Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (FOX26) — A San Francisco Superior Court judge has paused enforcement of new state cardroom regulations, finding the California Department of Justice’s gambling regulators likely overstepped their authority and that the rules could cause significant harm to cardrooms and the communities that rely on them.San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday that stops Attorney General Rob Bonta’s cardroom regulations from taking effect while a legal challenge brought by the California Gaming Association moves forward.The court ruled that Bonta’s Bureau of Gambling Control exceeded its authority by adopting regulations that effectively act...

San Francisco’s top prosecutor says a new California Supreme Court bail ruling will free the career criminals her office spent years locking up. The state’s high court ruled unanimously April 30 that judges must set bail at amounts defendants can actually afford and may only deny bail outright for violent or sexual offenses, CalMatters reported. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero wrote the 7-0 opinion in a case born from a homeless man’s arrest for buying a $7 cheeseburger with a found credit card. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told the New York Post (NYP) the ruling will undermine her office’s...

San Francisco Rep. Nancy Pelosi has finally weighed in on potential heirs to her nearly 40-year reign in Congress — giving a nod to a left-wing pol who’s trailing badly in polls. The longtime San Francisco rep and former House speaker lavished praise on Connie Chan, a member of the Board of Supervisors representing west side neighborhoods — though she stopped short of making an official endorsement. “She’d be a great member of Congress,” Pelosi said in a rare interview Thursday, per the San Francisco Standard.The powerful Den said it’d be “very exciting” to send an Asian American congressional rep...

San Francisco's BART rail system is facing the possibility of sweeping station closures and potentially an even wider shutdown, as officials warn the cash-strapped transit agency is running out of money. The Bay Area network, which operates 50 stations across five counties, is confronting a projected budget deficit of roughly $376 million next fiscal year as ridership remains far below pre-pandemic levels and federal relief funding expires. The cash-strapped transit agency is hurtling toward a financial cliff as ridership remains far below pre-pandemic levels and emergency federal funding dries up. Under a proposed emergency service plan, BART could eliminate rail...

New data shows 18%, or nearly 1 in 5, of tested students and staff at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco were diagnosed with either latent or active tuberculosis during an outbreak that started in November. New testing is scheduled to start today. In total, 96% of the school community was tested, seven people were diagnosed with active cases during the course of the outbreak and 241 latent cases were reported, according to data released by the San Francisco Department of Public Health on April 27 to the school community. In February, four active cases and three suspected active...

The National Park Service revealed the coyote is from Angel IslandThe origins of a coyote that drew international headlines after it was spotted swimming ashore to San Francisco’s Alcatraz Island have been revealed. Initially thought to have made the mile-and-a-quarter journey from San Francisco, which faces the southern edge of Alcatraz, the animal turned out to have made a much longer 2-mile swim from Angel Island State Park, according to new DNA evidence collected by National Park Service ecologists. The coyote’s whereabouts still remain unknown. “We are surprised by the coyote’s origin,” Park Service wildlife ecologist Bill Merkle said in...

San Francisco’s Vaillancourt Fountain caught fire as it was being disassembled on Wednesday morning, sending plumes of smoke into the sky as flames licked the sculpture’s 10-ton cantilevered arms. The news comes just a couple of weeks after the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department announced it was preparing to take apart the controversial landmark ahead of a $40 million renovation of the Embarcadero Plaza and Sue Bierman Park. “Today, during torch cutting activity, debris inside the tubes ignited,” Coma Te, director of communications for the San Francisco Arts Commission, which owns the fountain, told SFGATE in an email. “The...

ATV and dirt bike riders took over the Bay Bridge early Sunday evening, according to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Mark Andrews. The incident caused a traffic jam and lane closures on the bridge. As of Monday afternoon, a total of nine people have been arrested by the Oakland Police Department. Approximately 50 to 60 suspects were riding either an ATV or a dirt bike, Andrews said. They first made their way into San Francisco from Oakland. Once they arrived in San Francisco, Andrews said they spent around 45 minutes to an hour there. The number of ATV and...

Overshadowed by the rise of the Roman Empire, the Etruscan civilization -- and their exquisite art, progressive society, and advanced engineering -- was largely forgotten by history. This film reclaims their story, revealing how Etruscan innovations and customs were the foundation upon which the entire Roman world was built, and how their legacy continues today. The Etruscans, the ancient world's greatest untold story | 11:12 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco | 36.1K subscribers | 58,106 views | May 1, 2026

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, chimed in on the Saturday shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He released a statement through his attorneys condemning political violence in the wake of the shooting, according to The Hill. Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, issued a statement this week decrying political violence in the wake of an assassination attempt on President Trump. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, is accused of trying to assassinate Trump and members of his Cabinet at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner Saturday. The plot...

