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Nurses who went on strike in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles to be locked outBy Associated Press Updated: Saturday, December 24, 10:50 PM OAKLAND, Calif. — Hospital officials say nurses who staged a one-day strike against nine hospitals in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles will not be allowed to return to work Friday. Thursday’s strike — the second in three months — and the planned lockout are the latest in a series of disputes between nurses and hospital management over health care costs, staffing levels and sick leave. The California Nurses Association — the...

At least 85 arrested as S.F. camp clearedBy the Associated Press Posted: 12/08/2011 01:01:23 AM PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- At least 85 people were arrested as police cleared San Francisco's Occupy encampment early Wednesday, police said. Officials had not compiled exact numbers by Wednesday afternoon, but most of the approximately 85 people were cited and released after the daybreak raid, said Officer Albie Esparza. About 15 people who were arrested on a variety of charges, ranging from resisting arrest to assault with a deadly weapon, were still in custody, Esparza said. More than 100 officers carried out the raid,...

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- Two police officers were attacked with sharp objects by protestors in an Occupy San Francisco march this afternoon, police said. Protestors were marching in the area of Embarcadero and Broadway around 3:30 p.m. today when the attacks occurred, according to police. Officers accompanying the march were attempting to prevent demonstrators from taking over the middle of the intersection, where Muni light rail lines are located. Police say a woman emerged from the crowd and attacked one of the officers with what was described as an exacto blade attached to a pen or pencil like object. She...

SF plan would offer tax break for hiring felonsRachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer October 18, 2011 04:00 AM San Francisco businesses that hire people with felony convictions would get a tax break, under legislation expected to be introduced today. "Ex-felons are among the most challenged populations in getting work," said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who is crafting the plan. Persuading an employer to hire a convicted felon, particularly in this economy when the unemployment rate is hovering just under 10 percent, is difficult, especially when there's a wide pool of job applicants without felony records.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Something could soon be coming between San Francisco's proud nudists and their unusual freedom to bare it all. Walking around naked is legal in the city under most circumstances, but a city supervisor concerned about public health and sanitation introduced legislation Tuesday that would require the clothing averse to put a cloth or other barrier under their bottoms if they take a seat in public. > Wiener represents the city's Castro District, where a group of men locals refer to as "the naked guys" is known to strut its stuff, and some residents have grown weary...

<p>Around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 95-year-old Castagnola's on Fisherman's Wharf (286 Jefferson St.) was buzzing. With a holiday weekend swelling the reservation book, the dining room was full and the Saturday night comedy show was set to begin.</p> <p>Then the kitchen staff walked out.</p>

The decision by Bay Area Rapid Transit officials to cut off cellphone service Thursday evening – to forestall a planned protest – raises a fundamental question: Do Americans have a basic right to digital free speech or to digitally organized assembly? Because July protests against BART police shootings had turned violent, BART officials took the unusual step to protect public safety, they said. The tactic may have worked: No protests took place Thursday night at BART stations. Temporarily shutting down cell service and beefing up police patrols were "great tool[s] to utilize for this specific purpose," BART police Lt. Andy...

Beware any candidate who tells you he is not a politician -- after he refers to himself in the third person. That would be San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who on occasion now refers to himself as "Ed Lee." In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle's John Cote on Sunday, Ed Lee asserted, "I am not a politician." Ed Lee also told Cote: "Ed Lee is not changing. I've changed my mind, but I'm still the Ed Lee that (people) know." The change to which Ed Lee referred is his decision to go back on a pledge made in...

The San Francisco Superior Court is laying off more than 40 percent of its staff and shuttering 25 courtrooms because of budget cuts. Presiding Judge Katherine Feinstein said Monday that the cuts mean it will take many more hours to pay a traffic ticket in person, up to 18 months to finalize a divorce and five years for a lawsuit to go to trial. The cuts go into effect on Sept. 30 and are needed to close a $13.75 million deficit. Some 200 of the court's 480 workers will be let go, including 11 of 12 commissioners who preside over...

Hundreds of never-used English and math workbooks were tossed into the recycling bin last week at a San Francisco school, stunning neighbors who called it a waste of taxpayer money, particularly at a time when budget cuts are forcing the district to lay off teachers, increase class sizes and eliminate summer school. "My first thoughts were: Here's the district begging for money, and they're throwing out perfectly good, unread, unused books," said David Toerge, who lives across the street from Paul Revere Elementary School and first saw the books Friday. The practice of tossing unused and obsolete books isn't unheard...

