Email Author Chuck Finnie

1997 Stories by Chuck Finnie

• The Grid

  published June 18, 1997

  Money for Nothing Last month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed to pay more than $10 million for a 73-year-old building that is... More >>

• The Grid

  published June 4, 1997

  Honest Shaft Last December, campaign consultant and Yber-lobbyist Jack Davis took one of his clients, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, to... More >>

• Falling for the Gap

  published May 28, 1997

  If you walk from the foot of Market Street south along the Embarcadero, you become part of one of the views that keep bringing the tourists back... More >>

• The Grid

  published May 21, 1997

  Treasure Island Giveaway At a Board of Supervisors meeting last month, San Francisco Supervisor Leland Yee ruined everyone's good time for... More >>

• The Grid

  published May 7, 1997

  Questionable Developments Earlier this year, when political infighting threatened a compromise effort to gain federal funds for extending... More >>

• The Grid

  published April 16, 1997

  U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) The Capitol Washington, D.C. Dear Sen. Shelby: As chairman for the Senate... More >>

• Un-Welcome to Mr. Roberts' Neighborhood

  published April 9, 1997

  Five years ago, Sandra and Anthony Chan decided to do something nice for their eldest son, Gary. He would soon graduate with an economics degree... More >>

• The Grid

  published April 2, 1997

  Trial by Error Police Commission President John Keker's flustered resignation has focused needed attention on a chaotic police discipline... More >>

• Mulch

  published March 26, 1997

  Cruz's Curse At the height of the Tuesday morning commuter crush into downtown San Francisco, a stalled 18-wheeler blocked two lanes on... More >>

• The Grid

  published March 19, 1997

  Demon Dumb Last June, when S.F. Supervisor Mabel Teng heard that a popular ice cream parlor in her Inner Sunset neighborhood was being... More >>

• Mulch

  published March 19, 1997

  Cracking Contracting Shell Games Four months after uncovering affirmative action fraud in bidding on construction at S.F. International... More >>

• The Art of the Steal

  published March 12, 1997

  In 1994, Paul Villierme had the chance to demonstrate gratitude of the type few sons are able to show. He had met a curator for a prominent San... More >>

• The Grid

  published March 5, 1997

  Willie's Railroad Job On Jan. 13, the day Leland Yee was sworn into office as a San Francisco supervisor, merchants from his neighborhood... More >>

• Mulch

  published March 5, 1997

  Second Opinion on UC-Stanford Merger The merger between the University of California at San Francisco and Stanford University medical... More >>

• Mulch

  published February 26, 1997

  Sex Takes a Bath S.F.'s Public Health Department issued rules that closed the city's gay bathhouses 13 years ago, citing them as venues for... More >>

• The Grid

  published February 19, 1997

  The Italian Cavalry Forced from office by term limits, newly retired S.F. Supervisor Angela Alioto returned to City Hall Feb. 12. She was... More >>

• Mulch

  published February 12, 1997

  Light-Rail Off Tracks In blocking the contract for a $136 million light-rail train system at San Francisco International Airport, S.F.... More >>

• The Grid

  published February 12, 1997

  49er Gold Rush Earlier this month, the S.F. Board of Supervisors made it official: A special election will be held June 3 to ask voters to... More >>

• Affirmative Action Derailed

  published February 5, 1997

  The lawyers stream into Courtroom No. 8 like air sucked into an empty lung. Pinstripes. High heels. Briefcases. Briefs, spit from laser printers,... More >>

• The Grid

  published February 5, 1997

  Of Privilege and Persistence So, Mayor Willie Brown has appointed his new supe: Gavin Newsom, a 29-year-old, straight, white guy whose... More >>

• The Grid

  published January 29, 1997

  Alioto Debtwatch Reportedly considering a bid for city attorney this coming November, former Supervisor Angela Alioto can count on almost... More >>

• The Grid

  published January 22, 1997

  More Heat, Less Light During the summer of 1995, a federal judge came within a hair's breadth of throwing the book at S.F. for failing to... More >>

• Mulch

  published January 22, 1997

  DIY Environmentalism Call it the greening of community policing. S.F. Supervisor Sue Bierman, with a major assist from the... More >>

• Mulch

  published January 15, 1997

  Government in Exile Political moderate Barbara Kaufman, the newly sworn president of the S.F. Board of Supervisors, sounded a conciliatory... More >>

• The Grid

  published January 15, 1997

  Brother Can You Spare a Dime? Shortly after taking the helm of S.F.'s Department of Human Services last June, Michael Wald made what seemed... More >>