SF News

Update: Suspicious Package Deemed Harmless, Area Reopened

A suspicious package that prompted the closure of a street in San Francisco's Financial District for nearly two hours this morning has been deemed harmless and the area has been reopened, a police spokesman said.

The package was reported at 8:46 a.m. on a skyway bridge that connects the Two Embarcadero Center and Three Embarcadero Center buildings, police Officer Albie Esparza said.

Davis Street, which runs below the bridge, was shut down while the Police Department's bomb squad responded to investigate the package.

Authorities determined the package was a backpack with miscellaneous items and debris inside, none of which was a threat, and the all-clear was given at about 10:40 a.m., Esparza said. 

The bomb squad has had a busy couple of days in San Francisco. It also responded to two incidents on Wednesday, both of which ended safely.

CONTACT: San Francisco police (415) 553-1651

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San Francisco Firefighters, Paramedics Stress Life-Saving Techniques During National CPR/AED Week

San Francisco firefighters, paramedics and city officials stressed learning basic life-saving techniques at a press conference this morning kicking off National CPR/AED Awareness Week.

Methods like the American Heart Association's "Hands-Only CPR" saved Ken Byk's life after he crossed the finish line of last year's Bay to Breakers race.

Byk, who suffered a heart attack immediately after completing the race, said numerous bystanders and fellow participants assisted him.

One of the good Samaritans attending to Byk was Ruth Rodgers, an anesthesiologist who had just crossed the finish line when her husband noticed Byk collapse, he said.

Rodgers gave Byk CPR for more than 20 minutes before his pulse was restored.

Byk was taken to the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, where he suffered a second heart attack and it took five minutes to revive him.

Three days later, the 52-year-old received a quadruple bypass to relieve his three main arteries, which were more than 90 percent blocked, Byk said.

Performing CPR dramatically increased the chances of Byk's survival, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said today, but Byk had a long road to recovery and said he was grateful to be alive.

"Thank you for saving my life," Byk told Rodgers when he met her for the first time "while conscious" earlier this year.

Although there are more than 40 advanced life support ambulances available from the San Francisco Fire Department, it is not enough, Deputy Chief Pat Gardner said.

The minutes after someone collapses can prove to be the most valuable, Gardner said.

"We need you, each and every citizen of San Francisco ... to stop and help out," said Anne Kronenberg, the executive director of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.

Chest compression is the most important part of CPR, and instructions can be given over the phone from a trained 911 dispatcher, she said.

Now 53, Byk crossed the finish line of the 100th annual Bay to Breakers race last month, marking an important milestone.

"I would not be standing here today were it not for CPR," Byk said.

Those who wish to learn "Hands-Only CPR," can visit www.handsonlycpr.org to watch an instructional video or download a guided smartphone application.

For full CPR instruction, visit www.heart.org/cpr and enter a zip code to find the closest class.

CPR volunteers can download an iPhone application at www.sffireapp.org to receive notifications of nearby cardiac arrest victims who need assistance.
 
CONTACT: Julie Kaufmann, American Heart Association (415) 228-8418, Arthur Hsieh, San Francisco Paramedic Association (415) 543-1161, Mindy Talmadge, San Francisco Fire Department (415) 558-3403

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San Francisco Bay Area Weather Forecast Thursday, June 2

There is a slight chance of showers in the forecast for the Bay Area today, with highs in the mid 50s to upper 60s.

It is expected to be partly cloudy this evening, becoming mostly cloudy, with lows around 50. West winds of 10 to 20 mph, becoming 5 to 10 mph after midnight, are also expected.

Friday is expected to be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs are expected to be in the mid 50s to upper 60s.

CONTACT: National Weather Service (831) 656-1724
   

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Palace Of Fine Arts Welcomes Baby Swan To Lagoon

Two proud parents welcomed the newest addition to grace the Palace of Fine Arts lagoon Monday.    

Martha was hatched on Memorial Day to the excitement of her parents Blue Boy and Blanche, said Gayle Hagerty, who has been caring for swans at the Palace of Fine Arts for 18 years.    

Though days old, the baby swan is not afraid to get her feathers ruffled, Hagerty said. Martha is already very active and spends her days  swimming in the lagoon.    

But like most new parents, Blue Boy and Blanche keep a watchful eye over their cygnet.    

"Blue boy is incredibly protective. If you go near the nest or Martha, he'll just come right up after you," she said. "He looks scary." The nest has three eggs, and if they are not infertile, they will hatch within the next couple days, Hagerty said.    

The nest is sectioned off with a small fence to prevent anyone from tampering with the eggs, San Francisco Recreation and Park spokeswoman Connie Chan said.    

If the eggs do not hatch, the family of three will be the only swans in the lagoon.    Bella, a 2-year-old swan who fractured her webbed foot last month, is still recovering at her birth home in Point Reyes.    

"She's on vacation," Chan said.    

Jack Long, the exotic bird breeder who is caring for Bella, said she is "perfectly well" and he anticipates her return to the Palace of Fine  Arts lagoon in the next few days.    

