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Today: December 28, 2007 at 4:55:7 PST Zoo Director Says Tiger Wall Was Low By JORDAN ROBERTSON and MARCUS WOHLSEN Associated Press Writers SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The director of the zoo where a teenager was killed by an escaped tiger acknowledged Thursday that the wall around the animal's pen was just 12 1/2 feet high - well below the height recommended by the accrediting agency for the nation's zoos. San Francisco Zoo Director Manuel A. Mollinedo also admitted that it was becoming increasingly clear the 350-pound Siberian tiger leaped or climbed out of its open-air enclosure, perhaps by grabbing...

In the wake of reports that police are investigating whether a tiger at the San Francisco Zoo was taunted before attacking a trio of young men, the father of the teen who was killed doesn't think his son would "do such a foolish thing." "I don't see the proof or the evidence yet," Carlos Sousa Sr. said in a phone interview this morning following a national appearance on "Good Morning America." "But kids are kids and you can't be watching them all the time." Still, Sousa Sr. said he wanted to find out more information later today about what happened...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The big cat exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo was cordoned off as a crime scene Wednesday as investigators tried to determine whether a Siberian tiger that killed a visitor escaped from its high-walled pen on its own or got help from someone, inadvertent or otherwise. Police shot the 300-pound animal to death after a Christmas Day rampage that began when the tiger escaped from an enclosure surrounded by what zoo officials said are an 18-foot wall and a 20-foot moat. Two brothers who also were visiting the zoo were severely mauled. Police Chief Heather Fong...

San Francisco police are investigating the possibility that one of the victims in the fatal tiger mauling on Christmas Day climbed over a waist-high fence and then dangled a leg or other body part over the edge of a moat that kept the big cat away from the public, sources close to the investigation said Wednesday.

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Zoo was closed to visitors Wednesday as police investigated a tiger attack they say may have been provoked by visitors' taunting the animal, leaving one man dead and two brothers injured. Police searched the zoo to ensure there were no others injured and no more animals out of their cages after the Christmas day attack in which the 300-pound tiger, Tatiana, escaped its cage.

SAN FRANCISCO - A tiger escaped its cage at the San Francisco Zoo on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring two others, a newspaper reported. The tiger was shot, San Francisco Fire Department spokesman Lt. Ken Smith told the San Francisco Chronicle. It was not immediately clear how the tiger escaped. The zoo, which had been scheduled to close at 5 p.m. PST, was evacuated. It was unclear whether the victim was a visitor or a zoo worker. Police officers and firefighters are investigating. Officials at first worried that four tigers had escaped, but only one escaped its pen, Smith...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/comments/view?f=/c/a/2007/12/24/BAA0U3VHO.DTL "San Francisco officials have a moral obligation to try and stop black residents from abandoning the city and should consider a local version of the Marshall Plan to help African Americans, the Rev. Amos Brown, president... "...He said the flight of black residents has resulted in fewer black-owned businesses, and fewer black families who are able to compete successfully for low- income housing, which is awarded through a lottery system. "If San Francisco is serious about making amends for what's been done against the black people, they need to put their money where their mouth is," Brown said. "We...

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- For years, the idea of taxing soda to beat back obesity has been tossed around in medical circles. But now, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing a tax on beverages high in fructose corn syrup. Newsom says obesity accounts for tens of millions of dollars in city health care costs. He cites a recent San Francisco Health Department survey that found nearly a quarter of the city's 5th, 7th and 9th graders were overweight and that high sugar drinks make up a tenth of a kid's daily calorie count. Newsom reportedly wants all big box...

The San Francisco Bay Area is ripe for a major earthquake, and it could strike as early as next year, experts announced yesterday. The "most dangerous urban fault in America," scientists say, is the Hayward Fault, which runs under densely populated areas in the Bay Area including the city of Oakland. The past five major earthquakes along the fault have occurred at regular 140-year intervals. The last one, in 1868, was mostly forgotten in the aftermath of the ruinous 1906 quake, which was triggered by the nearby San Andreas Fault. But the 1868 event has garnered more distinction recently: October...

