San francisco

They appeared seemingly from out of thin air last month: two dozen knee-high boulders, at first glance, unremarkable, placed with remarkable precision along a sidewalk in a quiet alley in San Francisco. Within days, they became a flashpoint for a city in the midst of a homeless crisis. Residents of the Clinton Park alley, located to the north of San Francisco’s trendy Mission District neighborhood, funded the rock installation to deter loitering after what they described as a year of flagrant drug-dealing and unpredictable behavior. Housing advocates and other civically minded critics were quick to call the boulders out as anti-homeless architecture. “Boulders don’t stop people from drug dealing,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness. “But they do stop people from sleeping.” So began a tale of Sisyphean feats. An artist put the boulders up for sale on Craigslist. The post was flagged and taken down. … [Read more...] about Blocked sidewalks: how boulders became a flashpoint in San Francisco’s homeless crisis

The Capitoline Museum has loaned a sculpture of Medusa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini to the San Francisco Legion of Honor, where the cursed beauty graces the City by the Bay through February. "Recent conservation efforts have restored the Medusa to its full glory and revealed previously hidden polish and patina," says the museum. "Believed to date from between 1638 and 1648, this extraordinary work takes its subject from classical mythology, as cited in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It shows the beautiful Medusa, one of the Gorgon sisters, caught in the terrible process of transformation into a monster. Her hair is turning into writhing snakes, which, according to Ovid, was a punishment from Minerva for having had an affair with Neptune, god of the sea. The punishment also made Medusa an instrument of death by turning anyone who looked upon her to stone. Famously, Perseus overcame Medusa’s curse by looking at her reflection in a shield to behead her. "Bernini’s depiction does not … [Read more...] about Head of Medusa Appears in San Francisco

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers had three touchdowns negated by penalties, turned the ball over twice and didn't a get particularly sharp performance from Jimmy Garoppolo. That just made beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-17 on a hot, humid Sunday in Florida that much sweeter. "It's fun to win when you can be hard on the guys the next day because there's a lot of stuff on that tape that could have cost us that game in all three phases," coach Kyle Shanahan said. "I was disappointed with that and still to be able to pull out a win says a lot about the guys we've got in there. They kept grinding, and when you do that usually good things happen." LINK | Tampa Bay area sports headlines Richard Sherman and Ahkello Witherspoon returned two of a retooled defense's three interceptions of Jameis Winston for touchdowns and Robbie Gould kicked three field goals for the 49ers, who forced four turnovers overall and also deflected an early punt to set up the offense's first … [Read more...] about San Francisco 49ers defense upends Jameis Winston, beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-17

San Francisco legislators have officially banned the sale and delivery of e-cigarette products within city limits, putting the clamp on brands like Juul, which have contributed to a rise in nicotine use among teenagers. The ban is the first of its kind in the United States, where various jurisdictions lately have sought measures to address the surge in popularity of vaping among young people. The San Francisco measure is set to take effect seven months after the bill is signed by the city's mayor, which is expected to happen. Under the new law in San Francisco, businesses will be barred from the sale, manufacturing and distribution of e-cigarette products on city property. E-cigarette products that do not have FDA-approved marketing — none of them currently do — also are covered under a second ordinance, according to The Huffington Post. Both in-store and online purchases are covered by the legislation. Retailers who violate the ban will be fined $1,000 or face other … [Read more...] about San Francisco enacts ban on e-cigarette sales to curb youth addiction

The neighbors raised more than $2,000 through Facebook for the boulders, which they put on the sidewalks after they said the city wouldn't help them, according to CNN affiliate KGO-TV . Nuru said the boulders were removed because in the past few weeks people were pushing them into the street, which he said is very unsafe. His agency was responsible for pushing the rocks back onto the sidewalk, and he said it became a daily occurrence and wasted city time. Nuru also said the neighbors were getting calls from homeless advocates and were receiving hate mail. "We're at the drawing board now. We're definitely going to look at some of the things we have learned," Nuru said. "It could be bigger boulders, it could be some kind of landscaping, it could be something different, but we're going to work with the neighbors on something they want." The boulders are being held at a public works facility, Nuru said, and the agency is working with neighbors on the cost of the rock removal. City … [Read more...] about San Francisco removes boulders put out by residents to deter homeless