Amanda Witherell

Homeless disconnect

Ticketing the homeless wastes millions of taxpayer dollars
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amanda@sfbg.com
The shelter of a slim door frame, the outstretched palm asking for a dime: this is how hundreds of San Francisco's homeless get by, once the soup kitchens close and the shelters cry "No Vacancy."
But panhandling, blocking the sidewalks, and lodging in public are a few of the 15 quality-of-life violations for which the San Francisco Police Department regularly issues citations. Read more »

Small Town Living

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by Amanda Witherell

I just returned from ten days on an idyllic island in downeast Maine. For the seaside hamlet from whence I hail, it's local custom to leave your car keys in the ignition so you don't lose them and your front door unlocked, or even wide open, so the cat can come and go while you're at work. Read more »

Wal-Mart for President!

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by Amanda Witherell

This week Wal-Mart cranked up the PR knob with a new bout of ads touting the company's social worth with the gloss of a dirty politician trying to spin some positive image. According to The New York Times the spots make a point of the $2,300 an average family saves shopping at Wal-Mart and paint Sam Walton as a red-knuckled entrepreneur of yesteryear.

Unfortunately, that image in no way resembles the $312.4 billion, Fortune 500 corporation of today.

Halloween Not a Friendly Ghost

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by Amanda Witherell
amanda@sfbg.com

At the Guardian's Best of the Bay party last night, we caught up with city officials fresh from a meeting on what to do about that pesky Halloween party in the Castro. Read more »

Sunburned

Document battle frustrates the mayor's flacks and galvanizes a new breed of activist
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amanda@sfbg.com
The Mayor's Office of Communications has for months been fighting with Sup. Chris Daly and several unrelated activists over the release of public documents. Read more »

First booze, now cops

North Beach Jazz Fest organizers fought through the party poopers, only to be confronted by the cops with a new challenge: a steep increase in police fees.
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"This year, $25,613 for 16 officers. Last year, $4,650 for 7 officers," fest organizer Robert Kowal told the Guardian. Read more »

What booze ban?

After an alcohol crackdown in North Beach, the city commission is back to facilitating the fun
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amanda@sfbg.com
Outside of North Beach, the party is still on. That's good news for San Francisco festivalgoers, but it leaves one outstanding question: What exactly is current city policy on promoting partying in public spaces?
Once again, the forum was the Recreation and Park Commission's monthly meeting, this one July 19. Read more »

Habitat Potential

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The biggest deterrent for the east-west migratory subset of species homo sapiens is a lack of niche habitat in San Francisco. While a unique western habitat like San Francisco offers much “to do” for the migrating easterner, the difficulty has been ingratiation with local population. Repeatedly, the search is for “common ground.”

On a steamy Sunday afternoon bird walk along Land’s End, this is how the ecologists were rapping -- about pigeon guillemots and oystercatchers, and not bereft New Englanders. Read more »

A tale of two museums

The Presidio Trust's choice between the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center and the Disney Museum speaks volumes about what's happening in San Francisco's national park
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amanda@sfbg.com
The Presidio, converted from military to civilian use 12 years ago, has six million square feet of former officers’ quarters, barracks, and buildings that make it unlike any other national park in the country.
This public space has become home to a mixed bag of occupants — primarily private citizens, a smattering of nonprofit organizations, and an increasing number of commercial enterprises — as the Presidio Trust pursues a controversial congressional mandate to be financially self-sustaining.
Two different museums have also vied for residence at the site of the park's Main P Read more »

Presidio bust

City officials and residents push the Presidio Trust to pay attention to more than just the bottom line
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amanda@sfbg.com
Can the Presidio Trust afford to listen to its neighbors? If not, it may just find city officials willing to play hardball over a controversial housing project.
Look at a map of San Francisco. Look closely at the northwestern corner: there are 1,491 acres of federally owned and operated land occupying about 20 percent of the city's space. Read more »