The level of dysfunction in the Muni dispute is breathtaking. You've got union leaders who clearly don't represent their members. There's management, crowing about the success of a tentative contract that turned out to...
SF News
June 11, 2011
The San Francisco Zoo's newest star attractions have eight legs and fangs. They move fast. And boy, are they hairy. But while tarantulas aren't exactly known as the cuddliest creatures in the jungle, they're far less...
The first draft of California's once-a-decade redrawing of its political map ignited a chaotic game of musical chairs Friday, with analysts saying the shifting boundary lines could give Democrats at least three more...
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Nancy Pelosi, Kathleen Sebelius Describe San Francisco General Hospital As Model For New Partnership
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius identified San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center as a model for providing better care at lower costs to patients during a roundtable discussion at the hospital this morning.
San Francisco General Hospital was featured as one of the 1,500 hospitals nationwide that have joined Partnerships for Patients, a federal program that focuses on preventing hospital-acquired conditions and reducing readmission rates for patients.
In three years, the program is expected to reduce hospital infections by 40 percent -- saving an estimated 60,000 lives -- and reduce hospital readmissions by 20 percent -- meaning 1.6 million patients would not return with avoidable complications, Sebelius said.
Doctors, former patients, and hospital officials joined Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and Sebelius to describe some of the innovative ways San Francisco General Hospital is meeting these goals.
"We're used to doing things with limited resources and that has forced us to be creative in our approach to patient care. We're really proud of the work we do here," said Susan Currin, CEO for San Francisco General Hospital.
Flight attendant Crystal Elmendorf of Sacramento highlighted the care she received to prevent complications after she suffered a traumatic brain injury when her Jeep rolled over on her way to work in 2001.
After Elmendorf, now 41, was treated and released from the hospital, Dr. Geoffrey Manley continually provided follow-up care, she said.
When Elmendorf developed a staph infection during her outpatient rehabilitation, Manley provided consultation.
"No one ever skipped a beat. The communication was incredible," Elmendorf said. "No matter what, all the options were laid out."
Also designed to help patients make decisions, the Acute Care for Elders project is focused on educating and empowering patients while they are in the hospital, its medical director Dr. Edgar Pierluissi said.
Patients are told about possible warning signs and given handouts describing their medications and treatment, Pierluissi said.
The project, which treats patients who are at least 65 years old, has never been "tested in a population like ours, with 20 languages, a number of Medicare and Medi-Cal eligible patients, who have higher rates of disability," he said.
This is a novel idea, Pierluissi said, but it could reduce hospital readmissions by 30 percent.
The project involves calling the patient 48 hours after being released to discuss how the patient is feeling or any difficulties encountered, such as going up stairs or eating, he said. Ten days later, the patient will receive another follow-up call.
"It's very simple patient-centered things, but they make a huge difference," Pierluissi said.
A transition care program aimed at those at least 60 years old, Support from Hospital to Home for Elders, helped San Francisco resident Gregory Lyons recover after a stroke this January.
"The SHHE program was all about reintegrating me in a healthy way back into where I live," Lyons said. "I live on the third floor. They were concerned about stairs. They were concerned about shopping."
The "nuts-and-bolts questions" the hospital asked about the quality of his life were basic, but important, Lyons said.
"Don't have a stroke, but if you do, you want the kind of care that I got here," he said.
Sebelius said if other hospitals emulate these types of programs, the Partnership for Patients could potentially save up to $35 billion, with a minimum of $10 billion in savings for Medicare in the next three years.
The Affordable Care Act, passed through Congress last year, has invested $1 billion into the Partnership for Patients.
The goal is to "help other providers across the country take on this effort," she said.
Sebelius described San Francisco General Hospital's population as "challenging," because of the many older patients with chronic conditions who arrive in debilitating shape speak a number of different languages.
"If it can happen here, we can make this happen across the country," Sebelius said.
CONTACT: Melissa Nitti, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (202) 573-6249m, Rachael Kagan, SF General Hospital (415) 206-3170
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City Opens Kindergarten to College Savings Accounts
The city of San Francisco is investing in its youth -- its kindergarteners in particular -- with the opening of Kindergarten to College savings accounts.
The city has opened the nation's first universal children's savings account program and made an initial deposit of $50 for about 1,200 kindergarteners -- a first step on the path to college.
