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Unionized city employees protesting layoffs and wage reductions marched from San Francisco City Hall to Market Street this afternoon, blocking off a busy intersection during rush hour.

I was away for most of the week, but I did catch up with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom at a tree-lighting party on the Embarcadero Friday evening.He looked very relaxed and was having his picture taken with everyone. He said he was back in the swing of things and really looking forward to tackling the city's $500 million budget deficit. This time, he said, he would be free to do what needed to be done because he won't be beholden to anyone. It ought to be interesting.He also asked if The Chronicle had gone after me the way the...

Horrified by the deadly shooting at a Tel Aviv gay and lesbian center in August, Robert Goldstein felt compelled to do something.A Jew helping his fellow Jews?Don’t be fooled by his name. Goldstein serves as pastor of St. Francis Lutheran Church in San Francisco. His church recently donated $2,000 to the Jerusalem Open House, one of Israel’s leading LGBT organizations. He says a similar donation to the Israel Gay Youth Organization, the target of the attack, will follow.The impetus for the gifts came after Goldstein, 65, and some of his congregants visited Israel on a 2008 tour sponsored by the...

San Francisco, CA (AP) -- A federal lawyer who was prevented from enrolling his same-sex spouse in his government-sponsored health plan must be reimbursed the cost of outside insurance and other medical expenses, a California judge ruled Tuesday. Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt said Brad Levenson, a public defender in Los Angeles, is entitled to the money because the Office of Personnel Management refused to authorize health coverage for Levenson's husband of 16 months. That violates both his constitutional rights and the court's anti-discrimination rules, the judge ruled. "The denial of federal benefits to same-sex spouses...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom stopped just long enough outside his office door the other day to give reporters a hint why he's been ducking them these past two weeks: "I think you guys should consider your reporting," the mayor said, before fleeing down a staircase and out a City Hall basement door.Newsom ignored our question about why he was leaving Monday night without taking time to address a sizable dinner crowd assembled under the Rotunda to honor the visiting deputy prime minister of Vietnam - whom he had just greeted in his inner office.One organizer told us that Newsom...

San Francisco's lowered home values and high unemployment rates have created another unwelcome side effect: far less revenue coming into city coffers than expected. A report released Monday by the controller's office shows that property tax revenues will likely be $35 million less than anticipated in the 2009-10 fiscal year that began July 1. Payroll tax revenues will probably be $24.8 million less than expected, the report said. To make matters worse, some city departments are going over budget, including shortfalls of $5.1 million in the Fire Department, $4 million in the Sheriff's Department and $3.2 million in Superior Court....

When we last looked into San Francisco's infamous "sell crack or die'' case, Rigoberto Valle had been convicted and appeared to have a ticket for deportation without serving any more time behind bars, thanks to a judge who sympathized with the Honduran immigrant's tale of being victimized by human traffickers. Valle, 23, had indeed spun quite a tale from the stand in September, recounting a harrowing journey by rail from Honduras and by foot across the desert into the United States. Valle said he had been forced on pain of death to sell crack on the streets of San Francisco...

The grim reality of San Francisco's gasping economy took center stage at City Hall this week when the Board of Supervisors failed to muster enough votes to protect more than 500 workers in the city's largest union from layoffs, pay cuts or job reassignments. Without last-minute intervention by Mayor Gavin Newsom - which his chief of staff has hinted is unlikely - the budget-balancing cuts aimed at nursing assistants and clerical workers will start to take effect next week. The cuts are a direct result of the city's chronic budget problems. This summer, the mayor's office and supervisors faced a...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday was successful in overriding Mayor Gavin Newsom's veto of legislation changing the sanctuary city ordinance. Newsom, who said the ordinance conflicts with federal law, said through his spokesman that he would ignore the legislation - prompting the legislation's author to threaten a legal challenge to the mayor. The new law takes effect in 30 days, and Supervisor David Campos said the board may fight the mayor in court if no compromise can be struck. Campos' ordinance - which garnered eight votes Tuesday - requires that undocumented juveniles be turned...

San Francisco supervisors' effort to shield immigrant youths from deportation when they're arrested on felony charges comes to a head today when the board votes on an override of Mayor Gavin Newsom's veto - a vote Newsom says he'll disregard because the ordinance would violate federal law. Supervisor David Campos' legislation has enough votes to pass. At that point, San Francisco will be at the center of a simmering nationwide legal debate over state and local government authority to depart from federal immigration policy, said Jayashri Srikantiah, a Stanford law professor and director of the school's Immigrants' Rights Clinic. At...

