By Rebecca Bowe

The saga of one of the biggest development battles in San Francisco took an unexpected turn today when Gap, Inc. founder and billionaire Don Fisher announced that he would back off from his plans for a private art museum in the Presidio. The proposed 100,000 square foot museum sparked widespread public outrage, with critics charging that it was an inappropriate location that wouldn’t jive with the surroundings.

The Chronicle broke the story this morning, quoting Fisher as saying:

"Doris and I will take some time to consider the future of our collection and other possible locations for a museum, which could include other sites within the Presidio and elsewhere," Don Fisher said, referring to his wife in a statement released to The Chronicle late Wednesday that also said the decision was made "with disappointment and sadness."

It must be tough, being a billionaire with a world-class art collection who can’t even build his very own private museum on an historic piece of public land without getting shouted down. Poor guy.

But as Fisher comes to grips with his "disappointment and sadness," museum opponents now have a cause for celebration.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Rebecca Bowe at 06:12 PM • Comments (0)

By Marke B.

Joe Holladay, beaten June 29, in New York. Image via Towleroad

Well, I guess it wouldn't be the 40th anniversary of Stonewall if a few "fagits" (sic) didn't get their heads bashed for daring to be all gay about it, right? Some sad reports coming in on the tinsel-footed heels of this week's celebrations (see below). My thoughts -- beyond the usual initial rage and helplessness -- are that, just like right-wing wingnuts with liberals, the idiot perpetrators are coming out of the woordwork because they feel threatened by our continued uptick in acceptance, visibility, and flair. Plus they're probs hella gay.

So of course we have to keep the burners on high and continue the fight (but always keep your eyes open and your heels short). Another thought is that a lot of the commenters on some of the blogs breaking these stories are starting to advocate bashing-back violence -- which dismays. By all means we should get riled up by all this and use our anger constructively. But let's pass on the late-'80s testosterone-blind posturing, please. A, it's dated, darling. B, yuck.

1. Fort Worth, WTF? Twenty-six-year-old Chad Gibson was put in intensive care with a blood clot in his brain after Fort Worth cops raided a gay bar (old school!) and roughed up the customers on June 30, for nebulous, yet pretty damning, reasons. (Basically no reasons at all.)

A cell phone capture of Gibson grounded by police at Fort Worth's Rainbow Room

FTW police chief Jeff Halstead actually claimed the gay panic defense. To whit:

"You're touched and advanced in certain ways by people inside the bar, that's offensive," he said. "I'm happy with the restraint used when they were contacted like that."

Appropriate hysteria ensued. Then, under heat, Halstead kind of freaked out and claimed there would be a full, in-depth investigation. Hopefully the touchy, advance-y kind.

Continue reading "Your happy Pride gay-bashing roundup" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 02:26 PM • Comments (0)

By Steven T. Jones

Progressives aren’t feeling much joy over the city budget deal that was cut yesterday between Mayor Gavin Newsom and Sups. David Chiu and John Avalos (respectively the board president and chair of the Budget Committee), and that’s not just because it gave the gubernatorial candidate the chance to shamelessly crow, “The contrast is stark, isn't it? In Sacramento, it's a state of emergency. In San Francisco, a budget deal."

It’s true that the deal to restore $43.7 million in Newsom-proposed cuts – more so-called “add-backs” than a Board of Supervisors has ever made to a mayor’s budget -- was a real compromise, not coincidentally about half of what the board’s progressive majority was looking for, and it averted bloody budget standoff that neither side wanted.

But the cuts to progressive priorities are still deep and Newsom’s wasteful pet projects and taxpayer-funded political operation remain intact (Paul Hogarth has a good analysis of the numbers here). And the whole episode just feels a little like it was scripted by Team Newsom, starting on June 1 when the mayor unveiled his budget and said, “I count on you to add back a lot of the things I don’t want to see cut.”

Of course, that was followed by an aggressive butting of heads: the police and fire unions slammed the rookie supervisorial leaders hard, even running a sound truck through Avalos’ neighborhood calling for his recall, which progressive activists and union leaders responded to with increasingly confrontational tactics, even blocking Newsom’s Pride Parade vehicle with a “die-in.”

Ultimately, the clashes led to a compromise that Avalos described to us as: “It’s as good as we could possibly get.”