"With Kindergarten to College, soon every student entering kindergarten in public schools in San Francisco will have a college savings account and some seed money to get started.
The account is not just a vehicle for savings, but a vehicle for hope," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement.
An additional $50 was provided by the city for students receiving free or reduced price lunches.
Private philanthropic interests are funding a dollar-for-dollar match for the first $100 of savings, with a $100 bonus for families who sign up for automatic monthly deposits, according to city officials.
Citibank is providing the bank accounts, which include savings incentives for students and their families.
The bank is also providing a financial education program as part of the initiative, city officials said.
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Man Stabbed in Back in Tenderloin Thursday Night
A man suffered life-threatening injuries when he was stabbed in the back in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood on Thursday night.
The stabbing was reported at about 8:20 p.m. near the intersection of Turk and Taylor streets.
The 53-year-old victim was approached by another man who accused him of taking his property.
The suspect then stabbed the victim in the back and ran away, according to police.
The suspect had not been found as of this morning.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Police Department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.
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Pedestrian Struck by Car in SOMA, Suffers Life-Threatening Injuries
A pedestrian suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by a car in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood Thursday afternoon, police said.
The collision was reported at about 2:40 p.m. near the intersection of Harrison and Harriet streets.
The 46-year-old victim was walking east along Harrison Street when he was struck by a gold Subaru traveling south on Harriet Street, according to police.
The driver of the car, a 45-year-old man, stopped at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation into the collision, police said.
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Thousands Begin to Gather for Funeral for Fallen Firefighters
Thousands of people were beginning to gather late this morning at a church in San Francisco where a funeral is being held today for two firefighters who died after fighting a blaze in the city's Diamond Heights neighborhood last week.
Family, friends and firefighters from around the country are attending the services for Lt. Vincent Perez, 48, and firefighter-paramedic Anthony Valerio, 53. T
he pair died of injuries they suffered while battling a fire at a home at 133 Berkeley Way on June 2.
Perez died later that day and Valerio succumbed to his injuries on Saturday morning.
A vigil was held for the two men Thursday night at St. Mary's Cathedral, the site of today's funeral being held at 12:30 p.m.
After the funeral, the men will be buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
Streets are being closed around the city to make way for the funeral and procession to the cemetery.
Fire trucks were already beginning to line up late this morning on Geary Boulevard, one of the streets being closed during the services.
The funeral has brought firefighters from around the country who came to mourn their colleagues.
Matt Vaitiskis, a firefighter from Boston, said, "This is what we do. They would do it for me, the brotherhood transcends nations."
Tim O'Brien, a firefighter from Chicago, said last year two firefighters died in a building collapse in their city, and firefighters from San Francisco came out for that funeral.
"You're looking at all my brothers," O'Brien said. "We live together, eat meals, cook together, scrub floors, and at the end of the day we might walk into a very bad situation together."
BART officials this morning were designating the last car of each train for the hundreds of fire personnel coming into San Francisco.
Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Mayor Ed Lee, and Bill Storti, the captain of Fire Station 26 where the two men worked, will be among the speakers at the funeral, as will Perez's brother and one of Valerio's longtime ambulance partners.
Perez and Valerio were badly burned when objects in a room of the house apparently heated to the point of ignition, a dangerous phenomenon known as a "flashover," Talmadge said.
A female firefighter suffered smoke inhalation and minor burns. She was treated at the hospital and released later that day.
Talmadge said the initial fire that day appears to have been sparked by something electrical, but its exact cause remains under investigation.
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UPDATE: Police Investigating Suspicious Death Near Buena Vista Park
San Francisco police are investigating a suspicious death after firefighters responding to a small brush fire near the city's Buena Vista Park early this morning found a partially burned body there, a police spokesman said.
Firefighters responded to a small fire at 4:39 a.m. near Buena Vista Avenue East and Haight Street, a fire dispatcher said.
While extinguishing the blaze, a small brush fire near trash cans, firefighters found the partially burned body of a victim who was already dead, police Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.
Police are considering the death suspicious.
Homicide inspectors and the arson task force are investigating the incident, Dangerfield said.
No information about the victim was immediately available this morning, he said.
Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Police Department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.
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Community Members, City Officials Kickoff Juneteenth Celebration
San Francisco community members and city officials gathered in City Hall Thursday to kickoff Juneteenth, the annual celebration that honors the release of slaves in Texas in 1865.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation was made official in January 1863, blacks were enslaved in the Southwest for more than two years until Union soldiers enforced the order on June 19, 1865.
