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Hidden health care costs of Adachi’s pension reform measure

08.04.10 - 3:42 pm | Rebecca Bowe |
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New information about the health care costs associated with a pension reform measure backed by Public Defender Jeff Adachi suggests that the highest cost burden would fall to parents at the lowest end of the pay scale.

An analysis of the Adachi measure estimates that city employees with two or more dependents could face monthly healthcare cost increases of $220 a month, which would bring their total monthly contributions to $448, $765, or $1,630, depending on the health care plan. Dental care would bring those costs up an additional $82 per month.

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Judge rules that says same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional

08.04.10 - 3:42 pm | Sarah Phelan |
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Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling that California’s Prop. 8 is unconstitutional got Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, Mayor Gavin Newsom and City Attorney Dennis Herrera issuing praise-filled statements today. And Herrera's statement included comments that reaffirmed the pivotal role that the City Attorney's Office played in this landmark case.

“U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker has issued a powerful, thoughtful, and well-reasoned decision,” Ammiano said. “In overturning Proposition 8, this court fulfilled its legacy as a champion for equality.  The court recognized that it is unconstitutional to put a minority’s rights up for a popular vote.  Today’s decision reaffirmed our U.S. Constitution’s promise of equality for all.”

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Hot sexy events Aug 4-10

08.04.10 - 3:14 pm | Caitlin Donohue |
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The ocean breezes toss your hair haphazardly, whipping it from side to side for that perfect Saturday morning tousled look. Man that wind –  or is that actually from all the mid-air flogging? At thiis peer workshop, you better watch out for the safety of your earlobes. A feller named Jonathan Eros (who often goes by his Burning Man Ranger name of Grizzly) puts on public bimonthly get-togethers and sweet bear that he is he'll have loaner whips on hand for newbies. Grizzly also publishes a list of appropriate and accessible flogging devices on his website – truth be told, he's quite comprehensive. Check out his al fresco flaying if you're interested in jumping into the whip scene, or even if you've got a special flick of the wrist you'd care to share with some new friends.

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Viva La Vanguardia!

08.04.10 - 2:27 pm | Robert Avila |
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The folks behind San Francisco’s Cutting Ball Theater have a lot to celebrate after ten years, so they are. The tenth anniversary of the company recently voted Best Theater in SFBG’s Best of the Bay readers poll is being marked by a year’s worth of special programs, all culminating in a season-opening party they’re calling “10-10-10 Tempest!” on October 10. But first, this Sat/7, the theater founded by Rob Melrose and Paige Rogers continues to advance its experimental mission with a rare (and free!) program of staged excerpts from new work by Latino and Latina playwrights called "Vanguardia."

This is the first time Cutting Ball has featured the work of living Latino playwrights (they promise it won’t be the last either) and the evening will feature some of the country’s most vital voices — meaning both alive and ass-kicking: Kristoffer Diaz (author of Pulitzer-finalist The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity), Marisela Treviño Orta, Octavio Solis, Caridad Svich, Enrique Urueta (of the recent Impact Theatre hit Learn to Be Latina), and Karen Zacarías. Read more »

Start your engines for the Chiselers!

08.04.10 - 2:12 pm | Cheryl Eddy |
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Sure, sure — you love your Prius. Or your fixie-skateboard-rollerblades-scooter-Clipper pass. But there's something awfully rock n' roll about a muscle car, especially one that's been lovingly restored to roarin'-around-town condition.

Sat/7, local auto fanatics Chiselers Car Club host their first annual Chiselers Car Club Blowout — "blowout" in this context referring to a raucous party, of course, not a tire gone haywire. Revelers are encouraged to "bring your pre '75 pimped-ass ride" (bikes are also welcome); the carless can gawk all they want. Arrive during the daytime hours (starts at 4 p.m., free) to check out the cars, scarf some barbecue, and listen to classic tunes by the Ramshackle Romeos, a two-man group incorporating an array of strange instruments, including the ever-haunting musical saw.

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Two views:Joanna Newsom at the Fox, 8/2/10

08.04.10 - 1:59 pm | sfbg |
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By Amber Schadewald and Sam Stander

TAKE ONE "Have you seen her before?" a spirited woman asked a random couple in the front row at Oakland's Fox theater Monday night, just before the lights began to dim. "She's a fucking angel." And it's hard to disagree. California's own folk-harp-composing-wonder Joanna Newsom is a beautiful, beautiful being who produced a perfectly impressive evening with song after long song of feather-light melodies. 