What a week it's been in California politics, with insiders and oddsmakers having a field day. But beware. Things may not be as they seem. First up, you'd better keep Dianne Feinstein's name on the list of possible candidates for governor. I've known Dianne for years, and the role of chief executive is a much better fit for her than being one of 100 senators. I can also tell you from the meetings I have had with her that she is very serious about California's budget troubles, water troubles and other troubles. She is also serious when she says that...

Mayor Gavin Newsom was spotted this morning at City Hall, but there's still no word on his mysterious disappearance. He arrived at his office at about 9:30 a.m., walking past members of the media who were hoping he'd comment on his absence. No such luck. "The mayor is back, and he's busy conducting meetings in his office in City Hall right now," said his spokesman, Nathan Ballard. Newsom is meeting with staff and plans to meet with both sides of the hotel workers' dispute sometime today, Ballard said. He is not planning to make any public appearances. "He's been kept...

From major conferences at the Moscone Center to small coffee shops in the Mission, San Franciscans are buzzing about Mayor Gavin Newsom and the stunning turn of fortune that in a few short days took him from being a candidate for governor to hiding out in Hawaii. From Newsom's highs, like his law-breaking same-sex marriages in 2004, to his lows, like an admitted affair and alcohol problem in 2007, the telegenic, risk-prone mayor has always given his constituents something to wag their tongues about - and this bizarre chapter is no different. Last Friday, hours after speaking before a bank...

It's understandable that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, having given up on his gubernatorial ambitions, might want to take time to lick wounds, lie low and, as my colleague C.W. Nevius suggests, do some reflecting. Unfortunately, there's important and immediate mayoral business to attend to. When Newsom's press secretary, Nathan Ballard, told The Chronicle that Newsom will be back "soon," one hoped he meant this morning. That's when Newsom was scheduled to speak to 6,000 land-use professionals, architects, planners, real estate developers and other urban experts from all over the world at the opening of the Urban Land Institute conference...

After three days of radio silence following his withdrawal from the governor's race, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom unexpectedly jetted off Tuesday morning to Hawaii to join his wife and baby daughter, who already were vacationing there. The trip, which the mayor apparently booked on his own, caught his staffers off guard. Many did not know he was gone until the city attorney's office sent out a notice informing them that the mayor had left the state and naming Supervisor Carmen Chu acting mayor.Mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard apparently was among those who did not get a heads-up about the trip....

Last week, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the boy-wonder politician sought out by network cameras at the Democratic National Convention, profiled in Newsweek and the New York Times, was forced to pull out of the race for California governor before opponent Jerry Brown even officially declared his candidacy. Newsom's campaign wasn't sputtering. It never got off the ground. A candidate who raised nearly $6 million for his 2003 bid for mayor (with maximum contributions limited to $500) only raised a little over $3 million this time, according to the California secretary of state's office. It was a harsh political lesson....

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom made a surprise announcement Friday afternoon that he was dropping out of the gubernatorial race, leaving the Democrats with no declared candidate for the top statewide office. Attorney General Jerry Brown has opened an exploratory committee for governor but has yet to formally announce his candidacy. Nonetheless, Brown has opened a wide lead over Newsom in both fund-raising and in polls. "It is with great regret I announce today that I am withdrawing from the race for governor of California," Newsom said in a statement. "With a young family and responsibilities at city hall, I...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday vetoed the Board of Supervisors' legislation changing the city's sanctuary city policy. The letter is a formality on two counts: the supervisors have the votes to override Newsom's veto, and the mayor has said he'll ignore the legislation anyway. At issue is legislation, written by Supervisor David Campos, requiring that undocumented youth be reported to federal immigration officials for possible deportation after they're convicted of a felony, not when they're first arrested, as is the current policy. Newsom, has said the legislation must be ignored because it violates federal law.

San Francisco (AP) -- This famously liberal city, known for tackling thorny issues from gay marriage to universal health care, is wrestling with another divisive issue. The Board of Supervisors gave final approval Tuesday to a measure that would keep law enforcement from turning over minors to immigration authorities unless they have been found guilty of a felony. The move pits the panel against Mayor Gavin Newsom and law enforcement by reversing his policy of turning over youths to Immigration and Customs Enforcement after their arrest. Newsom took the stance in 2008 after the city was accused of protecting young...

ormer San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown is lambasting what he calls "highly inappropriate" behavior by San Francisco Democrats Wednesday who greeted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger with a hostile reception during a surprise drop-in at a San Francisco Democratic Party fund-raiser. But outspoken State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, who shouted "You lie!" to Schwarzenneger during the event at the Fairmont Hotel -- and didn't deny reports he walked out with a quip of "kiss my gay ass" -- said the GOP governor's "cheap publicity stunt" earned a very appropriate show of political theater, San Francisco-style. Schwarzenegger, in a statement this...

