Free Republic

Fifty years after three prisoners broke out of Alcatraz through a spoon-dug tunnel and launched a raft made of raincoats into the San Francisco Bay in a bid for freedom, a lone U.S. marshal is still looking for them. Whether inmates Frank Morris, 35, John Anglin, 32, and his brother Clarence Anglin, 31, made it to safety on June 11, 1962, or sank to a watery grave is not known. U.S. Marshal Michael Dyke, the only official investigator still assigned to the case, has an educated guess.

The US military Tuesday vehemently denied a media report that special forces had been parachuted into North Korea on intelligence-gathering missions, saying a source had been misquoted. Current affairs magazine The Diplomat quoted Brigadier General Neil Tolley, commander of special forces in South Korea, as saying soldiers from the US and South Korea had been dropped across the border for "special reconnaissance" missions. But Colonel Jonathan Withington, public affairs officer for US Forces Korea, said some reporting of the conference had taken Tolley "completely out of context". "Quotes have been made up and attributed to him," he said, denying that...

Nurses who went on strike in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles to be locked outBy Associated Press Updated: Saturday, December 24, 10:50 PM OAKLAND, Calif. — Hospital officials say nurses who staged a one-day strike against nine hospitals in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles will not be allowed to return to work Friday. Thursday’s strike — the second in three months — and the planned lockout are the latest in a series of disputes between nurses and hospital management over health care costs, staffing levels and sick leave. The California Nurses Association — the...

At least 85 arrested as S.F. camp clearedBy the Associated Press Posted: 12/08/2011 01:01:23 AM PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- At least 85 people were arrested as police cleared San Francisco's Occupy encampment early Wednesday, police said. Officials had not compiled exact numbers by Wednesday afternoon, but most of the approximately 85 people were cited and released after the daybreak raid, said Officer Albie Esparza. About 15 people who were arrested on a variety of charges, ranging from resisting arrest to assault with a deadly weapon, were still in custody, Esparza said. More than 100 officers carried out the raid,...

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- Two police officers were attacked with sharp objects by protestors in an Occupy San Francisco march this afternoon, police said. Protestors were marching in the area of Embarcadero and Broadway around 3:30 p.m. today when the attacks occurred, according to police. Officers accompanying the march were attempting to prevent demonstrators from taking over the middle of the intersection, where Muni light rail lines are located. Police say a woman emerged from the crowd and attacked one of the officers with what was described as an exacto blade attached to a pen or pencil like object. She...

SF plan would offer tax break for hiring felonsRachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer October 18, 2011 04:00 AM San Francisco businesses that hire people with felony convictions would get a tax break, under legislation expected to be introduced today. "Ex-felons are among the most challenged populations in getting work," said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who is crafting the plan. Persuading an employer to hire a convicted felon, particularly in this economy when the unemployment rate is hovering just under 10 percent, is difficult, especially when there's a wide pool of job applicants without felony records.

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...

<p>Around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 95-year-old Castagnola's on Fisherman's Wharf (286 Jefferson St.) was buzzing. With a holiday weekend swelling the reservation book, the dining room was full and the Saturday night comedy show was set to begin.</p> <p>Then the kitchen staff walked out.</p>

The decision by Bay Area Rapid Transit officials to cut off cellphone service Thursday evening – to forestall a planned protest – raises a fundamental question: Do Americans have a basic right to digital free speech or to digitally organized assembly? Because July protests against BART police shootings had turned violent, BART officials took the unusual step to protect public safety, they said. The tactic may have worked: No protests took place Thursday night at BART stations. Temporarily shutting down cell service and beefing up police patrols were "great tool[s] to utilize for this specific purpose," BART police Lt. Andy...

Beware any candidate who tells you he is not a politician -- after he refers to himself in the third person. That would be San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who on occasion now refers to himself as "Ed Lee." In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle's John Cote on Sunday, Ed Lee asserted, "I am not a politician." Ed Lee also told Cote: "Ed Lee is not changing. I've changed my mind, but I'm still the Ed Lee that (people) know." The change to which Ed Lee referred is his decision to go back on a pledge made in...

The San Francisco Superior Court is laying off more than 40 percent of its staff and shuttering 25 courtrooms because of budget cuts. Presiding Judge Katherine Feinstein said Monday that the cuts mean it will take many more hours to pay a traffic ticket in person, up to 18 months to finalize a divorce and five years for a lawsuit to go to trial. The cuts go into effect on Sept. 30 and are needed to close a $13.75 million deficit. Some 200 of the court's 480 workers will be let go, including 11 of 12 commissioners who preside over...

