Mark Leno

Rolling Paper: Looking at the Current State of Safe Access

Medical Marijuana Bills Killed by Odd Bedfellows -- Labor and Business Groups

You can't really win against business AND labor​Public safety and jobs. To a California politician, they are the bread and butter -- if bread and butter means getting elected, that is. There are fewer worse labels for a politician than "job-killer" or the pejorative "soft on crime."You'd think, th ... More >>

Teacher Creates Workbook to Educate Kids About LGBT Contributions

There is so much to learn ​Earlier this week, a large part of San Francisco was stunned, bitter, depressed -- pick your adjective -- when some parents complained about school boys taking a field trip to the iconic Castro District. The boys visited Harvey Milk's camera store and stopped by the hist ... More >>

How Prop. 26 undermines San Francisco values

There is so much to learn ​Earlier this week, a large part of San Francisco was stunned, bitter, depressed -- pick your adjective -- when some parents complained about school boys taking a field trip to the iconic Castro District. The boys visited Harvey Milk's camera store and stopped by the hist ... More >>

Congestion Pricing Likely To Be Killed By Prop. 26

Thanks to Prop. 26, expect this to continue. Also, expect San Francisco to stay broke. ​Today's front-page story in the San Francisco Chronicle highlights a number of hefty "congestion pricing" fees drivers may soon have to shell out for the privilege of driving into the city, or even between cert ... More >>

'Interim Mayor' Would Earn Three Times More Than 'Acting Mayor'

It's good to be the interim mayor​What's the difference between an "acting mayor" and an "interim" one? About 153,0000 dollars, to start with. We've gone over the scenarios confronting the Board of Supervisors in anointing Mayor Gavin Newsom's successor. Here's the rub: If the current board makes ... More >>

Dennis Herrera, Mark Leno Say They'd Love to Be Interim Mayor

If you call them, they will come​Dennis "He's Running For Mayor" Herrera is running for mayor. This we knew. But the city attorney has told SF Weekly he'd also welcome the chance to succeed Gavin Newsom and become the city's interim mayor. Herrera additionally noted that he has not been discussing ... More >>

After Prop. 19 Loss, Potheads Back To Touting Hemp as Bogus Cure-All

What are you smokin'?​After losing a ballot battle to legalize marijuana, cannabis fans are back to touting the supposedly vast economic potential of industrial hemp, a non-intoxicating cousin to the plant used as a recreational drug.The Hemp Industry Association will hold its annual convention in ... More >>

S.F. Legislators Approve $400K Gift to Insurers. Will Governor?

It's unanimous: let's screw San Francisco​In a year when San Francisco faces a $787 million budget shortfall, how do our representatives in Sacramento propose to help out? By unanimously supporting a measure transferring $400,000 annually in health care expenses from insurers to local San Francis ... More >>

Legislators, Lawyers Winning Fight to Render Red Light Cameras Useless

Bill would make it easier to get away with this​Red light-runners are winning a battle to render camera evidence less incriminating in court, the Sacramento Bee's Dan Walters reports.Sen. Joe Simitian, who represents Palo Alto and San Jose commuters under the watch of the dozens of cameras mo ... More >>

Trauma Recovery Center Brought Back From the Dead. Yes, Again.

Same old, same old at the Trauma Recovery Center​We wrote a week ago about the city's Trauma Recovery Center needing some trauma recovery itself after facing death by budget ax three times in two years. The center that helps crime victims in San Francisco has been saved by the Board of Supes each ... More >>

What Are Californians Thinking?

If this chart were a slide, it might be too steep for small children...​The big takeaway from this week's comprehensive Public Policy Institute of California Statewide Survey was that Meg Whitman's stock has gone down as badly as, well, all stocks. Also, Jerry Brown is poised to knock off either W ... More >>

Engineers Baffled By Claims Bay Bridge Suffering From 75-Year-Old Design Flaw

Amazing scenes were witnessed today...​A recent article in the Examiner trumpeted a claim that ought to make every San Francisco commuter of the past 75 years grateful he didn't end up unexpectedly swimming to work: "Bay Bridge Eyebar Woes Date To 1930s." But, reading the article, the premise appe ... More >>

Hope You Enjoyed CMCR Report, Because That's All, Folks

It's not news that marijuana may have healing qualities: after all, medicinal cannabis has been (sort of) the law of the land since 1996, when California voters passed Proposition 215 . Still, it was a very big deal when the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research released the results last Wednesday ... More >>

And the 'Gayest City in America' Is ... Atlanta?

