San Francisco

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To Curb Panhandling, San Francisco Tries ... Puppies

It will pay panhandlers a stipend to care for shelter's pooches

(Newser) - San Francisco is taking a novel approach in its never-ending fight to limit panhandling in the city: In a word, puppies. As the Chronicle explains, the city will soon start a program in which panhandlers get paid a small stipend, say $50 a week, to forgo their begging and instead...

Golden Gate Turns 75 in Shadow of Near-Collapse

300K people packed bridge on 50th, but engineers not worried

(Newser) - Twenty-five years ago, 300,000 people swarmed San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge to celebrate the landmark's 50th anniversary. Urban legend has long held there were so many people on the bridge that day, it nearly collapsed. "Then it got kind of scary, because we realized we were...

San Francisco Official Turns to Ouija Board Before Vote

... and says the spirit of Harvey Milk responded

(Newser) - This probably falls under the only-in-San-Francisco department: A city supervisor says he consulted a Ouija board before voting on a measure to honor slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk , reports the San Francisco Chronicle . What's more, John Avalos swears Milk responded and guided him through the message, "Good...

SF Woman Blames Car Crash on Eclipse

She says she was blinded by glare when she hit pedestrians

(Newser) - A San Francisco driver blamed the moon moving in front of the sun for preventing her from spotting the pedestrians moving in front of her vehicle. The 26-year-old woman told cops that she had looked at the "ring of fire" annular eclipse and had been temporarily blinded by its...

Yacht Racing Off SF Coast Suspended

Races rerouted after 5 sailors killed

(Newser) - The Coast Guard has called a temporary halt to ocean-going races in the San Francisco area following the deaths of five sailors during a race earlier this month. A race due to take place Saturday has been rerouted, and authorities are working to find a new route for another race...

Protesters Crash Wells Fargo Meeting

Shareholding activists demand end to foreclosures

(Newser) - Some 15 shareholders were arrested for disrupting Wells Fargo's annual shareholder meeting in San Francisco yesterday. The protesters—allowed in because they own Wells Fargo shares—were ejected after shouting over CEO John Stumpf's presentation about the bank's $15.9 billion profit in 2011, reports the San ...

Search Ends for 4 Missing in SF Yacht Tragedy

Monster waves hit boat mid-race

(Newser) - The Coast Guard has called off its search after two days hunting for four sailors— three men and a woman —missing from a 38-foot sailboat that crashed during a race that started in San Francisco Bay. A fifth sailor's body has been recovered, and three were rescued from...

SF Mass Murder Suspect Dodged Deportation

Vietnam refused to take Binh Thai Luc back in 2006

(Newser) - The man accused of the brutal murder of five people in San Francisco was only in America because his native Vietnam refused to take him back, the San Francisco Chronicle finds. After Binh Thai Luc served nearly a decade in prison for the 1996 robbery of a Chinese restaurant in...

Suspect Held in Gruesome San Francisco Murders

Binh Thai Luc arrested after grim scene discovered

(Newser) - San Francisco police have arrested a 35-year-old man in the murders of three women and two men. The bodies were found at a home in the city amid a crime scene police called particularly grisly—and so "complex" that police couldn't say at first whether it was a...

SF Sheriff Gets Probation in Domestic Violence

'I'm ashamed and deeply sorry,' says Ross Mirkarimi

(Newser) - San Francisco's top sheriff has been sentenced to a day in jail and three years probation after he was charged with beating his wife black and blue. Ross Mirkarimi, who pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment, must also attend a year-long domestic violence intervention program....

Fighters Intercept Pot Plane in Obama Airspace

Cessna strays too close as Obama heads to LAX

(Newser) - What were they smoking? A four-seater Cessna plane hauling marijuana yesterday strayed into restricted airspace designed to protect President Obama, who was flying on Marine One; the small plane was intercepted by fighter jets. The incident occurred as the president was traveling in the helicopter from Orange County to Los...

SF Audit Finds Massive Flaws in Foreclosures

SF study of 400 foreclosures could point to huge violations nationwide

(Newser) - Pervasive problems have been uncovered in home foreclosures in a detailed audit in San Francisco that could indicate similar wide-scale national issues. Almost every one of the recent 400 foreclosures studied involved either violations or suspicious documentation, according to officials. Some 84% of the foreclosures involved what appeared to be...

28 Pounds of Cocaine Seized on Cruise Ship in SF

Customs officers bust three on Australia-bound liner

(Newser) - It was supposed to be the cruise of a lifetime—around the Caribbean to Hawaii and onward to Australia. But three passengers who didn't make it past San Francisco look set to spend a big chunk of their lifetimes in jail. Customs officials seized close to 28 pounds of...

Kyle Williams Gets Twitter Death Threats

Big game miscues lead to angry online backlash

(Newser) - San Francisco fans weren't happy with Kyle Williams last night—and they let him hear it online. After Williams fumbled two punts to essentially cost the 49ers the NFC Championship game, fans lit into him on Twitter, telling him to kill himself and/or "burn in hell," Mashable...

49ers Fumble Super Bowl Chance, Giants Win 20-17

Field goal knocks New York over the top in overtime

(Newser) - The San Francisco 49ers watched their chance at the Super Bowl slip through their fingers yesterday when the New York Giants converted a fumble to a field goal in overtime. The Giants tapped a 20-17 victory and their fifth trip to the Super Bowl. Two key errors by back-up punt...

Kidnapped Monkey Back in SF Zoo

Returned by man who said he coaxed victim into his backpack

(Newser) - A monkey simian-napped from the San Francisco Zoo was returned by a man who said he coaxed the animal from the bushes at a nearby park into his backpack. The 17-year-old spider monkey, Banana Sam, was "hungry, trembling and thirsty," but healthy, said a zoo worker. He was...

60 Homeless After San Francisco Fire

Daytime blaze hits apartment building

(Newser) - It took three hours and 150 firefighters to calm an apartment blaze in San Francisco that left 60 people homeless. Three buildings were caught in flames in the fire, whose cause will be investigated today. It apparently started in a neighboring Victorian home and spread from there, reports AP . The...

Minimum Wage in SF Now Tops $10
 Minimum Wage in 
 SF Now Tops $10 
first in us

Minimum Wage in SF Now Tops $10

That's nearly $3 above the wage set by the federal government

(Newser) - In San Francisco, the minimum wage is getting a little bit less minimal. Come Jan. 1, the city will be the first in the nation to require that employers pay employees more than $10 per hour, the AP reports. "It's a psychological boost," says one city dweller...

Occupiers Aim to Shut West Coast Ports Today

But they face opposition from some union leaders

(Newser) - For the Occupiers' second Big Act protesters are planning today to shut down 11 major West Coast ports from San Diego to Anchorage. They've launched the plan despite opposition from what appears to be a natural constituency for the 99% protesters: Unions. Leaders of the Longshoremen and other unions...

Occupy Wall Street: 70 Arrested in Occupy SF Raid; 'Occupy Homes' Grows in Popularity
 70 Arrested in Occupy SF Raid 

70 Arrested in Occupy SF Raid

San Francisco encampment cleared out

(Newser) - Another Occupy encampment was cleared out early today, as police raided Occupy SF and arrested 70 people who had been camping at Justin Herman Plaza. Protesters at the 2-month-old encampment were given five minutes to leave shortly after 1am; most did, but 30 who did not were arrested. The other...

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