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Prop 8 struck down by federal judge

08.04.10 - 1:32 pm | Marke B. |
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US District judge Vaughan Walker has struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage. Turns out the 18,000 same-sex marriages left intact from before the proposition was passed were key. Dang, I just planned my wedding in Connecticut.  

SFBG Radio: New Venom

08.04.10 - 12:16 pm | Tim Redmond |
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In today's episode, Johnny Wendell's guest, Johnny Venom, urges we use a ton of caution when considering Lennar's Development plan-their track record in Chicago is dismal.

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The deal is done

Lennar's massive redevelopment plan gets the green light despite unaddressed concerns

08.04.10 - 8:06 am | Sarah Phelan |
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Mayor Gavin Newsom was quick to frame the Board of Supervisors' 10-1 vote for Lennar Corp.'s massive redevelopment proposal for Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard on July 27 as a sign that plans to revitalize the Bayview are about to begin.Read more »

Worth the wait

Starcraft II took a while to get here, but the new version is right on target

08.04.10 - 8:02 am | Ben Richardson |
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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

(Blizzard Entertainment)

PC, Mac OS X

Even for a company known for its notoriously long development cycles, Blizzard took its sweet time with StarCraft II. Though thousands of people now have their fevered hands on a copy, the reality of its arrival hasn't really sunk in. Playing it feels like the first time I listened to Chinese Democracy, except with fewer unnecessary keyboard tracks.Read more »

alt.sex.column: Vanilla Shake

08.04.10 - 7:40 am | Andrea Nemerson |
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Dear Andrea:

My husband and I are in our early 40s. We have been together 15 years and married for nine. We have sex about once a week, which is all we can manage with two little kids, two full time jobs, and everything else.Read more »

(A rhythmic series of) slaps on the back for the Body Music Festival artists

08.03.10 - 3:01 pm | Caitlin Donohue |
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Slap a belly, claps them hands, shake your head side to side and buzz through your lips like a motorboat. It's called body music, mon cheri – and since 2008 the Bay Area's been the yearly gathering spot for all manner of the diverse artistes that call this noise home at the International Body Music Festival. This year, the festie's moving down south to Sao Paolo, Brazil – but before it does, festival founder and primo tap dancer Keith Terry has organized a benefit show (Sat/7 La Peña Cultural Center) that features his group, Slammin, along with sometimes-clown and presently hambone performer Derique McGee. The show will fund Bay performers trips down south – and more presently, out to NYC where they will perform at the Lincoln Center (Thurs/12). We spoke with the mastermind behind this convergence of natural noisemakers over the phone, and found him to be more than happy to explain his unusual passion for playing with one's self. Keith, what's all this noise about? Read more »

Coilhouse rules

08.03.10 - 2:26 pm | Sam Stander |
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Founded by three brilliant renaissance women with roots in L.A. and the Bay, the alt-everything institution known as Coilhouse exists both as a fantastic groupblog and a quasi-quarterly magazine. According to the mission statement on their website, “Coilhouse is a love letter to alternative culture, written in an era when alternative culture no longer exists.” They cover everything from fashion to visual art to film to comics, with a wealth of youtube clips and beautiful images in all their posts. These ladies — Zoetica Ebb, Meredith Yayanos, and Nadya Lev — and their various collaborators are down with Klaus Nomi and at home with esoteric Russian literature, and more than happy to share with you what made them weird. Read more »

Street Threads: Look of the Day

08.03.10 - 1:33 pm | Ariel Soto-Suver |
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Today's Look: Kathy, Powell and Ellis

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Labayen Dance/SF revisits Carl Orff’s iconic Carmina Burana

08.03.10 - 1:21 pm | Katie Gaydos |
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Enrico Labayen’s dance company Labayen Dance/SF took a hiatus from 2004 to 2009 while Labayen was off studying traditional folkloric dances in Southeast Asia. Labayen may have been absent for a few years, but the world premiere of his Carmina Burana, Revisited at Dance Mission Theater (July 23-25) proved that Labayen Dance/SF is back in full force. Inspired by the Philippine matriarchal ritual Tadtarin and set to Carl Orff’s iconic score, Carmina Burana, Revisited was a powerful and passionate celebration of female strength. Read more »