Saturday’s Dyke March brought tens of thousands of people and piles of garbage to Dolores Park in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Live coverage of the 2016 SF Pride parade
Sad you couldn’t make it to Pride this year? Keep up-to-date with live coverage from the San Francisco Pride parade and festivities.
Safety concerns strike somber note in annual Pride celebration
Safety concerns strike somber note in annual Pride celebration Scores of police, dozens of beeping metal detectors and a moving tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting cast a sobering presence over the traditionally exuberant Pride celebration on Saturday in San Francisco. Tens of thousands of people — some naked, some wearing only body paint and some in 7-inch heels — filled Civic Center Plaza and surrounding streets for the first day of the weekend festival. Golding and his boyfriend, Roman Lyman, 21, were wearing matching mesh tank tops, black shorts and high heels. On the main stage, set up on the Polk Street side of the plaza across from City Hall, a giant screen displayed a slide show of portraits of the Orlando victims while the usually raucous crowd observed a moment of silence. Two drag queens who were serving as emcees, Honey Mahogany and Sister Roma, thanked the crowd for their courage to attend. Sister Roma urged the crowd to report anything suspicious — “If you see something, say something,” she said. Getting into the plaza meant standing in lines at one of nine checkpoints to pass through one of the 50 or so metal detectors. Lines moved faster than at the airport, in some cases because there was much less clothing to inspect. “I’d rather have this event safe,” said Elyse Kolnowski, 24, who waited 20 minutes to pass through a detector. “The metal detectors are a necessary evil,” said a 61-year-old named Ricky, who said he did not have a last name or a gender but who appeared to be a man wearing lingerie. […] of the security, a drag queen named Bunny said this year’s celebration was clearly different. “Pre-transition, I was so terrified because I couldn’t be myself,” said Parrish, who was wearing a pink satin gown and carrying a rainbow parasol. All over the plaza were booths, some set up by gay rights groups and others from commercial vendors. There were purveyors of sunglasses, health screenings, deep-fried Oreo cookies, new cars, stun guns, pupusas, jewelry made from salvaged nuclear missile cables, designer ice cream sandwiches, DNA tests and rainbow-colored grilled cheese sandwiches. At one booth, passersby were encouraged to grab a marker and write salacious messages on a large wipe board. A mile south of Civic Center, a few hundred people set up tents and blankets at Dolores Park for the opening ceremony of the 24th annual San Francisco Dyke March. Vibrant rainbow flags, colorful tutus and the occasional bottle of beer could be seen, but attendance seemed lower than in previous years.
Fire destroys Antioch home, damages four others
One house was destroyed and four others damaged when a three-alarm fire that started in an Antioch back yard spread to neighboring homes, a Contra Costa County fire chief said. The fire, which began around 4 p.m., started in a home near Burwood Way and Barmouth Drive and spread along the Delta deAnza Regional bike and pedestrial trail to the other homes, according to Fire Chief Richard Sonsteng. No one was injured in the blaze, Sonsteng said. The cause was under investigation. Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected]
Gremlin-like pooch is World’s Ugliest Dog
A 17-year-old Chinese crested Chihuahua with legs bowed out like a frog and an oozing sore is the winner of this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog contest. Judges in the contest, now on its 28th year, take into account bad appearance, including stench, poor complexion and a host of other inherited and acquired maladies. When the 4-pound Chinese crested Chihuahua mix was announced the winner, Wurtz’s younger brother, Jeffrey Wurtz, burst into tears, shouting SweePee’s name, and shaking a homemade sign that read “SweePee Rambo for President 2016.”