Letters "written" by Bella address her desire to head home, Long said.    

"Hey, I want to go. Jack treats me real nice, but I want to see my buddies," Bella writes, proving that her foot has healed.    

Before Bella returns, some of the rocks in the lagoon, which Long suspects she caught herself between, might be removed.    

Hagerty said she hopes Bella's return will bring balance to the swans at the Palace of Fine Arts with the coupling of the two pairs.      

CONTACT: Gayle Hagerty (415) 244-5969

SF Recreation and Park spokeswoman Connie Chan (415)831-2796 Jack Long (415) 663-1650

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Mechanical Problems Cause Minor Caltrain Delays

Mechanical problems have caused Caltrain delays this morning. 

Northbound train No. 217 is about 20 minutes behind schedule, Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn said.

    CONTACT: Christine Dunn (650) 508-6238

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Authors To Be Honored At 80th Annual California Book Awards Tonight

Nearly a dozen authors will be honored in San Francisco this evening at the 80th Annual California Book Awards ceremony.

The award ceremony is open to the public and begins at 6 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club of California.

The gold- and silver-medal winning authors and publishers were chosen by a jury that considered hundreds of submissions, organizers said.

To be eligible, contending books had to have been written while the author was a California resident. 

"It truly was challenging to pick the best of the best this year," said Wendy Wanderman, literary director of the Commonwealth Club of California in a statement.

"We are so lucky to have such a diverse writing pool in the Golden State."

Jack Boulware, author and co-founder of the literary festival Litquake, will be the master of ceremonies for tonight's event.

Gold-medal winners were selected for eight categories.

Alexandra Teague won for poetry, Yunte Huang for nonfiction, Zachary Mason for first fiction, Karen Tei Yamashita for fiction, Cecil Castellucci for the juvenile category, Dana Reinhardt for young adult, Laura Cunningham for Californiana, and the University of California Press for contribution to publishing.

Silver medals will be awarded to Don Lattin for nonfiction, Eric Puchner for fiction, and Camille T. Dungy for poetry.

Tonight's event will be preceded by a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception at 5 p.m. and followed by a book signing and dessert reception, organizers said.

    CONTACT: Riki Rafner (415) 597-6712
    

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Chief Justice Names SF Judge And South Bay Court Executive To State Judicial Council

A San Francisco Superior Court judge and a Santa Clara County Superior Court executive have been appointed to the California Judicial Council, the governing body of the state court system. 

The San Francisco-based council is the governing body of the California court system, the nation's largest court system. It has 20 voting members and 11 nonvoting advisory members.

The appointments of San Francisco Superior Court Judge Teri Jackson and Santa Clara County Superior Court Executive Officer David Yamasaki were announced Wednesday by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. 

Jackson, who previously served as an advisory member, was given a three-year term as a voting member of the group. 

Jackson has been on the Superior Court bench since 2002 and before that worked in private practice and as a prosecutor in the San Francisco district attorney's office.

Yamasaki was given a three-year term as a nonvoting advisory member.

The 20 voting members on the council include 14 judges appointed by the state's chief justice; four lawyers appointed by the State Bar; and one member of each house of the state Legislature.

CONTACT: Judicial Council public information officer Lynn Holton
(415) 865-7726

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San Francisco Bay Area Thursday News Roundup

Salina Nurse Finds Abandoned Baby in Stolen Car

A Salinas emergency room nurse who stumbled upon a stolen car with a 1-month-old girl in the back seat on Tuesday afternoon said Wednesday she
was prepared to block the car from leaving once she found out it was the subject of an Amber Alert.

Peggy Clancy, a nurse at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, had just returned from a two-hour hike at Toro Park when she heard infant Mariana Corona Vidal crying in the back seat of a white Infiniti Q45 at about 5:30 p.m.

The car had been stolen from the parking lot of Saint Catherine's Church in Morgan Hill, located at 17400 Peak Ave., at about 2 p.m. The baby had briefly been left alone in the car with the keys in the ignition, Morgan Hill police said.

About an hour later, the California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert, which Clancy didn't know about at first because she had been hiking.

She said she heard the baby crying and looked over to say hi to whoever was in the car, but to her surprise the baby was alone.

She waited for about five minutes, thinking the mother had gone to talk someone or use the bathroom, and realized the keys were in the car. She then called 911, believing the mother might be in danger or might have abandoned the baby.

"The dispatch asked if the baby had a flowered outfit on, which she did, and I'm thinking, 'OK they're looking for this kid,'" explained Clancy, who has been a nurse for 34 years. 

The dispatcher asked if Clancy could wait until police arrived, so she sat in her car and kept an eye on the Infiniti.

"When I found out it was an Amber Alert, I was ready to park my car behind it in case (the driver) tried to leave," she said. 

The driver never showed up, though, and law enforcement officers came and took the baby to reunite her with her parents, Maribel Corona and Miguel Vidal.

