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Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom to campaign against Prop. 8 San Francisco, Sep 6, 2008 / 08:04 am (CNA).- Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco and a self-described Catholic, will join a political campaign against Proposition 8, a California initiative that both would overturn the May 15 California Supreme Court decision mandating same-sex marriage and would reinstate marriage between only a man and a woman. Newsom will help launch the “No on 8 – Equality for All Campaign” today at the old Tower Records building in San Francisco, the California Catholic Daily reports. In 2004, Newsom provoked a constitutional...

San Francisco’s “Catholic” mayor will join tomorrow in the official launching of the “No on 8 – Equality for All Campaign” at the old Tower Records store on Market Street. In early January, on the occasion of his inauguration to a second term, Mayor Gavin Newsom and his family attended a Mass at the historic Mission Dolores Basilica. And to this day he continues to describe himself as Catholic. Newsom, said to have his eyes on the governorship, will be acting in open defiance of California’s bishops, who have officially endorsed Proposition 8 and have urged Catholics to support it....

Lawsuit: Producer Did Not Follow Through With Prior Arrangements, RepaymentSan Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, filed a lawsuit against an independent film producer and his company on Monday on accusations he used her $75,000 investment and did not follow through with prior arrangements or repayment, according to court documents. Siebel Newsom made the investment in January 2004 based on the belief that she would be repaid and that she would act in and help produce a film made by China Venture Films, LLC, also known as China Ventures, according to court documents. A film called "Milk and...

What do you do when you are the mayor of San Francisco and your poorly timed push for gay marriages is blamed for your party's loss in a presidential election, you get yourself involved in a sleazy sex scandal where you get caught sleeping with the wife of your campaign manager, and a much criticized policy of declaring the municipality you represent a "sanctuary city" results in a multiple murder by an illegal alien? Why you get the San Francisco Chronicle to write a glowing story about you enthusing about how you are a "hotshot to watch" with a bright...

After being assailed by the police officer whose satiric videos earned him and nearly two dozen others suspensions in 2005, San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong acknowledged that she has gone years without taking the target practice required for officers who carry guns. Department rules require all police officers who carry guns to pass shooting range tests every six months... The issue of Fong's proficiency with a gun was raised last week by Officer Andrew Cohen. He wrote to Police Commission President Theresa Sparks that the chief had gone five years without being certified, which he called "an egregious matter...

Some of the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist rhetoric in the San Francisco Bay Area is simple anti-Semitism, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post Sunday. Newsom, in the country for four days as part of a large San Francisco Jewish Community Federation delegation, said he expected to see some people protesting against his trip here when he gives a commencement address next week at San Francisco State University. The university was the site of some of the ugliest anti-Israel protests in the US during the second intifada, with some pro-Palestinian protesters chanting "Hitler didn't finish the...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is considering a 2010 run for governor - a campaign that would embrace many of the same divisive causes he has championed as mayor, including same-sex marriage, universal health care and protections for illegal immigrants, The Chronicle has learned. Newsom has long been rumored to be a potential contender in what is likely to be a crowded field of Democrats looking to succeed Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a list that includes Attorney General and former Gov. Jerry Brown, former state Controller Steve Westly and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In recent months, Newsom has quietly...

Who says that the issue of global warming is a matter of science, not faith? Just last week, Mayor Gavin Newsom proved belief trumps data. The Chronicle reported that a San Francisco Public Utilities Commission study found that the giant turbines he wanted to put underwater below the Golden Gate Bridge would cost way too much money to install and maintain. They would generate power at a cost of 80 cents to $1.40 per kilowatt hour -- as opposed to Pacific Gas and Electric's 12 cents per hour commercial rate. It seems the turbines would produce only one or two...

The smiling photo of Gavin Newsom and the city seal emblazoned on a booklet called "The Way to Happiness" sure make it seem as though San Francisco's mayor is heartily endorsing Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's writings. The booklet's back cover even shows a letter of support purportedly written by Newsom that echoes some of the mayor's favorite buzzwords: San Francisco is "a city of innovation" and is "the finest city in the world." But the giveaway is in the second paragraph, in which the fictitious letter from Newsom says San Francisco is home to "740,000 souls." He usually prefers...

