It has been another exciting week and Chris Roberts continues to report on storis that would otherwise get little to no play in the mainstream newspapers.
This will be the last report from Chris as we are closing up the Independent City Hall Reporting campaign. You'll be able to view all of Chris' reporting on the finished report soon.
What Recession? Jury Awards Pre-recession Sale Price In Hugo Hotel Eminent Domain Suit.
As real estate aficionados may know, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency has for years been trying to get its hands on the Hugo Hotel, a large, empty but somewhat-artsy former tenement building at Sixth and Howard Streets, whose owners have for decades poo-poo'd every potential buyer who ventured their way.
The owners -- the Patel family of Hillsborough, CA, who somehow managed to form an Oregon-based corporation that, legally, owns the property -- had turned down offers of $4.6 million from a private owner in 2005 and an offer of $3.25 million from Redevelopment in 2007. With every offer spurned, and nobody getting younger, Redevelopment finally filed an eminent domain lawsuit in order to demolish the Hugo and build affordable housing.
On San Bruno Ave, Massage Parlor Tolerated, Pot Club Not So Much
Recently, some medicinal cannabis folks calling themselves the "Green Goddess Collaborative" tried to open up a pot dispensary in a vacant storefront at 3015 San Bruno Avenue. They abandoned that plan after Tuesday, when about 150 people attended a neighborhood meeting and the "vast majority" vocally, vehemently opposed the addition of a pot club to their neighborhood, according to Portola Neighborhood Steering Committee chair Ling Liang.
Muni Sets Bar High For TransLink Use -- 120,000 Daily Riders By Next Year
This summer's been a summer of milestones for TransLink, the universal smart-card technology that, once fully implemented, will allow Bay Area transit riders to carry just one fare card -- just one! -- for trips involving cable cars, ferry boats, BART trains and whatever else regional transit authorities can muster.
TransLink's been available on Muni as part of its trial phase for about a year. In June, TransLink users accounted for about 4500 of Muni's 600,000-plus daily boardings; by August, that number had jumped to 7300, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's Carter Rohan.
That's a jump of nearly 57 percent, Rohan pointed out, but the MTA is nothing if not ambitious.
Final Muni Route Changes To Begin In November, Wehther Cow Hollowers Like It Or Not
There's been much ink spilled over the past year over bus route changes proposed by the Municipal Transit Agency (the beloved Transit Effectiveness Project), likewise there has been reports of organized opposition against proposed changes to the 41-Union.
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Union Streeters' concerns fell on deaf ears, as the SFMTA board approved the changes. The route changes will happen in November. (The Appeal's requested a complete list of the changes from Muni spokesperson Judson True, but has yet to receive it.)
Drugs, Family Life Conspire to Ruin Mayor's Once-Formidable Jogging Route
San Francisco's Tenderloin -- a loud, dirty disgusting rathole; a lovable, delectable urban historic district. It's all things to all people, but we have never heard it praised by jogging aficionados (though we have seen folk take off and run through the neighborhood for various reasons).
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But according to a quote from SF Chronicle scoopmeisters Matier & Ross, the TL was a favored place to jog for none other than Mayor Gavin Newsom in the heady early days of his term. Gavin stopped his runs down the likes of Larkin and Leavenworth, though, when he was advised by the Police Officers Union head to "jog somewhere else" if he didn't like the open-air drug dealing.
Legal Expert: Newsom Merely A Jerk, Not Criminal, In Leak Case
Any torch-and-pitchfork-toting progressives eager to string Mayor Gavin Newsom up from the nearest Maypole for leaking a confidential memo to the SF Chronicle last week might be sorely disappointed: Newsom abused the attorney-client relationship he has with City Attorney Dennis Herrera and puts Herrera in a difficult spot going forward, but the Mayor did not break the law by handing the memo to the media, as Peter Keane, dean emeritus of Golden Gate University's School of Law related to The Appeal on Wednesday.
Motion To Lift Bike Plan Stalling Injunction Filed
...earlier today, City Attorney (and cyclist!) Dennis Herrera's office wheeled over thousands of pages worth of bike plan-saving legalese to San Francisco Superior Court.
There, a motion to dismiss the injunction that has for three years halted the Bicycle Plan in its tracks is now in Judge Peter J. Busch's hands, upper desk drawer or wherever he keeps motions.
Posted by Spot. Us on 09/09/09