 

Grandmother Kidnapper Arraigned in Superior Court

A Southern California woman accused of kidnapping her 4-month-old granddaughter last month and then claiming the child was hers was arraigned in Contra Costa County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon, but did not enter a plea.

Ericka Gallego, a 58-year-old El Monte resident, has been charged with kidnapping and residential burglary

Investigators allege that she took a bus and a taxi from El Monte in Los Angeles County to Knightsen in eastern Contra Costa County, where her son lives with his wife and four young children. Then, either late on May 21 or early the morning of May 22, authorities suspect that Ericka Gallego snuck into the family's house and abducted Ramy Gallego from her bassinet while everybody was asleep.

Ericka Gallego then allegedly took a taxi back to Southern California with the baby, investigators said.

Ramy's parents discovered that she was missing at about 6 a.m. on May 22 and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office launched a major search.

Ericka Gallego was arrested that evening and Ramy was safely returned to her mother, Kristin Gallego, the next morning.

Kristin Gallego said outside the courtroom Wednesday afternoon that she has gotten the sense from people who have spoken with her mother-in-law that Ericka Gallego thinks she will not be prosecuted and that the kidnapping was not a big deal.

Kristin Gallego's aunt Karla Storrer said it is reassuring to see that Ericka Gallego is in custody and will have to face her alleged crimes.

Kristin, meanwhile, said things at home are slowly getting back to normal, although her older children are still afraid to go into their rooms by themselves and are worried about other people trying to take Ramy, too.

During the arraignment Wednesday, Judge John Allen kept Ericka Gallego's bail at $5 million and referred her to the public defender's office for representation.

She is scheduled to return to court in Pittsburg on June 9 to be assigned an attorney and enter a plea.

 

SF Mayor Lee Presents Proposed Budget to Supervisors

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee Wednesday released his proposed budget that he said closes a $306 million deficit for the next fiscal year and will help keep the city "safe, solvent and successful."

Lee presented the $6.83 billion budget Wednesday to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and many other city officials who gathered at City Hall for the announcement.

The board will have to give final approval to the budget by the end of July and can also propose changes to it.

Lee said his proposed budget "reflects a very solid collaboration" between city officials and residents and will "create a foundation for years to come."

His budget includes more than $106 million in reductions to city departments, including $31.7 million from the Department of Public Health and $25.8 million from the Police Department.

Much of the savings to the police budget come from the mayor's request that a wage increase set to go into effect on July 1 be avoided.

Lee said his proposed budget includes no layoffs to police officers or firefighters.

A large part of the budget deficit was also bridged by higher tax revenue than expected, partly due to a drop in unemployment in the city from 10 percent in January to 8.5 percent this month.

"The city is on the rebound already," Lee said.

The mayor's proposal came after 10 budget town hall forums around the city and many meetings with city officials, as well as labor, business and neighborhood leaders that resulted in about $28 million in changes to the plan before it was submitted to the board.

Supervisor Carmen Chu, who worked closely with Lee on the proposal, said the collaborative budget process this year was a change from previous years with former Mayor Gavin Newsom, who was elected last November as the state's lieutenant governor, and should lead to less acrimony when the board debates the proposal.

"The key difference is a very concerted effort to work together ahead of time," Chu said.

 

San Quentin Inmate Hospitalized After Brutal Attack

A San Quentin State Prison inmate returned to the facility Wednesday after he was transported to an outside hospital Wednesday morning for treatment of injuries sustained during what a correctional lieutenant said was a "concerted, orchestrated attack."

The man and his attackers, who were all Hispanic inmates that belonged to the West Block, were in the exercise yard at about 8:50 a.m. when the group of at least five men began attacking the lone victim, Lt. Sam Robinson said.

His attackers used slashing and puncture type weapons, what Robinson characterized as "inmate-made weapons," on the man before staff who observed the fight-in-progress used pepper spray and "less lethal rounds" to "quell" the men, he said.

Inmates sometimes construct the improvised weapons, according to Robinson, by altering prison-issued shaving blades or cutting scrap metal from otherwise harmless objects.

"There are a slew of ways that inmates acquire weapons," he said. 

The victim was transported to an outside hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening, and Robinson said Wednesday night that the inmate had returned to the prison.

The inmates were assigned to the West Block, which is sometimes referred to as the prison's revolving door because it is the reception facility that processes and reassigns new commitments. 

Robinson said that inmates typically stay there for fewer than 90 days until they can be assigned to an institution suitable for their housing, ranging from low-level to maximum-level security facilities. 

Since Wednesday morning's attack, the housing unit had been placed on a modified program pending an investigation, Robinson said, meaning that its 814 men are only allowed to leave their cells for medical appointments.

The reception center intakes inmates from 19 counties surrounding and including those in the Bay Area.

Robinson said he did not yet have information on when the victim was initially admitted to the prison, but said he was "fairly new."

"It's safe to say that it was probably a gang-related disturbance, although it is early in the investigation," he said. Investigators still have to interview all the housing unit's inmates as well as the victim and the suspects.