San Francisco is asking basketball superstar Michael Jordan to snuff out the cigars, after he was caught on the front page of The Chronicle's Sporting Green breaking the city's ban on smoking on public golf courses. City officials sprang into action after seeing the full-color photo Tuesday of the NBA Hall of Famer enjoying a good cigar while teeing off at Harding Park's 14th hole during a Presidents Cup practice round.In an interview with PGATour.com, Jordan was asked how many cigars he planned to smoke during this week's tournament. "Well," Jordan replied, "that depends, because I heard this is a...

(NECN: Washington) - The Dalai Lama today is receiving the Lantos Human Rights Prize. The award is in memory of the late Rep. Tom Lantos.Those who advocate for Tibet see the Dalai Lama's White House visits as important messages of support for Tibetans and others struggling for human rights. "We can't replace Tom's voice, but we can help and ensure it is not forgotten...liberty is the right of mankind," said Senator John McCain.

There's still no love lost between Supervisor Chris Daly and Mayor Gavin Newsom. Daly, making a guest appearance Monday at the Board of Supervisors' public safety committee to support Supervisor David Campos' amendment to the city's sanctuary ordinance, said Newsom should be "held accountable" for releasing a confidential legal memo that said Campos' amendment violated federal law and would invite a legal challenge to the entire sanctuary policy. Daly downplayed the memo, saying it outlines a worst-case scenario and "exaggerates the legal risk involved." But he also said Newsom had provided a road map to anyone looking to challenge the...

When former President Bill Clinton officially endorses San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom for governor today, the question on many people's minds will be: Is this about Newsom, or Jerry Brown? Clinton and Brown's decades-long feud is, after all, one of the Democratic Party's nastiest, starting when they both sought the party's presidential nomination in 1992. Seventeen years later, the former California governor has opened an exploratory committee for a possible gubernatorial run, and Clinton's endorsement has set off speculation about a redux of the fight. Newsom discounted such talk in an interview with The Bee conducted shortly after the endorsement...

It's been a long, strange trip since Gavin Newsom became San Francisco's mayor. When he first ran for City Hall's top job, Newsom led with a campaign to do something about the city's homeless population. Well, the homeless are still here, but Newsom has moved on to a new target - he is running to be the next governor of California by picking on the personal habits of people who for the most part work hard and pay taxes. Example: Ask some out-of-towners to walk Market Street from the Ferry Building to City Hall. They'll tell you how beautiful San...

We don't know how eventful today's opening of a new Whole Foods Market in San Francisco's Noe Valley will be. There have been calls by Boycott Whole Foods supporters on Facebook to "raise a ruckus." Although the boycott movement, sparked by CEO John Mackey's opinion piece dissing health care reform, has faded, a "flash mob" entertained customers at an Oakland Whole Foods last week with megaphoned rants, jigs and a singsong that included the lyrics "Hey Mackey, you're a swine." We do know that mayoral candidate Bevan Dufty will be on hand to lead a morning bread-breaking ceremony. Dufty, the...

That proposed ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in California for people 21 and older - and let local government tax the sales - has a good chance of passing. People are no longer outraged by the idea of legalization, and truth be told, there is just too much money to be made both by the people who grow marijuana and the cities and counties that would be able to tax it. Unlike the 1970s, when Mayor George Moscone first moved to decriminalize pot, marijuana is no longer about hippies. Thanks to medical marijuana, pot has moved from the alleyways to...

(Sorry all. Meant to post this last night but had some technical difficulties.) Karl Rove in San Francisco? Even he seemed a bit...awed? Bewildered? Bemused? Nonetheless, Bush's Brain was the rock star attraction at a dinner Thursday night at The Ritz-Carlton to kick off the debut of the Heritage Foundation's new San Francisco Bay branch. (For the past couple of years, the premier conservative thinktank has been establishing outposts around the country to stoke the grassroots brush fires all year-round. And anybody who lives in the Bay Area knows that there's a lot of closeted conservatives here. Why do you...

