San Francisco

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SF Remakes Crookedest Street as Candy Land Board

(Newser) - San Francisco’s Lombard Street, “the crookedest street in the world,” will tomorrow be shut to traffic and set up as a giant Candy Land game board for sick kids, the Appeal reports. The event, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the kids’ board game, is being hailed...

Radio Shack Ditches 'Radio' to Become ... 'The Shack'

(Newser) - From all accounts, Radio Shack is set to rebrand itself “The Shack,” Joshua Topolsky writes for Engadget. “It makes perfect sense—radios aren’t exactly considered cutting edge these days,” Topolsky writes, and “the store is about to launch a full assault on the mobile...

Can't Afford a Hotel? Swap Homes With a Stranger
Can't Afford a Hotel? Swap Homes With a Stranger
glossies
Jul 25, 2009 7:01 PM CDT

Can't Afford a Hotel? Swap Homes With a Stranger

Idea's been around for decades, but recession sparks new interest

(Newser) - The recession is giving new meaning to the phrase “mi casa es su casa.” Instead of springing for pricey hotel rooms and car rentals, thrifty holidaymakers are swapping with strangers for a summer getaway, Time reports. While home exchanges aren’t new—one company has been around since...

44 Hurt in San Francisco Train Crash

(Newser) - A collision of two streetcars today at a municipal station in San Francisco left 44 people injured, three seriously, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The driver who rear-ended another train was hurt the worst; the crash shattered the front window of the train and crumpled its nose. "This is...

In Sex Satisfaction, 'Hotlanta' Lives Up to Name

Residents also engage quite frequently

(Newser) - Not satisfied sexually? Perhaps it’s time to move to Atlanta. “Hotlanta” is the nation’s most sexually satisfied—and second most sexually active—metropolis, reports the Journal-Constitution. “Atlanta doesn’t wait for the weekend,” says a rep for the company that conducted the survey for Trojan...

SF Porn King's Son Busted in Girlfriend's Murder

Mitchell brother's son beat lover with baseball bat: cops

(Newser) - The son of a legendary San Francisco killer porn king has been charged with beating his girlfriend to death with a baseball bat and running off with their screaming baby daughter, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. James Raphael Mitchell, 27, was arrested on a highway near his girlfriend's Marin County...

Chick Splits Up Gay SF Penguins

(Newser) - A male penguin couple that raised a hatchling at the San Francisco Zoo has been split up by the attentions of the amorous widow Linda, UPI reports. Magellanic penguin Harry was apparently smitten by the lovesick female, and he deserted Pepper, his partner of six years. Linda has "her...

Lunch With Buffett Sells for $1.68M

(Newser) - Lunch with Warren Buffett is a little cheaper this year. The anonymous winner of an eBay auction for a steak lunch with the Oracle of Omaha paid $1.68 million, down from last year’s record of $2.1 million. It’s still the second highest bid in the 10-year...

Calif. Gay Marriage Fight Centers on Chinatown

Campaigners hope to repeat success in changing Asian attitudes

(Newser) - Campaigners seeking to bring legalized gay marriage back to California believe their success in Chinatown points the way forward, Reuters reports. The state's Asian communities swung in favor of gay marriage faster than any other group over the last decade as advocates worked to bring taboos into the open and...

SF Library Offers Amnesty to Tardy Book Borrowers

But each has to cough up an excuse

(Newser) - A book amnesty program in San Francisco has inspired many guilty returns and a few entertaining excuses, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The city's public library offered tardy borrowers the chance to return items, fine-free, as long as they came with an excuse. Returning a record 29,228 items worth...

Seoul's Airport Is World's No. 1

None in North America makes top 10

(Newser) - Incheon International airport in Seoul, South Korea, is the world's best, according to a British survey that took into account passengers' experiences with check-in, departures, transfers, and arrivals. Two other Asian airports, in Hong Kong and Singapore, finished second and third, the BBC reports.

Zagat Is Wrong: Peet's Is Better Than Starbucks
Zagat Is Wrong:
Peet's Is Better Than Starbucks
OPINION
Jun 9, 2009 11:27 AM CDT

Zagat Is Wrong: Peet's Is Better Than Starbucks

Bad methodology gave Seattle giant the survey win: Nate Silver

(Newser) - Zagat’s annual fast-food survey served up its usual batch of surprises, but one stood out for Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com fame. Somehow, some way, Starbucks beat Peet’s Coffee for best coffee chain. A travesty of that magnitude can only mean mistaken methodology, Silver contends; Starbucks is fine,...

Gay Marriage Debate Key to SF Mayor's Future

Focus on issue could mount with new ballot initiative

(Newser) - As San Francisco’s mayor looks to become California’s next governor, his gay-marriage activism may threaten his success—especially if voters are again asked to decide the issue for themselves, the AP reports. Though all the Democratic candidates support gay marriage, Gavin Newsom has a particularly strong association with...

Battle Over Prop 8 Moves to Federal Court

(Newser) - California’s gay marriage battle continued today as lawyers for the American Foundation for Equal Rights announced a lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 and called for the restitution of marriage rights while the suit is decided, the Los Angeles Times reports. The lawyers—Theodore Olson, then the solicitor general, and David...

Gay-Marriage Supporters Take to Streets After Ruling

Opponents of marriage ban sad but not surprised

(Newser) - Supporters of same-sex marriage were disappointed but not surprised by the California Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold Proposition 8, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, as a crowd that had gathered at the state courthouse moved through city streets, blocking traffic and prompting arrest. “This is a serious...

Sea Lion Saved on Highway
 Sea Lion Saved on Highway 
May 21, 2009 2:46 PM CDT

Sea Lion Saved on Highway

(Newser) - Cops near San Francisco made an unusual rescue today on a local expressway: They saved a wandering sea lion, the Chronicle reports. After a brief chase, they corralled the 30-pound confused critter, probably only about a year old. The sea lion, named Moody in honor of a fallen officer, is...

SF Smokers May Have to Cough Up for Butt Cleanup

Mayor proposes hefty tax hike to make smokers cover litter removal

(Newser) - San Francisco's mayor believes non-smokers shouldn't have to cover the costs of cleaning up cigarette butts, the New York Times reports. Gavin Newsom has proposed a 33-cent tax on each pack of cigarettes sold, which he says will cover the $10 million a year it costs to pick up after...

Dad Wasn't Zodiac Killer, Says Other Daughter

(Newser) - The half-sister of the California woman who asserted Wednesday that their father was the dreaded Zodiac killer of the 1960s isn’t having any of it, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Janice Hendrickson’s father “couldn’t hurt a fly,” she said today. “He did have a...

'My Dad Was the Zodiac Killer'

Californian claims to offer proof that her father was '60s serial killer

(Newser) - A Californian real estate agent came forward yesterday claiming to offer proof that her late father was the serial Zodiac Killer who terrorized the Bay Area in the '60s, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Her carpenter dad took her along to murder sites where the 7-year-old sat in the car...

Robber Told Bank He Was Fed Up With Bailouts

Gets away after SF bomb-threat heist

(Newser) - Police are looking for a man who robbed a San Francisco branch of Bank of America—ostensibly out of disgust for corporate bailouts, the Chronicle reports. The man requested a meeting with a manager and told him he represented “a corporation” concerned with the bailouts—before threatening to detonate...

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