San Francisco Giants Managing General Partner Peter Magowan
yesterday announced his retirement.
Photo by Luke Thomas
By Maya Strausberg
May 17, 2008
The San Francisco Giants will be losing one of their own at the end of the regular season but it won’t be based on a trade.
Managing General Partner Peter Magowan Friday announced that he will retire from his position Oct. 1 after more than a dozen years with the organization.
“It has been an honor to represent the Giants the last 16 years,” Magowan said in a prepared statement. “I will remain a partner and, of course, I will always be a Giants fan — as I have been since I was eight years old. I have always felt that no individual or group of individuals is really the owner of a sports franchise because a team really belongs to the community.”
Continue reading Peter Magowan Announces His Retirement
Post comment »
Filed under:
News,
Sports
From the San Francisco Labor Council
May 16, 2008. 5:00 p.m.
Agreement will create 3,500 units of New Housing Affordable to very low-income and Working Families
What: The San Francisco Labor Council, along with its community and interfaith partners, ACORN (Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now) and SFOP (San Francisco Organizing Project) have reached a groundbreaking agreement with Lennar Urban that provides the largest creation of affordable housing of any new development in the city’s history.
Under the agreement, a total of approximately 3,500 new homes that are affordable to very low-income and working families will be constructed in the Hunters Point Shipyard – Candlestick Point and throughout District 10. The vast majority will be constructed as part of the mixed-use development project; in addition, Lennar has committed $27.3 million to provide hundreds more affordable homes throughout District 10. Lennar has also agreed to provide $8.5 million for workforce training.
Continue reading San Francisco Labor Council
Pens Affordable Housing Agreement with Lennar
2 Comments »
Filed under:
Housing,
News,
Politics
By Terry Canaan
May 16, 2008
John McCain knows the issues inside and out, left to right, top to bottom. There’s a reason for that — on most issues, McCain’s taken both sides of the argument at one time or another. If you don’t like his position on an issue, just wait a while. Once his position becomes unpopular or inconvenient for himself, he’ll take another.
When John Kerry was ridiculed for saying, “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it,” few noted that he was talking about two different bills. The media, assuming as they always do that you’re a freakin’ moron, called this “nuance.” Vote for the original bill, then vote against the amended franken-bill monstrosity it later becomes and that’s a “flip-flop.” But what happens when you oppose a law you had a hand in creating?
Continue reading McCain vs. McCain
Post comment »
Filed under:
Opinion,
Politics
By Ananda Shorey
May 16, 2008
Heat wave expected to end by Sunday
At least one Bay Area city is expected to break heat records again today following record-setting temperatures Thursday, but the region should cool off by Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
Santa Rosa is expected to reach 100 degrees today, breaking its record of 96 degrees. On Thursday, Santa Rosa was around 100 degrees as well, topping the record of 97, weather service meteorologist Steve Anderson said.
Continue reading Bay Area News Briefs
Post comment »
Filed under:
News
A victory for civil rights: San Francisco City Hall was a scene flooded
with human jubilation today following a California Supreme Court constitutional decision
that ruled same-sex couples have a right to marry.
Photos by Luke Thomas
By Julia Cheever
May 15, 2008
The California Supreme Court ruled by a 4-3 vote in San Francisco today that same-sex couples have a right to marry under the state constitution.
The historic decision makes California the second state in the nation, after Massachusetts, to allow gays and lesbians to marry.
Chief Justice Ronald George wrote, “Our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation.”
George, joined by Justices Joyce Kennard, Kathryn Werdegar and Carlos Moreno, said gays and lesbians have a right to wed under the California Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and a fundamental right to marry.
Continue reading Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Wins Praise and Criticism
1 Comment »
Filed under:
Culture,
Events,
Law,
News
A sign of the times: As gas prices continue to rise,
a record number of San Francisco bicyclists opted for eco-friendly pedal power
to healthily commute to work on Bike to Work Day.
Photos by Adam Aufdencamp
By Laura Dudnick
May 15, 2008
Twice as many bicycles than cars traveled on Market Street in San Francisco this morning for the Bay Area’s Bike to Work Day, according to a count taken by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
From 8 to 9 a.m. on eastbound Market Street past Van Ness Avenue, 812 bicycles were counted compared to 403 vehicles, agency spokesman Judson True said.
Continue reading Bike to Work Day Draws Record-High Participation
Post comment »
Filed under:
Culture,
Environment,
Human Interest,
News,
Sports,
Transportation
By Jill Chapin
May 15, 2008
Any obvious but unpleasant truth that people want to avoid acknowledging is usually referred to as the elephant in the room. In West Virginia, the apparent unpleasant elephant is a lingering racism that clings to those in this predominantly white, blue collar state. And with a population that is not as college educated as others, young adults miss out on immersing themselves in the vast melting pot that represents campus life.
This suspicion is validated by exit polls where 22% admitted that race was an important factor in their decision. These responses were from people who were willing to admit to this bias; it does not factor in those who may have agreed with this sentiment but were unwilling to reveal it. More startling, 29% said that they would support Senator John McCain over Senator Barack Obama, implying that they would vote against their own best interests rather than elect a black man.
Continue reading The Elephant in West Virginia
is not a Republican
Post comment »
Filed under:
Opinion,
Politics
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera
Photo by Luke Thomas
Decision by State’s High Court ‘Has Affirmed Our Constitution’s Promise of Equality for Millions
of Californians and Their Families’
From the Office of City Attorney Dennis Herrera
May 15, 2008
City Attorney Dennis Herrera today applauded a 4 to 3 majority opinion by the California Supreme Court that struck down as unconstitutional state marriage laws that discriminate against gay and lesbian couples. The ruling concludes a four-year legal effort by the City and County of San Francisco, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and other organizations representing lesbian and gay partners statewide to invalidate Family Code provisions that deny marriage rights to same-sex couples for violating the California Constitution’s equal protection guarantees.
“I am profoundly grateful, not only for a decision that will end marriage discrimination for gay and lesbian partners in California, but for the Court’s eloquence in stating its conclusion,” said Herrera. “Our democratic system was founded on the notion that the courts should not be swayed by public opinion when it comes to protecting our most cherished rights. I’m proud that our state’s highest court has taken its role seriously. Today’s majority has affirmed our Constitution’s promise of equality for millions of Californians and their families.”
Herrera’s direct constitutional challenge to state marriage laws in City and County of San Francisco vs. State of California was filed on March 11, 2004. The lawsuit made San Francisco the first government entity in American history to challenge the constitutionality of state marriage laws that discriminate against gay and lesbian couples. The City’s case was later consolidated with a similar suit filed the following day by the National Center for Lesbian Rights on behalf of same-sex couples, Equality California and Our Family Coalition. That consolidated case was then coordinated with other constitutional challenges from Los Angeles and San Francisco under court rules governing complex litigation before San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard A. Kramer.
Continue reading Herrera Hails California Supreme Court Ruling
Invalidating Discriminatory Marriage Laws
Post comment »
Filed under:
Culture,
Law,
News