 

Contractor WIthdraws From Rebuilding San Bruno Homes

The idea of moving back into a home has become a pipe dream for five San Bruno families, whose contractor recently made a mysterious withdrawal from rebuilding houses that were ravaged when a transmission line ruptured in September.

Castro Valley-based Vanderbuilt Construction has apparently pulled out of rebuilding five homes of families who were forced to evacuate when a
gas pipeline exploded under the Crestmoor Canyon neighborhood on Sept. 9, destroying 38 homes and killing eight people.

The company sent an email to the customers on Friday saying its operations were stopping until Monday, according to the Contractors State License Board.

A spokeswoman for PG&E -- which introduced Vanderbuilt Construction to the families -- said it was her understanding that the contractor is going out of business.

"We are deeply troubled by this development, and we will continue to do everything we can to help everyone affected by this terrible tragedy," PG&E spokeswoman Brittany Chord said.

Chord said PG&E did not recommend Vanderbuilt Construction to the families, but had the contractor on-hand to pay them out for items like a broken window or damaged door directly following the blast.

She could not comment whether PG&E would be arranging an alternate contractor.

Vanderbuilt Construction representatives were not available by phone Wednesday morning. Calls were routed to an answering service.

"I guess they're taking extended vacation," said Cody, an employee at the answering service who declined to give his last name.

A customer complaint against the contractor was filed with the state license board on Tuesday, but officials have yet to investigate the credibility of the grievance, spokeswoman Venus Stromberg said.

"The complaint was from Concord, not San Bruno," she said.

She said the board did not know if the company was closing.

"Whether they go out of business doesn't necessarily affect their contractor license," she said. "But they're on our radar now."

 

Woman Accused of Attempted Murder of Ex-Husband and Murdering His Gradmother Testifies

A woman accused of attempting to murder her ex-husband in a custody battle over their daughter and murdering his 91-year-old grandmother said Wednesday that she and her ex-husband had a "very complicated" relationship.

Taking the witness stand in her own defense, Rosa Hill, 36, said she realized shortly after she began dating Eric Hill in 2003 that he had psychiatric problems, so she soon tried to end their relationship.

But Rosa Hill, testifying in a voice so quiet that the judge in her case ordered her to speak up, said she continued dating Eric Hill, eventually married him in 2005, and had a child with him in 2006 because, "He told me he couldn't live without me and if I left him he would die."

Prosecutor Casey Bates told jurors in his opening statement last month that Rosa Hill and her mother, 57-year-old Mei Li of Antioch, murdered 91-year-old Selma Hill at her home in the 770 block of Peppertree Road in Dublin on Jan. 7, 2009, in a "cold-blooded and premeditated" fashion.

Bates said Rosa Hill and Li wanted to kill Eric Hill, 39, and Selma Hill because he had sole legal custody and 85 percent physical custody of the couple's daughter, who was two years old at the time. He and the daughter were living with Selma Hill.

Bates said Rosa Hill and Li planned the attack at Selma Hill's home for months, buying a gun, stun guns, a hammer, a sword, a crossbow, an axe, a hacksaw, handcuffs, pepper spray and other weapons. 

He said they also did extensive research on the Internet on how to get away with murder and use deadly substances such as arsenic, nerve gas, mustard gas and ammonia.

But Rosa Hill's lawyer, Bonnie Narby, told jurors that she does not think the alleged attack was a murder because Hill never intended to kill Eric Hill or his grandmother.

Instead, Narby said she thinks Rosa Hill acted in the heat of passion because she was overwhelmed by the custody battle over the couple's daughter and their divorce proceedings.

 

State Appellate Court: Owner of Shot Cat May Sue Alleged Perpetrator

A state appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that a Brentwood man whose cat was partly paralyzed by a shot from a pellet gun can try to sue the alleged perpetrator for $36,000 in surgery and care costs.

The Court of Appeal, in a ruling issued Tuesday, said that even though the costs exceed the market value of Kevin Kimes' cat, California law allows him to seek the reasonable costs of repair of his property.

Pets are considered property under California law. 

Kimes's cat, a long-haired orange tabby named Pumkin, was shot with a pellet gun on Oct. 28, 2005, as he sat on a fence between Kimes' and his neighbors' backyards.

Kimes, 46, a semiconductor engineer, claims in a Contra Costa County lawsuit that the neighbors -- either Charles Grosser, who was then an 18-year-old student at Los Medanos College, or his father, Joseph Grosser -- shot Pumkin.

The Grossers deny they had anything to do with the shooting and maintain they did not own a pellet gun, according to their lawyer, Kevin Cholakian.

"This is not the Kennedy assassination," Cholakian said.  "This is a poor cat someone shot with a pellet gun. It's really terrible, but it wasn't our kid," the attorney said, referring to Charles Grosser.

The appeals court ruling did not address whether the Grossers are liable for the shooting, but merely allows Kimes to claim at a future trial that they were responsible and to seek reimbursement for $6,000 in veterinary surgery costs and $30,000 for additional care expenses.

A trial jury will decide whether the Grossers were responsible and if so, whether the $36,000 costs were reasonable. 

