Mark Leno

It's About Time: Proposed CA Bill Would Move Last Call to 4 a.m.

Good news for night owls: A bill has been proposed into the California state legislation that would allow bars, clubs, restaurants, and other watering holes to serve alcohol until 4 a.m., instead of the current 2 a.m. State senator Mark Leno proposed the bill, which would require city and county off ... More >>

Cops Fight Clarity of Medical Marijuana Sales

Police in California have long expressed displeasure with the state's medical marijuana laws. And with good reason: Cops just might have the legal right to haul into court medical marijuana merchants who exchange cash for cannabis. But then again, they might not. Much police behavior depends on the ... More >>

Gov. Brown Decriminalizes Sangria and Infused Vodka

Obscure InternetAs of today, this is no longer illegal in California​Gov. Jerry Brown today ended tension on the part of bartenders by signing Senate Bill 32, which makes it legal for bars to infuse vodkas and other liquors. And the best news? The bill has an "urgency clause," which means it ... More >>

S.F. Bartenders to Gov. Jerry Brown: Let Us Infuse Our Booze

Bon Vivants: Will Guv Brown have what they're having?​Josh Harris and Scott Baird -- two San Francisco bartenders, dandies, and "cocktail consultants" known as the Bon Vivants -- are trying to save one of the 600 bills sitting on the governor's desk from being vetoed. The two are shilling for ... More >>

LGBT Contributions Could Soon Be Read in Textbooks

Making Milk proud ​Students, please open your textbooks to the chapter on Harvey Milk and cue the Powerpoint on Heklina: Senator Mark Leno's bill to include gay history in mandatory education requirements passed the state Senate today. And if the Assembly signs off on the bill, it too could eventu ... More >>

Medical Marijuana Users: How Much Longer Until Your Boss Can't Fire You?

Does this mean you could be governor AND smoke pot?​Just like the industrious Walmart worker in Michigan, YOU, too, can get fired from your job for using medical marijuana -- even if you are employee of the month. Which clearly makes no sense, considering medical marijuana is legal. That's why Sen ... More >>

Only In S.F.: Gay, Rabbinical School Dropout Deemed Too Conservative

​In recent weeks, we've pointed out that people are largely free to fornicate on the streets of San Francisco -- but dogs cannot. Prosecutors struggle to convict vandals -- as juries state that graffiti is not vandalism, but "art." So, along those lines, only in San Francisco could a gay, rabbinic ... More >>

California Has a Budget -- Only 100 Days Late

The lady and the bear have been waiting a long time...​Following an all-night session of wheeling and dealing -- and a record 100-day impasse -- the state senate moments ago approved a budget for California. Details on the budget -- and the most recent impasse -- are forthcoming; it closes a $19 b ... More >>

California's Marijuana Laws Now Nation's Most Liberal

Your governor, in action​After Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger affixed his signature on a Sen. Mark Leno-authored bill yesterday, California's marijuana policy became the nation's most progressive, pot activists tell SF Weekly. While existing law calls for anyone busted with an ounce or less of pot to ... More >>

Despite the Fog, Fort Mason Farmers' Market Off to a Warm Start

Jun Belen​The city warmly welcomed its newest farmers' market yesterday ― above, State Senator Mark Leno and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown were present to cut the ceremonial vine to officially launch the Sunday Fort Mason Center market.

So, 4/20 Is Pot Day -- But Why?

Lay off! He's got a good reason today! ​Today, specifically at 4:20 p.m. (and a.m. for the hardcore), large segments of the nation become open-air hotboxes as hordes of stoners toke up. We get it: 420 on 4/20. Like "Catch-22," "23-skidoo" and "Deep-Six," "420" has entered the lexicon as a euphemis ... More >>

Sparking Interest: The Year in Marijuana Reporting

In San Francisco, marijuana is always a topic of interest. This past year saw the city dealing with the ins and outs of medical marijuana and grappling with a debate over decriminalization. Here are some of our most read posts on the issues.Get Up, Stand Up: Ammiano Introduces Marijuana Legalization ... More >>

Transblazer

She just became the city's first transgender department head, but Theresa Sparks is already setting her sights on becoming the city's first transgender supervisor.

BayView Newspaper Tells Mark Leno Where He Can Put His Op-Ed

Newspaper to Leno: Buzz off! ​Earlier this week, Sen. Mark Leno's press office sent several community newspapers including the San Francisco BayView an op-ed on senate bill 792, the legislation that will give 23 acres of Candlestick Point State Recreation Center to Lennar Corporation for developme ... More >>

S.F. doesn't abide by its own translation requirements

Chronic City: Aptly Named 'Joint Resolution' Succeeds; California Senate Urges Change in Federal Medical Marijuana Rules

​By a 23-15 vote, the California State Senate yesterday approved a "joint resolution" urging the federal government to stop Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) raids on medical marijuana patients and providers. The Sen. Mark Leno-authored resolution additionally calls for the nation to "create a compreh ... More >>

