Scott Wiener is taking down the chatbot he launched to mock congressional opponent Connie Chan after receiving backlash from Pelosi and other Democratic lawmakers, acknowledging he “clearly missed the mark.”

Wiener announced Friday that he was deactivating ConnieChan.ai and removing the billboards promoting it, saying the controversy had overtaken the issues he wanted to highlight in the congressional race, according to Bay Area Reporter.

“Throughout my career, I’ve never been afraid to push the envelope, which means taking risks, sometimes succeeding, and sometimes missing the mark,” Wiener stated. “That’s how we’ve delivered first-in-the-nation laws on housing, paid parental leave, mental health care, and AI safety: by taking on tough fights and refusing to accept the status quo.”

Prior to his apology, Wiener stood by the chatbot, maintaining that the site was clearly labeled as parody and that “no reasonable person” would mistake it for an official Chan campaign platform.

Just 20 hours earlier, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi criticized the bot, which was designed to mock SF Supervisor Connie Chan's positions on issues including housing, public transit, education, and San Francisco’s economic recovery.

Pelosi, who has endorsed Chan, said the chatbot went beyond political satire after Chan’s campaign prompted it about her accent and citizenship and received responses that invoked racial and sexist stereotypes, as Politico reports. Pelosi said one response echoed “harmful racial tropes” associated with Trump-era birtherism.

The letter Pelosi posted Thursday was also backed by Representative Zoe Lofgren, eight other Democratic women in Congress, San Francisco Supervisors Jackie Fielder and Chyanne Chen, and several local Democratic clubs.

“Women have spent generations fighting to have our own voices heard in the halls of power,” Pelosi and the other signatories wrote. “We should not have to now fight against artificial intelligence putting words in our mouths.”

Chan’s campaign reportedly provided screenshots of the chatbot responding to questions about her accent and citizenship. In one response, the bot joked about Chan’s San Francisco accent, while another made a reference to her citizenship status. According to the Chronicle, Hong Kong-born Chan immigrated to the US from Taiwan at age 13 and is a non-native English speaker.

Wiener’s campaign denied designing the chatbot to produce racist or sexist responses, saying it was political satire focused on Chan’s record, accusing her of using race and gender to deflect criticism

Arellano said the chatbot was meant to lean into the “AI craze overtaking the city” while educating voters about Chan’s record.

The Chronicle reports that Chan spokesperson Ian Krager accused Wiener of refusing to take responsibility for the chatbot’s responses.

“Instead of apologizing or taking responsibility for his bigotry bot, Senator Wiener is blaming everyone else,” Krager said.

The dispute has also raised questions about how effectively AI chatbots can be prevented from reproducing stereotypes. Valentin Hofmann, an assistant professor at the University of Munich who has researched racial prejudice in AI models, said chatbots can draw on stereotypes embedded in the vast amount of internet data used to train them.

Hofmann told the Chronicle that accent-related stereotypes can be particularly difficult to remove because they can be encoded in subtle ways. After reviewing the responses provided by Chan’s campaign, he said the chatbot appeared to have picked up information about Chan’s background and used her accent in a failed attempt at satire.

By the end of the week, the chatbot was reportedly no longer producing the responses that sparked the controversy. When asked about Chan’s accent or citizenship, it instead said it did not have information on those subjects.

The controversy has also brought the candidates’ competing AI policies into focus. Chan recently released a video outlining proposals that include giving workers affected by AI a greater role in decisions about its use, requiring human oversight in areas such as finance and transportation, and requiring AI companies to cover the full energy and infrastructure costs associated with data centers.

As the Chronicle reports, Chan has also said she supports a nationwide moratorium on new data center construction.

Wiener has pointed to his own record on AI policy while defending the chatbot, including his unsuccessful 2024 effort to pass Senate Bill 1047, an AI safety bill opposed by Pelosi and other Democratic leaders that was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis also reposted Pelosi’s letter and called for the chatbot to be taken down, saying AI-generated impersonation has no place in politics.

Wiener 's campaign received backing from a Super PAC funded by Anthropic, whose Claude chatbot powered the website.

Previously: Scott Wiener Campaign Launches Connie Chan AI Chatbot, Highlighting Chan's Voting Record as Supervisor

Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images

Local real estate investor and convicted fraudster Luke Brugnara, who recently erected an illegal fence at Thornton State Beach, was arrested at his Sunset home after six months on the run from a federal warrant over alleged pandemic relief fraud.

Luke Brugnara was taken into custody after US Marshals surrounded his Sunset District home last Thursday, ending a six-month period during which federal prosecutors say he remained wanted on a bench warrant, as ABC 7's Dan Noyes reports. Prosecutors also alleged that he tried to evade arrest by fleeing officers and climbing onto the roof of the church next door, a claim Brugnara disputed in court.