Kimes said of the ruling, "I'm ecstatic about it. Win, lose or draw, I want to be heard in court. I want Pumkin to get his justice.

 

Caltrain Hits Man on Tracks - Seventh Fatality This Year

A southbound Caltrain struck and killed a man Wednesday night on the tracks south of the San Antonio station in Mountain View, according to a Caltrain spokeswoman.

The man was struck at about 6:50 p.m., spokeswoman Christine Dunn said. The incident remains under investigation and officials had not yet determined whether this was an intentional act, she said. 

The 400 passengers about train No. 382, which operates on Caltrain's Baby Bullet express service and makes select stops, were transferred another train that will continue south to the San Jose Diridon station.

Dunn said a bus was provided for passengers on the following Baby Bullet train, No. 386, which was scheduled to reach the Sunnyvale station at 7:21 p.m.

Both tracks in the area of the incident were closed as of 8:30 p.m.

This is the seventh fatality on the Caltrain tracks this year, of which three were determined to be suicides and three remain under investigation. Last year there were 11 fatalities.

 

Victim of Sunday Shooting in Oakland Identified

A San Leandro man who was killed in a shooting Sunday night in Oakland has been identified by the Alameda County coroner's bureau. 

Eric Bush, 29, was shot along with two other victims near the East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club on 8731 International Blvd. at about 9:20 p.m., according to police and the coroner's bureau. The three victims were found with gunshot wounds near the East Bay Dragons' clubhouse, police spokeswoman Holly Joshi said.

Bush and Latoya Jameika Kenny, 28, of Union City, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. 

Another woman, a 28-year-old San Leandro resident, was transported to Highland Hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.

The woman was still being treated for her injuries as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to the coroner's bureau.

No arrests have been reported.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Police Department's Homicide Section at (510) 238-3821.

 

Pedestrian Hit By Car in San Jose, Dies of Injuries

A man who was struck by a car in San Jose last week has died from his injuries, police said Wednesday.

The accident happened at about 7:55 a.m. on May 25 on southbound Monterey Road at Southside Drive, according to police.

The victim was taken to Regional Medical Center of San Jose, where he died two days later. He has been identified as Jaime Barajas, 41, of Oakland.

Police said Barajas was walking across the southbound lanes of Monterey Road when a 2006 Ford Focus driven by a 41-year-old San Jose woman struck him.

The driver of the Ford was questioned by investigators and released.

Alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the collision, police said.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Michael O'Brien at (408) 277-4654. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-STOP (7867) or visit http://svcrimestoppers.org/.

 

Suspicious Package in SF Courthouse Deemed Harmless

A suspicious package that prompted the partial evacuation of the federal courthouse at Seventh and Mission streets in San Francisco late Wednesday morning was deemed harmless Wednesday afternoon, police said.

The package was reported at about 11:30 a.m. in a basement mailroom where incoming packages are X-rayed, police Officer Albie Esparza said.

One package was deemed suspicious, and the Federal Protective Service, which provides security at the courthouse, asked the Police Department's bomb squad to respond, Esparza said.

The basement and first floor of the building were evacuated, and people on the other floors were told to shelter in place, he said. 

Stevenson Street, an alley that runs behind the building, was closed between Sixth and Seventh streets.

Investigators eventually learned that the object was an electronic device that was being delivered to someone in the building, police Lt. Troy Dangerfield said.

Many who work in the courthouse decided to go home before the device was deemed harmless at about 3:40 p.m., according to police.

Bomb-sniffing dogs went through the building after the commotion to check for any additional suspicious items.

 

Baby Swan Hatched at Palace of Fine Arts

Two proud parents welcomed the newest addition to grace the Palace of Fine Arts lagoon Monday. 

Martha was hatched on Memorial Day to the excitement of her parents Blue Boy and Blanche, said Gayle Hagerty, who has been caring for swans at the Palace of Fine Arts for 18 years.

Though days old, the baby swan is not afraid to get her feathers ruffled, Hagerty said. Martha is already very active and spends her days swimming in the lagoon.

But like most new parents, Blue Boy and Blanche keep a watchful eye over their cygnet.

"Blue boy is incredibly protective. If you go near the nest or Martha, he'll just come right up after you," she said. "He looks scary."

The nest has three eggs, and if they are not infertile, they will hatch within the next couple days, Hagerty said.

The nest is sectioned off with a small fence to prevent anyone from tampering with the eggs, San Francisco Recreation and Park spokeswoman Connie Chan said. 

If the eggs do not hatch, the family of three will be the only swans in the lagoon. 

Bella, a 2-year-old swan who fractured her webbed foot last month, is still recovering at her birth home in Point Reyes.

"She's on vacation," Chan said.

Jack Long, the exotic bird breeder who is caring for Bella, said  she is "perfectly well" and he anticipates her return to the Palace of Fine
Arts lagoon in the next few days.

Letters "written" by Bella address her desire to head home, Long said.

"Hey, I want to go. Jack treats me real nice, but I want to see my buddies," Bella writes, proving that her foot has healed. 