Not gay enough, apparently​As the ongoing Proposition 8 trial begins its second week today, the mayor of the "Gayest city" in California will take the stand to testify in favor of marriage equality. That mayor, of course, is Jerry Sanders. And the gay-friendly realm over which he reigns is -- San ... More >>

Supes to Prod State for $2 Million in Defense Costs for 'San Francisco Eight' Murder Case

This just in: Public Defender Jeff Adachi has persuaded a few members of the Board of Supervisors to help his office recoup millions of dollars in defense costs racked up in the failed prosecution of eight alleged former militants charged with murdering a San Francisco police officer in 1971.Sergean ... More >>

Weekend Planner: Slow Food SF's Annual Crab and Oyster Fest Hits This Saturday

​Saturday marks Slow Food San Francisco's third annual Slow Crab and Oyster Festival, 6-9 p.m. at Potrero Hill Neighborhood House (953 De Haro at Southern Heights). Live acoustic blues? Check. Fine wines and craft beers? Check. Local Dungeness and oysters? Double check. Tickets are $65 general ... More >>

Hardball: SEIU Sends Out Newsom-Emblazoned Mailers

Of course you know, this means war​In anticipation over today's pending battle at the Board of Supervisors meeting over whether or not to spend $8 million to save 40, 100, or 500 SEIU jobs at the Department of Public Health, the union has sent out a glossy, campaign-style mailer. And Gavin Newsom ... More >>

Breaking: Carole Migden NOT Running for Supervisor

Carole Migden​Every day it seems like there's another name to add to the list of potential candidates thinking about running for the supervisor seat in District 10 (Bayview-Hunters Point, Potrero Hill). Well, today you can take one person's name off that list: Former State Sen. Carole Migden. Mig ... More >>

Chronic City: Feds Lighten Up On Medical Marijuana Just As L.A. Tightens The Screws

Photo by Rotbuche, Wikimedia CommonsLet my people grow.​In a stunning bit of role reversal, law enforcement officials in dispensary-heavy Los Angeles County are gearing up for a massive mobilization against hundreds of pot shops even while the Obama administration backs away from the federal gover ... More >>

It's Your Friday Morning News Quiz!

​Life, death, sports, and Froot Loops. That's what kind of a week it was in San Francisco. You know, if you have half as much fun taking this quiz as we had writing it -- then we had twice as much fun as you. On to the quiz: 1. Which of the following statements wasn't uttered by Officer Noel Schwa ... More >>

It's Your Friday Morning News Quiz!

¿Dónde está el jefe?​ Normally, a story about Gavin Newsom going to Mexico and "leaking" would be pretty vile. And, depending on your feelings about the mayor, both of these developments could be interpreted as very problematic ... but not in that way.In any event, it's Friday -- you made it. B ... More >>

Ammiano: Bi-Partisan Budget 'The Worst Kind of Make-Up Sex'

As we reported earlier today, Democratic and Republican leaders in the state legislature huddled with their respective caucuses this morning in an attempt to pitch the feasibility of the current budget compromise. Depending on how much money you and your interest group stand to lose, initial descrip ... More >>

For Entertainment Purposes Only

The Entertainment Commission is supposed to regulate S.F. nightclubs, but it won't — and often can't — punish scofflaws. The results are sometimes tragic.

Homeless, Edwardians, Very Old People Mix at '06 Quake Commemoration

All Photos | Joe EskenaziQuake survivors William Del Monte, 103, and Rose Cliver, 106. No, they don't let you wear a hat like that until you turn 100.As a convoy of archaic fire trucks led by an ethereally beautiful convertible Jaguar -- of the vintage that Isadora Duncan may or may not have die ... More >>

Town Hall Meeting to Address Prop 8 SNAFU Could Get Ugly

Almost four months after voters stripped gays of their right to marry in California, a Town Hall-style meeting addressing what went wrong will finally happen. Supervisors Bevan Dufty, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, and Senator Mark Leno will all apparently be there, as w ... More >>

David Chiu's Proposed Vehicle License Fee Could Net City $70M -- But Requires 'Hail Mary'of a Senate Bill to Pass