Brugnara had most recently been in the news for erecting an illegal fence at Thornton State Beach, where he was later arrested on suspicion of making threats and possessing a firearm.

Following his arrest, Brugnara appeared before a federal judge this week over allegations that he fraudulently obtained $422,000 through the government’s pandemic relief program. Prosecutors say he misrepresented the size of his business, including its number of employees and payroll, and used the money to purchase a house.

According to Courthouse News, Brugnara was indicted in May 2024 on nine counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. Prosecutors allege he submitted fraudulent applications in 2021 on behalf of his real estate investment business, Brugnara Corporation.

The case had already taken a turn in February, when Brugnara reportedly failed to appear at a hearing concerning his release conditions. A judge issued a bench warrant, and prosecutors later argued that Brugnara knew he was wanted but did nothing to resolve the situation.

Brugnara denied knowing about either the hearing or the warrant, telling the court that his attorney had not notified him.

“I was not notified by my attorney,” he said.

Prosecutors pointed to an interview Brugnara gave to ABC7 after the warrant was issued, in which he was directly asked about it, arguing that the interview made it clear Brugnara knew about the warrant and still did not surrender.

The government's concerns also extended beyond the fraud case. Brugnara was arrested earlier this year after a dispute at Thornton Beach State Park, where he had fenced off about six acres despite owning only a fraction of the property. A sign posted by his girlfriend warned, “no trespassing, owner armed with 9mm gun.”

Prosecutors say Brugnara and his girlfriend approached a couple walking their dog near the fence, with Brugnara allegedly telling them, per Courthouse News, “If you get near the fence I will shoot and kill you” and “I have a gun and if you come on my property I’ll shoot you.”

Police responding to reports of threats found Brugnara in the back of a vehicle while Wen was driving away with a 9mm Glock in an unlocked case on the front seat. Brugnara was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and making threats, per ABC 7.

Brugnara admitted to putting up the fence but denied posting the warning signs, according to prosecutors. The fence was later removed after city officials determined it had been built without the required permits.

That incident raised questions about whether Brugnara had violated the conditions of his release in the federal fraud case. As Courthouse News reports, he had previously been released in 2024 as long as he did not commit new crimes, possess a firearm, and participated in mental health treatment.

"Brugnara has failed to abide by any of these conditions," federal prosecutors wrote.

Brugnara has a lengthy criminal history that includes convictions for wire and mail fraud involving $11 million worth of artwork, as well as violations of the Endangered Species Act and filing false tax returns. His 2014 art fraud case involved works by Willem de Kooning and Pablo Picasso stored in the garage of his salmon-colored Sea Cliff home, which he claimed were gifts after failing to pay for them. During that trial, Brugnara escaped from the federal building while meeting with his former attorney, evading authorities for six days. He was later convicted of escape in addition to the art fraud charges.

Brugnara was sentenced to seven years in prison and remained incarcerated until November 2020, when he was placed on supervised release. Courthouse News reports that in 2023, US District Judge William Alsup revoked Brugnara’s supervised release and sentenced him to more than a year in prison after prosecutors said he violated its terms, including possession of a firearm registered to his girlfriend. Brugnara also failed to appear for that March 2023 sentencing hearing and evaded a bench warrant for nearly two months before he was arrested in May.

In May 2024, while serving the remainder of that sentence at an Oakland residential reentry center, prosecutors say he escaped twice, as the Chronicle reported in February. He was arrested six days after the second notice at a hotel near San Francisco International Airport, where he was found with his girlfriend.

Brugnara was later charged in the pandemic relief case and initially detained, but a district court reportedly overturned that detention order in August 2024 and allowed him to remain free under the conditions that prosecutors now say he violated.

Brugnara’s hearing this week reportedly became contentious, with Brugnara repeatedly interrupting US District Judge Lisa Cisneros as she attempted to address his request for release. His attorney Matthew Dirkes proposed a $50,000 cash bond and ankle monitoring, while Brugnara argued that his health was deteriorating and that remaining in custody put his life at risk.

Dirkes told the judge the bond would be guaranteed by Brugnara's Sunset District landlord, where he had been living for six months. Prosecutors argued that an ankle monitor would not be enough given Brugnara's history.

"I'm trying to get a word in and explain," Judge Cisneros told him, per ABC 7.

The heated exchange continued until the judge asked the marshals to intervene, and he was escorted from the courtroom and into custody.

A written order issued Wednesday says Brugnara will remain detained while the case proceeds. His attorney previously asked to withdraw from the case, and that request remains pending. Brugnara is reportedly scheduled to appear in court in two weeks.