San Francisco's 61st annual Juneteenth festival will take place on June 18 and June 19 on Fillmore Street to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States, said Lateefah Simon, the executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
About 10,000 people are expected to attend the festival, which will feature music and entertainment on two stages, health and job fairs, and classes in Zumba, skateboarding and roller-skating.
Supervisors Malia Cohen and Ross Mirkarimi, who represent Districts 10 and 5 respectively, stressed the importance of the celebration to the city.
"It's very important that we not forget...where we come from so we do not stumble and forget and remain vigilant in where we're going," said Cohen, the only black member of the Board of Supervisors.
Juneteenth changed the direction of America and San Franciscans should never lose sight of this day, Mirkarimi said. Mirkarimi also said the location of the celebration in the Fillmore neighborhood, or "the Harlem of the West," was important.
With urban populations in the city thinning out, neighborhoods like the Bayview and Fillmore need to be recognized and cultivated, he said. Juneteenth enriches the African-American community to be stronger and more vibrant and entrepreneurial, former supervisor Bevan Dufty said.
In addition to celebrating the end of slavery, the event also honors Mary Helen Rogers, a civil rights activist who fought for equality in San Francisco.
Rogers spent her life fighting "exclusion, injustice, ignorance and meanness," said the Rev. Amos Brown, a pastor at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco and former supervisor.
"Celebrations only last for a moment, but the struggles of liberation go on from one generation to the next," Brown said.
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Friday Morning News Roundup
Bakers Convcited of First-Degree Murder for Killing of Journalist
Family members and friends of journalist Chauncey Bailey expressed relief Thursday that Your Black Muslim Bakery leader Yusuf Bey IV and an associate were convicted of first-degree murder for Bailey's shooting death nearly four years ago.
Prosecutor Melissa Krum told jurors during a trial that lasted two-and-a-half months that Bey, 25, ordered the killing of Bailey, 57, to prevent him from writing an article about the bakery's financial problems.
The bakery was in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings when Bailey was killed near the corner of 14th and Alice streets in downtown Oakland, only a few blocks away from where the trial was held, in broad daylight Aug. 2, 2007, and closed its doors later that year.
Krum said Bey was also upset at Bailey for writing articles about the child molestation charges that his father, bakery founder Yusuf Bey, faced when he died in 2003 at the age of 67.
Bailey's death was the first time in many years that an American journalist was killed over a domestic story. Bailey's cousin, Wendy Ashley-Johnson, said the jury's verdict sends a message that "journalists have a job to do and shouldn't be squashed."
Ashley-Johnson said, "Unfortunately, that's what happened to Chauncey and it should never happen again."
She said, "I'm glad it's over now and Chauncey can rest and we can go on with the rest of our lives." Derrick Nesbitt, who worked with Bailey on a local television show called "Soul Beat" that Bailey hosted, said, "For him to be murdered was ridiculous" and still recalls coming to the murder scene and "watching him laying there."
Nesbitt, who thanked Bailey for helping him get into the news business, said, "I miss Chauncey and his type of reporting.
In Oakland, Chauncey hasn't been replaced." Jurors, who deliberated for 10 days, convicted Bey of three counts of first-degree murder for a shooting spree in the summer of 2007.
In addition to being convicted for the death of Bailey, Bey was convicted for the fatal shootings of Odell Roberson Jr., 31, on July 8, 2007, and Michael Wills, 36, on July 12, 2007.
Bakery associate Antoine Mackey, 25, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Bailey and Wills but jurors deadlocked on a murder charge he faced for the death of Roberson.
Feds Seize $14.8M from Swiss Bank of Counterfeit Software Merchant
Federal immigration officials have seized $14.8 million from a Swiss bank account of a fugitive entrepreneur accused of selling counterfeit security software over the Internet.
Shaileskumar Jain, 41, also known as Sam Jain, formerly of Mountain View, is charged in federal court in San Jose with fraudulently gaining millions of dollars from sales of counterfeit copies of anti-virus programs made by Symantec Corp.of Cupertino.
U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte declared him a fugitive after he failed to show up for two court hearings in January 2009.
Jain is accused in a 2008 indictment of 31 counts of fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods in 2003.
