Headlines
Sanctuary Ordinance Enters Difficult Territory
By Jonathan Farrell, Dec 22, 2009
With the cheers for SF Supervisor David Campos and his amendment to the City’s Sanctuary Ordinance this past October, now emerges a very difficult path. Campos and the Board of Supervisors want to uphold the Sanctuary Ordinance to ensure civil rights for undocumented workers and their families. But the issue of crime and the State and Federal regulations regarding undocumented persons is very delicate. The subject of crime has been the stumbling block to recent efforts to maintain or with the Campos amendment distinguish and clarify this ordinance. Melissa Griffin of the SF Examiner perhaps said it best when she wrote in her column on Nov. 17, “the heart of the sanctuary city controversy, is simply a statement of what is legally obvious: When local law conflicts with federal law, federal law wins.”
St. Luke’s Keeps Struggling
By Jonathan Farrell, Dec 22, 2009
Nurses, hospital workers and clergy joined in a candlelight vigil estimated at over 80 people at St. Luke’s Hospital on Tuesday, Dec. 1 in an effort to express their disagreements with the current plans to rebuilt the130-year-old facility. “We organized this vigil to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the plans California Pacific Medical Center and Sutter Health pushed forward as part of a Master Plan,” said Nato Green, labor representative for The California Nurses Association. “CPMC’s plan is to build a new hospital at Cathedral Hill,” added Green. California Nurses is one of at least three unions not pleased with the proposed plans for St. Luke’s. St. Luke’s which at once had been a community hospital operated by the Episcopalian Diocese of San Francisco to serve the poor eventually landed in the hands of CPMC/Sutter. Rising costs in health care and an ever-increasing complexity of health care technology and outreach forced the Episcopalian Church of San Francisco to relinquish its control of the beloved hospital it founded in 1871.
SFGH Breaks Ground for Rebuilding
By Jonathan Farrell, Nov 13, 2009
A summer-like day with clear blue skies greeted hundreds of people as they gathered for the official groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 22 to begin the rebuilding of San Francisco General Hospital’s inpatient care facility at 1001 Potrero Ave. Doctors, nurses, therapists, lab technicians, administrators and scores of hospital workers from all departments converged onto the Main Lawn in front of the hospital’s main entrance. On the front lawn next to the speaking platform and loudspeakers, Ed Reiskin, director of SF Dept of Public Works with the dozens of construction workers had a large tractor along with shovels ready to dig into the ground. Patients and staff in the old red-brick buildings overlooking the lawn area peered out the windows to view the ceremony. Those four majestic but aging brick buildings are a sharp contrast to the gray concrete edifice added to the SF General campus in 1972.
Locals Say No to Parking Changes Proposal
By Jonathan Farrell, Nov 13, 2009
Merchants and Residents from all over the City showed up in solidarity to voice concerns over the proposal to increase parking meter fees and to extend meter hours of operation. SF Municipal Transit Authority that now oversees the responsibilities of the Dept. of Parking and Traffic held an informal hearing regarding this proposal on Oct. 20 at City Hall. Room 400 was overflowing on that Tuesday as dozens lined up to speak. Residents and merchants from some of the most densely populated neighborhoods of the City like the Mission District, North Beach, and South of Market areas were among the most vocal. Regina Dick-Endrizzi said on behalf of The Office of Small Business, “take a look at small businesses and private sector jobs.” CNNMoney.com listed San Francisco as among the “best places to launch a business in 2009.” Currently there are over 115 thousand small businesses in the City, with an average per capita income growth of 32 percent since 2007.
Young Entrepreneurs Visit CCSF
Nov 13, 2009
The spirit of American entrepreneurism is alive and well, poised to take San Francisco’s youth by storm on Nov. 18. The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour—the first ever collegiate entrepreneur tour—will be visiting City College of San Francisco (CCSF) for a final stop on its 18-college-tour throughout the state. The tour features many of California’s top young entrepreneurs who have made, earned or sold companies for millions of dollars and/or made a huge impact before the age of 30. One speaker, Cameron Johnson (24) from Los Angeles, started a dozen profitable businesses and became a self-made millionaire while he was still a teenager. Another speaker, Rahim Fazal (27) from San Francisco, sold his first business for $1.5 million as he was graduating high school.
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MissionBlog [more]
Re: The Mission District to Get New Bike Lanes
, Jul 15, 2009
Great article, Jonathan, the one important aspect I don't see — San Francisco has, since the 1970’s committed to promoting biking, walking, and transit over personal autos in the City Charter. This means that, when making decisions about how to best use each and every foot of scarce road-space and sidewalks in this 7x7 city, it is the city's responsibility to put car parking last. As former Mayor of Bogota, Enrique Penalosa, recently said, “nowhere in your constitution does it require the government to provide car parking.” No reasonable person would buy an elephant with the expectation that the government to provide you with space to store it — why is that different for cars?
— marcSFBC
marcac-nospame-aswell@gmail.com [more]
Crime Log [more]
Courtesy of Jane Warner, Police Special Patrol Officer, Dec 22, 2009
Robbery with Gun, Aggravated Assault
Elvita’s Jewelry Store, 2689 Mission
Nov. 23, 6:41 p.m.
Two men wearing ski masks ran into the small jewelry store. One robber pointed a handgun as the other suspect immediately jumped the display counter and started scooping up gold rings and hanging necklaces placing them into a white plastic bag. “Don’t move,” the gunman ordered pointing the gun at the two women working behind the counter who were mother and daughter. “Or I’ll shoot you.” Fearing for the life of her daughter, the senior woman grabbed the suspect next to her who was holding the bag of stolen goods. The other suspect reached over and struck the woman over the head with the butt of the gun. The woman’s daughter grabbed a step ladder near-by and threw it at the gunman striking him in the legs. A third employee who was standing quietly behind another counter, screamed for her husband who was in back of the store. Alarmed by the sound of his wife’s voice, the woman’s husband hurriedly walked to the front of the store not knowing a robbery was in progress. As he approached, the gunman turned and pointed the weapon at him using both hands. [more]
Calendar [more]
Dec./Jan. Community Calendar
, , Dec 22, 2009
@ Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival presents THE INSOMNIAC CITY CYCLES – a visually intoxicating experimental psychodrama by Israeli multimedia artist Ron Slavin – in the Screening Room of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $8.00 general admission and $6.00 for students, seniors, and Jewish Film Forum or YBCA members. For tickets and information, please call (415) 978-2787. The film will be preceded by two short films by Slavin, EVERYTHING IS URGENT and ALENBI MOMENT. The combined program is 74 minutes. INSOMNIAC CITY CYCLES includes some nudity and intense and/or violent imagery. [more]
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