Previously: Likely Illegal Fence Near Daly City Beach Comes Down Today

Image: Luke Brugnara/X

The Bayview is getting a new seafood spot as well as several new restaurants, Tacos El Patron is coming to the Fillmore, and Horn Barbecue is now fully done, all in This Week in Food.

The Chronicle brings word this week of multiple new restaurants coming to the Bayview neighborhood thanks to startup grants from the city. These include Bayview Oyster Bar, opening next month from chef-owner April Spears, who previously operated the well loved Auntie April's, which closed during the pandemic. The menu will feature oysters, both raw and chargrilled New Orleans-style, as well as shrimp cocktails, Louie salads, and Dungeness crab dishes like a crab melt and whole crab with garlic noodles when it's in season. There will also be smoked clam chowder, cocktails, and desserts from neighborhood favorites Yvonne’s Southern Sweets and Divine Desserts.

Also coming to the Bayview in the coming months are an Ethiopian fast-casual spot called Moya Bayview, a Panamanian fusion restaurant called Properly Seasoned Kitchen, a new sandwich spot called Phatwood Smokehouse Deli, and a new bookstore/wine bar called Chapter 3.  These openings are all thanks to a wave of city grants under Mayor Daniel Lurie's Storefront Opportunity Grants program, which offer grants of up to $100,000 to cover startup costs for small businesses.

Quesabirria specialist Tacos El Patron is moving into the semi-cursed space at 1325 Fillmore Street that was most recently home to Nia Soul Cafe, and before that, also briefly, Scott's Chowder House. As the SF Business Times reports, this will be the largest location yet for Tacos El Patron, which has two other locations, including the original opened in 2019 at 1500 South Van Ness Avenue. The new location will feature an expanded menu of tacos de guisado and gorditas featuring heirloom corn from Mexico, according to co-owner Alberto Pineda, and the opening is coming within weeks.

It's now official: Horn Barbecue is dunzo. Pitmaster Matt Horn's briefly booming, much acclaimed barbecue operation was already down to one, infrequently open restaurant in downtown Oakland as of a month ago, following the closure of his barely six-month-old Fresno location, and now the Chronicle reports that the Oakland spot on 8th Street is officially closed for good, largely because Horn wasn't able to smoke meats on site there — which leads to the question of where the meats were coming from when the place was, occasionally, open. This was the former Matty's Old Fashioned, a short-lived sit-down restaurant concept, which along with chicken sandwich spot Kowbird, was one of a half-dozen ventures Horn took on in the span of just a couple of years. The barbecue business, which suffered a fire at its original West Oakland location, has since been dogged by allegations of wage theft and reports of unpaid vendors and rent, and Horn says that, for now, he'll continue to do catering, private events, popups and "live-fire experiences."

Fried chicken sandwich outfit The Bird, a sibling operation to Super Duper from Adriano Paganini's Back of the House restaurant group, is adding a new location in the Marina at 2031 Chestnut Street. There is no opening date yet, but the SF Business Times reports that the current tenant in the space, Asian Box, is nearing the end of its 10-year lease.

And one of the more popular breakfast burrito makers in town, Al Carajo, is expanding with Al Carajo Breakfast Burrito, which is moving into the space formerly occupied by breakfast sandwich purveyor Bandit at 683 Geary Street. The Chronicle, whose critics previously raved about the Al Carajo breakfast burrito made with chorizo and tater tots, reports that the new location will open this fall.

Chronicle critic Cesar Hernandez has a review this week of Sheba, a humble-looking Yemeni restaurant in Oakland's East Peralta neighborhood, where, he writes, compared to other local Yememi spots, "its lamb is juicier, its condiments kick harder, its bread is flakier." He raves about the "heavily" spiced butterflied pompano, and the best-seller on the menu, the generously portioned lamb haneeth, as well as the flaky bread called rashoush, that goes well with the foul and shakshuka.

And if you're headed to Outside Lands, check out our guide to this year's "secret" snack items, and limited-edition dishes.

There is, as usual, a robust-seeming transit plan for getting Outside Lands concertgoers into and out of the outer Avenues. But depending on when you head west or when you try to leave the concert grounds, your transit experience may vary.

The SFMTA is promising extra buses and trains to handle the crowds. And after the poorly conceived and even more poorly executed plans for that July 4th fireworks show at the Golden Gate Bridge, which left thousands stranded on the north side of the city, the agency is hoping not to disappoint the mayor or generate more bad headlines about the festival.