Brush fires shut down I-580 east of Livermore for 40 minutes
Three small brush fires burning alongside Interstate 580 east of Livermore forced the California Highway Patrol to shut down the freeway on Saturday afternoon and divert traffic for about 40 minutes. Callers began reporting the smoky fires shortly after 4 p.m. After the fires began to spread, the freeway was shut down at 5:19 p.m. and traffic was diverted onto Altamont Pass Road. Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
New Mission Bay food truck park provides local gathering spot
An old double-decker bus that’s been stripped down and repurposed into a hangout space marks the entrance to a unique new 16,000-square-foot food truck park in San Francisco’s growing Mission Bay neighborhood. Strings of lights are hung 10 feet above the ground, floating above beanbag toss boards, picnic tables and planters. A fire pit sits tucked away in a corner, surrounded by swings and seating areas. Neighborhood residents and visitors from other parts of the city filled Spark Social SF food truck park, 601 Mission Bay Blvd. Eleven food trucks encircled the crowd, with workers selling everything from kebabs and clam chowder to beer and sangria. The Mission Bay neighborhood has been a hub for new development over the past several years and has been filling up with large residential and business buildings, but Muela said that hasn’t left many spaces where people can gather for food, drink or recreation. Matt Beck and Mary O’Leary have lived in the neighborhood for five years, and said the lack of gathering spaces has posed challenges in developing a sense of community. Besides serving as a gathering point for residents, the space also serves as an outlet for many businesses. All the development in that neighborhood created spaces for people to live and work, Muela said, “But what about a place for people to gather?” Seeing people out enjoying themselves in the neighborhood, dancing and talking — really appreciating the space.
‘Porno dogs’ run into problems at Pride festivities
Aunt Betty’s phallic corn dogs nearly got shut down in at the Pride Festival in San Francisco on Saturday, but the shape of the dog had nothing to do with it. Aunt Betty, whose real name is Betty Brett, is a caterer from Sonoma who, when she works the street fairs of Sonoma, sells regular corn dogs instead of anatomically correct ones. Aunt Betty was whipping up a fresh batch of what she calls Porno Dogs when three inspectors from the San Francisco Fire Department happened by, with clipboards. The head inspector, who was not identified, told Brett that the umbrella was in violation, that her propane tank was also in violation for being underpressured and her propane tank hose was in violation as well, for being too short. “I could shut you down,” the inspector said, writing down a lot of things on her clipboard about the dangers of unsafely-prepared phallic hot dogs. You get more to eat with a Porno Dog than a regular one, which costs $6, but ten bucks was perhaps too much to charge for an impulse item like a Porno Dog, Brett said. […] she said she did not expect as big a crowd this year, because of the extra security precautions in the aftermath of the Orlando tragedy. Brett said she also sells a cajun hot link sausage which, because of its larger size, cannot be turned into a Porno Dog by adding the extra section.
Dennis Opatrny, veteran SF reporter of crime and courts, dies
Dennis Opatrny, veteran SF reporter of crime and courts, dies Dennis J. Opatrny, a veteran San Francisco reporter who covered everything from cops to courts to major scandals, died in San Francisco on June 17 after complications from surgery. Mr. Opatrny, who spent 25 years at the San Francisco Examiner, was a legend in the news business. “He was one of the best police reporters I ever knew,” said Leonard Sellers, a journalism professor emeritus at San Francisco State University. Pat’s curiosity and openness caused people to tell him things that not every one of their associates wanted public. Mr. Opatrny covered the state capital for a time, he covered crime and the courts, and, working on a team with reporters Stephanie Salter and Elizabeth Fernandez, wrote stories that exposed child sex abuse and corruption by San Francisco’s Catholic clergy. Mr. Opatrny was a bit of an old-school reporter who loved stories and loved adventure.
Trans March kicks off SF Pride weekend
On Friday night, the thousands of marchers who flocked to Dolores Park for the 13th annual Trans March remembered their history, gathering under a nostalgic mantra with the theme, Embracing Our Legacy: Chants like “Hey hey, ho ho, transphobia’s got to go” and “One, two, three four, equality’s what we’re marching for,” rang out as marchers dispersed from Dolores and paraded down Market Street, bound for the Tenderloin. On a more somber note Friday, three organizations pulled out of Sunday’s Pride Parade as grand marshals in protest of the heavy police presence planned during the annual celebration. Black Lives Matter, the Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project and St. James Infirmary are refusing to march in the parade in their honorary roles to make the point that they feel less safe, not more safe, with the added security, according to representatives of the organizations. Security has been heightened this year in response to the massacre two weeks ago of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando. The parade honoring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride will take place downtown and is expected to draw about 1 million people. “For a parade whose theme is racial and economic justice, we just feel that increasing the police presence — with indiscriminate searches and pat-downs, and undercover officers throughout the event — is really not the way to keep us all safe,” said Malkia Cyril, a Black Lives representative who identifies as queer and gender-nonconforming and had been planning to march with the group. The shadow left by the Orlando massacre, and the 50th anniversary of Gene Compton’s Cafeteria Riot at Turk and Taylor streets, an uprising of oppressed transgender women considered by many the precursor to the LGBT rights movement. Felicia Elizondo, a 69-year-old transgender woman who has lived with AIDS for 29 years, said she was at that historic event. Soon, Elizondo welcomed Supervisor Jane Kim onto the cable car, where she addressed the crowd and called for the protection of the LGBT community. Among the crowd dancing and chanting down the street were allies of the transgender community, like Laura Zucker, a 58-year-old Lafayette resident who came to the city for the march.