The indictment alleges that he took in a total of $13.5 million by selling counterfeit software through several Internet websites.
Jain allegedly recruited customers through a combination of email spamming and pop-up advertising that sent viewers to his websites.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations agency announced Thursday that the $14.
8 million was seized in a related forfeiture action. The agency said the forfeiture was completed May 31 after the Swiss government transferred the money to the U.S. Treasury in compliance with a seizure warrant issued in federal court in New York.
Joseph Vincent, assistant special agent in charge of the agency's San Jose office, said the amount seized includes the $13.5 million cited in the indictment.
Authorities are awaiting an accounting from the Swiss government as to the source of the remaining $1.3 million taken from the Swiss account, he said.
ICE Director John Morton, in a statement from his Washington, D.C., office, said authorities hope some of Jain's "ill-gotten gains will soon go to compensate the legitimate software maker that lost millions as a result of this scheme."
In the meantime, he said, "We're continuing our efforts to locate this fugitive so he can be brought to justice for his crimes."
Vincent said investigators are following up on information indicating Jain may have fled to Ukraine.
CPUC Panel Blasts PG&E
An independent panel appointed by the California Public Utilities Commission issued a report Thursday blasting PG&E's technical competence and pipeline integrity management procedures.
The panel found that shortcomings in those and other areas not only contributed to last year's San Bruno pipeline explosion, which left eight people dead and 35 homes destroyed, but they also have led to a flawed response to the disaster.
"We met many capable people," at PG&E, business advisor and panelist Paula Rosput Reynolds told the CPUC Thursday."
Somehow that has not created an atmosphere where inquiry, thinking and curiosity mesh together in a way that is fulsome."
She and the other four members of the panel found that PG&E's pipeline integrity management program had focused more on worker safety than the safety of the system.
The company's record keeping, organizational effectiveness, and resource allocation also came under fire, as did its response to the San Bruno explosion, the five-stage "Pipeline 2020" improvement program.
"Pipeline 2020 is not a plan," Reynolds said, calling the materials "reactive" and underdeveloped.
PG&E released a statement saying the company "strongly agrees" with the panelist's comments and will work with the CPUC to improve its pipeline safety.
"It's clear, as we've openly acknowledged, that we need to make major improvements in our operations and culture in order to deliver the performance our customers rightly expect -- and that we expect from ourselves," the company said.
Although the National Transportation Safety Board is responsible for identifying the root causes of the explosion, the independent panel found that it could not separate technical incompetence from the problems it identified with PG&E's safety record, according to the 204-page report.
Milpitas Police Investigating Thursday's Shooting
Milpitas police are investigating a shooting at an occupied house Thursday afternoon.
Officers responded around 1:45 p.m. to a report of shots fired in the 600 block of North Abbott Avenue, according to police Lt.Thomas Borck.
Witnesses told police the suspect, who hasn't been identified, fled in a black mid-size sedan.
People were inside the house at the time, but no one was injured, Borck said.
Preliminary Investigation Concludes Pedestrian Killed by Clatrain was a Man
A pedestrian who was fatally struck on a Caltrain track in Burlingame Thursday afternoon was a man, an agency spokeswoman said.
A preliminary investigation indicates the death was intentional, Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said.
The man's name has not been released.
Caltrain reopened its northbound track near Bellevue Avenue at 5:45 p.m. for trains traveling at reduced speeds, Dunn said.
Commuters were advised to expect significant delays because of the service interruptions.
San Francisco Giants fans planning to take the train to Thursday night's game were warned to make other arrangements, she said.
This is the second time in two days a person has been fatally struck by a train in Burlingame.
The southbound Baby Bullet train No.
362 hit the man Thursday at about 4:30 p.m. near Bellevue Avenue, Dunn said.
On Wednesday, a man was struck at Peninsula Avenue at about 12:20 p.m., about half a mile from where the pedestrian was hit Thursday.
It appears Wednesday's death was a suicide, Dunn said.
Thursday's death marks the ninth person to be killed on Caltrain right-of-way this year.
There were 11 fatalities on Caltrain tracks last year.
BART and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority were honoring Caltrain tickets.
SJ Hairstylist Killer Convicted of First-Degree Murder
Nearly 23 years after a 21-year-old hairstylist was found stabbed to death in her San Jose apartment, a jury Thursday found the suspect in the case guilty of first-degree murder for the killing.
