Free Republic

San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong's decision to retire after nearly five stable but uninspired years on the job, comes just as Mayor Gavin Newsom is facing two tough political challenges with the city's powerful police officers union: budget cuts and the need for the union's backing for his 2010 gubernatorial bid. Faced with a staggering city budget deficit, Newsom has asked the Police Officers Association to give back the 6 percent raise he agreed to in the last contract - just as he is asking other unions for givebacks. So far, the police rank and file have said no...

San Francisco (AP) -- A daylong work stoppage during which employees were encouraged to "call in gay" to express support for same-sex marriage drew spotty participation nationwide Wednesday, with some gay rights activists praising the concept but questioning its effect. In San Francisco's gay Castro district, residents and merchants said they endorsed the message behind "Day Without a Gay" but didn't think a work stoppage was practical given the poor economy and the strike's organization. "If we are going to make a huge impact and not be laughed at, then we have to take the time and make the time...

(IsraelNN.com) A prominent pro-Israel activist was found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft in a San Francisco building . The pro-Israel activist, Dr. Daniel Kliman was the co-founder of the San Francisco-based Voice for Israel, an affiliate of the national Israel advocacy group, StandWithUs. His body was found in the elevator shaft of a building where he was taking Arabic language classes. “He was the public face of grass-roots Israel advocacy in the San Franciso Bay area,” stated Mike Harris, Kliman’s colleague at Voice for Israel. Harris is unaware of specific threats against Kliman, who had previously been...

The fireplace police descended on the Bay Area on Wednesday. For the first time ever, residential fires are illegal under a new law, passed in July, that bans home burning on winter season Spare the Air days. The first such ban took effect at noon. Seventy inspectors from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District planned to spend the day and evening patrolling residential neighborhoods, looking for telltale chimney wisps. Violators will get warnings by mail. Repeat offenders face fines of as much as $2,000. The fireplace police say they are determined to keep law and order in the living...

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The case of an assault against a young Christian by a homosexual in San Francisco is garnering national headlines." ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Cloud says an angry homosexual grabbed her Bible. She then describes what happened when she asked the man to return it. "And he turned around, and he said no, and he hit me upside the head with the Bible, knocking me to the ground, and began to kick my legs," she recounts. The police were nearby, according to Cloud, and they sprang into action. "The police took him into custody, and they came up to me and...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A proposed strategy for reducing ocean litter calls for a statewide ban on foam food containers, fees for using plastic and paper bags, and making producers responsible for the collection and disposal of packaging. The California Ocean Protection Council announced its plans (PDF [319KB]) earlier this month and voted on actions for preventing and reducing waste that could end up in the ocean. The state council also aims to change producer and consumer behavior with its three recommendations for reducing packaging waste: adopting extended producer responsibility, prohibiting certain items and charging fees for items that commonly become...

(11-23) 18:07 PST -- The idea of making San Francisco the first city in the nation to combat congestion by imposing a toll on motorists who drive on the local roads is "totally doable" from an administrative standpoint, a top city transportation official deemed. But clearing the necessary political and public opinion hurdles is another matter altogether. Charging people more for anything is always a tough sell. Talk about reaching deeper into people's pockets when the economy is in the tank is even more difficult. "We're going to have to get buy-in," said Jose Luis Moscovich, executive director of the...

About 13 Christian young people who had gone to 18th and Castro streets Friday night, November 14, soon had to be escorted out of the neighborhood by police after dozens of angry people confronted and surrounded them. The Castro has been a gathering spot over the past couple of weekends for people rallying against the passage of Proposition 8, but there apparently hadn’t been any large protests in the neighborhood that night. Missy Huff, a 21-year-old with Promised Land Fellowship, said she and about 13 other young people gathered at the intersection to play guitar, sing, and worship, something she...

On a temperate night in the City by the Bay last month, a community gathered to honor one of its fallen with the world premiere of "Milk." Gus Van Sant's film stars Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, the San Francisco city supervisor who, along with Mayor George Moscone, was shot and killed on Nov. 27, 1978. In front of the Castro Theatre, the cast and civic VIPs stopped for interviews. There was Josh Brolin, who plays Dan White, the city supervisor who pulled the trigger. There was James Franco, who plays Milk's most significant other. Across the street, people waved...

It was an unspeakable nightmare. As Andre Daniels was held at gunpoint outside his San Francisco housing project apartment early one morning three years ago, his wife was sexually assaulted inside their home while their two children slept. Daniels, then 31, was determined to seek justice for his family. So he did what is often considered unthinkable in a community hostile to "snitching." He helped the police. Then he made another fateful decision: He spurned the burdens of the city's witness protection and relocation program. He figured he would simply move his family to safety a few miles away to...