A coalition of groups supporting same-sex marriage submitted ballot measure language for a proposed initiative to repeal Proposition 8 to the Attorney General's office today. The move marks the first official step toward asking California voters to repeal the law prohibiting same-sex marriage, which was approved with 52 percent of the vote during the 2008 election. If the proposed initiative is approved for circulation by the Secretary of State's office, proponents will have to collect nearly 700,000 valid signatures by April 2010 to qualify the measure for the ballot. "We need to get our rights back. It's really just that...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Two independent Lutheran congregations in San Francisco watched the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis with special interest. St. Francis Lutheran Church and First United Lutheran Church were expelled from the ELCA in 1995 for violating church standards the assembly voted to change. The 2009 Churchwide Assembly approved a series of proposals to change the denomination's ministry policies, including a policy to allow Lutherans in publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships to serve as ELCA associates in ministry, clergy, deaconesses and diaconal ministers. "What does this mean?" was a question asked at council...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday said she worries that the protests of President Obama's health-care legislation may be of a similar nature to anti-gay rhetoric in the late 1970s in San Francisco, which culminated in the assassinations of two of her home town's political leaders. Pelosi, responding to a question about anti-Obama sentiment, said that partisans on all sides of an issue have the right to voice their opinion. But after pausing, she added: "I have concerns about some of the language that is being used, because I saw this myself in the late '70s in San Francisco....

For the first time anyone can remember, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi teared up at a press conference this morning in response to an off-beat question about the current state of political discourse. Visibly struggling to retain her composure, Pelosi recalled a time in San Francisco when emotions ran out of control, obviously referring to the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk by an angry former supervisor Dan White on Nov. 27, 1978. "We are a free country, and this balance between freedom and safety is one that we have to carefully balance," Pelosi began. Then out of...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The family of a father and two sons who were slain in San Francisco last year can go to state court with a claim that the city is to blame for failing to turn their alleged killer over to immigration authorities when he was arrested earlier as a juvenile, a federal judge has ruled. City Attorney Dennis Herrera had asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to rule on the claim herself after dismissing the rest of the suit last month by Tony Bologna's widow and daughter. But Illston said Friday that the remainder of the family's case...

Edward Kennedy was a rare political combination of talent and privilege. The talent was the ability to connect with people one-on-one in an instant, an indispensable attribute in this business. Like all great politicians, Edward was not only conversant with every issue, he also knew how to open a conversation in a very personal way. Once we ran into each other after I had visited the site of China's historic Terracotta soldiers. He'd seen a photo of me there in the news. "What were you doing with a bunch of dead people?" he asked. He might talk to you about...

Love it or hate it, San Francisco is known for being unique. And it's not just in our heads: The city's lefty politics and involved citizenry have translated into a city government that's as extraordinary as its characters. San Francisco's current $6.6 billion budget - the largest in city history - dwarfs the annual spending of some small states and pays for everything from police officers to art exhibits to solar panels. But its size comes at a price: If you own a home, run a business or spend money in the city, you probably pay more in taxes than...

SAN FRANCISCO — Trial of a federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn Proposition 8 and let California's same-sex marriages resume will begin Jan. 11, a federal judge said Wednesday. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker also during Wednesday's 90-minute hearing denied the motions of a coalition of three gay-rights groups, as well as of the conservative Campaign for California Families, to intervene as parties to the case. Neither proved an interest not already adequately represented by the case's plaintiffs — same-sex couples wishing to marry — or the proponents of Proposition 8, he ruled. But Walker did grant a motion...

In an economy where upwards of 10 percent of Californians are out of a job -- and their checkbooks are hurting -- BART workers expecting public support in next week's strike look to be ... well, dreaming. Here's our "everyman" gauge: Take a glance at the comments on SFGate regarding Rachel Gordon's story today on the impending strike. Ouch.Even in the very labor-friendly Bay Area, one of the country's most liberal bastions, Chronicle readers are absolutely scathing in expressing their anger for the BART unions -- and livid about the huge disruptions the strike will cause working people around the...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The family of a father and two sons who were gunned down on a San Francisco street last year has failed to convince a federal judge that the city violated the victims' constitutional rights by shielding their alleged murderer from deportation. But a lawyer for Tony Bologna's widow and daughter said he'll return to a state court with claims that San Francisco acted negligently by not notifying federal authorities of Edwin Ramos' immigration status when police arrested him in separate incidents in 2003 and 2004. The city's lawyer said he'll seek dismissal of those claims as...

San Francisco's annual homosexual pride extravaganza was missing one factor this year -- law enforcement. During the public event, people saw nudity, lewd acts, and other debauchery, plus open marijuana use. "And this year, due to some of the negative publicity San Francisco was getting, the San Francisco police department promised they would crack down on the nudity and lewdness on the streets," said Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. According to the pro-family activist, actions during the recent party were clearly illegal -- but police made no arrests.