Following a month-long trial and nearly 1.5 days of deliberation, a jury of eight men and four women convicted Charles Grant of stabbing Kristi Harris with a knife in her Bascom Avenue apartment Aug. 29, 1988.
Immediately after the verdict was read around 11 a.m., Harris' family members and friends broke into loud sobs.
"We've waited 23 years for this," Harris' sister, Dana, said.
"He took a precious life from us in a very brutal manner. I've always wanted him to feel the fear that she did."
Outside the courtroom, wearing a purple ribbon emblazoned with "J4K" or "Justice for Kristi," Harris' mother, Sharon, said she was at a loss for words.
"I'm just glad it's over with. It's taken way too long," she said.
Prosecutors said Grant killed her when she walked in on him during a robbery.
Her roommate later found her body in her apartment.
Grant was treated at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center for a laceration to his left hand on the day of the murder.
His wound required sutures and he also had a cast that was wet and damaged and required repair during the visit.
Homicide investigators interviewed Grant a few times after the murder and he provided a blood sample.
Police arrested Grant in August 2008 after his DNA was matched to DNA evidence taken from the apartment.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge David Cena ordered Grant to return to court for sentencing Sept. 8.
He faces a maximum sentence of 31 years to life in prison.
San Mateo Peninsula Humane Society Holds Largest Cat
Murphy stands out among the hundred other cats up for adoption at the San Mateo Peninsula Humane Society, the adoption center vice president said.
The 6-year-old male house cat was dropped off to the Peninsula Humane Society last month weighing 31.14 pounds -- the largest domestic cat the humane society workers have seen in 20 years, Peninsula Humane Society Vice President Scott Delucchi said.
"I've never seen a cat his size," Delucchi said.
With a cat this large, the society needs to monitor his food intake, diet and exercise, Delucchi said.
His future owners will also need to be aware that the cat's extra weight puts him at higher risk for disease and health problems.
Murphy's previous owner didn't intentionally let the cat become obese, it was "something that slowly crept up," Delucchi said about the owner who surrendered Murphy to the shelter at the end of May.
Delucchi said he thinks Murphy's size will attract attention and hopefully a family to take him to a good home.
"He's different, people like different," he said.
"Especially in a shelter with almost 100 cats up for adoption he really stands out."
The Coast Guard, Oakland police and other local agencies worked to remove a car dumped in the Oakland Estuary on Thursday, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.
Oakland police have taken over the case, but the Coast Guard, along with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and the Oakland Fire Department headed to the estuary, which separates Oakland and Alameda, after a 3 a.m. phone call of car lights shining through the water, Petty Officer Laura Alcon said.
Police determined the car was stolen and had been dumped into the water near the Jack London Aquatic Center, Alcon said, noting police say the area is known for ditching stolen cars.
Nobody was in the car, but the Coast Guard stayed at the extrication to ensure no one was hurt, Alcon said.
Once the car was lifted from the water a tow truck took it away, she said.
Child Molester Arrested in San Jose
A man suspected of severely abusing his ex-girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter in Campbell has been arrested in San Jose, according to police.
Tips led officers to the area of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Springer Way in San Jose on Wednesday.
At about 1:35 p.m., they found George Rodriguez, 35, sitting in the passenger seat of a car and arrested him on a $125,000 warrant for child abuse and false imprisonment, according to police Capt. Charley Adams.
Last month, Rodriguez's 15-year-old son found the girl rolled up in a carpet in Rodriguez's garage at his Campbell home in the 1300 block of Pollard Road.
The child is now in protective custody.
Her mother, Jane Marin, 31, was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, Adams said.
Detectives had searched for Rodriguez in San Jose and Sacramento based on tips and leads.
The Sacramento Police Department and sheriff's office were also involved in the search.
New Health and Low-Income Housing Complex Opens in SOMA
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee joined city and federal officials Thursday to celebrate the opening of a new health center and low-income housing complex in the city's South of Market neighborhood.
The Westbrook Plaza complex, located at 227 Seventh St. between Folsom and Howard streets, includes a 20,000-square-foot community health clinic and 49 apartment units for rent to low-income families.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building, Lee and others cited the project as a reason why local redevelopment agencies should not be cut by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Brown has proposed eliminating the agencies, which use money to revitalize blighted urban areas, to help reduce the state's budget deficit.