Mark Leno's Aptly Named 'Joint Resolution' In Support of Medical Pot Passes Senate Committee

Last month, we reported on a Mark Leno bill introduced simultaneously in the Assembly and Senate -- a "joint resolution." The moniker was especially fitting, however, because the resolution supported medical marijuana users, and called for an end to the federal crackdown on dispensaries. Well, when ... More >>

Pride Rides: Leno, Mirkarimi Give Shout-Out to City Car Share, Daly Gives Us The Finger

There's no legal argument Dennis Herrera can make to convince us this car ain't a beaut...Yesterday we began answering the eternal question: If a tree fell in the forest and no one was there to hear it -- what kind of cars would your elected representatives ride in Sunday's Pride Parade? Our persona ... More >>

Mark Leno Introduces 'Joint Resolution' Urging End to Crackdowns On Medical Pot. We Are Not Making This Up.

Sen. Mark Leno today announced he has introduced a "joint resolution" to end the federal crackdown on medical marijuana use in California. While this is a matter of serious legislation, one can't help but notice the howler of a marijuana-related "joint" resolution. Leno's spokeswoman, Ali Bay, confi ... More >>

Outdated rules threaten the life of local all-ages clubs

Mark Leno Says Lobbyist Intentionally Snubbed Him When Circulating Letter Regarding Hunters Point Pollution -- And Boy Is He Angry

State Senator Mark Leno is not amusedMark Leno's signature was conspicuously absent from a letter signed by the rest of San Francisco's Sacramento contingent regarding pollution from Lennar's cleanup of Hunter's Point Shipyard -- and the State Senator says that's no accident. Leno angrily accused th ... More >>

All-Ages Clubs Could Catch a Break from the ABC

Arturo J. PaniaguaOver the weekend, the Chron reported that the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) was allegedly going after all-ages clubs like Slim's, Bottom of the Hill, Cafe du Nord, and Great American Music Hall for reasons the clubs are calling unreasonable (i.e. totally unrelated ... More >>

Mark Leno: End Illegal Amnesty (for Billboards)

Perhaps it's time to go, palDid you know that it's currently against the law for a California city to remove an illegal billboard -- provided said billboard has been in place (again, illegally) for five years without showing up on law-enforcement's radar? Who knew that, in a state where so many folk ... More >>

Cantankerous Comic Book Store Guy Faces Closure, Gets By With a Little Help From His Super Friends

Al Kizziah of the eponymous Al's Comics on Market Street is facing the BIFF! SOCK! POW! of the current economy, suffering from a bad bout of Kryptonite, or any other comics cliche you can toss his way. A longstanding problem with some bad debt has formed a tag team alliance with the new (non-) econo ... More >>

Leno Says He'll Have Measure on Ballot to Kill 2/3 Threshold for State Budget Votes By 2010

Sen. Mark LenoMark Leno just told SF Weekly he's slept two hours out of the past 48 and he may or may not be hallucinating. He's tired, he's angry, and he's about to cash in some of his political connections and kick start a fund-raising drive to ensure it never happens again. The San Francisco Stat ... More >>

The New Kid

Despite crossing party leadership during the campaign, new state Senator gets plum posts.

Stealth Bloggers

Posing as journalists, bloggers got paid to write positively about Mark Leno.

Gay Weddings We’d Really Like to See

And the Primary Results are In

For Whom the Bridge Tolls

Politicians want pork to pay for Golden Gate increases, but the money should be paid by drivers instead.

Mark Leno is First to Get Senate Campaign Ad On the Air

Bill Protects Employment Rights of Medical Marijuana Users

Embattled Harvey Milk Democratic Club prez Brian Basinger starts another Democratic Club

Leno's Hemp Screen

Just say "no" to more hemp. Focus on the weak dollar and apocalypse tomorrow!

Leno, Migden, the Courts and Money: WTF?

Matt Smith: Leno Accuses Migden of Wrongly Using $1 million

Fight Club

I Wish I'd Written That

Deceased journalist Joe Dignan led coverage of California's movement toward gay equal rights

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Dumb as a Potted Plant

Why is someone as smart as Mark Leno sponsoring genuinely stupid legislation to legalize hemp cultivation?

Letters to the Editor

Week of January 22, 2002

High Quality

If the city starts growing and selling its own dope, will it be any, uh, good?

The Horror

Darkness descends at City Hall as supervisors argue ceaselessly over dogs and apartment size

Letters to the Editor

Week of March 27, 2002

Mark of Effectiveness

Why Mark Leno ought to serve in the Assembly, and Harry Britt should go back to New College

Power Politics

Two major S.F. energy projects are in the works. Do we need both? The question isn't really being discussed.

Et Tu, Mom?

A new theme is already beginning to take shape this young campaign season: politicians betraying their heirs

Warning: Deconstruction Ahead

The Village Voice thinks postmodern deconstructionism explains the S.F. Board of Supervisors; but why invoke Derrida, where ignorance will serve?

Cothran

Cothran