Protesting higher SF Pride security, 3 groups bow out of parade
Three organizations have pulled out of this weekend’s Pride Parade in San Francisco as grand marshals in protest of the heavy police presence planned during the annual celebration. Black Lives Matter, the Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project and St. James Infirmary are refusing to march in the parade in their honorary roles to make the point that they feel less safe, not more safe, with the added security, according to representatives of the organizations. “For a parade whose theme is racial and economic justice, we just feel that increasing the police presence — with indiscriminate searches and pat downs, and undercover officers throughout the event — is really not the way to keep us all safe,” said Malkia Cyril, a Black Lives spokesperson who identifies as queer and gender nonconforming and had been planning to march with the group. “ In the aftermath of the Orlando shooting that took the lives of dozens of queer, trans and gender non-conforming people of color, many people in our community are afraid,” the project’s statement said. For us, celebrating Pride this year meant choosing between the threat of homophobic vigilante violence and the threat of police violence.
Oakland official backs ban on coal handling, citing health risk
An Oakland city administrator is advising the City Council to block a controversial plan to ship coal from the Port of Oakland after a long-awaited study revealed that exposure to coal dust could damage vital organs, cause cancer and stunt childhood growth and development. Cappio’s advice appeared in a staff report made public Friday, three days before the council meets for a public hearing and vote on Tagami’s plan to ship millions of tons of coal each year through the city. “Scientific research points to potential significant public health hazards related to coal/(petroleum) coke dust,” Cappio wrote in the city’s staff report. Coal didn’t appear to be part of the plan until 2014, when Tagami’s shipping operator, Terminal Logistics Solutions, entered talks with four coal-mining counties in Utah whose leaders wanted to invest in the project — on the condition that Utah coal be shipped through Oakland. Jessica Yarnall Loarie, a staff attorney for the Sierra Club’s environmental law program, said she is optimistic that the council will follow Cappio’s recommendation.
Great white shark stalks Pacifica beach
A great white shark was spotted off Pacifica’s Linda Mar Beach this morning, according to police.
Doctors, lawmakers & MADD push for ignition-control device
Mothers and medical experts gathered at an East Bay trauma center Friday to advocate for a bill that they say could save thousands of lives and help put an end to drunken driving. The proposed legislation would require people convicted of driving under the influence to have breathalyzers installed in their vehicles to test blood alcohol content before they can turn on the ignition. Current state law leaves it up to judges to decide whether the technology should be installed in a convicted drunken driver’s car. State legislators, trauma doctors and representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving gathered at a news conference outside the John Muir Medical Center emergency department in Walnut Creek to support the legislation. The bill, SB1046, would expand on a pilot program launched in 2010 that requires drunken-driving offenders to use car breathalyzers, known as ignition interlocks, in four counties: According to data gathered by MADD, ignition interlocks have prevented nearly 150,000 attempts to drive while drunk since the pilot program began. The driver’s blood alcohol content was over twice the legal limit, MADD says.
