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Top Stories

Holiday snowjob

Why are officials seeking to limit public review of the city's biggest development proposal?
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sarah@sfbg.com

Shortly before Thanksgiving, San Francisco city officials announced that the draft environmental impact report for Lennar Corp.'s massive Hunters Point Shipyard-Candlestick Point redevelopment proposal was finally available, and that the public has 45 days — until Dec. 28 — to read and comment on the 4,400-page document.

Envisioned to include more than 10,000 homes (most of them market-rate condos) spread over 708 acres in southeast San Francisco, the project — whose vague outlines city voters affirmed by approving Prop. Read more »

Empty threats

Activists say comments by the mayor and U.S. attorney are bluster that shouldn't affect new sanctuary city law
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sarah@sfbg.com

A controversial change to San Francisco's sanctuary city policy — requiring due process to play out before city officials turn arrested undocumented immigrant minors over to federal authorities — officially becomes city law this week. But its implementation is still in limbo.

Last month, the Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to override a veto of the legislation by Mayor Gavin Newsom, who says he won't implement it anyway because he thinks it violates federal law. Authored by Sup. David Campos, the legislation goes into effect Dec. Read more »

Missed buses

SFMTA changes Muni service to address budget shortfall
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news@sfbg.com

Buses seemed more crowded than usual the weekend of Dec. 5-6 as the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency implemented what it called "the most significant change in more than 30 years," which altered more than half of Muni routes and upset some frequent riders.

The changes were made to save money, although some routes were beefed up in the process. For example, the 26 Valencia was eliminated because of low ridership, but the 14 lines along nearby Mission Street were expanded with longer operating hours and more stops to compensate for discontinued routes. Read more »

Losing hope

The Afghanistan escalation has angered many Obama voters. But can the antiwar movement revive itself against a Democratic president?
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news@sfbg.com

In the back room of Tommy's Joynt, more than a dozen members of the antiwar group Code Pink gathered Dec. 1 to watch television coverage of President Barack Obama's speech announcing that 30,000 more U.S. troops would be sent to fight in Afghanistan, his second major escalation of that war this year.

"This is not the hope you voted for!" read a flyer distributed at the event.Read more »

Appetite: Holiday Farmers Market Cocktail Night

Food-and-drink spots, deals, events and news
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Check out more of Virginia's food news at www.theperfectspotsf.com

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12/2 - Holiday Farmers Market Cocktail Night
Quarterly comes the arrival of CUESA's Farmers Market Cocktail night, reflecting the best of the season's produce in cocktail recipes created by our city's great mixologists. Read more »

Holiday blues

Newsom defies board's vote to restore public-health worker salaries
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rebeccab@sfbg.com

Ethea Farahkhan lost her city job Nov. 29, when a round of city layoffs impacting front-line workers took effect.
Farahkhan, a woman of color who was an administrative assistant at San Francisco's Department of Children, Youth and their Families, said she would have a job if it weren’t for Mayor Gavin Newsom’s decision not to spend money approved by the Board of Supervisors to save people from job losses during the holiday season. Read more »

Out of reach

How the sustainable local food movement neglects poor workers and eaters
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news@sfbg.com

On a sunny afternoon in Civic Center Plaza, a remarkable bounty covered a buffet table: coconut quinoa, organic mushroom tabouli, homemade vegan desserts, and an assortment of other yummy treats. Read more »

Do it naturally

Local ecosexuals bring sustainability to the bedroom
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culture@sfbg.com

SEX Future sexologists will pinpoint the 2000s as the decade in which the sex toy industry finally crawled from its toxic swamp toward the green light. Before now, mainstream sex toys were garish in appearance, sloppily constructed, and intended to be dumped in a landfill after a few months of use. Made in shady overseas factories by exploited workers, many contained chemicals, like phthalates, that have been linked to cancer and were powered by frequently disposed-of batteries. Read more »

The 448's war

Nation's only gay American Legion post, after fighting for its right to exist, pushes to end "don't ask, don't tell"
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news@sfbg.com

The Green Room of the San Francisco Veterans Building has been taken over for the night by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a charity organization that mashes Catholic imagery and drag, perhaps San Francisco's most iconic gay group. But among the drag queens and leather daddies are military veterans in garrison caps and vests decorated with medals.

This is the Sister's bingo night, an event to raise money for the various nonprofit organizations the order supports. Read more »

Police seize DJs' laptops

New police chief apparently condones policy that critics call illegal and punitive
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news@sfbg.com

San Francisco Police Department officers have added a controversial tactic to their aggressive raids on house parties (see "Fun under siege," 4/22/09): they're seizing laptop computers from DJs at the events.

While SFPD officials deny the laptop seizures is a new policy, they admit it has been condoned by Police Chief George Gascón, who took over in August and last month told the Guardian's editorial board he wants to make the SFPD more transparent and accountable to the public (see "New coach, new approach," 10/14/09).

"The poli Read more »