These guys could make San Francisco lots of moneyThe Vehicle License Fee proposed this week by Supervisor David Chiu could net the city as much as $70 million. And the lottery ticket you bought this week could net you $70 million, too. Okay, that's a bit of a stretch, and the VLF won't benefit local ... More >>

Is Mark Leno Getting Grief from Democratic Leaders for Vanquishing Carole Migden? Far From It

In the state Legislature, there are some things you just don't do. If your Democratic incumbent re-enacts scenes from Mad Max on the interstate, treats her employees in a manner even Naomi Campbell would decry as brutal, and, in general, make enemies at a Bernie Madoff-like pace, you do not run agai ... More >>

100 years at John's Grill

By John Geluardi San Franciscans donned their hats and spats last night to honor the anniversary of John’s Grill, which has been serving up steaks, martinis and literary intrigue for 100 years. Outside the restaurant a jazz band played period tunes while San Franciso’s A-listers arrived t ... More >>

One more time: Spraying “bad,” Nazis “worse” - We watch the “Light Brown Apple Moth” hearing so you don’t have to.

By John Geluardi San Franciscans donned their hats and spats last night to honor the anniversary of John’s Grill, which has been serving up steaks, martinis and literary intrigue for 100 years. Outside the restaurant a jazz band played period tunes while San Franciso’s A-listers arrived t ... More >>

City Hall's War Against City Hall: It's ...

By John Geluardi San Franciscans donned their hats and spats last night to honor the anniversary of John’s Grill, which has been serving up steaks, martinis and literary intrigue for 100 years. Outside the restaurant a jazz band played period tunes while San Franciso’s A-listers arrived t ... More >>

Bonds' Steroids Satire Prompts Laughs, Snarls: New Stories Published

By John Geluardi San Franciscans donned their hats and spats last night to honor the anniversary of John’s Grill, which has been serving up steaks, martinis and literary intrigue for 100 years. Outside the restaurant a jazz band played period tunes while San Franciso’s A-listers arrived t ... More >>

Willie Brown Declares London Breed a Contender for Mark Leno's Seat

By John Geluardi San Franciscans donned their hats and spats last night to honor the anniversary of John’s Grill, which has been serving up steaks, martinis and literary intrigue for 100 years. Outside the restaurant a jazz band played period tunes while San Franciso’s A-listers arrived t ... More >>

What About a 2007 Carole Midgen No Driving Under Cell Phone Influence Act?

By John Geluardi San Franciscans donned their hats and spats last night to honor the anniversary of John’s Grill, which has been serving up steaks, martinis and literary intrigue for 100 years. Outside the restaurant a jazz band played period tunes while San Franciso’s A-listers arrived t ... More >>

Rotting on the Dock of the Bay

The easy choice between a destitute Port Authority and acres of rotting piers, or a beautified waterfront with some hotel rooms

Hitched! Wedding Stories From San Francisco City Hall

More a tip of the hat to City Hall than an ode to ardent and equal love

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Anus, Already

Uniquely positioned to exert positive influence on public debate, San Francisco's business lobbies instead choose to act like, well, assholes

Gimme Two Steps

Gay, lesbian, country, and western

The Stealth Campaign

At a seemingly innocuous event in the Sunset, Willie Brown proves again why he's the patron saint of patronage

Scrambled Eggers

Even at a benefit for kids, the spotlight still shines on the world-famous author

Image Is Everything

The economy's in a slump, and so are a lot of S.F. politicians. At least for the pols, Brow Set seems to be part of the answer.

Letters to the Editor

Week of March 13, 2002

Letters to the Editor

News Flash; Sex Change and the City; Defining Dance

Dog Bites

You know, there's an election -- hey! -- we said there's a local election coming up

Dog Bites

Logan Five! Identify!; And the Winner Is ...

A Day to Remember

World AIDS Day

Trojan Horse

In a city that loves to hate chain stores, plans for a new Pottery Barn in the Castro are scarcely raising a peep. The neighborhood may regret it.

Mecklin

In a city that loves to hate chain stores, plans for a new Pottery Barn in the Castro are scarcely raising a peep. The neighborhood may regret it.

Dog Bites

In a city that loves to hate chain stores, plans for a new Pottery Barn in the Castro are scarcely raising a peep. The neighborhood may regret it.