As SFist noted following the July 4th debacle, the SFMTA has a history of over-promising where these things are concerned, and there are bound to be problems when 75,000 people suddenly want to get from one side of the city to the other. More N-Judah trains servicing the south side of Golden Gate Park would help, but it kind of feels like we've heard this all before, and there never seem to be enough — or frequent enough — trains.

And if we have any essential advice for you, it's this: Bring a layer, or two.

Here's what the SFMTA is promising this year:

• The 5R-Fulton rapid line will be doing the heavy lifting throughout the day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday bringing people from downtown to the main entrance gates (at 26th Avenue) on the north side of the park.
• All these Muni buses and trains are free for festival-goers — your wristband counts as proof of payment. If boarding an N-Judah to head out to the festival from a downtown subway station, flash your wristband to an agent at the entry gate, using the gate closest to the agent kiosk.
• N-Judah riders should take the train to 30th Avenue or 34th Avenue and walk north into the park. Extra N-Judah trains are being promised between 3 pm and midnight each day, but they will likely still be spaced apart by more than five minutes.
• Bus shuttles back to downtown at night will all be lining up on the north side (Fulton Street), with the express shuttles (5X) to Civic Center lining up with the first buses to leave at Fulton and 30th Avenue. For catching the regular 5R at the end of the night it's probably wisest to try from 36th Avenue, but these are supposed to make all regular 5R stops along Fulton and McAllister.
• For the first time, the SFMTA is also encouraging festival-goers to walk the extra four blocks from the northside exits to use the 38-Geary line, which will relieve some of the pressure on the Fulton line.
• Lyft is the official rideshare partner, but all rideshares need to be called to and from the same pickup/dropoff areas — Balboa & 30th Ave (adjacent to George Washington High School) on the north side, and Irving Street between 25th and 27th Avenue on the south side.
• Waymo pickups and dropoffs will be restricted to an area bounded by Balboa Street to the north, 20th Avenue to the east and Kirkham Street to the south (on the north side), and it's unclear what Waymo restrictions will be on the south side, if any. Waymo is allowing drop-offs on Geary at select outer avenues, and on kirkham at select avenues on the south side.

General Tips for Getting In and Out

• General Admission pass holders should enter at 25th or 26th Avenue (at Fulton), particularly at prime entry times on Friday and Saturday — even though the gates are closer to 30th Avenue, the entry line may back up far enough that you will need to backtrack anyway if you try to enter here.
• The VIP entrance is at 36th Avenue on the north side; enter by passing Spreckels Lake and following signs.
• The box office, if you need it, is on the north side near 26th Avenue.
• GA pass holders entering from the south side of the park should use 30th Avenue or 34th Avenue to access the gates located at Martin Luther King Jr Drive & Metson Road. The VIP entrance here is in the same location.
• Finding space on a 5R bus anywhere past Civic Center on the way to the festival each day will be challenging — the 38-Geary is your friend.
• Leaving at night on the south side, it's wisest to get the furthest out toward the ocean that you can and board the N-Judah, in order to avoid watching packed trains pass you by.
• Don't call your Uber/Lyft too early — it's an uphill climb to Balboa Street and there will be a lot of cars milling around. You don't want yours blocking traffic while it waits for you.
• Cell service may get spotty, especially when everyone is trying to find each other and call cars at the end of the night, which means you might be stuck using public transit whether you like it or not — not to mention surge pricing can get insane.

Below is the official SFMTA public information poster.

Related: SF Muni Should Admit They Can Not Handle Large Crowds at High-Demand Events

Billionaire philanthropist and political activist Michael Moritz is offering up to three organizations from anywhere in the world as much as $50 million each for their winning ideas on improving life for San Francisco residents.

The competition, called Boundless San Francisco, is a collaboration between Michael Moritz and his wife, artist Harriet Heyman, through their philanthropic Crankstart Foundation, and Lever for Change, a nonprofit that connects philanthropists with organizations, as Bloomberg reports. The organizers are inviting applicants from anywhere in the world, with proposals in any field, as long as the projects are primarily aimed at benefiting San Francisco.

Up to three organizations will ultimately receive between $10 million and $50 million each to put their ideas into practice. The initiative is looking for proposals that combine an ambitious vision for the city with a practical plan for building and sustaining it.

“The best ideas rarely come from where you expect them,” Moritz said in an emailed statement.

According to Bloomberg, Lever for Change says it has awarded more than $2.6 billion to more than 500 organizations internationally. Similar projects to Boundless SF include initiatives such as revitalizing Chicago’s South Side and improving mental health outcomes in Texas.

Applicants will first go through a readiness assessment and registration process before submitting their proposals, which will be reviewed in stages beginning with a Participatory Review in November and December when applicants will score the submissions of their peers. The competition team will then select between three and seven finalists based on transformative ambition, viability, evidence of results, and durability.

