San Francisco

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Battle Over Prop 8 Moves to Federal Court

(Newser) - California’s gay marriage battle continued today as lawyers for the American Foundation for Equal Rights announced a lawsuit challenging Proposition 8 and called for the restitution of marriage rights while the suit is decided, the Los Angeles Times reports. The lawyers—Theodore Olson, then the solicitor general, and David...

Gay-Marriage Supporters Take to Streets After Ruling

Opponents of marriage ban sad but not surprised

(Newser) - Supporters of same-sex marriage were disappointed but not surprised by the California Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold Proposition 8, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, as a crowd that had gathered at the state courthouse moved through city streets, blocking traffic and prompting arrest. “This is a serious...

Sea Lion Saved on Highway
 Sea Lion Saved on Highway 
May 21, 2009 2:46 PM CDT

Sea Lion Saved on Highway

(Newser) - Cops near San Francisco made an unusual rescue today on a local expressway: They saved a wandering sea lion, the Chronicle reports. After a brief chase, they corralled the 30-pound confused critter, probably only about a year old. The sea lion, named Moody in honor of a fallen officer, is...

SF Smokers May Have to Cough Up for Butt Cleanup

Mayor proposes hefty tax hike to make smokers cover litter removal

(Newser) - San Francisco's mayor believes non-smokers shouldn't have to cover the costs of cleaning up cigarette butts, the New York Times reports. Gavin Newsom has proposed a 33-cent tax on each pack of cigarettes sold, which he says will cover the $10 million a year it costs to pick up after...

Dad Wasn't Zodiac Killer, Says Other Daughter

(Newser) - The half-sister of the California woman who asserted Wednesday that their father was the dreaded Zodiac killer of the 1960s isn’t having any of it, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Janice Hendrickson’s father “couldn’t hurt a fly,” she said today. “He did have a...

'My Dad Was the Zodiac Killer'

Californian claims to offer proof that her father was '60s serial killer

(Newser) - A Californian real estate agent came forward yesterday claiming to offer proof that her late father was the serial Zodiac Killer who terrorized the Bay Area in the '60s, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Her carpenter dad took her along to murder sites where the 7-year-old sat in the car...

Robber Told Bank He Was Fed Up With Bailouts

Gets away after SF bomb-threat heist

(Newser) - Police are looking for a man who robbed a San Francisco branch of Bank of America—ostensibly out of disgust for corporate bailouts, the Chronicle reports. The man requested a meeting with a manager and told him he represented “a corporation” concerned with the bailouts—before threatening to detonate...

US Animal Activist Makes 'Most Wanted Terrorists' List

(Newser) - In a first, the FBI today put an animal-rights crusader on its “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, CNN reports. San Francisco-bred activist Daniel Andreas San Diego is charged with the 2003 bombings of two corporate buildings. Authorities allege he believed the companies were tied to animal testing. The FBI has...

SF Mayor Unveils Run for Calif. Gov on Twitterverse

(Newser) - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom made his candidacy for California governor official today with nary a word, the Chronicle reports—except on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Though Newsom plans to publicize his run with in-person appearances, an adviser called the old sort of announcement “passé.” The state’s...

Police Hunt Silicon Valley Phone Vandals

50K lose service in attack that highlights systems' vulnerability

(Newser) - Authorities in Silicon Valley are hunting for saboteurs who cut fiber-optic telecom cables, leaving more than 50,000 customers—including police and hospitals—in parts of three counties without phone and internet service, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Ten cables were severed, crippling 911 operations, cellphone service, and businesses depending...

The Best Prison Breaks
 The Best Prison Breaks 
OPINION
Mar 31, 2009 4:43 PM CDT

The Best Prison Breaks

Frenchman's joins infamous company with clever escape

(Newser) - A Frenchman’s daring escape from a London prison—Julien Chautard turned himself in yesterday after busting out by gripping the bottom of a prisoner transport van as it left the courtyard—gets Jon Henley, in the Guardian, thinking about the best such tries ever. His highlights:

In SF, a Center for Female Orgasm

Commune is devoted to female sexuality

(Newser) - Every morning as the rest of us fight sleepiness and traffic, a group of women at the One Taste Urban Retreat Center lie back and let a fully clothed male "research partner" coax them to orgasm, reports the New York Times. The co-ed commune in San Francisco also offers...

Roche Gets Genentech in $46.8B Biotech Deal

(Newser) - Swiss drug giant Roche has succeeded in its quest to own biotech firm Genentech outright, and will purchase the 44% of shares it does not already own for $95 each, the San Francisco Chronicle reports today. The $46.8 billion deal comes after months of haggling, wherein Roche offered as...

Phelps Helps SF Food Bank Tame Munchies

Swimmer's bong photo, ban lead to donation of 2 tons of cereal

(Newser) - The amateur paparazzo who snapped Michael Phelps holding a bong helped indirectly bring a little good to the world: Kellogg's, which dumped the Olympian after the photo came to light, donated nearly 2 tons of Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes in boxes bearing Phelps' winning smile to the San Francisco...

Execs Aim to Tame Rowdy SF Race

Organizers move to make revelers straighten up in Party Town, USA

(Newser) - San Francisco, the “City That Knows How,” is notoriously adept at throwing hedonistic events—but it also knows how to fight to keep them, the Los Angeles Times reports. Protesters are fuming at the organizers of the annual Bay to Breakers footrace, who want to ban nudity and...

Calif. Prop 8 Back in Court Tomorrow
  Calif. Prop 8 Back 
  in Court Tomorrow 
ANALYSIS
Mar 4, 2009 3:34 PM CST

Calif. Prop 8 Back in Court Tomorrow

(Newser) - Protesters around California are gearing up for tomorrow's state Supreme Court session on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the voter referendum that banned gay marriage, the Los Angeles Times reports. The decision isn’t due for 3 months, but the opinion is already written, and the court's stand may be...

Hearst May Shut Down San Francisco Chronicle

(Newser) - More bleak news from the world of newspapers: Hearst is threatening to shut down the San Francisco Chronicle—the nation's 12th largest daily—unless it makes massive cuts. Otherwise, Hearst will seek a buyer for the 144-year-old paper, which lost $50 million last year and is doing worse in 2009,...

Bush Street Gets Overnight 'Update' in SF

Pranksters in notoriously liberal city rename thoroughfare, if only temporarily

(Newser) - Partisan pranksters struck San Francisco overnight, covering four blocks of signs on the city’s Bush Street with “Obama Street” signs, NBC affiliate KNTV reports. The covers look professional, and chalk messages on the pavement encourage pedestrians to look up and notice the “change.” A rally is...

SF Cop Charged in BART Slaying

Ex-officer surrendered on suspicion of murder

(Newser) - The transit officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on New Year's Day, sparking San Francisco-area riots, was arrested last night in Nevada on suspicion of murder, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Sources say Johannes Mehserle, 27, had fled California after receiving death threats in the wake of Oscar Grant's...

SF-Area Riots Erupt Over Fatal Shooting By Cop

Storefronts, cars destroyed as 200 protesters storm Oakland

(Newser) - An angry mob protesting a cop's fatal shooting of an unarmed man stormed Oakland last night, hurling rocks at cars and storefronts, and lighting garbage on fire. About 200 protesters—including a core group of self-proclaimed communists—began peacefully at the subway stop where an officer killed a 22-year-old passenger...

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