Before Bella returns, some of the rocks in the lagoon, which Long suspects she caught herself between, might be removed.

Hagerty said she hopes Bella's return will bring balance to the swans at the Palace of Fine Arts with the coupling of the two pairs.

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Three Bay Area Youths Competing in National Spelling Bee Prelims Today

Three Bay Area students are hoping to showcase their knowledge of adjectives, verbs, nouns and even some medical terminology in the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee preliminary competition today.

The students hail from San Jose, Walnut Creek and Salinas, and are among 275 spellers who advanced to the national competition in National Harbor, Md., according to competition organizers.

The students took a 25-word written test on Tuesday and must spell two words on stage today.

The 50 students with the highest cumulative scores at the end of today will move on to Thursday's semifinals and then, they hope, advance to the Thursday night championship round.

The Bay Area's competitors range in age from 10 to 14 and have interests as diverse as the words they spelled Wednesday, which included benediction, electromagnetic and pinealectomy, or removal of the pineal gland.

Varsha Senthil, 10, is a fifth-grader at the Challenger School, Harwood in San Jose. She speaks Tamil fluently and plays piano, and in her free time she likes to play soccer, read and draw. She hopes to become a veterinarian someday.

Varsha correctly spelled the word "assurgent," meaning curving upward or ascendant, during the second round of the competition today. 

Kate Anoufrieva, 14, a native Russian speaker who is in the eighth grade at Walnut Creek Intermediate School, loves to play piano and take Irish and Spanish dance, according to competition organizers.

She correctly spelled "aerobicize," meaning to improve physical condition by increasing the heart rate, during round two.

Dylan Bird, 12, is in the seventh grade at the Monterey County Home Charter School in Salinas. He loves art and design and hopes to be a video game designer when he grows up. He also enjoys taking tennis and karate lessons, and studying Latin and Japanese.

He correctly spelled "heresimach," meaning someone engaged in fighting heresy and heretics, on stage today.

The semifinalists will be announced at about 2:30 p.m. PST today at www.spellingbee.com.

The semifinals will be broadcast live on ESPN starting at 7 a.m. PST.
  
CONTACT: Eva Hollenberg, Bee spokeswoman (513) 977-3040

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Bluetooth Bandit Strikes San Francisco

San Francisco police are seeking a thief they are calling the "Bluetooth Bandit" because he often wears the earpiece while robbing his victims of their purses or wallets.

The man is wanted in connection with at least eight thefts around San Francisco in which he looks for female victims who have draped their purses on chairs or set them on the floor beside them in restaurants, bars and coffee shops, police said.

He uses his own jacket as a distraction while he steals the victims' property and has worked with accomplices, mostly female, to distribute credit and debit cards stolen from the victims that were then usedto make fraudulent purchases, according to police.

The thief is described as a black man in his 40s or 50s who is between 5 feet 8 and 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs between 160 and 175 pounds. He has short hair, is usually well-dressed, and generally wears a Bluetooth earpiece and walks with a distinct "pigeon-toed" gait, police said.

He is wanted for at least eight thefts and is suspected in at least six others, mostly in the northern part of the city. His accomplices are also suspected in crimes being investigated in Sacramento County and Mountain View, and by the U.S. Postal Police.

Anyone with information about the thefts should call the Police Department's anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.

  
CONTACT: San Francisco police (415) 553-1651
 
Copyright © 2011 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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San Francisco Wednesday News Roundup

SFMTA, Transit Workers Union Reach Tentative Agreement

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has reached a tentative agreement with its transit operators' union, an SFMTA spokesman said Tuesday. 

The agreement comes after three months of bargaining between the SFMTA and Transport Workers Union Local 250-A, and would save the agency a minimum of $21.3 million over the course of the three-year contract, SFMTA spokesman Charlie Goodyear said.

The proposal still needs to be approved by the members of the union, which represents the roughly 2,200 operators of Muni's buses and light-rail vehicles, as well as by the SFMTA board. Officials with the union were not immediately available Tuesday afternoon to comment on the agreement.

Among the provisions in the proposal are a pay freeze for the operators, the ability for the agency to hire about 200 part-time workers, and several changes to work rules, including overtime and discipline procedures, Goodyear said. 

The two sides have been meeting since March, but "in the last six weeks the tempo had accelerated," with several bargaining meetings a week, he said.

The talks were not without their contentious moments. In April, the union voted to authorize a strike in case the negotiations broke down, and is also seeking to overturn Proposition G, which was approved by the city's voters last November.

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, similar to other city employees.

But Goodyear said the tentative agreement reached by the two sides is "a very positive development, and one that could potentially pave the way to wider resolution of outstanding issues."

Members of TWU Local 250-A are expected to begin voting on the proposal next week.

Oakland Teen Convicted of Murder at Metreon

A teen was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday afternoon for the 2007 fatal shooting of another teen at San Francisco's Metreon complex.

