Archive for August, 2011

Mr. Redmond is really on a roll this morning. This time around, he reminisces about the Willie Brown administration and why he wasn’t a very happy lad then.

The Chronicle takes an in-depth look at political newcomer Joanna Rees, who is trying to shake up the mayor’s race one Muni rider at a time.

Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill, sponsored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) that will allow mixologists in San Francisco to get crrrrrrazy with their craft. I’ll drink to that, thank you.

Do you know when kids are on their best behavior? When they’re hungry. (If you don’t sense my sarcasm, you have never been around a kid who wants her some Cheetos somethin’ fierce.) On the first day of school, San Francisco Unified School District officials had to explain why 75 elementary schools and 46 child care centers across the City received a late lunch delivery. Poor teachers. Read more to find out what caused the mix-up and how much this might cost the district.

Why did a spokesman for Mayor Ed Lee’s mayoral campaign compare local Democratic Party chair and former Board President Aaron Peskin to former U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy? (Whew, so many titles!) The Examiner tells us that in an interview with Epoch Times, Peskin suggested that Rose Pak represented “the interests of outside governments, including China.” Since, the word “racist” has been thrown around quite a bit.

The Hawaii reporter recalls the sunny day in 1992 when a current San Francisco mayoral candidate and California State Senator was arrested for allegedly swiping a bottle of tanning oil.

Yesterday, we said goodbye all-too-soon to community organizer extraordinaire Eric Quezada. His impact on the Mission - and San Francisco as a whole - will be felt for years to come. Thank you, Mr. Quezada, for all you did to help our city. You will be missed!

To feed our need for more political gossip, the Bay Area Reporter’s online extra gives us the scoop on who will be honored at the upcoming Human Rights Campaign gala and where to catch mayoral candidates in action in the weeks ahead.

The SF Board of Supervisors voted 11-0 in favor of legislation that makes it more difficult for political candidates to qualify for public financing in their campaigns. Somewhere, a direct mail consultant is wiping away his or her tears of sadness.

The Bay Citizen fills us in on the violence faced by Oakland food truck vendors and what they are doing to protect themselves against an onslaught of robberies.

The City of San Francisco owns an asphalt plant that is sitting unused. However, it costs too much money to fund the necessary repairs to get it working again. Since it was built in 1952, perhaps it has some sort of historical significance representing a specific type of asphalt plant that was built in the 1950’s.

The Examiner gives us a rundown of which elected leaders are planning on making the trek to the desert this year. My advice to one nascent Burner is to leave the Chewbaca outfit at home. It gets mighty hot out there.

The Examiner gives us an HGTV style rundown of the campaign offices of a few of the candidates running for mayor.

As parks around the city are more noticeably needing some tender loving care, it may take a little more than whispering sweet nothings to plants to perk up our parks. The Examiner reports that this November’s ballot may see a bond measure that would allocate funding for parks and playground maintenance and repairs.

Matier and Ross report on a judge’s ruling that will require San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White to start paying her ex-husband spousal support once again, a Berkeley teacher’s unorthodox field trip, another update on Nadia Lockyer, and that somebody was doing donuts on the Bay Bridge.

The Examiner’s Editorial Board takes a look at our city’s school system. Does it pass their test? Ah, notsomuch. This D is probably not going up on anyone’s fridge this morning…

The results from a recent report on our streets’ cleanliness from the Controller’s Office has definitely changed my mind about 1) my three-second rule, 2) picking up lucky pennies off of the floor, 3) casually throwing my shoes in my purse after walking on SF streets, and 4) anything that involves touching the street. Feces, needles, and broken glass. Need I say more?

Mr. Larry Bush makes another guest appearance today - this time, in the Bay Guardian. He provides a rundown on Proposition F, a measure on this November’s ballot regarding campaign consultant disclosures. His recommendation? A big N-O.

The recent appointment of Mohammed Nuru as the top boss of the Department of Public Works has got a bunch folks riled up. From a discrimination lawsuit to a rally in front of City Hall, this story is probably not going away for awhile.

So there is this guy named Larry Bush, who many of you have never heard of, but many of you have. Those of you who have know that he’s got the most remarkable ability to research and cross-reference stuff - and he remembers *everything.* It’s kinda scary, actually, if you’re the sort of person who likes to hide stuff - Larry, and people like Larry, like to find it and show it off to the world. In any event, Larry has decided to start doing research on the Mayor’s race. And with his collaborators Marc Salomon and Oliver Luby (two other remarkable researchers and activists in their own right), they’ve created the Bush-O-Meter - finding correlations between contributors to President Bush and contributors to local campaigns. It’s innnnnnnteresting (and no, not just because George Bush and Larry Bush are both surnamed Bush.) Check it out.

Don Casper was a public servant, a bridge-builder, and a well-regarded fellow. He passed away in a terrible accident, and his friends and family will miss him.

Cool new technology? Public opinion? A mayoral debate with tons of drama? It’s a Usual Suspects trifecta! Our friends over at Spot-On have launched an app that allows you to provide real-time feedback about your favorite candidate for mayor at tonight’s debate. If you’re attending the debate, it works. If you’re sitting at home on your couch watching on the telly, it works. And the best part of all? It’s free! While we don’t usually do any shameless promotion on Suspects (and aren’t going to make a habit of it, natch), this one was too cool to pass up. Check it out!

Rocketship Education and its backers for a new charter school in the southeastern part of the city were told “Not In Our Backyard” by the San Francisco Unified School District - so, they are taking their appeal to the State and hoping for a passing grade.

SF Public Defender Jeff Adachi’s decision to throw his hat into the ring is causing stirs in the mayor’s race.

The Examiner draws attention to the absence of BART spokesman Linton Johnson who went on personal leave after coming under fire for his actions. Where is he? When will he return? If anyone knows, they aren’t talking.