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California drugmaker’s HIV prevention pill sparks public health debate

Foster City drugmaker Gilead recently updated its application with the federal Food and Drug Administration for approval to market its HIV treatment medication Truvada as an HIV prevention pill.
If the FDA approves Truvada for preventive use, it “would be the first agent indicated for uninfected individuals to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV through sex,” according to a company statement at the time of the filing in December 2011. » Read more

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Ordinance would put restrictions on Castro District plazas

A proposal to regulate two popular Castro District hangouts by restricting chairs and shopping carts is a step closer to becoming city law.
The Board of Supervisors will decide Tuesday on an ordinance, which passed the Land Use Committee this week that would ban nighttime sitting, sleeping, vending, smoking and even pushing a shopping cart in Harvey Milk and Jane Warner Plaza. » Read more

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Fight brewing over historic California plan to close last 3 youth prisons

California, often a trendsetter, could make history if it approves Gov. Jerry Brown’s bid to close all state-run youth prisons and eliminate its state Division of Juvenile Justice.
Much depends, though, on whether the state’s politically influential prison guards, probation officers and district attorneys can be convinced — or forced by legislators — to agree to Brown’s proposal. » Read more

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S.F. supervisors weigh local oversight of FBI terrorism investigations

San Francisco supervisors are considering legislation that will require local control and civilian oversight of terrorism investigations the San Francisco Police Department undertakes with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Calling it “The Portland Solution” because it mirrors a similar ordinance enacted in Oregon, Supervisor Jane Kim said that  her legislation does nothing more than restore transparency to intelligence gathering by police officers working with FBI agents. » Read more

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Leapin’ lizards — it’s Leap Year again

[<a href=”http://storify.com/MicheleBflo/leapin-lizards-it-s-leap-year-again” target=”_blank”>View the story “Leapin’ lizards — it’s leap year again” on Storify</a>] » Read more

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Helping the homeless at S.F. public library

A medley of people wait for the San Francisco Public Library to open in the morning. Students on a deadline. People who really need a library book. Retired folks. And people checking email.
As the doors open, patrons stream into the atrium at the main branch near the Civic Center in downtown San Francisco. » Read more

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Muni aims to improve performance on 44-O’Shaughnessy bus route, other lines

Muni’s ongoing quest to improve service is now targeting the 44-O’Shaughnessy bus line that travels from the Richmond District to Evans Avenue and Third Street in the Bayview. The route is approximately eight miles long with over 60 stops in one direction. The buses have trouble keeping on schedule because of traffic problems on Ninth Avenue where cars scramble to find precious parking spots between Judah Street and Lincoln Way and with double-parked cars elsewhere along the route. To combat the problem, Muni officials plan to increase traffic enforcement along Ninth Avenue and  on Clement Street to help the 44-bus line keep moving along its route. They may also adjust the schedule to reflect actual travel times.

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Domestic workers organizing march to end abuse

Matilda Vasquez’s mother worked more than 10 years for a family that provided her no insurance or vacation time and “no rest,” she said.
“That kind of abuse has to stop. We pay taxes like everybody else,” said Vasquez at a meeting at the Women’s Building in San Francisco to organize for a Jan. » Read more

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Amid criticism, CSU tweaks presidential salary comparisons

Responding to criticism from the Legislative Analyst’s Office and others, California State University officials have revised a proposed list of peer universities they plan to use to help set pay for campus executives.
The new list, provided to California Watch, no longer considers Temple University in Pennsylvania a peer of San Diego State University because Temple has a medical school – a feature that tends to drive up the cost and complexity of university operations. » Read more

Film screening: ‘Enforcing The Silence’

Tony Nguyen’s documentary “Enforcing the Silence” chronicles the life and violent death of a young community organizer.  Lam Trong Duong was 23 when he founded The Vietnamese Youth Development Center in the Tenderloin district in 1978. With bachelor’s degrees in both math and philosophy and frustrated by the lack of services available to the influx of Vietnamese refugees to the Bay Area, Duong began the center with the idea of  creating both a community space for his displaced compatriots and as a way to help them find success in their adopted homeland through education and employment training. Over the next three years he expanded his commitment to organizing the community through hosting a radio program and beginning to publish a weekly newspaper, reprinting stories from post-war communist Vietnam. On July 21, 1981, returning home from work, Duong was gunned down outside his apartment building in broad daylight.  Although no charges were ever brought,  an anti-communist group claimed responsibility several days later.