AltWeeklies Wire
California Regulators Admit 'Shredder Waste' from Junked Cars is Unsafenew
In September, regulators wrote to auto recyclers saying that the state's 1988 policy on shredder-waste handling would be rescinded. This policy shift largely went unnoticed by the public, but it was momentous.
SF Weekly |
Matt Smith |
12-03-2008 |
Environment
Car Recycling is a Huge Generator of Hazardous Wastenew
Donating your old car to charity may make you feel good, but it doesn't necessarily create a net benefit for the environment.
SF Weekly |
Matt Smith |
12-03-2008 |
Environment
Public Transit Agencies May Pay Billions for Risky Deals with Bankersnew
San Francisco is suddenly at risk of paying $140 million to bankers who six years ago convinced the city to use its Muni trains in a $1 billion sham tax shelter. Cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York are suddenly facing similar potential payouts.
The American Dream's $700 Billion Price Tagnew
The most important lesson of the country's recent financial turmoil has gone untaught: The United States might be better off financially, economically, and socially if it were more like San Francisco and were a nation of renters.
Facing Foreclosure? Con Man Paul Noe II Has a Deal for Younew
A few months ago, Dustanto Lopez got a phone call from someone offering him a tempting, if screwy, deal with a company called United First, Inc. that would supposedly help postpone foreclosure proceedings. What Lopez didn't know was that the president, secretary, treasurer, and director of that recently registered Nevada shell company was a con man.
Dubious Study Claims San Francisco Cops Extort Sexnew
When Proposition K supporters tell you -- without offering anything close to proof -- that the SFPD is populated with horny shakedown artists whose felonious habit is fed by antiprostitution laws, you should know this claim lacks substance.
SF Weekly |
Matt Smith |
09-11-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Victims Whose Deaths Remain Unclassified in San Fran Are Stiffednew
Amidst all the murders in San Francisco, some suspicious deaths are hidden in a secret burial ground of bureaucracy.
SF Weekly |
John Geluardi |
09-11-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Conservative Arizona Couple Gets Judge to Gag Gay Bloggernew
On his blog and on a gay news website, David Nahmod chronicles a bizarre saga of a so-called straight conservative couple preying on his vulnerable ex-boyfriend to break up their relationship in 2005. He says his ex, Beecher Goodwin, has been "brainwashed" against him and to continue living with Stephen Polich and Kathryn Rock at their home in the Phoenix 'burbs.
An Ex-Scientologist and Online Pranksters Try to Bring Down the Controversial Religionnew
Before January, no one dreamed that Tommy Gorman would be backed up by the most unlikely of allies: an army of internet geeks pissed about a censored Tom Cruise video. The troops call themselves Anonymous, the president of the San Francisco Church of Scientology calls them the "electric Klan," and they have stepped out of cyberspace in masks to bring down Scientology, too.
How Renters Work the System to Live for Free in a Very Expensive Citynew
Depending on the vigilance of the landlord, a seasoned serial evictee like John Getzow can get away with a minimum of 45 days and sometimes up to a year of free rent. The actual number of serial evictees operating in San Francisco is difficult to track, but some attorneys who specialize in representing landlords estimate there are between 20 and 100.
SF Weekly |
John Geluardi |
07-31-2008 |
Housing & Development
Insiders at San Fran's Daily Paper Hate the Ex-Mayor's New Columnnew
People in and around the San Francisco Chronicle newsroom -- which still includes news scribes dedicated to the pursuit of truth -- are sickened by the new Willie Brown deal. "Real journalists in the room were appalled by it," said one insider familiar with the mood at the paper.
Have Money Pressures Forced San Francisco's SPCA to Lower the Bar for Euthanasia?new
Many think that the SF/SPCA has fundamentally changed its "no-kill" principle, which had made San Francisco the safest city for cats and dogs in the country and served as a model for hundreds of shelters.
SF Weekly |
John Geluardi |
06-11-2008 |
Animal Issues
Special Patrol Unit Is No SFPDnew
Nearly extinct and long at odds with the SFPD, the little-known San Francisco Patrol Special Police appears poised for a comeback.
SF Weekly |
Ron Russell |
06-04-2008 |
Crime & Justice
In San Francisco's Projects, Truth Comes at a Pricenew
Deanna Johnson testified against a murderer to save her son, breaking the most fundamental law of the projects: Don't snitch.
SF Weekly |
Ashley Harrell |
05-23-2008 |
Crime & Justice
SF Military Vets Go to War With Each Othernew
Since the Board of Supervisors appointed Navy vet John Caldera to the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Commission last year, his fellow commissioners say they spend more time bickering than working on veterans' issues.