San Francisco -- The head of a children's art organization, arrested three weeks ago for possession of child pornography, placed "offensive" tiles in murals he created at four city schools, San Francisco police said Friday. Some 100 "inappropriate" tiles have been found in murals at Sunset Elementary School and three other unnamed schools in the city, said Police Chief Greg Suhr. Anthony Josef Norris, founder and director of Kid Serve Youth Murals,designed and worked on all the projects. The San Francisco man surrendered June 2 to the FBI after agents investigating a website known for child pornography traced the log-on...

For Kearsley Higgins, raising a baby in San Francisco was idyllic. She and her husband owned a small two-bedroom house in the Castro, she found plenty of activities for her daughter, Maya, and made friends through an 11-member mothers' group. Now as the mother of an almost 4-year-old, with a baby boy due in September, Higgins has left. A year ago, she and her husband, a digital artist, bought a four-bedroom home with a large backyard in San Rafael. Maya easily got into a popular preschool and will be enrolled in a good public elementary school when the time comes....

San Francisco's ever-active Animal Control and Welfare Commission has renewed its push for a pet sale ban in the city - only this time, it even covers goldfish. The idea is to put the squeeze on puppy and kitten mills that supply pet stores, and to discourage "impulse buys" of hamsters and other small pets that often wind up being dumped at shelters. But goldfish, guppies and tropical fish?

San Francisco would be the first city in California to require that crisis pregnancy centers prominently disclose whether they are antiabortion facilities that don't offer comprehensive health care, under legislation being developed by a city supervisor. Critics say that despite giving the impression that women facing unplanned pregnancies are offered a full range of medical services and counseling, many of these clinics try to talk patients out of terminating their pregnancies and do not provide any care or referrals beyond limited prenatal and postnatal services. "Legislation is a priority because there are clinics using misleading advertising tactics," said Supervisor Malia...

SAN FRANCISCO -- In November, San Francisco voters will be asked to weigh in on what was until now a private family matter: male circumcision. City elections officials confirmed Wednesday that an initiative that would ban the circumcision of males younger than 18 in San Francisco has received enough signatures to appear on the ballot. The practice would become a misdemeanor.

Even loyal Obama supporters are raising their eyebrows at the very pricey fundraising -- like that exclusive $35,800-per-person dinner in San Francisco -- planned as part of the President's April 20 visit to the Bay Area. The April Western U.S. swing by the President, which includes a stop in Reno and Los Angeles as well as San Francisco, is part of Obama's 2012 re-election kickoff campaign. But also scheduled .. a jobs and economy event in the Bay Area on April 20. On April 21, Obama heads to Los Angeles. ... Obama supporters acknowledge that the $35,800 per person San...

Supporters of Bradley Manning stripped down to their skivvies outside the office of US Senator Diane Feinstein to protest the treatment of the suspected WikiLeaker, who is being held in solitary confinement, often without being allowed to wear clothes. Chanting slogans such as “Solitary confinement is inhumane” and “Due process, humane treatment,” the protesters called on Feinstein to oppose Manning's prison conditions, which also prevent him from exercising, sleeping during the day, or reading except during certain hours. He has also been forced to sleep naked many nights and then stand at full attention the following morning for inspection, according...

Eye-popping pension costs are the issue du jour at City Hall these days, but city officials say skyrocketing health care benefits are a far bigger concern - and some of them blame a little known group of seven for exacerbating the problem. They're the members of the obscure Health Service Board, which meets monthly to select the medical and dental plans for employees and retirees, set the amount members pay for each plan, and set policy for the plans' administration. It sounds innocuous enough, but the City Charter requires that four of the seven be employees or retirees who are...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The seats of some well used methods of public transportation have been analyzed by a biologist and the results might keep commuters on their feet. A supervisor with San Francisco State University's biology lab recently tested the bacterial content of a random BART seat and a Muni seat. The Bay Citizen commissioned the study. On Muni's plastic seats she found two forms of harmless bacteria, and after using an alcohol wipe on the seat no bacteria was detected. But the cloth seats on BART told an entirely different story: tests of the seats on BART revealed fecal...