A 20 story tower in San Francisco valued at $320 million dollars went up for auction There wasn’t a single bidder. Not even for $1 The property is now vacant, because no one wants to make the investment in Democrat run San Francisco High crime rates and homelessness are cited reasons for office buildings like this to not see purchasers Bidding for the property started at $80 million, but no offers. A massive decline in value WeWork used to be a major tenant occupying nearly 200,000 sq ft in this same building

San Francisco health authorities are raising urgent concerns after a powerful synthetic opioid was detected in the city for the first time, and is already being tied to a fatal overdose earlier this month. Officials with the San Francisco Department of Public Health say the drug, known as cychlorphine, surfaced in a counterfeit pill, prompting alarm over its extreme potency and unpredictable presence in the illicit drug market. “We believe it is more potent than fentanyl. It was found we believe in someone using a counterfeit pill,” Daniel Tsai, director San Francisco Department of Public Health told ABC7. Law enforcement...

Overton@overton_news·13hHe flipped the script on them instantly.California Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton (R) gave a masterful response to the debate moderator who tried to use President Trump’s endorsement of him as an attack against him.MODERATOR: “Mr. Hilton, you said you were ‘deeply honored’ to recently receive President Trump’s endorsement.”“That’s despite the fact that 62% of Californians disapprove of the job he is doing. Are those Californians wrong?”HILTON: “One of the proudest days of my life was the day I became an American citizen.”“It happened in a ceremony right here in San Francisco.”“So it is a deep honor for me to be...

The median home sale price in the San Francisco metropolitan area jumped 14.4% year over year in March to a record $1.7 million. That’s the largest increase since March 2018 and the biggest gain among the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas. Condo prices in San Francisco rose particularly quickly, posting a 24.4% year-over-year increase last month—the largest since 2013. San Francisco’s housing market has been heating up as a boom in the artificial intelligence industry and a return to the office have coincided with a lack of inventory. “A lot of 22-year-olds are getting $500,000 signing bonuses from AI...

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Eric Swalwell is not the only member of Congress drawing attention for his activities off the House floor — with sources telling The Post that Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a married member of Swalwell’s “Cool Kids Clique,” was spotted surreptitiously kissing a much younger congressional aide in the summer of 2023. Swalwell (D-Calif.) fell in with Gomez, a fellow Golden State Democrat, and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) while all three were still in the House, sources said. The trio became known for their socializing and drinking. While Gallego, Swalwell’s closest friend in Congress, faced questions about what...

Disgraced former US Rep. Eric Swalwell burned through more than $75,000 from his congressional campaign during the first quarter of 2026 — despite ditching the race five months ago. He splurged on hotels, meals, booze and even babysitters, newly released FEC filings show. The sex pest had announced on Nov. 21, 2025, he was abandoning his re-election bid for California’s 14th Congressional District representing the San Francisco suburbs, embarking instead on a run for the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor. Under campaign finance laws, the money raised prior to an abandoned bid can only be spent on limited uses —...

Chilling security camera footage shows the movements of the alleged Molotov cocktail bomber who tried to torch Sam Altman’s San Francisco mega-mansion hours before the crazed attack. Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, checked into a San Francisco hotel on April 6 and allegedly lay in wait for four days before tossing the incendiary device at the OpenAI CEO’s Russian Hill property early Friday morning, hotel staffers told the San Francisco Standard. Hours later, Moreno-Gama emerged from his room dressed in black and carrying a backpack. Housekeepers later found a 9mm handgun in the young man’s room, the Standard reported. He then allegedly...

A former staffer for Rep. Eric Swalwell has reportedly accused the congressman of sexual assault and taking advantage of her over the course of several years — allegations the Democratic frontrunner for California governor is denying as false and politically motivated. The woman, who worked for Swalwell for nearly two years, said the most serious incident occurred in April 2024, when she alleges he sexually assaulted her after a charity gala in New York, according to a report published Friday by the San Francisco Chronicle. The woman, who was not named in the story, said she became heavily intoxicated while...

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A Molotov cocktail was thrown at the San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Friday morning, police and a spokesperson for the company confirmed. No one was injured and the suspect was arrested. The San Francisco Police Department said officers responded at around 4:12 a.m. regarding a fire investigation. At the scene, officers learned that a man had thrown an incendiary device at a home, setting an exterior gate on fire. The San Francisco Police Department said officers responded at around 4:12 a.m. regarding a fire investigation. At the scene, officers learned that a man...

Bay Area-based Philz Coffee says the company will remove Pride and other flags from all its cafes. SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A new policy by Bay Area-based Philz Coffee has some people upset as the chain says it will no longer allow flags of any kind in its stores, including Pride flags. What started out as a single cafe in the city's Mission District has since become a quintessential part of the San Francisco coffee scene. But after over two decades of building a solid customer base around the Bay Area, Philz Coffee is now disappointing many. "I think it's...