Free Republic

A few more points on today's column on the Supe Scott Wiener's proposed ordinance to regulate naked people dining and sitting in public places -- by requiring them to put something between their seats on those on which they sit. San Franciscans pride themselves in not particularly caring what happens between consenting adults. The problem: The City's nudists bare all without the consent of other adults -- many of whom are parents who want to enjoy the city with their children. I do not understand why restaurant owners do not refuse to serve naked patrons. It goes to show how...

There currently is a debate raging over public nudity in San Francisco. It’s not what you think. It’s already entirely legal to parade about in the buff on the city’s streets, and no one is discussing the resurrection of indecent-exposure laws. Rather, the question is whether sanitary behavior — namely, posterior protection for public seating — should be required of nudists by law. Reports the Los Angeles Times: Retired math teacher David Goldman and his husband, Michael Koehn, were sharing a pleasant alfresco moment at a public plaza in the heart of the Castro district this week, passing a slender...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Something could soon be coming between San Francisco's proud nudists and their unusual freedom to bare it all. Walking around naked is legal in the city under most circumstances, but a city supervisor concerned about public health and sanitation introduced legislation Tuesday that would require the clothing averse to put a cloth or other barrier under their bottoms if they take a seat in public. > Wiener represents the city's Castro District, where a group of men locals refer to as "the naked guys" is known to strut its stuff, and some residents have grown weary...

San Francisco -- Supervisor Scott Wiener's proposed legislation about the nude guys in the Castro is already a success. That is, assuming his intention was to make kooky San Francisco a national joke while doing nothing about the core problem. Wiener has come up with a plan to compel the nudies to put something under their bottoms when they sit in public chairs and cover up in restaurants. "What I am proposing is noncontroversial," he said. "Rather than try to hit one out of the park and take on the broader issue of public nudity, I am proposing a modest...

The naked truth, it seems, is that San Francisco is once again going to emerge as a city ripe for ridicule -- or a beacon of free expression -- depending on your point of view. The latest issue? Public nudity. Supervisor Scott Wiener will introduce legislation today intended to get to the bottom of the gross-out factor when it comes to public nudity. His proposal would require people who bare all for all to see to at the very least place a towel or like item underneath them when they sit down. The proposed restrictions also would require nudists to...

I ran into a man I'd known for years at a supermarket the other day. He's an old San Francisco guy, so I was surprised at what he said. "I'm moving out of the city," he said. "San Francisco is not the city I grew up in anymore. I'm through with it. "Yep," he said, "I'm gonna sell my house and move to Novato. You know what? The sun shines there in the summer. I mean they have sun - that big yellow thing - sun in July and August. I'm tired of the fog - fog every night and...

Not content with just robbing a Texas tourist of his money, a group of assailants also chopped off a clump of the man's hair during a Monday night attack. The 34-year-old victim was walking in the 100 block of Gateway Boulevard around 10 p.m. when he was assaulted by a group of four to six men, according to South San Francisco police. The assailants knocked the victim to the ground and robbed him of his cash. While the man was lying on the ground, one of the robbers pulled out a silver pocket knife and cut away a chunk of...

In San Francisco, one of the toughest places in the country to find a place to live, more than 31,000 housing units — one of every 12 — now sit vacant, according to recently released census data. That’s the highest vacancy rate in the region, and a 70 percent increase from a decade ago. To know one big reason why, ask Wayne Koniuk. By trade, Koniuk fashions artificial limbs for amputees. By habit, he fits prostheses at no charge for people who cannot pay. This has left him a less-than-wealthy man. But he does have one substantial asset: a Divisadero...

The slogan to the Marin Convention and Visitors Bureau is "Marin: It's just a little out there." Their site also notes that "It's different here. And not by accident." One difference is that Marin is the culturally, pretty plain vanilla. It's probably not a shock that of all the pockets and regions in the Bay Area, Marin County is the least diverse of them all. Or translated differently, Marin has one of the highest percentage of Caucasians. While this is most likely a well known fact, The Bay Citizen last week confirmed this, in compiling the 10 Whitest Cities in...

Looking back, David Dutcher realizes the gorgeous blonde who approached him through an online dating service came on too strong. During their 2008 date at the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Concord, Dutcher said the woman chugged shots of hard alcohol and punctuated each with a kiss to his lips. After a second flirtatious woman showed up, the blonde told Dutcher, then a 46-year-old recent divorcee, that their night would continue if he followed the ladies home to join them in a hot tub. Dutcher never got there - minutes after he left the restaurant, a Concord police officer pulled...