Up to three winners will then be selected in fall 2027 following several months of product development in which the finalists share between $1 million and $3.5 million in funding.

An applicant webinar is scheduled for August 18 to explain the competition, demonstrate the registration process, and answer questions. Interested organizations are encouraged to use the Organization Readiness Tool to determine eligibility.

The registration deadline is September 11, and completed applications must be submitted by October 9.

Moritz, a former journalist who reportedly moved to SF from the UK 40 years ago, made his fortune investing in companies including Google, YouTube, and PayPal. Crankstart has directed more than $1 billion toward a wide range of local programs and nonprofits since 2020, including college scholarships, museums, and reproductive health access, according to a Bloomberg analysis of public records.

Bloomberg notes that the new competition comes as private philanthropy has taken on a growing role in funding public projects and services in San Francisco, with Mayor Daniel Lurie actively seeking financial support from the city’s tech and business communities.

Related: Michael Moritz Says He Plans to Fund Together SF For 'Five or Six Years' In Lengthy New Profile

Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images

A San Francisco concert featuring Earth, Wind & Fire and Lionel Richie was called off at the last minute Thursday, disappointing many fans who were in town to see it, due to one of the band members becoming ill.

In an Instagram post that has since been deleted, the band Earth, Wind & Fire announced Thursday that their scheduled Thursday night concert at the Chase Center, featuring Lionel Richie had been canceled.

"We are unable to perform as scheduled tonight at Chase Center in San Francisco due to a medical emergency involving a member of our band," the band said.

As ABC 7 reports, the Chase Center announced the concert was called off at 7:20 pm, with the concert having a listed starting time of 7:30. ABC 7 also had video footage of thousands of fans gathered outside one of the Chase Center entrances waiting to get in to the show, after doors were supposed to open at 6:30 pm Thursday.

The concert is reportedly being postponed to a later date, and refunds for tickets are available.

All of the members of Earth, Wind & Fire are in their 70s, and Richie is 77.

Update: TMZ is reporting that it was not one of the longtime members of the band — Philip Bailey, Verdine White, or Ralph Johnson — but drummer John Paris, who suffered the medical emergency. Paris grew up partly in the Bay Area, and he's been performing with the band since 2001.

As KTVU notes, the cancellation comes about a month after Richie had to postpone some dates on this same tour due to reported dizzy spells.

The Sing a Song All Night Long Tour with Ritchie and Earth, Wind & Fire had 26 cities on the schedule, including Palm Desert on Saturday, August 8, and Los Angeles on Sunday, August 9. The tour was scheduled to wrap up next weekend in Austin.

KTVU reports that there was a "loud groan" through the crowd outside the Chase Center Thursday when the news of the cancellation was flashed up on a screen, but most concertgoers appeared to take it in stride.

No new date for the Chase Center concert has yet been announced.

Top image: Philip Bailey (L) and Ralph Johnson, of Earth, Wind & Fire perform at Little Caesars Arena on July 01, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images)

In the second phase of a pivotal trial in New Mexico, a judge ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million, most of which will go toward mental health services for youth, and the company must incorporate numerous new safeguards.

A ruling Thursday from Judge Bryan Biedscheid in New Mexico adds $567 million in penalties to the $375 million Meta was ordered to pay in March, when a jury found the company liable for knowingly harming children’s mental health and concealing what it knew about child sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram. As CNN reports, the latest order directs $420 million toward treatment services for young people, with the remaining money going to prevention and awareness efforts, screening services, and other costs over the next five years.

The judge also imposed a series of restrictions on how Meta operates its platforms in New Mexico. For users under 18, Facebook and Instagram must disable push notifications from 8 am to 3 pm on weekdays during the school year, and from 10 pm to 7 am on other days. Teen accounts in the state must also default to private settings, while Meta must prevent New Mexico users from engaging in romantic or sexualized interactions with its AI chatbots.

The order requires Meta to delete accounts and all personal information collected from users under 13. According to PBS, the company must also create banner notifications and informational screens explaining its safety features, recommended practices, and tools for dealing with inappropriate comments, with the state reviewing those materials and an accompanying educational campaign.

Age verification was another major part of the ruling, although Biedscheid stopped short of requiring Meta to verify the age of every child on its platforms. The court said federal privacy law, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, prevents it from ordering Meta to collect additional personal information from children under 13 or passively track them online solely for age verification.

PBS reports that Meta must instead continue improving its age-assurance technology in New Mexico, including AI systems that estimate a user’s age based on factors such as their friends and the content they post and consume. The company has two years to develop a model specifically designed to identify users under 13.