Sale of key parcel provides hope for Transbay Transit Center
Parcel F is the last remaining site available for development of a very tall building in downtown San Francisco and one of three sites with direct connection to the Transbay Transit Center rooftop park via a planned pedestrian sky bridge. The development group — a joint venture of Hines, Urban Pacific Development and an affiliate of Goldman Sachs — plans to build a 60-story, 750-foot-tall, mixed-use tower containing office space, a luxury hotel and residential units at the top. “Our vision for Parcel F and Block 4 will create core located, transit-oriented Class A office space, hotel rooms, and a substantial supply of affordable housing in the most dense and dynamic neighborhood in San Francisco,” Hines Senior Managing Director Cameron Falconer said in a statement. In December, residential builder Crescent Heights backed out of a deal to pay $165 million for the property after concluding that it would not be economically feasible to meet the 35 percent affordable housing requirement set by the Transbay District Plan. In April, the city announced a $260 million emergency bailout of the struggling Transbay Transit Center construction project, a loan that officials say is needed to prevent work on the $2.25 billion transportation hub from shutting down this summer. “The sale of Parcel F is good news as a critical part of the interim financing solution needed to complete Phase 1 of the project,” San Francisco Controller Ben Rosenfield said.
Supes redirect $60 million before forwarding budget
The Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee Friday redirected $60 million in the mayor’s budget proposal to housing the homeless, public safety, LGBT services, programs for at-risk youth and food security needs. The growth growth reflects San Francisco’s economic rebound. Since 2011-12, the budget has grown by 41 percent. Overall, the priorities outlined in the mayor’s budget are to address homelessness, violence prevention and police reform and the reallocation largely fell in line with those goals. “This budget year was extremely challenging, given all of our dynamics on the board but I was proud to invest in the top priorities our residents expect to see and to continue to place record amounts into our budget reserves to protect against the next economic downturn,” said Supervisor Mark Farrell, who chairs the committee. Reallocated money — about $2.5 million — will also help launch Getting to Zero, a health initiative that aims to end all new HIV infections in San Francisco. “While we had formulated a very strong and innovative plan to attain those gaols, the funding to implement the plan was lacking,” Wiener said. Lee said he was happy with how the committee chose to reinvest the money, like neighborhood safety and police reform. $7 million to LGBT specific services and Getting to Zero, an initiative to get to zero new HIV infections in San Francisco
Lucas gives up on Chicago for his museum, seeks California site
George Lucas is giving up on his plans to build an immense personal museum on Chicago’s lakefront and is instead looking at sites in California, including San Francisco’s Treasure Island. The legendary filmmaker and Marin County resident first sought to build a museum to house his collection of populist, illustrative and cinematic art in the Presidio across from Crissy Field, but was turned down by the Presidio Trust in 2014. In a press release Friday morning, the board of what now is called the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art states that “Chicago will no longer be considered a potential site for the museum” and that “California will be its future home.” No cities were named, but Lucas and his staff have been in discussions with San Francisco officials for a site on Treasure Island across from the Ferry Building. The resistance to Lucas in San Francisco and in Chicago comes despite his stated intention to pay for the museum — which now has an estimated $700 million pricetag — out of his own pocket.
Your 2016 Pride Guide: how to get there and what to know
Tens of thousands of Pride Parade revelers plastered in rainbows will descend on San Francisco this weekend — but the 46th annual street celebration, coming just two weeks after a mass shooting at a gay Orlando nightclub, is expected to carry somber and vigilant dimensions alongside the usual merriment. The attack, which killed 49, has prompted new security measures at the San Francisco festival, which bills itself as the country’s largest gathering of LGBT people and allies, and whose theme this year is “racial and economic justice.” The Police Department said it will deploy 25 percent more officers, some undercover, than it usually does. […] for the first time, metal detectors will greet people at all entry points to the two-day celebration in Civic Center Plaza. The added screening steps at the Civic Center could lead to long wait times, city officials warned. Attendees who want to make the parade’s 10:30 a.m. start time will be able to hop on a BART train as early as 7 a.m. Sunday. Transit agency officials said the degree to which the early trains are used will determine whether they are deployed again in future years. Muni will also be running extra buses from the Castro, Sunset and Richmond districts, and additional buses will be at Market and 10th streets for the return home. […] while the parade, which kicks off at Market and Beale streets, just outside the Embarcadero station, is the weekend’s headliner, here are some other popular festivities: Watch the Giants take on the Colorado Rockies at 7:15 p.m. Friday with a pregame LGBT party at Seals Plaza beginning at 5 p.m. The admission package comes with a special T-shirt. The event, with tickets prices starting at $75, benefits the Positive Resource Center. Beginning at noon Saturday, plenty of music and entertainment will pour out of stages around the Civic Center, including headliners Jessica Sutta, AB Soto, JES and Shaun J. Wright.
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