Continue reading "Assessing the city budget deal" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Steven T. Jones at 01:37 PM • Comments (6)

Text and video by Sarah Phelan

83 year-old Minerva Dunn demands a total and unrestricted cleanup of Hunters Point Shipyard, not a cap, shortly before police use bull cutters to remove her from a giant stop-work order that she and other activists have chained themselves to, in an effort to blockade the former naval station''s main entrance in San Francisco.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 12:12 PM • Comments (0)

Text and video by Sarah Phelan

Protestors chant "Don't cap it, just clean it" after four people chain themselves to a giant stop work order at Hunters Point Shipyard, demanding that the Navy remove a radiologically impacted dump at the former naval station.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 12:02 PM • Comments (0)

Since becoming an almost international incident, the stolenization of our beloved Guardian van has finally, breathlessly come to an end. It was found by the SFPD this morning on the 100 block of 25th Ave in the Richmond. It was merely stripped of its ignition.

Thanks to all who kept an eye out! Now we can go back to delivering fresh brownies to all!

UPDATE: According the Scavenger blog, a teacher from Corta Madera named Kevin Mahoney phoned in the van's location. Kevin, if you're reading this, please email marke@sfbg.com and claim your fresh brownie!

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 03:29 PM • Comments (1)

By Steven T. Jones

It’s fitting that the just-posted New York Times Magazine profile on how colorfully fucked-up California is right now leads with our own Mayor Gavin Newsom, both with his words and image.

The most telling paragraph is the second one, describing Newsom’s initial confusion over an emergency call button on his desk: “Newsom says he has not had occasion to press the button since, although the mayor admits he is tempted to whenever meetings drag on or when reporters ask him annoying questions or when he becomes bored, something that happens easily.”

There are mountains of things to say about all this – from discussing Newsom’s carefully crafted media image to pushing back on the latest East Coast “wow, isn’t California weird” profile – but for now, just give this long piece a read and feel free to discuss. I was already working on another Newsom post for later in the day, and this is just one of many interesting items that have popped up in the last strange week.

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Steven T. Jones at 01:35 PM • Comments (1)

Text by Rachel Buhner and Sarah Phelan
Photos by Sarah Phelan

Protesters block the main entrance to the shipyard with a giant stop work order

A sizeable crowd gathered outside the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard’s main entrance Tuesday to protest Bayview Hunters Point residents and environmental advocates ongoing concerns with Lennar’s plans to develop 770 acres at the shipyard and Candlestick Point--and to blockade the entrance with a giant stop work order.

Sponsored by Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice, POWER and the San Francisco Green Party, the protest was also attended by Nation of Islam followers, Mothers Against Crime, and even a few young and enthusiastic school children.

Continue reading "Shipyard gets giant stop work order" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 06:35 PM • Comments (0)

Text By Sarah Phelan

Serpentinite rock with veins of naturally occurring asbestos

Henry Alvarez, executive director of the San Francisco Housing Authority, acknowledges that a judge tossed out the unlawful detainer suit that the SFHA brought against the Nation of Islam’s Center for Self Improvement in the Bayview and its leader Minister Christopher Muhammad.

“But the court left room for us to refile with some guidance,” Alvarez added, claiming that his agency tried to amend its complaints outside the court with Muhammad’s lawyer, Richard Drury, “but we could not reach an amicable solution.”

So, is the SFHA planning to file again, and if so, on what grounds?

Continue reading "Insuring against asbestos exposure, SF style" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by SFBG at 01:26 PM • Comments (0)

By Just A Guy

Editors note: Just A guy is an inmate in a California state prison. You can read his most recent blog, and links to past blogs, here. He will try to respond to comments, but communication from prison is often difficult, so be patient.

I just read in USA Today about the penalty Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth received for killing someone while driving drunk in Florida: Thirty days in jail, two years of house arrest, eight years probation, and 1,000 hours of community service.

I guess it really does pay to have money!

I know of a man who has been in prison in California for 21 years now on his 15-to-life sentence. He’s been found suitable for parole three times, and has had the governor deny his parole three times. This is a man who, like Stallworth, had NO criminal record, but wasn’t rich or a football star.

This man has not received one incident report for violating prison rules in 21 years of incarceration, has a wonderful support network, from a good family, and has a job waiting for him.

This scenario is just as likely to happen in California as in Florida, where they actually kill people with the death penalty.

What’s going on here? I find it stunning that the disparity of such type of cases is still so apparent, but the enormity of it is .. God, I’m truly at a loss for words.

Oddly, I’m sitting here in the hole, 33 months in to a 48 month sentence for possession of a controlled substance. I wasn’t allowed into Prop. 36 (the state’s version of a drug program) because when I got arrested I was also charged with driving under the influence, which eliminated my eligibility to enter the treatment program. Some loophole, eh?

Continue reading "Prison Report: Donte Stallworth and me" »

digg • del.icio.us • sphere • google •

Posted by Tim Redmond at 12:21 PM • Comments (2)