The biggest challenge facing San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's run for governor is not who's running the campaign, but whether he has enough money to keep the campaign going. Newsom, who has a full staff working the campaign, has raised $2.8 million with only about $1.1 million left in the bank.Meanwhile, Newsom's presumed major rival in the upcoming Democratic primary - Attorney General Jerry Brown, whose only staff is wife Ann Gust - has raised about $8 million, with roughly $7 million in the bank. And that's before he's officially declared, giving him the ability to hit up many donors...

It's a basic tenet of politics: When you get into a pissing contest with a skunk, you wind up smelling as bad as the skunk. Arnold Schwarzenegger forgot that lesson during this last budget fight. His polling numbers are almost as low as those of the Legislature. Unlike his past setbacks, when he was able to rebuild his image with newfound money, this time the economy is working against him. And from the looks of things, so is everyone else in Sacramento. I suspect his final cuts to children's health care and AIDS programs were made more out of anger...

The late San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk received the presidential Medal of Freedom award today with 15 other recipients ranging across the professional and ideological spectrum, from the late supply sider Jack Kemp to tennis star Billy Jean King to Sen. Edward Kennedy, whose absence from the health care debate due to brain cancer treatments has weighed heavily on the White House. The medal is the country's highest civilian honor. President Obama said all the recipients "share one overarching trait: Each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great...

Tenant activist-turned-suburban landlord Chris Daly certainly knows a good deal when he sees one. In February, the San Francisco supervisor, who has had his share of battles with developers over the years, scooped up a Fairfield house for $270,000, Solano County documents show. The four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house had last been assessed at $514,686.He's now renting out the house, Daly told The Chronicle's Marisa Lagos. Bonus for the supervisor - there's no rent control.Daly went bargain-hunting in Fairfield again in April and landed another four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home - this one with a pool, on a cul-de-sac - for $275,000....

Supervisor Chris Daly, the sworn enemy of gentrification in the city, announced Wednesday that he has bought a house in the suburb of Fairfield and has moved his wife and two children there. The revelation brought out his critics, who highlighted the extreme irony of him falling victim to his own legislative efforts to encourage the building of low-income housing at the expense of middle-class housing. Daly, who was 28 when he was elected to the board in 2000, has been in the vanguard of far-left politics since he arrived from Maryland in 1993. He has opposed legislation that would...

Little Gavin Mills, the 4-year-old panhandler who evoked so much sympathy and concern from San Franciscans, has been taken from his parents by Child Protective Services. It is an incredibly difficult decision to take a child away from his mother and father, but in this case it is the right choice. "Gavin deserves a chance in life," said Mary Long, who began a crusade to improve Gavin's and his mother Toni's life after seeing them at the Embarcadero BART Station. "He wasn't getting one being used as a panhandler tool by his chronically homeless mom." City officials say the family...

San Francisco's skyrocketing pension costs are untenable and both unions and politicians are to blame for abusing the system by negotiating extraordinary pension and retirement benefits without considering the unfair burden on future generations, according to a report issued Thursday. City officials acknowledged that San Francisco has some challenges. But Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, who has worked extensively on the issue, said the civil grand jury report grossly overstates the city's risk. He noted that voters, not politicians, have the ultimate say on the approval of retirement benefits. And because of that, he said, San Francisco is in a far better...

Here's a little news to dampen your day: Our city is downright mean. So says the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty in a new report called "Homes Not Handcuffs" that tracks the criminalization of homeless people in 273 cities nationwide. San Francisco is ranked seventh, up (down?) from 10th last year. Berkeley ranks 10th. The very meanest cities are Los Angeles; St. Petersburg, Fla.; and Orlando. The rankings were based on the number of anti-homeless laws, how strongly those laws are enforced and the general political climate toward homeless people. The report slams San Francisco for citing people...

Everyone who works at the San Francisco Zoo knows about Harry and Pepper, two male Magellanic penguins who share a burrow on Penguin Island. They have been cohabitating for six years, even hatching a surrogate chick together and raising it as two proud gay daddies. They show all the behaviors of a heterosexual penguin couple - building a nest together, preening each others' feathers and love-tapping beaks. They just happen to be the only two dude penguins with the same address on Penguin Island. All was domestic bliss until their next-door neighbor Fig died, widowing his mate, Linda. "Whenever there's...

State senators didn't balance the budget Tuesday night, but their failure came only after some tense moments and a rare public scolding by one senator of another. At the center were three bills, already approved in a bipartisan fashion by the Assembly, which would have freed up enough cash to temporarily stave off the need to issue IOUs to pay state bills. All 25 Senate Dems ultimately voted for them; none of the 15 Senate Reeps did. For 45 minutes, the clerk dutifully called the roll of the senators who had yet to vote. That consisted of Sen. Abel Maldonado,...

Gay Pride Photos- San Francisco