Updated 9:35 AM PST, Thu, Jan 13, 2011 Print Share Buzz up! 2retweet 1diggdigg Despite President Obama's speech about healing, shared responsibility and shared pain, conservative pundit Sarah Palin is plastered, unflatteringly, along one San Francisco street (so far). The posters -- found and publisehd by SFist.com -- espouse "Enrage them with fear until they feel justified in their violence."

...In any case, the twenty-first century is undeniably the century science fiction built—if not in utter hands-on reality (though even that proposition is debatable, given the inspiration the genre has provided for influential scientists and geeks), then in the public imagination...

(CNSNews.com) - The Center for Science in the Public Interest said Thursday it plans to go ahead with its lawsuit against McDonald’s to ban children's Happy Meals, which include free toys. On Tuesday, San Francisco became the first major U.S. city to pass a law regulating the practice of giving away free toys with restaurant meals for children. Stephen Gardner, litigation director for CSPI, told CNSNews.com that his group applauds San Francisco’s action, but it won’t have any impact on the CSPI lawsuit, which is close to being filed. “We have been talking with them (San Francisco) behind the scenes,...

The SCI-FI AIR SHOW’s purpose is to preserve and promote the rich and varied history of Sci-Fi/fantasy vehicles.

What is billed as the biggest Fleet Week in San Francisco in 20 years gets started with a roar this afternoon when the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels precision flying team begins the first of four days of ear-shattering flights over San Francisco Bay. The Angels will be making survey flights over San Francisco and the bay starting at 1 p.m. in preparation for a dress rehearsal Friday afternoon and air shows Saturday and Sunday. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/07/BAQ91FONKC.DTL#ixzz11kR9PoZR

OAKLAND, Calif. – Hundreds of protesters condemning Israel's recent raid on an international flotilla bound for Gaza are picketing at the Port of Oakland, where an Israeli ship is due to arrive. The demonstrators gathered Sunday to prevent the incoming ship from being unloaded. The dock's day shift of longshoremen agreed to not cross the picket line. Meanwhile Sunday, Israel said it will immediately allow all goods into Gaza except weapons and items deemed to have a military use under its decision to ease its three-year-old blockade of the Palestinian territory. Israeli officials had decided last week to ease the...

National Security: There seems to be only one thing White House arms negotiators want more than a reduction in U.S. nuclear weapons — a reduction in U.S. missile defenses to protect us from such weapons. The Washington Times' Bill Gertz reports that U.S. diplomats are secretly negotiating with Russia to link nuclear arms reduction to limits on our anti-missile defenses. As Gertz points out, "Pro-arms-control officials within the administration dislike missile defenses, viewing them as an impediment to offensive arms agreements." Ellen Tauscher, the undersecretary of state for international security and arms control, has been talking to Moscow's deputy foreign...

Come to free and wild Arizona. We don't allow open container but we allow open carry. There always seem to be a gun show. Bring your weapon and get it outfitted or buy a new side piece. http://www.tucsonguns.net/Gun_Shows.php This is a reprint of the list of Southern Arizona wineries I posted Wednesday. CALLAGHAN VINEYARDSKent & Lisa Callaghan 336 Elgin Road (Elgin) (520) 455-5322 www.callaghanvineyards.com CANELO hILLS VINEYARD & WINERYTim & Joan Mueller 342 Elgin Road (Elgin) (520) 455-5499 www.canelohillswinery.com CHARRON VINEYARD & WINERYMilton & Susan Craig 18585 S. Sonoita Hwy (Vail) (520) 762-8585 www.charronvineyards.com DOS CABEZAS WINEWORKSTodd & Kelly Bostock...

Coleman said he issued the order as a protest, following several other cities and organizations that are boycotting Arizona. "This law sets a dangerous example for the rest of the country," Coleman said in a press release. "It will create a culture where racial profiling is acceptable, and will create a dangerous wedge between police officers and the communities they serve."

SAN FRANCISCO — Three Hayward cousins have pleaded guilty to shooting a man in the face with a BB gun because they thought he was gay, and were sentenced to six months in jail. Mohammad Habibzada, 24, Shafiq Hashemi, 21, and Sayed Bassam, 21, also will be on probation for three years and must complete as much as 400 hours of community service, including 40 hours of hate-crime sensitivity training, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. Police said the men went to San Francisco on Feb. 26 armed with an air rifle and video camera, targeting people who...

