San Francisco Bay Guardian

Condo bypass legislation now before the full board

05.07.13 - 9:47 am | Steven T. Jones |

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Controversial condominium lottery bypass legislation -- sponsored by Sups. Mark Farrell and Scott Wiener but substantially modified by tenant group that strongly opposed the original legislation, with the help of Sup. David Chiu, Jane Kim, and Norman Yee -- is finally coming to the full Board of Supervisors today (Tues/7, starting at 2pm).Read more »

Hospital union targets UC executive pensions [VIDEO]

05.07.13 - 9:42 am | Rebecca Bowe |

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An update to this story has been posted below.

An ongoing labor rift is intensifying between frontline University of California hospital employees and the UC medical center system. UC administrators have minimized employees’ stated concerns about eroding patient care due to staffing rollbacks, saying the real issue at the heart of the dispute is AFSCME’s “refusal to agree to UC's pension reforms.”Read more »

noise

Jinkx Monsoon is Little Edie is "Schizophrenic"

05.07.13 - 7:10 am | Marke B. |

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I don't know who any of those RuPaul Drag Race queens are, goddess love 'em. And I sure as hell don't need anymore invites to local parties where one or more of them are appearing (seriously, it's like a plague of TV wigs, smelly bodysuits, bad names, and hastily assembled signature "songs" upon the gay bars -- NO TEA NO SHADE).

But I do recognize a style sister when I see one, and Jinkx Monsoon of Seattle caught everyone's eye with her killer Little Edie from Grey Gardens impression on this season of Drag Race, then went on to win it all -- I guess, judging from the "squeeees" clogging my Facebook feed last night. Even better, she's actually recorded a pretty amazingly groovy and deep track with SF's techno version of googly-eyed puppy cuddles, Two Dudes in Love.

The warriors arena: How are you going to get there?

05.06.13 - 4:03 pm | Tim Redmond |

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The Warriors and the all-star lineup of nearly every political consultant in town launched a new public relations offensive this week with the release of a new, spiffy set of drawings and a rewritten plan for a waterfront arena. And opponents of the project pretty much shrugged and said: So, what?Read more »

The right wing and armed revolution

05.06.13 - 11:22 am | Tim Redmond |

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Man, I'm getting old. When I was growing up, in the 1960s, and even when I was in college in the 1970s, and when I was first in San Francisco in the early 1980s, the only ones talking about "armed revolution" were the commies. The system was coming down, fast; the Black Panthers marched around with rifles. The RCP and the Weather Underground and a bunch of other offshoots and fringe groups talked about fighting in the streets. Read more »

Promo: Enter to win tickets to a SF Giants vs. Washington Nationals game!

05.06.13 - 9:36 am |

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Enter to win tickets to see the SF Giants battle the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, May 22 at AT&T Park, the last game of the Giants vs. Nationals series. Section 123, Row K is where we will be putting you (look 'em up here, if you're curious).

bruce

Dick Meister: We've suffered a great loss

05.03.13 - 2:31 pm | Dick Meister |

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She's gone, Gerry, the love of my life, my dearly beloved wife for 57 years. It's difficult at this time of deep mourning for me to think of Gerry except in the context of our long and extremely happy life together and great devotion to each other, difficult to think of Gerry as anything but a loving partner who shared my life for so long.

We met briefly while I was playing semi-professional baseball in Gerry's hometown of Coquille on the Oregon coast in 1952, and again a few years later during a party at Stanford, where we were both students. I was introduced to her as someone who actually knew of Coquille.

Within two years, we were married. That came shortly after a lunch date at Tommy's Joynt on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. We were earnestly discussing the merits of Presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson (remember him?} and savoring our beer and pastrami on rye when it suddenly popped into my head, and I blurted it out : "I think we ought to get married." Gerry paused for just a moment. "Yes," she said, "I think we should."

Why are the feds cracking down on pot again?