Hundreds of never-used English and math workbooks were tossed into the recycling bin last week at a San Francisco school, stunning neighbors who called it a waste of taxpayer money, particularly at a time when budget cuts are forcing the district to lay off teachers, increase class sizes and eliminate summer school. "My first thoughts were: Here's the district begging for money, and they're throwing out perfectly good, unread, unused books," said David Toerge, who lives across the street from Paul Revere Elementary School and first saw the books Friday. The practice of tossing unused and obsolete books isn't unheard...

San Francisco -- The head of a children's art organization, arrested three weeks ago for possession of child pornography, placed "offensive" tiles in murals he created at four city schools, San Francisco police said Friday. Some 100 "inappropriate" tiles have been found in murals at Sunset Elementary School and three other unnamed schools in the city, said Police Chief Greg Suhr. Anthony Josef Norris, founder and director of Kid Serve Youth Murals,designed and worked on all the projects. The San Francisco man surrendered June 2 to the FBI after agents investigating a website known for child pornography traced the log-on...

For Kearsley Higgins, raising a baby in San Francisco was idyllic. She and her husband owned a small two-bedroom house in the Castro, she found plenty of activities for her daughter, Maya, and made friends through an 11-member mothers' group. Now as the mother of an almost 4-year-old, with a baby boy due in September, Higgins has left. A year ago, she and her husband, a digital artist, bought a four-bedroom home with a large backyard in San Rafael. Maya easily got into a popular preschool and will be enrolled in a good public elementary school when the time comes....

San Francisco's ever-active Animal Control and Welfare Commission has renewed its push for a pet sale ban in the city - only this time, it even covers goldfish. The idea is to put the squeeze on puppy and kitten mills that supply pet stores, and to discourage "impulse buys" of hamsters and other small pets that often wind up being dumped at shelters. But goldfish, guppies and tropical fish?

San Francisco would be the first city in California to require that crisis pregnancy centers prominently disclose whether they are antiabortion facilities that don't offer comprehensive health care, under legislation being developed by a city supervisor. Critics say that despite giving the impression that women facing unplanned pregnancies are offered a full range of medical services and counseling, many of these clinics try to talk patients out of terminating their pregnancies and do not provide any care or referrals beyond limited prenatal and postnatal services. "Legislation is a priority because there are clinics using misleading advertising tactics," said Supervisor Malia...

SAN FRANCISCO -- In November, San Francisco voters will be asked to weigh in on what was until now a private family matter: male circumcision. City elections officials confirmed Wednesday that an initiative that would ban the circumcision of males younger than 18 in San Francisco has received enough signatures to appear on the ballot. The practice would become a misdemeanor.

Even loyal Obama supporters are raising their eyebrows at the very pricey fundraising -- like that exclusive $35,800-per-person dinner in San Francisco -- planned as part of the President's April 20 visit to the Bay Area. The April Western U.S. swing by the President, which includes a stop in Reno and Los Angeles as well as San Francisco, is part of Obama's 2012 re-election kickoff campaign. But also scheduled .. a jobs and economy event in the Bay Area on April 20. On April 21, Obama heads to Los Angeles. ... Obama supporters acknowledge that the $35,800 per person San...

Supporters of Bradley Manning stripped down to their skivvies outside the office of US Senator Diane Feinstein to protest the treatment of the suspected WikiLeaker, who is being held in solitary confinement, often without being allowed to wear clothes. Chanting slogans such as “Solitary confinement is inhumane” and “Due process, humane treatment,” the protesters called on Feinstein to oppose Manning's prison conditions, which also prevent him from exercising, sleeping during the day, or reading except during certain hours. He has also been forced to sleep naked many nights and then stand at full attention the following morning for inspection, according...

Eye-popping pension costs are the issue du jour at City Hall these days, but city officials say skyrocketing health care benefits are a far bigger concern - and some of them blame a little known group of seven for exacerbating the problem. They're the members of the obscure Health Service Board, which meets monthly to select the medical and dental plans for employees and retirees, set the amount members pay for each plan, and set policy for the plans' administration. It sounds innocuous enough, but the City Charter requires that four of the seven be employees or retirees who are...