Another protest against Proposition 8 is planned for San Francisco tonight. The proposition approved by voters on Nov. 4 bans gay marriages in California. Tonight's event is being planned by One Love San Francisco. Organizers are getting the word out through social networking sites and e-mail. They hope to have a bigger impact than the rally last weekend had. They say it will be a non-violent civil rights march, designed to peacefully impact businesses along Market Street. The march and sit-in is scheduled to begin at 5:30 outside the ferry building. The last Friday night rally caused traffic nightmare as...

(11-20) 22:17 PST San Francisco -- Tension is growing in the African American community over Proposition 8, with the leader of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP saying he expects some black ministers to boycott the group's annual fundraiser tonight because he supports same-sex marriage.

(11-19) 16:21 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- The fireplace police descended on the Bay Area on Wednesday. For the first time ever, residential fires are illegal under a new law, passed in July, that bans home burning on winter season Spare the Air days. The first such ban took effect at noon. Seventy inspectors from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District planned to spend the day and evening patrolling residential neighborhoods, looking for telltale chimney wisps. Violators will get warnings by mail. Repeat offenders face fines of as much as $2,000. The fireplace police say they are determined to keep...

Newsom expects layoffs due to city's $90 million deficit Mayor Gavin Newsom said city layoffs could start in the next few weeks as his office grapples with a budget deficit that could exceed $90 million."I can't defer bad choices," Newsom said.The mayor asked city departments to cut $75 million, but Newsom said new projections from the controller's office will lead to bigger cuts. It's too soon to say how many people will lose their jobs, the mayor said.The Public Health Department faces the biggest cuts because it's the largest department. Health officials revealed $10 million worth of proposed cuts this...

d) Equal Rights Advocates and California Women's Law Center - These (fellow) wimmins libbers argue that, if the process that brought us Prop 8 is legitimized, women stand a distinct chance of being harmed by whatever rights some unholy alliance of self-loathing chicks and unattractive men want take away from women as a group. They point out that the 1879 California State Constitution prohibited Chinese people from voting. e) Asian Pacific American Legal Center, et al. - This petition was filed by a group of organizations dedicated to the protection of the rights of minorities - including the NAACP. As...

Wednesday could be a big day in the fight over Proposition 8, a ban on same-sex marriage in California that voters approved Nov. 4. That's when the California Supreme Court could decide whether to review several lawsuits filed by Prop 8 opponents. The groups claim the ballot measure is unconstitutional. The court could also issue a stay on Prop 8 while it decides. That would allow same-sex marriages to resume until a final ruling is made on the lawsuits. Four Bay Area counties are the latest to join the legal fight to try to stop state Proposition 8. The Board...

San Franciscans famously fought back against Bill O'Reilly - the conservative Fox news anchor who really, really hates our city - when he said back in 2005 that the U.S. military shouldn't defend San Francisco in case of a terrorist attack. "You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead," he said. Everybody from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Supervisor Chris Daly railed at O'Reilly, calling his comments outrageous. Not content to leave well enough alone, O'Reilly has now sent an underling to the city to make a documentary to show where, supposedly, the politics of President-elect Barack Obama...

Hundreds of homosexual activists rushed out of bars and swarmed a group of Christians who were singing songs in San Francisco's Castro District – and some even threatened to kill the worshippers. Warning: Video may contain offensive language)

OAKLAND — Convinced Jim Jones was God, Garrett Lambrev was the first person to join Peoples Temple in Ukiah in 1966 after the group moved from Indiana. Ten years later — two years before the Jonestown tragedy — he was part of a wave of defectors, shaken to the core by tales of torture and wanting nothing to do with a god who could sanction such things. He was reviled as a traitor and lived in fear for his life. Yet as Lambrev reflects on the enigma of Peoples Temple, his thoughts settle not just on the horrors of the...

John Edwards surfaces in S.F. -- alongside Karl Rove! OMG! Forget Sarah Palin's comeback in Miami, how 'bout that news that John Edwards, two-time former Democratic presidential candidate, surfaced Thursday in San Francisco ... on stage alongside ''the architect'' himself, Karl Rove. Bad economy and all, apparently the Commercial Financial Association had the big bucks to bring in GOP strategist Rove and Edwards to debate at its annual convention at the Marriott Hotel.We don't have the price tag on this event, but Rove's reported speaking fee is $40,000, and -- we reported last year -- Edwards reaped $55,000 for a...