Via, Bay City News

S.F. Supes to Introduce Legislation Requiring Health Warnings on Soda Ads

San Francisco supervisors who had pushed last year for a tax on sodas and other sugary beverages sold in the city will introduce at today’s board meeting a new plan to include health warnings on advertisements for the
beverages.

Supervisors Malia Cohen, Eric Mar and Scott Wiener authored the
legislation being introduced today to require warnings on ads for all
sugar-sweetened beverages with 25 or more calories per 12 ounces.

The supervisors are also proposing to ban the placement of ads for
sugary drinks on city-owned property, similar to current bans on tobacco and alcohol ads, and to ban the use of city funds to purchase the beverages.

Last November, a measure placed on the ballot by the supervisors
to impose a two-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages sold in the city
gained the approval of 56 percent of voters but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

The legislation being proposed today by the supervisors would not
require a vote at the ballot.

Mar said in a statement that the majority of San Franciscans
agreed that the city “must do more to reduce access to harmful products and sugary drinks. We are continuing this fight in 2015 with legislation that will make our communities healthier and better informed.”

Cohen said, “Soda companies are spending billions of dollars every
year to target low-income and minority communities, which also happen to be some of the communities with the highest risks of Type II diabetes. This is not a coincidence.”

The health warnings, which under the legislation would have to
take up at least 20 percent of the ad’s space, would read, “WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay. This is a message from the City and County of San Francisco.”

The prohibition on ads on city-owned property would include
exceptions for permitted events such as the Outside Lands Music and Arts
Festival in Golden Gate Park, according to the supervisors.

S.F. Rep. Nancy Pelosi Joins Protestors at Rally for Tibet

Hundreds of people, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, gathered in San
Francisco today to remember those who lost their lives in Tibet during the March 10 uprisings in 1959 and to demand that the Chinese government uphold human rights in Tibet.

Pelosi, along with San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and
Supervisor John Avalos, offered their support for Tibetans while
commemorating the 56th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising and paying tribute to the ongoing resistance.

Among the crowd of Tibetan supporters gathered outside of San
Francisco City Hall were Deki Wangmo and her 88-year-old mother, Tsering Dolma.

Dolma recounted her escape from Tibet following the uprisings.
Wangmo, who was only 4 years old when she left from Tibet on horseback with her family, translated for her mother.

Dolma said she remembers important people were imprisoned and
Tibetan flags and money were burned following the uprising. She and her
family traveled out of Tibet under the cover of night and hid in a forest. She remembers not being able to light fires for fear they would be discovered during their escape to Nepal.

After arriving in Nepal, her family headed to India before ultimately coming to the United States.

“We cannot go back to Tibet,” Wangmo said, adding that as sad as
self-immolations of Tibetan protesters are, she would do the same if she were living under oppression in Tibet.

“It’s unimaginable,” she said, explaining that those who have
self-immolated in the years following the 2008 protests in Tibet are
pacifists who have refused to fight and are instead killing themselves as a sacrifice for human rights.

Framed photos lined the steps of City Hall today of those who
self-immolated by lighting themselves on fire in protest of what they say is the Chinese government’s oppression of Tibet.

Exiles from Tibet and their descendants gathered outside of City
Hall flying Tibetan flags, singing Tibetan songs and reciting chants
condemning China.

According to the Office of Tibet in Washington, D.C., following
the mass demonstrations in 1959, China crushed the uprising, leaving 87,000 Tibetans dead in the Lhasa region alone and forcing the Dalai Lama to flee to India.

Pelosi said she remains committed to helping Tibetans secure human
rights and dignity and said she hopes the Dalai Lama, who will turn 80 years old soon, will have a long life and that Tibet will again belong to Tibetans.

“We will continue standing up and speaking out,” Pelosi said,
adding that she agreed with signs in the crowd that read, “China is
responsible.”

Mirkarimi described the 1959 uprisings as a “brutal genocide,” while Avalos condemned the “illegal occupation of Tibet by China” in his
address to the crowd.

“We will fight with you to make sure your voice is heard,” Avalos
said.

The crowd of Tibetan supporters also heard from Kaydor Aukatsang,
representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Americas.

Aukatsang said the situation in Tibet remains grim and that
current conditions are like a war zone.

He urged everyone taking part in the rallies held around the world
today not to believe the rhetoric coming out of China that Tibetans are their own masters. He said the Tibetan people are not governing themselves.

Aukatsang said the Chinese government has an opportunity to engage
with, instead of attack, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and encouraged dialogue.

Among the chants recited by the crowd as they headed into the
street to march toward the Chinese Consulate on Laguna Street were, “Human rights in Tibet” and “China is guilty, guilty of genocide.”

Tibetan supporters planned to march from the Chinese Consulate to
Justin Herman Plaza near the Ferry Building, where a candlelight vigil is planned for 5 p.m.

25-Year-Old Man Seriously Injured in Financial District Shooting Late Saturday

A 25-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries in a shooting
late Saturday night in San Francisco’s Financial District, police said today.

The shooting was reported at 11:50 p.m. Saturday in the 600 block of Pacific Avenue.

The victim and the suspect, a man in his 20s, got into an argument and the suspect shot the victim in the shoulder, according to police.

The victim was taken to San Francisco General Hospital with
life-threatening injuries, police said. An update on his condition was not immediately available this afternoon.

The suspect fled on foot and had not been found as of today, according to police.

A Fight Sunday Led to One Person Falling on MUNI Tracks, Male Suffered Serious Injuries

A fight led to a male falling in front of a San Francisco
Municipal Railway train and suffering a serious head injury this evening, police said today.

San Francisco police Officer Grace Gatpandan said officers
responded around 9 p.m. to a report of a fight at the Civic Center Muni
station platform.

A preliminary investigation revealed the two males were fighting when one male pushed the other into an oncoming Muni train, Gatpandan said.

The male suffered a serious head injury, she said.

A fire dispatcher said the male was able to pull himself off the Muni tracks.

He was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with
life-threatening injuries, Gatpandan said.

The second male fled the scene and Gatpandan said the area will be shut down while the investigation continues.