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Politics Blog

Ron Lanza, queer impressario, dies at 78

04.12.13 - 1:50 pm | Tim Redmond |
(23)

Ron Lanza, a pioneer in San Francisco’s gay rights movement and an impressario who promoted queer arts through the worst of the AIDS crisis, has died after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 78.Read more »

Dealing with the faux cabs

04.11.13 - 12:33 pm | Tim Redmond |
(91)

Lots of comments on my article outlining the problems with the fake cabs that are riding around town without medallions or proper screening. The main complaint the trolls have appears to be their dislike of cab drivers and the difficulty of getting a cab in some places and at certain times. I've never had a bad experience with an SF cab driver in 30 years of living here and taking cabs, but I'm sure there are others who have; no industry is perfect.Read more »

Checks from mayor's mysterious breakfast companions mysteriously absent

04.11.13 - 11:19 am | Rebecca Bowe |
(52)

In less than three months, custom made super yachts will zip around the San Francisco Bay in the ultimate competition for the prized America’s Cup. But San Francisco could wind up spending millions more than originally expected to host this prestigious sailing regatta.Read more »

ABC shows more concern about expanding police video surveillance than Mayor Lee

04.10.13 - 4:14 pm | Steven T. Jones |
(15)

The SFPD has quietly expanded its reach and authority to obtain video surveillance from in and around bars, clubs, and markets through a condition it has begun recommending on new liquor licenses, as I reported in today's issue, effectively bypassing controls on city-operated surveillance cameras established through extensive public hearings in 2005.Read more »

San Francisco has a lot of money tied up in fossil fuels

04.10.13 - 3:35 pm | Rebecca Bowe |
(31)

The San Francisco Employees Retirement System has more than $113 million in holdings in Exxon Mobil. It’s a lucrative investment in a dirty business. On March 29, Exxon’s Pegasus Pipeline ruptured, spilling as much as 7,000 barrels of oil in a toxic slick that coated a residential Arkansas neighborhood and prompted the evacuation of 21 homes.Read more »

SF declares Pay Equity Day as it lowers salaries for women's jobs

04.09.13 - 4:08 pm | Avi Asher-Schapiro |
(87)

The Board of Supervisors today declared April 9 Pay Equity Day in San Francisco, in recognition of the persistent national gap between male and female financial compensation. But with the city locked in a dispute with SEIU Local 1021 over pay cuts to jobs dominated by women and workers of color, the day took on special local significance. Read more »

TRUST Act clears committee as immigration reform heats up nationally

04.09.13 - 4:08 pm | Rebecca Bowe |
(56)

It was late at night by the time New Latthivongskorn, then 22, finally started to make his way home from the University of California Berkeley campus after a long night of studying for midterm exams.  A third year molecular and cell biology major who was trying to keep up his grades in preparation for med school applications, Latthivongskorn said he noticed a man in a black hooded sweatshirt walking toward him as he approached his home. At first he didn’t think much of it – but just as he was about to unlock the door to his apartment, the young Thai student heard a voice. Read more »

Paying for the mayor's China trip

04.09.13 - 2:29 pm | Tim Redmond |
(20)

You'd think the mayor would know better by now. After all the allegations of cronyism and undue influence, you'd think that he'd make sure everyone involved in his trip to China was playing by the rules. You'd think the last thing he would want is this.

Now: So far this is just a complaint, and noting has been proven. But still: It sure looks bad. And it's entirely unnecessary.Read more »

Blue Angels grounding is a victory for sanity, safety, and peace

04.09.13 - 2:04 pm | Steven T. Jones |
(81)

Finally, peace in our time. The Blue Angels' annual Fleet Week assault on San Francisco has finally, blessedly, mercifully been canceled for 2013, the result of $85 billion in federal budget sequestration cuts divided equally between military expenditures and social service spending.Read more »

Class divisions in SF (sorta)

04.09.13 - 1:55 pm | Tim Redmond |
(36)

Richard Florida, who got famous creating the "creative class," has a new series of maps out charting class structure in American cities -- not on the basis of income or wealth but on the type of work people do. Sfist has a nice copy of the San Francisco version here. It shows, on the surface, that this city has virtually no "working class," some "service class" and lots of "creative class."Read more »