Meta must also work with schools or a child safety organization to establish a reporting system through which school employees can flag users who may be under 13.

The case reportedly began in 2023, when New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued Meta, accusing the company of creating a “breeding ground” for child predators on Facebook and Instagram. Meta denied the allegations. A jury found the company liable on all counts in March, including violating New Mexico laws against “unfair and deceptive” and “unconscionable” business practices, and ordered it to pay $375 million in damages.

Meta said Thursday that it disagrees with Biedscheid’s latest ruling and plans to appeal.

“We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts,” Meta said in a statement.

Torrez said the latest ruling establishes that companies can be held responsible when the design of their products knowingly puts children at risk, per PBS.

"Today's decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online," he said.

The New Mexico case is one of several legal battles Meta has faced over alleged harms to children. Later this month, Meta is reportedly scheduled to go to trial in federal court in Oakland in the first of 29 states’ cases alleging that Facebook and Instagram were designed to be addictive and contributed to the youth mental health crisis. Eight other states have filed separate cases in state courts, including Tennessee, where a trial is already underway.

Meta and Google were found liable in a Los Angeles case in March that was brought by a young woman, now 20, who claimed she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube after starting to use both as a child.

Meta, YouTube, Snap and TikTok also settled a lawsuit in May brought by a Kentucky school district over allegations that their platforms were addictive. Financial terms of that settlement were not disclosed. Last month, the four companies were sued by the families of four teenagers who died by suicide, alleging years of escalating harm from using the platforms.

Previously: Meta and Google Found Liable In Landmark Social Media Addiction Case; Meta Also Found Liable In Child Exploitation Case

Image: Chesnot/Getty Images

Photo by Jason West

A woman was reportedly killed after being struck by a box truck at Market and Powell streets in downtown San Francisco Friday morning, near the cable car turnaround.

The collision reportedly happened around 8:20 am Friday, according to police scanner reports on the Citizen app. An initial 911 call reported a female pedestrian who suffered a fatal head injury after being struck by "a bus" on Market Street near Fifth Street, according to police.

KRON4 reports via the SFPD that the person who was killed was on a scooter, but then reports it was a "vehicle vs. pedestrian crash." And the Chronicle reported that the woman died in a "high velocity crash," and a scooter was found beside her, but it remained unclear how the crash occurred.

Update: ABC 7 reports, via a witness, that the woman was riding a scooter down Market Street when her tire got stuck in a streetcar track — a hazard many bicyclists are familiar with. The woman then apparently crashed and fell onto the roadway, where she was struck by a box truck, the witness said. It's now unclear if the box truck may have fled the scene, but the SFPD says they have located the driver.

Video from the scene showed a tarp and tent being put up around a person down in the sidewalk at Powell Street, in the middle of the Market Street block between Fourth and Fifth streets. ABC 7 also had footage of the victim's helmet lying in the street.

The SF Department of Emergency Management sent out an alert warning everyone to avoid the area of Market and Fifth streets due to police activity.

The SFMTA reported on a "Non Muni collision" in the area of Market and Fifth Street which has shut down surface Muni service in both directions. The F-line streetcar and the 5R, 7, and 9R buses are all affected.

Muni riders are being advised to use the subway between Embarcadero and Van Ness to avoid the situation. Inbound buses are being rerouted via Fifth Street and Mission Street, returning to their regular route at Market and Third streets.

This story has been updated with the witness information, clarifying that the victim was on a scooter and was not a pedestrian in the crosswalk.

Top image via Citizen app

• A person was found dead inside a residence near Angels Camp in the burn scar of the Gann Fire in Calaveras County, officials said Thursday. This is the first death associated with the fire, which has burned over 10,000 acres, and the man who says he started it has publicly apologized, saying he was sawing some scrap material which caused the sparks that ignited the wildfire. [Chronicle]
• People report having to bring chairs and line up in the dark before dawn outside the Oakland office of the state's Employment Development Department, hoping to get inside to clear up delays in unemployment, family leave, and disability payments. [KTVU]
• The Department of Education has launched a probe into alleged antisemitism at SF State and San Jose State. [Bay Area News Group]

National:

• The Senate Homeland Security Committee has voted along party lines to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt, in a clear attempt to distract from the real issues of the country, drum up some Fox News coverage ahead of the midterms, and re-litigate the handling of the pandemic over and over again. [New York Times]
• President Trump has signed two new executive orders aimed at limiting birthright citizenship and so-called "birth tourism," which his aides claim will not run afoul of a recent Supreme Court decision. [CNN]
• Ailing Senator Mitch McConnell has been discharged from his rehab facility and will continue recovering at home, he says. [Washington Post]

Video:

• Mike Krukow, the longtime Giants broadcaster who along with partner and pal Duane Kuiper, has become synonymous with Giants baseball, announced his retirement Thursday at the end of this baseball season, and many fans are crushed. Below, an extended Fox Sports segment about the announcement.