Unemployment has increased in several counties across the San Francisco Bay Area, according to a state report released Friday. Jobless rates rose in Solano County from 12.1 percent in December to 12.4 percent in January, according to the California Employment Development Department. In San Francisco County, unemployment increased from 9.2 percent to 9.5 percent. Marin County saw jobless rates go from 7.9 percent to 8.2 percent, the report said. The number of people out of work in Alameda County went from 10.8 percent to 11 percent, and Santa Clara County's jobless numbers went from 10.4 percent to 10.5 percent. While...

A panel of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has acquitted a minister who was accused of violating the denomination's constitution by legally marrying his male partner. The church judicial commission split 3-3 Monday on the charge against the Rev. Erwin Barron, who is under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, but now works as a college professor in San Francisco.

The Board of Supervisors just banned toys in Happy Meals, which drew worldwide attention.Now the latest ban being proposed in San Francisco is on male circumcision.A proposed ballot measure for the November 2011 ballot – when voters will be electing the San Francisco’s next mayor – would amend The City’s police code “to make it a misdemeanor to circumcise, excise, cut or mutilate the foreskin, testicle or penis of another person who has not attained the age of 18.” Doing so would result in a fine of up to $1,000 and up to one year in jail, according to the...

A transgender woman who used to run a sex toy company called Good Vibrations reportedly is being labeled as the "conservative" candidate in a local San Francisco race. SF Weekly reports that Theresa Sparks, a candidate for a seat on the city's Board of Supervisors, is being criticized as the insider, conservative pick. Sparks is backed by Mayor Gavin Newsom and held a seat on the city's Police Commission. She allegedly drifts "conservative" by opposing a hotel tax and, according to one local paper, declining to put pressure on the city's police officers while serving on the disciplinary panel....

Law would apply to sales of cats, dogs, hamsters, rats, birdsIt could soon be illegal for pet stores in San Francisco to sell pets. The San Francisco Animal Control and Welfare Commission will take up a proposal tonight that would ban the sale of all small animals from the City's pet shops. Only fish would be allowed to be sold under the ordinance, which is believed to be the first of it's kind in the country. The proposed law is designed to encourage people to rescue animals from the shelter instead of buying from a pet store. Supporters say it...

As if San Francisco wasn't loopy enough, voters will be asked Tuesday to pass a ballot initiative, endorsed by the Democratic Party, that would bar police enforcing California's prostitution laws. The goal is to free up $11 million a year now spent collaring hookers so police can go after the real criminals: people who cook with trans fats; tote groceries in plastic bags, think bad thoughts about homosexuals, etc. If voters approve, hookers would enjoy the same special rights Frisco has bestowed upon illegal aliens, porn peddlers and medical-marijuana potheads. Among other things, a yes vote would increase prostitution, sex...

Finding a pro-deregulation stance in the media is often tough, but when if it suits some far out cause against societal norms, don't rule it out. Sunny Hostin, CNN "American Morning" legal analyst, examined the pros and cons of a San Francisco ballot measure to be voted on next month called Proposition K. The measure would decriminalize prostitution. But Hostin said there was a case, not for decriminalized prostitution - which reportedly will save $11 million in municipal police spending - but for legalization, which she claimed would "boost the economy in these economic times." "I think the more valid...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In a tongue-in-cheek call for immigration reform, farm workers are teaming up with comedian Stephen Colbert in a challenge to unemployed Americans: Come on, take our jobs. Farm workers are tired of being blamed by politicians and anti-immigrant activists for taking work that should go to Americans and dragging down the economy, said Arturo Rodriguez, the president of the United Farm Workers of America. So the group is encouraging the unemployed — and any Washington pundits who want to join them — to apply for the some of thousands of agricultural jobs being posted with state...

Victoria Kolakowski, who's running for Alameda Count Superior Court judge in a November runoff election, declares on her campaign Web site that she hopes to make history."If I am elected, I would be the first openly LGBT superior court judge elected in Alameda County, the first openly LGBT person elected countywide, and the first transgender trial court judge in the United States," it states. The question is how much it should matter. Kolakowski, 48, transitioned from male to female in 1989 during her last year in law school and had sex reassignment surgery in 1991. She has 21 years of...

It seems the gang over at San Francisco's Planning Department has been looking at more than zoning codes on their computers - namely, porn.According to City Hall sources, Planning Director John Rahaim has recommended the firing of four high-ups - including veteran Zoning Administrator Larry Badiner - for allegedly receiving and in some cases circulating X-rated photos and videos for years.The material wasn't criminal - we're talking "Debbie Does Dallas" stuff, not child porn - but it was "incredibly inappropriate for the workplace," said one source, who would speak only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of...