Christopher Canon was 15 when he shot 18-year-old Michael Price Jr., of Oakland, at the Metreon at Fourth and Mission streets on Nov. 11, 2007. He was arrested nearby after the shooting, and was charged as an adult.

Canon, a San Francisco resident who is now 19, was upset that Price wasn't moving quickly enough down an escalator outside a video arcade at the complex, prosecutors said.

Canon's attorney, David Simerly, said Price was the attacker, and that Canon shot him in self-defense.

A mistrial was declared in the case last November when a San Francisco Superior Court jury deadlocked on whether Canon should be convicted of first- or second-degree murder.

Prosecutors retried the case with a new jury, and after two days of deliberations, the jury declined to convict Canon of first-degree murder, but found him guilty of second-degree murder with an enhancement for the use of a firearm. 

The foreman of the jury, who did not want to be named, said outside of court, "We did feel for sure that they had the right person," but "we had a problem with whether or not it fully met the standard of first-degree murder."

Canon faces a sentence of 40 years to life in state prison for the charges.

Simerly called the result of the case "appalling."

He said security footage from the building shows that Price was the aggressor and that Canon was backing up when he fired four shots at him.

Simerly also criticized the stiff sentence for someone who was so young at the time of the shooting.

"It's nauseating that we have a country that subjects a 15-year-old to that," he said. "They do not perceive situations the way adults do."

Canon will return to court to be sentenced on July 8.

2 Children Fall From Window in Bayview

A boy and a girl fell from the second-story window of a home in San Francisco's Bayview District Tuesday afternoon, a San Francisco fire dispatcher said.

A 5-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl fell from the window in the 2600 block of Newhall Street just before 3:30 p.m., the dispatcher said.

The children were taken to San Francisco General Hospital, according to the dispatcher.

They were said to be awake and alert when firefighters arrived, the dispatcher said.

The dispatcher did not have details on how the children fell or their conditions.
 

All Cable Car Lines Shut Down For Repairs Starting Today

All San Francisco cable car lines will be shut down for continued maintenance today through Sunday, a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman said.

Starting today, the Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde cable car lines will be shut down along with the California line, which has been undergoing repairs since January, according to SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose.

Muni shuttle buses will operate along the cable car routes with all regular, accessible stops available for passengers, Rose said.

SFMTA staff will be available at station terminals to provide assistance and share transit options for riders, according to Rose. This week's five-day shutdown is the final of three Powell line shutdowns, which previously occurred in March and April, Rose said.

All three cable car lines have undergone repairs and upgrades as part of the SFMTA Cable Car Improvement Project, an effort to keep the 27-year-old lines safe, reliable and easier to maintain, Rose said.

The entire improvement project is expected to be completed by July with the reopening of the California cable car line, Rose said.

Project improvements include replacing aging electronic and mechanical equipment under the cable car trackway along with street repavement along the California line, Rose said.

The SFMTA is also installing curb ramps at most intersections along all cable car lines to comply with ADA accessibility requirements, Rose said.

 

CONTACT: SFMTA spokesman Paul Rose (415) 601-1637

Regional: Traffic Fatalities Up, Arrests Down During Memorial Day Weekend, Chp Says

The California Highway Patrol arrested fewer drunken drivers in the Bay Area this Memorial Day weekend than last year, but there were more traffic deaths, CHP officials said.

In the Bay Area, CHP officers from 12 command areas arrested 218 drunken drivers between Friday at 6 p.m. and Monday at midnight, down from 227 arrests in 2010, CHP Sgt. Trent Cross said.

The number of fatalities went up this year in the Bay Area, with two traffic fatalities in 2011 compared to one last year during the holiday weekend, according to Cross.

In many Bay Area counties DUI arrests were down from last year, according to county officials.

San Mateo County officials reported three DUI arrests in the county, down from five arrests in 2010. Like last year, there were no traffic fatalities, according to Daly City police Sgt. David Mackriss. 

In Sonoma County, Petaluma police said there were 43 DUI arrests, but no fatal DUI crashes were reported.

Santa Clara County law enforcers arrested 133 people for DUI. In 2010, there were 146 DUI arrests. There were five DUI crashes with three injuries this year, but no deaths were reported, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.

Solano County saw a different trend this Memorial Day weekend with more arrests this year than last. There were 27 arrests this year compared to 14 DUI arrests in 2010, according to Vallejo police officials. 

Statewide, there were 1,367 DUI arrests this year, also down from 1,541 arrests during Memorial Day weekend in 2010.

There were 24 traffic deaths statewide this year, with six people killed while not wearing a seatbelt. Last year there were 17 traffic fatalities, according to Cross.
      
    CONTACT: California Highway Patrol Sgt. Trent Cross (707) 373-7892

Patrol Special Officer Up For Disciplinary Hearing, Key Witness In Murder Case

 A San Francisco patrol special officer who is a key witness in a 2010 murder case faces possible termination due to disciplinary charges that the Police Commission will consider at its meeting Wednesday.

Robert Burns, 66, is a patrol special officer appointed by the commission to patrol an area of the city just south of Fisherman's Wharf.