Critical Mass, the loosely organized bicycle group that ties up rush-hour traffic once a month in Minneapolis, has demonstrated who rules our streets. But Minneapolis isn't the only place where the Mass mob has strong-armed the police and City Hall, and left outraged motorists fuming but impotent. Today, Critical Mass cyclists cow commuters in more than 300 cities, from Denver to Rio de Janeiro, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The ride got its start in San Francisco (where else?) in 1992 with about 50 cyclists. Authorities there looked the other way as riders ran red lights and snarled traffic....

In a city that has a reputation for being home to more dogs than children, the number of families planning to move out of San Francisco has decreased in recent years -- and on Thursday Mayor Gavin Newsom said he hopes to be able to reverse the trend of family flight. The population of children living in the city has dropped by more than 33 percent since 1960, and today there are just 112,000 young people under the age of 18 living in San Francisco, Newsom said. But the mayor painted an optimistic picture of what the future will look...

San Francisco -- Saying he wants to start his second term with a clean slate, Mayor Gavin Newsom today asked all city department heads and anybody he has appointed to serve on a city commission or board to hand in their letters of resignation. On Friday, Newsom also told all senior staffers in his office to do the same. Newsom told department heads at his regular Monday department head meeting that he wanted each of them to turn in letters of resignation, but didn't say how many resignations he ultimately would accept, according to Mitch Katz, director of the city's...

Mayor Gavin Newsom and District Attorney Kamala Harris have sent a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asking him to halt gun shows at the Cow Palace. The Crossroads of the West Gun Show happening there this weekend. The letter follows a Thursday announcement by Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, that he would introduce legislation to ban gun shows at the arena. The officials say that the shows attract people who sell guns illegally and that those guns are being used in crimes in the city. They have no evidence to support those claims, however.

S.F. Mayor Newsom gives endorsement to Clinton CANDIDATE OUTLINES VIEWS ON GAY ISSUESBy Mary Anne Ostrom Mercury NewsFresh from a Hollywood presidential forum on gay issues, Sen. Hillary Clinton accepted the endorsement Friday of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the man some leading Democrats blamed three years ago for scaring voters away from them after his unorthodox push for gay marriage. Underscoring how gay politics have changed since then, the leading Democratic candidates appeared Thursday night at a forum sponsored by gay activists and a gay-oriented television network. Clinton accepted the endorsement, saying she shares "an optimism and confidence" with...

Great Gavin Newsom Graphic - Worth the look! San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom joined fellow Californicator Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and endorsed Hillary's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The law also makes it illegal to possess or sell firearms on city and county property and ... The measure's co-sponsors concede that it will have little effect on the proliferation of illegal firearms. The prohibition of guns on county property does not apply to Housing Authority sites, and the ban on selling guns on county property does not apply to the annual gun show at the Cow Palace.

This theory is by no means foolproof. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, remains popular despite an affair with his campaign manager's wife. Former Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) was unseated in the mid-'90s amid groping allegations that would make Schwarzenegger blush. But it may well be that Republicans are better at using their opponents' sexual peccadilloes against them, summoning up the moral outrage among voters that can be deadly in a close race. It also doesn't help roving-eyed Democrats that women are a mainstay of the party, and women don't appreciate men who cheat. Villaraigosa, a Democrat who is...

In San Francisco's effort to pay the soaring cost for retiree health benefits, it's $500,000 down, $4.9 billion to go. The city, like most local governments and school districts in California, has put aside no money to cover the fast-growing cost of delivering on health care coverage promised to its workers once they hit retirement age. But in San Francisco, the financial liability hanging over the city is one of the heaviest in the state, thanks in part to the generosity of its employee health care benefits. "As this number keeps growing ... it can cripple our budget,'' said Supervisor...

It certainly appeared spontaneous and made for some great theater on both sides, but the truth is, San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly had been stoking rumors about Mayor Gavin Newsom's supposed cocaine use for months before his outburst last week at the Board of Supervisors. And for just as long, the mayor and his crew knew it was coming. One of the earliest hints came in March when Daly made it clear over coffee with us that the mayor's private life was fair game in the upcoming election -- including questions about his drinking, his rehab and his affair with...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Mayor Bloomberg is decrying the state of the 2008 presidential race, faulting the major party candidates for offering shallow, simplistic prescriptions, and scolding the press for failing to demand more from those seeking the White House. During an appearance at Google's headquarters in Silicon Valley yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg said the televised debates among the presidential candidates have been, in essence, a waste of time. "They have absolutely nothing to do with the job and the qualifications. And they don't tell you anything about whether or not any of those candidates would be good or bad presidents....