Lee said more than a third of the funding for the $47 million Westbrook Plaza project came from the city's redevelopment agency.
Other speakers included officials from U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.
Fred Blackwell, executive director of the agency, said the project is "a shining example of what redevelopment can do, and a reason it should stick around.
" The health clinic includes space for medical exams, dental and lab work, X-rays and a public pharmacy, according to project officials.
The apartments include 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom units, community rooms and open space for households below 60 percent of the area's median income, which is $67,860 for a family of four.
The complex was jointly developed by the South of Market Health Center and Mercy Housing California, and is named after Eloise Westbrook, a housing and health care activist.
Lee said the collaboration on the project shows "we will take care of the most needy and we'll do it the right way, together."
Publishers Challenge Constitutionality of SF Yellow Pages Ban
A constitutional challenge to San Francisco's so-called Yellow Pages law claims the ordinance "harms the neediest city residents most of all."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco late Tuesday, alleges the law will hurt San Francisco's "poorest, oldest and least English-proficient" residents.
It was filed by the New Jersey-based Local Search Association, formerly known as the Yellow Pages Association, a trade group of publishers of print and electronic commercial search directories.
The suit is slated for a case management hearing before U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Laporte on Sept. 20.
The law, passed by the Board of Supervisors and signed by Mayor Ed Lee last month, will restrict the distribution of Yellow Pages phone books in the city.
Under a three-year pilot program scheduled to go into effect next year, distributors of printed commercial telephone directories will be prohibited from leaving the books on doorsteps unless residents agree in advance or in person to accept them.
The lawsuit charges that the measure will hurt vulnerable low-income and elderly people who may not have access to the Internet and who depend on the Yellow Pages when they urgently need services such as medical aid, emergency repairs, a lawyer or a funeral home.
The suit also claims the ordinance violates two federal and state constitutional rights of the publishers: the First Amendment right of free speech and the 14th Amendment right of equal treatment under the law.
It charges that Yellow Pages publishers are unfairly singled out for the ban while publishers of advertising circulars are not prohibited from distributing their materials.
The law, proposed by Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, is intended to cut down on blight and the costs of recycling unwanted phone books.
Castro Community Debates Whether to Hold Meeting About Rainbow Flag
The iconic rainbow flag that flies over the Castro in San Francisco was the Thursday night's Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District meeting as the board decides whether to ask the Department of Public Works to convene a meeting on the flag.
Concern over who controls the flag came to a head in March when community members requested that the flag operators, the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro, lower the flag to mark the death of gay icon and actress Elizabeth Taylor, Castro Benefit District executive director Andrea Aiello said.
MUMC denied the request, the group's president Steve Adams said.
The group receives up to 10 requests each month to lower the flag for various reasons, and the board has to limit the number of lowerings.
"For us, the flag is a source of pride. People want it up as much as possible," Adams said.
For the past 12 years, the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro have had control of the flag, located at the corner of Market and Castro streets, Adams said.
The flagpole is on city land, but the merchants' association funds the insurance and upkeep of the rainbow flag in a "public-private partnership," which Adams considers of benefit to the city's Department of Public Works.
A DPW spokeswoman said the city maintains the area and landscaping around the flag, but has an agreement with MUMC that it is responsible for the flag and pole.
Teen Injured in Horseback Riding Accident Reunited with Pony
A Martinez teenager who was in a coma for 14 months after suffering a brain injury in a horseback riding accident has been reunited with the Shetland pony she cared for as a child.
Allison Angove, 18, cared for Blackie when she was about 12 years old.
Her mother said she hopes the miniature horse will help Angove heal as she prepares to come home from her care center in Walnut Creek at the end of the summer.
The Shetland pony was brought to Angove through the SonRise Equestrian Foundation, Executive Director Alana Koski said.
The foundation is a Danville-based nonprofit organization that arranges miniature horses to visit children who are terminally ill, autistic, at-risk, or recovering from injury to create a loving connection between the two, Koski said.
When Angove's mother contacted the organization to arrange a visit, they discovered Angove had previously cared for one of the horses, she said.
Angove was comatose until May 2010 after she suffered injuries during a warm-up for a show jumping event in Fresno in 2009, family friend Jackie Mann said.
She was 16 years old when her horse Skylar slipped and fell, throwing Angove off.
Although she was wearing a helmet, she suffered serious brain trauma, Mann said.
