sea lions on SF’s Pier 39 right now, sunning themselves, barking, and getting good and fat, largely thanks to a school of anchovies available for them to feast upon.
Business & Tech Williams-Sonoma Fined Nearly $3.2 Million for Labeling Products as ‘Made in USA’ When They Were Not San Francisco-based houseware and cookware purveyor Williams-Sonoma just got nailed with a $3.18 million fine for claiming that products were “Made in USA” when they were actually made in China, and it’s not the first time the company has done this.
SF Politics Mayor Breed Proposes a $360 Million Bond Measure to Fund a Potpourri of Seemingly Unrelated Causes When you vote on whether to reelect Mayor London Breed on November 5, you might also be voting on Breed’s new $360 million bond measure that would fund hospitals, homelessness services, street improvements, and even Harvey Milk Plaza.