Count our own George Gascon among the nation's police chiefs speaking out against a controversial Arizona immigration bill that would require police officers in that state to arrest anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally. Gascon, who was the top cop in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa before being tapped for the San Francisco job last year, said the Arizona legislation "will have a catastrophic effect on policing and set back community policing efforts for decades." Some cops are warning the law would impede their efforts to fight violent crime because witnesses and victims will be reluctant to...

SF crime is down -- as long as you aren't talking rapes or homicideFrom reporter Nanette Asimov April 19 2010 at 06:38 PM The bottom line at Chief George Gascon's news conference today was that crime dropped 13 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with last year. But turn off the slide projector and look at the rapes, robberies and homicides not featured on the big screen. All were higher in the first three months of 2010 than during the same time last year. Rape was up 33 percent, from 33 incidents last year to 44 this...

JACKSON (AP) — A teen who challenged a ban on same-sex prom dates will get a second chance to don a tuxedo and dance at an event in San Francisco often referred to as the ‘‘lesbian prom.’’ The National Center for Lesbian Rights has invited Constance McMillen and Ceara Sturgis, a Mississippi student who fought to wear a tuxedo in a yearbook photo, to its 33rd anniversary celebration on May 1. The event is often referred to as the ‘‘lesbian prom,’’ said NCLR Executive Director Kate Kendell. Nearly 2,000 people are expected to attend the celebration in San Francisco, Kendell...

Pelosi basks in health care victory in S.F. Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer, March 29, 2010 San Francisco -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, celebrating the passage of the health insurance overhaul, said in San Francisco on Sunday that she's not worried about Republicans' plans to take over Congress this fall by campaigning for a repeal of the law.

On March 20, a coalition of communist groups, 9/11 “Truth” activists and anti-Israel extremists gathered in San Francisco to protest against — well, just about everything. The event was in theory an “anti-war” rally timed to coincide with the seventh anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, but since that war is basically over, the anti-war movement now has not only evaporated almost completely but has also lost its focus, as a plethora of tangential issues and petty gripes have taken center stage. Read more: http://pajamasmedia.com/zombie/

Daly wants Lennar to apologize after its security guard is cuffed to pole The flap won't die down over an armed security guard working for Lennar Corp. who was handcuffed to a light pole after being kicked out of a community meeting about the developer's project to remake the former Hunters Point naval shipyard.

The tough call for Gavin Newsom would be to stick around as mayor of San Francisco. It would be difficult, gutty, and a leap of faith into an uncertain future. He's not going to do it. Newsom made it clear at Wednesday's media event in the Tenderloin that a run for California lieutenant governor is a foregone conclusion. Just a few hours after the event Newsom pulled the paperwork at the elections office and paid the fee to run. He'll make it official today or Friday. There are a hundred good reasons why he should leave the mayor's office with...

SNIPPET: "(03-03) 17:42 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- Three cousins from Hayward have been charged in San Francisco with a hate crime and assault for allegedly firing a BB rifle at the face of a man they believed was gay, an attack the men videotaped, authorities said Wednesday." SNIPPET: "Mohammad Habibzada, Shafiq Hashemi and Sayed Bassam, all 24, are scheduled to be arraigned today in San Francisco Superior Court. They are free on $50,000 bond apiece." SNIPPET: "Investigators believe the assailants chose the victim because he appeared to be gay. When the men were pulled over, police found a video camera...

An unimaginably big "megastorm" could hit the Bay Area and California as hard or harder than an earthquake, a researcher with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) warned Thursday in Menlo Park. Dale A. Cox heads an interdisciplinary scientific team investigating anything on Earth that can go wrong -- sometimes very wrong. Speaking at noon to USGS colleagues and staff and to the public Thursday evening, Cox outlined the possibilities and impacts of what he calls an ARkStorm. The term is a play on "Noah's Ark" based on the initials AR. Those stand for a relatively new meteorological term: an...

In a shocking letter to his disgruntled fans, KSFO (560-AM) radio host Lee Rodgers told them he was fired from the station but probably would have quit anyway, because Citadel, owned by Farid Suleman, had pushed him toward making positive statements about Muslims.

(San Francisco)-Every day, when the main library opens, John Banks is waiting to get inside. He finds a spot and stays until closing time. Then his wheelchair takes him back to the bus terminal where he spends his nights.