Top image: Photo via Cal Fire

A car crashed into the back of a Muni bus, causing little apparent damage to the bus, but crushing the front end of the car which then caught fire on McAllister Street Thursday evening.

The incident happened around 5:20 pm Thursday, on McAllister Street between Divisadero and Broderick streets. A gray, two-door BMW traveling westbound appeared to have crashed into the back of a 5-Fulton bus and subsequently caught fire.

The SF Department of Emergency Management sent out an alert to avoid the area of Divis and McAllister at 5:52 pm, but the scene was largely quieting down by that point.

An ambulance was on the scene but the injuries incurred by the driver of the BMW are not known, or if there were any passengers. The Citizen app had a report of one person injured. The car's open trunk appeared to have grocery bags in it.

Multiple SFFD fire engines were on the scene and the blaze was extinguished by 5:50 pm, though the 5-Fulton and 5R-Fulton lines were heavily impacted, with buses re-routing around the collision scene onto Golden Gate Avenue. Several buses also became stuck and unable to maneuver around the emergency vehicles on the scene.

The bus that appeard to be hit did not have any visible damage, with the car possible wedging itself under the rear bumber of the bus before catching fire.

This is the third emergency to occur in the neighborhood in just 48 hours, with a significant rollover crash two blocks away at Divisadero and Grove streets on Tuesday, and a major fire at Fulton and Fillmore early this morning, with 18 apartment residents requiring rescue.

This is a developing story.

A young boy who took the keys to his parents' car reportedly struck a woman in a crosswalk in East Oakland who suffered life-threatening injuries, and he and his four-year-old brother, who was a passenger in the car, were also injured.

The Oakland Police Department received a report of a crash around 9:30 am Thursday at the intersection of 35th and Mangels avenues, near Interstate 580 in East Oakland. The driver of a sedan allegedly struck a woman in her 30s walking her dog in a marked crosswalk and then crashed into a retaining wall, as ABC 7 reports. The woman was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Police later determined the driver was a seven-year-old boy, and his four-year-old brother was also in the car. The older boy reportedly sustained a broken leg, and the younger one suffered a concussion. They were taken to a hospital in stable condition.

According to ABC 7, the children’s family lives several blocks from the site of the crash, and they took the keys to the car while their parents were sleeping. Their uncle told the outlet he doesn’t know how or why they took the car.

Police have been in contact with the children's parents, who are cooperating with the investigation.

Related: Speeding Juvenile Driver Arrested After East Oakland Crash That Killed Three Pedestrians

Image: Citizen

A United Airlines jet bound for Mexico had to turn around and make an emergency landing back at SFO Thursday morning after blowing a tire during takeoff, according to the FAA.

The incident happened sometime around 11 am Thursday, with the Boeing 737-800 having a burst tire and making a U-turn over Monterey County, landing back at SFO at 11:45 am. This was United Airlines Flight 1189, bound for Los Cabos International Airport in Mexico.

The plane had 165 passengers and eight crew members onboard, and there were no injuries.

United Airlines issued a statement explaining the situation, saying "Customers deplaned via airstairs on the tarmac and were bused to the terminal. We've arranged for a different aircraft to take them to Los Cabos later this afternoon."

NBC Bay Area had footage of the deplaning process.

The FAA is reportedly investigating the situation.

After a spate of minor incidents involving United jets at SFO several years ago, the number of these incidents has been fewer, and less frequent, in the past year.

In 2025, there were at least two incidents of United planes clipping each others' wings while taxiing, one in May and one in September.

Top image: Photo by John McArthur

It may or may not prove consequential for the investigation into the sinking of the Volare in San Francisco Bay last month, which took the lives of four passengers, but a police report suggests that the captain had the boat on autopilot at the time that it sank.

As the Chronicle reports, after obtaining a police report that had previously not been made public, Volare captain John Boisa said in an initial interview with police that the boat was on autopilot as it was heading back to its berth at the San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbor, following a day cruise that was intended as a memorial for a lost family member.

Boisa has still not commented publicly on the disaster and has refused media interviews, but is reportedly cooperating with the investigation.

The police interview further revealed that Boisa admitted to having a shot of whiskey about two and a half hours before the boat sank. As the Chronicle reports, police obtained a search warrant to test Boisa's blood-alcohol level when he was hospitalized just after the accident, and we still don't know what the results of that test were.

Initial reporting suggested that authorities did not believe that alcohol was a factor in the tragedy.