Patrol special police are authorized in the city charter to provide supplementary police patrols and contract to perform private security duties for businesses and people in their appointed area. 

Burns is accused of failing to comply with requirements mandating the patrol special officers' uniforms, insurance and training in 2009 and 2010, and if the commission upholds the accusations, the Police Department will recommend that his appointment gets revoked.

In the part of the area that Burns was appointed to oversee, he was contracted to provide security for Club Suede, a nightclub that was the site of a fatal shooting on Feb. 7, 2010. The club has since been ordered closed permanently by a judge.

That night, 19-year-old Lawon Marshawn Hall was killed and three others were injured outside the club. Burns witnessed the shooting and shot one of the two suspects, later identified as Keandre Davis.

Davis, 21, of Richmond, was arrested at the scene after being shot and faces murder charges in the case. A man suspected of being the second shooter was arrested in the days after the shooting, but the district attorney's office declined to file charges against him.

Burns, who was recommended for the Police Department's Medal of Valor for his role in apprehending Davis, testified in the preliminary hearing for the murder case last Thursday.

During the hearing, Burns testified to wearing the uniform required of a patrol special officer.

But according to the accusations being considered by the Police Commission, he was noted by police officials as not complying with the proper uniform requirements at least 37 times in 2009 and 2010, including on Feb. 3,
2010, four days before the shooting.

According to the accusations, Burns told police officials that day that he thought the uniform standards should be maintained as what they were when he was first sworn in.

At an administrative interview about the issue two weeks later, he said he would not comply with the uniform requirements until a final decision was made by the Public Employee Relations Board.

Burns is also accused of not providing general liability and automobile insurance to the Police Department in January 2010, and failing to appear at mandatory first aid/CPR classes in June and July 2010.

The accusations against Burns do not mention his involvement in the shooting.

Both prosecutors and defense attorney Steve Olmo, who represents Davis, declined to comment because the murder case is ongoing. 

Following Burns' testimony, Davis' preliminary hearing was continued until this Friday, when it is expected to finish.
      
    CONTACT: San Francisco District Attorney's Office (415) 553-1014
             Defense attorney Steve Olmo (415) 553-9656

San Francisco Library Kicks Off Summer Program for Readers of All Ages

The San Francisco Public Library is kicking off the summer with a "Power Your Mind" reading program for kids, teens and adults on Wednesday.

Program outreach librarian Rosie Merlin said that for the first time, "anyone from birth to over 105 years old" -- not just children and teens -- is invited to sign up for the summer reading program, which begins Tuesday and runs through the end of July.

Participants can win prizes after logging the books they have read throughout the summer and the number of hours spent reading. Readers can win various small prizes for their progress as they log their hours, and a grand prize will be given out in the end.

All participants receive a bookmark for signing up, according to Merlin.

For the first time in 2011, participants can sign up for the program online at sfpl.org/summerreading. Offline, readers can register at any library branch, according to Merlin.

Participants can use other new online resources to log the amount of time spent reading, list names of books read, write book reviews and read others' reviews, Merlin said.

Summer reading prizes need to be picked up at participants' local branches, she added.

This year, the library is holding a citywide "super raffle." Everyone who reads for 40 hours throughout the June and July program will be automatically entered into a drawing for his or her age group.

Four child and adult winners will receive a Kindle e-reader or a family membership to a Bay Area museum, and two teens can win either an iPad2 or a Sports Basement gift certificate, Merlin said.

The "Power Your Mind" summer program includes a calendar of events held through libraries with adult yoga classes, music listening stations for teens and hula-hoop lessons for kids, Merlin said.

CONTACT: Rosie Merlin, San Francisco Public Library program outreach librarian (415) 557-4277
 

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June 1, 2011

It’s 7 a.m., 52°, and heading to 58°. Details are here. Will we ever have summer? The Bay Citizen unveiled its bike accident app, which is cool, and we’re very jealous. Hats off to you! Eric Fischer has been wandering around here again and gives us the Mission/South Van Ness turn as a stencil. And...

@MLNow: Everett Fires Half of its Staff, Hires Staff and Heads to summer vacation http://ow.ly/56Ip… More @MLNow: Good Morning Mission! 05.31.11 Late, but… Duc Loi speaks any language, the bathroom at Little Star, and school biz … More @MLNow: Everett Fires Staff, Hires Staff, Heads Into Summer http://ow.ly/56U3U … More @MLNow: SFPD Weekend Recap: Cyclist...

June 2, 2011

In 2010 San Francisco supervisors banned Happy Meals. They showed no regard for parental choice. So it should not come as a shock that activists have managed to put a measure on the November ballot that essentially...

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Six months ago, San Francisco appeared headed for a budget bloodbath. Instead, it looks like a lovefest - although that may be short-lived. Mayor Ed Lee rolled out his first budget Wednesday to a standing ovation from...

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The San Francisco Giants posted their "It Gets Better" video on YouTube and the team website Wednesday, becoming the first professional sports team to join the online campaign against gay bullying and homophobia. Five...

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