05.03.13 - 1:48 pm | Tim Redmond |

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President Obama keeps saying that marijuana isn't a big priority for his administration, and his rogue nutcase of a US Attorney in Northern California keeps making it a priority. Now the Drug Enforcement Administration, which also reports to the White House, is joining the action, going after licensed dispensaries in San Francisco and San Jose.Read more »

Take my hand: Our trip to the Follies same-sex dance-off

05.03.13 - 1:42 pm | Cortney Clift |

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Had TLC's Dance Moms lead me astray? I expected cut-throat twirlers and an atmosphere you could cut with a sharpened acrylic nail when I arrived at the April Follies same-sex dance competition on April 27.Read more »

Bay to Breakers will have video surveillance, license plate scans, and secret "FBI assets"

05.03.13 - 12:22 pm | Steven T. Jones |

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Police video surveillance was in the spotlight during yesterday's City Hall hearing on security measures at large events, as supervisors voiced a desire to strike the right balance between security and civil liberties. And while they got some reassurance and small signs of restraint from the SFPD, they also learned about secretive new security measures that go beyond what the public was aware of.Read more »

Typhoid fever warning for Stonestown Nordstrom's eaters

05.03.13 - 10:51 am | Marke B. |

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If you or someone you know ate at Nordstrom Cafe at Stonestown Galleria on April 16, 17, 18, 20, or 27, there is a risk of contracting typhoid fever -- eek. A restaurant worker has been diagnosed with the infectious disease. Full press release and more info from the SF Department of Public Health below:

'Iron Man 3' and everything else: new movies!

05.03.13 - 10:00 am | Cheryl Eddy and Guardian Staff Writers |

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This week: the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival continues (our second week picks here); hippie cult doc The Source Family opens at the Roxie (my interview with the filmmakers, who were able to access vast amounts of archival footage shot by the group itself, here); and Iron Man 3 follows the exploits of Tony Stark, Lord of Winterfell. My review of that low-budget indie that you probably haven't heard of below, plus more! Read more »

Film

bruce

Don't vent, organize and "primary" a Democrat near you

05.02.13 - 8:41 pm |

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By Norman Solomon

Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and founding director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” He writes the Political Culture 2013 column.

Progressives often wonder why so many Republican lawmakers stick to their avowed principles while so many Democratic lawmakers abandon theirs. We can grasp some answers by assessing the current nationwide drive called “Primary My Congressman” -- a case study of how right-wing forces gain ground in electoral terrain where progressives fear to tread.

Sponsored by Club for Growth Action, the “Primary My Congressman” effort aims to replace “moderate Republicans” with “economic conservatives” -- in other words, GOP hardliners even more devoted to boosting corporate power and dismantling the public sector. “In districts that are heavily Republican,” the group says, “there are literally dozens of missed opportunities to elect real fiscal conservatives to Congress -- not more ‘moderates’ who will compromise with Democrats. . .”

Such threats of serious primary challenges often cause the targeted incumbents to quickly veer rightward, or they may never get through the next Republican primary. Read more »

Students celebrate SF resolution to divest from fossil fuels

05.02.13 - 4:24 pm | Rebecca Bowe |

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Famed environmental writer and 350.org founder Bill McKibben wore a short-sleeved T-shirt as he stood on the steps of San Francisco City Hall this afternoon and addressed a crowd of energized student climate activists.

“It’s a pretty day here, but it’s a little warmer than it should be,” he remarked of the hot afternoon with temperatures creeping above 80 degrees F. “This is the hottest May 2 ever recorded in the city of San Francisco.”Read more »

Climate Change

SFIFF report: French glam ... and grit

05.02.13 - 4:00 pm | Lynn Rapoport |

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At the outset of Friday evening’s SFIFF screening of the ’50s-set French film Populaire, director Régis Roinsard offered two hints as to what lay ahead — noting that his SF sightseeing agenda had included a visit to Jimmy Stewart’s Lombard Street Vertigo residence, and encouraging the audience to stick around for a Q&A sampling of his Borat-level English proficiency. As it turned out, Roinsard handled the post-screening questions with slightly awkward but un-Borat-like charm (and occasional interpreter assistance). And the film itself — while featuring a man gripped by a daffy obsession involving a beautiful blond, who, come to think of it, is often seen sporting an updo — has a considerably lighter mood than the Hitchcock thriller, finding its tense plot turns and clacking rhythms within the fast-paced world of competitive typing.