The Volare sank on July 14 in one of the deepest parts of the bay, about 600 meters away from Alcatraz, after reportedly being struck by a rogue wave that caused it to roll over. Of the 20 people onboard that day, 16 survived, with 17 initially pulled from the water just after the boat went over.

79-year-old Clifford Boisa, John's brother, succumbed to injuries and/or exposure to the cold Bay waters shortly after being rescued.

Three women, including Clifford's wife Jackie Boisa, his sister Carol Boisa, and 58-year-old Tondra Madruga, reportedly became trapped in the boat's cabin and were unable to escape as the boat took on water and sank. Jackie Boisa remains missing, while the bodies of Carol Boisa and Madruga have since turned up in the Bay.

While early reports assumed that the pleasure craft was not fit for the sometimes rough waters of the Bay, it later emerged that Boisa had frequently taken the boat out on the Bay, and that it was a sturdy cabin cruiser that Boisa had previously piloted in the open ocean down to San Diego.

The autopilot detail may or may not be relevant to the cause of the boat's listing and sinking. Per the Chronicle, autopilot on a boat like this is simply a steering aid, and does not prevent collision or any other sort of problem.

But, as US Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Alexander Franzese tells the paper, "I think the thing that gets people most in trouble with autopilot is not not maintaining proper lookout. The main thing I see with autopilot is just people kind of get lulled into a little bit of a false sense of complacency."

This may have led to the captain not seeing the change in the waves. Or, as another experienced charter boat captain noted early on, the stability of the Volare could have been compromised simply by the captain not being vigilant about the even distribution of his 19 passengers. If all or most of them were on one side of the boat, for instance, when that wave struck, that could have been a factor in the capsize as well.

Previously: Victim Identified as Boat Captain's Brother In Tuesday Sinking on the Bay; Missing Women Were Reportedly Trapped In Boat's Cabin

Top image: Photo via Richmond Police Department

West Sonoma County residents, who’ve been flooding the FAA with complaints over a change in 2024 that led to a large influx of planes flying over their homes, are outraged that the FAA temporarily reverted to the old flight path for elite Bohemian Grove visitors last month.

Residents packed a community roundtable at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport on Wednesday after a temporary shift in departure routes during last month's gathering at the elite men's club Bohemian Grove dramatically reduced the number of planes flying over parts of western Sonoma County, as KPIX reports. Once the exclusive event ended, the Federal Aviation Administration switched flights back to the previous route.

“The noise is unbearable," Andrea Oreck of Fair Flights Over Sonoma County said. “It would be like being in a library reading a pleasant book and having someone drive in with a motorcycle.”

The dispute centers on the FAA's satellite-guided RREHD ONE departure procedure, which was introduced in January 2024 as commercial traffic at the airport increased. According to KQED, the newer route funnels many departing planes through a much narrower corridor over populated areas at lower altitudes, including Sebastopol, Forestville, and Guerneville, with noise complaints to the FAA quadrupling since it was implemented.

During the July Bohemian Grove event, however, the FAA relied far more heavily on the airport's older CHARLIE EIGHT departure procedure, which gives air traffic controllers more flexibility to spread flights across a wider area, resulting in fewer planes flying over any one given area. Residents tracking departures said roughly two dozen daily flights used the smoother CHARLIE EIGHT route throughout the event, while around three flights followed the current, GPS-guided path.

Residents say the temporary change proves the airport can safely operate without concentrating flights over the same neighborhoods, per KQED.

As Che Casu, a staff member in County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins' office, explained, CHARLIE EIGHT “spreads that pain around a little bit, so it's not as impactful on just one section of the population, one section of our ecology.”

Representative Jared Huffman blasted the FAA for making the accommodation during the Bohemian Grove gathering after telling residents for nearly two years that returning to the older route wasn’t feasible. “It’s just such an unacceptable double standard,” Huffman said, per KPIX. “One set of rules and privileges for the fabulously rich and another for the rest of us.”

The FAA said the temporary routing changes were made because of increased traffic during the gathering and that flights returned to normal once the additional air traffic had cleared.

“The FAA remains committed to ensuring the safety of flight operations while addressing community noise concerns,” said the agency in a statement.

Huffman is now urging the FAA to reconsider its regular use of RREHD ONE and work with county officials and residents on a less disruptive departure procedure.

Related: Infamous, Secretive All-Male Bohemian Grove Retreat Now Underway In Sonoma County

Image: An aerial photo of surrounding farms and vineyards in the Russian River Valley on July 15, 2013, near Sebastopol, California. Warm summer temperatures and a dry spring accelerated plant growth, with vintners  across the state expecting an early and large grape harvest that begins in August. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)