Veteran KSFO morning personality, Lee Rodgers, has been let go at the Citadel-owned, right-wing talk station, it has now been confirmed. Weeknight host, Brian Sussman will replace Rodgers. KSFO is the sister station of KGO radio. Attempts to reach station management were unsuccessful. On KSFO's web site, Rodgers is not listed on its weekday schedule, and an independent source close to the station, told me, via e-mail, that Rodgers "was out." It is not known why Rodgers was 'shown the door, although his hefty financial contract may have contributed to the sudden decision. His ex co-host, Melanie Morgan, left the...

The oldest trophy in sports is coming to San Francisco. After fighting in the courts for years, and spending hundreds of millions of dollars, billionaire Larry Ellison won the America's Cup on Sunday with a technological marvel of a sailing yacht. Ellison's syndicate, BMW Oracle Racing, won the second race in the best-of-three series by five minutes, 26 seconds over cup defender Alinghi, which is owned by Ellison's archrival, Swiss biotech magnate Ernesto Bertarelli. Two days earlier, Ellison's trimaran, USA-17, won the first race by 15 1/2 minutes. "It feels spectacular," said a jubilant Ellison, holding the tall, silver ewer...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Directors of the agency that oversees the Golden Gate Bridge have moved a step closer to approving a suicide barrier along the historic span. The board voted 16-0 to approve an environmental impact report that examines the consequences of hanging steel nets 20 feet below the bridge deck on each side. About 25 people per year die in jumps from the bridge.....

William Tenn/Phil Klass died on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at age 89. He leaves his wife, Fruma and his daughter, Adina.

Is Stranger in a Stranger Land by Robert Heinlein the Catcher in the Rye for the science-fiction set? Yes, I think you could say that about the 1962 Hugo winner in one important sense. When author J.D. Salinger died this past Wednesday, I must confess it was convenient for me (if not for him), because it got people talking about his most famous novel. The Catcher in the Rye occupies an interesting position in the literary landscape: It's inarguably a classic, and inarguably a popular classic at that — a book that a lot of people have not only heard...

Visualize for a moment what would happen if San Francisco hosted a rally on the hot-button topic of abortion. How many people would you expect to show up to support each side? Well, considering that San Francisco is the city that regularly votes in overwhelming numbers for Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer, two of the strongest abortion advocates in Congress, and that San Francisco is perceived as being among the most liberal cities in the nation, you would likely anticipate the pro-choice side to vastly outnumber the pro-life side at any rally. You couldn’t be more wrong. Because when the...

Michael Savage, the conservative badboy shockjock whom progressives love to hate, is returning to the airwaves of the Bay Area next week -- with his debut on a local all-sports sports station. Savage will debut on 50,000 watt KTRB-AM, which is known as XTRA Sports 860 AM, beginning Feb. 1, he says. He was a fixture on KSFO-AM until 2003 and after that on KNEW-AM -- but he was dropped last September after managers said the station was "headed in a new direction." Savage, a resident of San Francisco, was asked about the change by Chronicle comrade Joe Garofoli in...

Supervisor Bevan Dufty met manthing sweeping up outside a nightclub While San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is all about policy and results now, and not personality and process, mayoral hopeful and Supervisor Bevan Dufty's new relationship might prove that the personal is still political. Dufty announced at a fundraiser -- his campaign for mayor, still in its early days, has raised $50,000 so far -- that he's in a new relationship with local realtor Pat Patricelli. "I was sweeping up broken glass outside Moby at 5:30 in the morning when he walked by with his dog, Luna," Dufty told...

It is not your imagination. There really are more dogs strolling through public spaces with their owners. Animals are going where they have never gone before. "In San Francisco, it is just so much more in your face," says Emily Simone, a senior field manager for Guide Dogs for the Blind. "In the '80s and especially in the '90s, I've just seen an explosion. We've become animal obsessed. The East Coast and San Francisco are particular hotbeds for advocacy." San Francisco has become a city filled with "service animals," meaning the owner has a permit that allows him or her...

Liberal booksellers have banned Sarah Palin's book "Going Rogue" and refuse to carry it. They are retarded. I thought Liberals were against banning books. This is anti-free speech. The public in San Francisco demand the book, though, as it is #3 on the San Francisco bestseller list by being sold at Costco in San Francisco (among other stores).