News
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Car restrictions on Market Street help Muni, may become permanent

01.28.2011
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The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which operates Muni, says the pilot program that forces drivers to make a right turn on parts of Market Street is working. The program, which began in Sept. 2009, directs drivers heading east on Market Street to make a right turn on 10th or Sixth streets. The experimental program was designed to improve Muni travel time and increase foot traffic in the area. The agency released a study Friday that says travel time for Muni was trimmed by three percent and that there was an increase of bicyclists and pedestrians in the area since implementing the car restrictions.

Arts & Culture
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Burning Man organizers eye move to redeveloped mid-Market Street arts district

01.28.2011
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In much the same way as they annually transform a desolate stretch of the Nevada desert into a week-long countercultural art festival, the organizers of Burning Man are now hoping to transform a desolate stretch of San Francisco’s Market Street.
The group that builds a temporary city of more than 40,000 creative vagabonds at the end of each summer is in talks to move into the nine-story early 20th century Warfield Building, at Market Street where Taylor and Sixth streets converge. » Read more

News
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Free pot for the needy

01.24.2011
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How do you define compassion? In the tight-knit medical marijuana community, the word has become a euphemism for small, periodic donations of cannabis-based medicine to patients who cannot afford to buy it at the going rate — now about $10 to $25 a gram. » Read more

Health
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Upscale medical cannabis club aims to change image of industry

01.24.2011
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The San Francisco Patient and Resource Center in the South of Market area resembles an art gallery where customers in sports coats and skirts suck THC vapors from plastic balloons and feast on cannabis-laced caramels.
The medical cannabis dispensary at 1256 Mission St. » Read more

News
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Muni service slip attributed to lower vehicle reliability and speed

01.19.2011
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Late last year Muni got farther from its goal of reaching 85 percent on-time performance. On-time performance dropped from 72.5 percent to 72 percent from July through September last year, in Muni’s latest report. Although the drop was only half a percent, Cameron Beach, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which operates Muni, pointed out that the drop was significant. Last year the agency announced that it had reached an all-time high of 75 percent. Beach also pointed out that the first-quarter on-time numbers occurred at a time when service was lower due to a 10 percent service cut last May.

Health
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With few restrictions and bundles of cash, cannabis ads help sagging media profits

01.17.2011
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Medical marijuana advertising is taking off, propping up the fortunes of ailing media companies that have seen income from other business sectors plummet in the recession.
Advertisements offering free edibles for new patients and products such as “super silver haze” are helping to keep the San Francisco Bay Guardian, SF Weekly and East Bay Express in business. » Read more

Elections

Tracking of medical pot data, key aim of state program, varies greatly by county

01.17.2011
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San Francisco is among the most active cities in California in easing access to medical marijuana, having issued more than one-third of the 47,828 cannabis cards in the state. But unlike surrounding counties, San Francisco has a long-standing practice of handing back the paper applications for cards and not recording the names of patients or the doctors who give them the required recommendations. » Read more

Law & Justice
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Book recalls immigrants who passed through Angel Island

01.12.2011
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To commemorate the centennial of the Angel Island Immigration Station, authors Erika Lee and Judy Yung shed light on the thousands of  immigrants who passed through the “Guardian of the Western Gate” in their recently released book “Angel Island: Gateway to America.” » Read more

News
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Solution demanded to Muni practice of forcing riders off light-rail vehicles

01.10.2011
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Muni’s practice of  leaving passengers at light-rail stops before the end of the run and turning around – known as switchback or short-turning – came under heavy criticism before a Board of Supervisors commitee today. The City Operations & Neighborhood service committee, chaired by Supervisor Carmen Chu, wanted to hear solutions to the problem. Chu, who has several light-rail lines in her Sunset district, including the N-Judah and L-Taraval, said she has been receiving complaints in the past several months from residents who say they have been dropped off at either 19th Avenue or Sunset Boulevard without any notification and have waited up to 20 minutes for the next train to arrive. John Haley, Transit Director of Muni Operations, said the practice of short-turning is essential when there are major delays in the system. He said Muni has taken steps to make things better for riders by improving communication with passengers by posting the final destination on the signage of trains, making announcements if a train is going to turn around and only doing so when there is another train within five minutes. Chu did not like the report.

News
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Surprise pick for new San Francisco district attorney

01.10.2011
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Police Chief George Gascon was named San Francisco district attorney by outgoing Mayor Gavin Newsom on Sunday and Gascon quickly announced that he would seek election to the post in November. In his final act of office, Newsom swore in Gascon in a hastily arranged ceremony at city hall. The surprise move was the latest in a flurry of changes in the city’s top government posts. "Forty-eight hours ago, I wouldn’t have thought about it," Gascon said.  Gascon will serve the final year of Kamala Harris’ term, who became state attorney general last week. "I took this job because I believe we can take and build on now-Attorney General Harris," he said.