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Thousands Expected To Attend Funeral Service For Two Fallen Firefighters
Firefighters from around the state will converge on San Francisco on Friday to attend the funeral service for two firemen who died after fighting a blaze in the city's Diamond Heights neighborhood last week.
Fire department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge said today that at least 6,000 people are expected to attend the services for Lt. Vincent Perez, 48, and firefighter-paramedic Anthony Valerio, 53.
The pair died of injuries they suffered while battling a fire at a home at 133 Berkeley Way on June 2.
Perez died later that day and Valerio succumbed to his injuries on Saturday morning.
A vigil will be held for the two men at 7 p.m. today at St. Mary's Cathedral at 1111 Gough St., and a joint funeral is planned for 12:30 p.m. Friday, also at St. Mary's.
After the funeral, the men will be buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, Mayor Ed Lee, and Bill Storti, the captain of Fire Station 26 where the two men worked, will be among the speakers at the funeral, as will Perez's brother and one of Valerio's longtime ambulance partners, according to Talmadge.
The funeral is expected to bring firefighters from as far south as Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as members of dozens of fire departments in the Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California, Talmadge said.
"The fire department is overwhelmed with the love and support that we've been receiving from our brothers and sisters in the fire service and the public," she said.
"Everyone has just been amazingly gracious." Perez and Valerio were badly burned when objects in a room of the house apparently heated to the point of ignition, a dangerous phenomenon known as a "flashover," Talmadge said.
A female firefighter suffered smoke inhalation and minor burns. She was treated at the hospital and released later that day.
Talmadge said the initial fire that day appears to have been sparked by something electrical, but its exact cause remains under investigation.
The Police Department today released details about street closures planned from about 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday to make way for the funeral and procession to the cemetery.
Westbound Geary Boulevard will be closed from Gough Street to Webster Street, and eastbound lanes will be shut down from Divisadero Street to Gough Street.
Northbound Webster Street will be blocked from Geary Boulevard to Ellis Street, and there will be partial lane closures on Gough Street between Geary Boulevard and Ellis Street.
After the funeral, a procession more than 200 fire trucks will travel south on Gough Street, then head west on Market Street, south on Valencia Street, west on 15th Street, south on Dolores Street and merge onto San Jose Avenue, police said.
From San Jose Avenue, the procession will enter southbound Interstate Highway 280 and exit at Serramonte Boulevard, then turn onto Collins Road, then head onto El Camino Real where it will end at the cemetery.
Several San Francisco Municipal Railway bus and light-rail lines are expected to be impacted, including the F-Market, J-Church, 5-Fulton, 6-Parnassus, 21-Hayes, 22-Fillmore, 24-Divisadero, 31-Balboa, 33-Stanyan, 48-Quintara, 38/38L-Geary, and 71/71L-Haight-Noriega.
The San Francisco firefighters' union has established trust accounts for the Perez and Valerio families at the San Francisco Fire Credit Union.
Donations can be sent to the credit union at 3201 California St., San Francisco, 94118.
Condolence messages can be sent to Fire Station 26, 80 Digby St., San Francisco, 94131.
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BART Delays Reported After Passenger Becomes Ill At Rockridge Station
BART riders should expect 15-minute delays this morning for trains on the Pittsburg-Bay Point line heading into San Francisco, a BART employee said.
The delays began after an ill passenger had to get off a train at the Rockridge station sometime before 10:45 a.m., the employee said.
The passenger's medical needs have been taken care of, she said.
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Man Hit In Head With Baseball Bat, Robbed Of Wristwatch
A man was hit in the head with a baseball bat and had his wristwatch stolen in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood on Wednesday night, police said.
The robbery was reported at about 10:40 p.m. near the intersection of Fourth and Bryant streets.
The 32-year-old victim was approached by a man who hit him in the head with a baseball bat, knocking him to the ground, according to police.
While he was on the ground, the attacker took the man's wristwatch and fled.
He had not been found as of this morning, police said.
The victim was taken to San Francisco General Hospital to be treated for his injuries, which are not considered life-threatening.
Anyone with information about the attack is encouraged to call the Police Department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.
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Lawsuit Claims City's Yellow Pages Law Will Hurt Neediest Residents
A constitutional challenge to San Francisco's so-called Yellow Pages law claims the ordinance "harms the neediest city residents most of all."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco late Tuesday, alleges the law will hurt San Francisco's "poorest, oldest and least English-proficient" residents.