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors: On two separate occasions in 2007, your august body attempted to condemn radio talk show host Michael Savage for his conservative positions on rule of law and Islamic sponsored terrorism. In August, your efforts were thwarted by Ed Jew, a board member of Chinese descent whose grandfather came to America seven decades ago. Unfortunately, Mr. Jew is no longer a member of the board, and was not there in October when your board passed a resolution condemning Michael Savage. First of all, congratulations seem in order. Most municipal governments...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will join Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on the presidential campaign trail when she comes to town on Tuesday - and Republicans couldn't be happier about it. The way they see it, the more face time the pro-gay-marriage, pro-sanctuary-city, pro-gun-control mayor of the most leftist, liberal city in America spends with the Democratic front-runner, the better. A recent news release distributed by the Republican National Committee to political reporters around the country lambasted Newsom as "Hillary's San Francisco Treat" and took a direct guilt-by-association swipe at Clinton by highlighting the mayor's signature last month on a...

Actor-director Sean Penn issued a nonendorsement endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich on Friday in a speech to nearly 400 San Francisco State University students, urging his audience not to fall into the trap of voting for someone only because they could win. "We've got Iowa coming up; New Hampshire on its ass," said Penn. "Do we sell out for electability?" Penn, who spoke from a low wooden stage in the Creative Arts Building in front of a "Kucinich for President" banner, made it clear from the start that he was not issuing a traditional endorsement, a political tradition...

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Longtime Bay Area talk show host Bernie Ward has been indicted on two federal Internet child pornography charges. In a brief court appearence this morning he pled not guilty. Ward, a self described progressive and former Catholic priest, hosts the weeknight Bernie Ward Show and the Sunday morning Godtalk show on KGO Radio. Ward’s criminal attorney, Doran Weinberg, told KCBS that Ward was researching child pornography for a book four years ago. He said Ward's actions caught the attention of federal authorities then, but charges weren't filed until now.

San Francisco -- Bernie Ward, a popular San Francisco radio talk show host and former Catholic priest, has been indicted on federal child pornography charges, authorities said today.

(shirt says, "I'm with stupid." "I'm with Satan") (note the banner for Ron Paul in the background)

Judgment amounts to more than 3 times the annual budget -- Half Moon Bay -- Half Moon Bay city officials said Thursday they are stunned by a federal judge's order that the city pay a landowner $36.8 million for coastal property the court says the city damaged. The award amounts to more than three times the city's annual operating budget - or roughly $3,000 per resident. "It's devastating," Vice Mayor Bonnie McClung said Thursday night as the City Council prepared to begin a special closed-door meeting on how to deal with the verdict. "It's personally devastating to me, and it's...

San Francisco Bay oil spill: State suspends pilot's license VESSEL BEHIND S.F. BAY OIL SPILL COULD BE SOLD TO FUND CLEANUP 12/01/2007 01:36:42 AM PST Government pressure tightened dramatically Friday against the sailors and shipping company involved in the Nov. 7 San Francisco Bay oil spill, as state regulators suspended the license of the ship's pilot and federal prosecutors threatened to confiscate and sell the huge vessel to pay spill cleanup costs. At a hearing of the state Board of Pilot Commissioners in San Francisco, the pilot, Capt. John Cota of Petaluma, spoke publicly for the first time about the...

Whose business is it anyway what you've got under that skirt? Not the city of San Francisco's, municipal leaders agreed this week. USA Today reports that the city's Board of Supervisors agreed yesterday to issue municipal ID cards next year showing name, birth date and photo - but not gender. San Francisco took up the matter just as many cities around the nation are considering issuing ID cards without regard to legal status, as part of the debate about illegal immigration. Then the city's transgender advocates added gender to a discussion. They argued that legally changing a name and gender...

San Francisco supervisors voted down a measure Tuesday that would have barred city managers from engaging in sexual relationships with their employees. The measure failed with an overwhelming 10-1 vote, with only Supervisor Chris Daly, the legislation's sponsor, voting in favor of it. "It is common practice in the corporate work setting where managers ... are held accountable and these types of relationships are not tolerated," Daly said. The measure would have prohibited city managers from "engaging in romantic or sexual relationships" with employees. The mayor's spokesman Nathan Ballad said, "Chris Daly has no business poking around in anybody's personal...

San Francisco to give illegal aliens ID cards 24 minutes ago San Francisco will give resident identification cards to illegal immigrants under a plan approved on Tuesday amid a fierce nationwide debate on granting privileges to undocumented aliens. In a 10-1 vote, the city's board of supervisors -- the equivalent of a city council -- approved giving identification cards to all residents, including illegal immigrants. The move makes San Francisco the largest U.S. city to back such a plan. Residents will be able to obtain the resident cards by presenting photo identification and proof they live in the city, such...