It was filed by the New Jersey-based Local Search Association, formerly known as the Yellow Pages Association, a trade group of publishers of print and electronic commercial search directories.
The suit is slated for a case management hearing before U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Laporte on Sept. 20.
The law, passed by the Board of Supervisors and signed by Mayor Ed Lee last month, will restrict the distribution of Yellow Pages phone books in the city.
Under a three-year pilot program scheduled to go into effect next year, distributors of printed commercial telephone directories will be prohibited from leaving the books on doorsteps unless residents agree in advance or in person to accept them.
The lawsuit charges that the measure will hurt vulnerable low-income and elderly people who may not have access to the Internet and who depend on the Yellow Pages when they urgently need services such as medical aid, emergency repairs, a lawyer or a funeral home.
The suit also claims the ordinance violates two federal and state constitutional rights of the publishers: the First Amendment right of free speech and the 14th Amendment right of equal treatment under the law.
It charges that Yellow Pages publishers are unfairly singled out for the ban while publishers of advertising circulars are not prohibited from distributing their materials.
The law, proposed by Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, is intended to cut down on blight and the costs of recycling unwanted phone books. Chiu said, "I am confident San Francisco's new law will stand up to court scrutiny."
"We carefully crafted the legislation to address the significant environmental harm and blight caused by mass over-distribution of yellow pages while still allowing for them to get into the hands of all who want them," the supervisor said.
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Mayor Disappointed About Muni Operators' Rejection Of Agreement
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said today he is disappointed that a tentative agreement reached by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and its transit operators' union was rejected Wednesday by the union's members.
Members of Transport Workers Union Local 250-A voted overwhelmingly against ratifying the agreement, which had been signed last week by SFMTA management and union representatives. The vote was 944 to 488.
"Obviously we feel disappointed because there has been a genuine effort to have our transit workers understand the needs of the agency," Lee said.
The agreement came after three months of bargaining between the SFMTA and the union and would have saved the agency a minimum of $21 million over the course of the three-year contract, SFMTA spokesman Charlie Goodyear said.
In accordance with Proposition G -- passed by the city's voters last November -- an arbitrator is now responsible for the contract and will have to decide between each side's final offers on outstanding issues.
The decision of the arbitrator, who began meeting with the two sides this afternoon, is final and binding.
The SFMTA said it expects a decision before the Tuesday deadline. Lee said he would not get involved in the proceedings unless necessary after the arbitration process, but said he hopes the union comes around in the negotiations.
"The ultimate thing I need to keep impressing on the drivers is ... our bosses are the residents of the city of San Francisco," he said. "We need to respect that and understand our jobs are there to serve the public."
The union leadership put out a statement Wednesday following the announcement that operators had voted down the agreement, blaming the SFMTA and its spokesman Goodyear for "a public -- and inaccurate -- release of alleged terms and conditions in the agreement."
TWU Local 250-A President Rafael Cabrera said in the statement, "The actions by management's spokesman created a sense of mistrust and confusion that was hard to overcome.
We specifically agreed that neither side would make public statements about the tentative agreement until we had a chance to present it to our members."
Goodyear said today, "It was certainly not our intention to prevent in any way the ability of union leadership to go out and talk to their members," and said the union had five or six days to do so before any statements were released to the press.
"We disagree with the premise that our statement is responsible for yesterday's vote," he said.
The union has voted to authorize a strike in case negotiations break down, and is also seeking to overturn Proposition G.
The proposition changed parts of the city charter that ensured that Muni drivers would have the second-highest operator salaries in the country, and it requires that contracts be negotiated through collective bargaining and binding arbitration, similarly to other city employees.
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June 10, 2011
The bodies of two San Francisco firefighters who died in the line of duty were taken into a church for a memorial.
Vincent Perez and Athony Valerio, honored today for giving their life on the line of duty with the San Francisco Fire Department, are the 146th and 147th casualties in the San Francisco Fire Department’s 160 year history, according to the U.S. Fire Administration’s memorial data base. They were the first casualties since 2003 when Melinda...
Hundreds paid tribute to fallen firefighters Anthony "Tony" Valerio and Lt. Vincent Perez at St. Mary's Cathedral, on Friday, June 10, 2011.
Paid for by Phil Ting for Assembly 2012. FPPC ID# 1343137
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