San Francisco News

Controversy is roiling the waters of San Francisco’s public harbor, as city officials move to impose new rules governing use of the prime boat slips fronting the Marina Green. More >

Of all the songs written about San Francisco, one stands out, at least on Valentine’s Day: “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” of course.  More >

Catholic bishops are calling President Obama’s lifting of a policy requiring faith-based groups to provide free birth control coverage “a first step in the right direction.” Obama announced Friday that those workers will instead get their contraceptive coverage directly from their insurance companies. But Catholic leaders, including Sioux Falls Bishop Paul Swain, aren’t ready yet to embrace this change of policy.

President Obama says waiving the church-affiliated birth control mandate strikes a balance between protecting religious freedom and ensuring that women have access to free contraception. But Bishop Swain disagrees with the president’s premise.

A woman and a boy were injured Tuesday night in an explosion and fire at a home in San Francisco’s Ingleside neighborhood that was apparently caused by drug manufacturing, police said.

Firefighters responded to the explosion on the 1200 block of Capitol Avenue around 9 p.m., put out the blaze and alerted police to the apparent existence of a drug lab, said Sgt. Daryl Fong, a police spokesman.

There’s a hidden corner of the City by the Bay where rusted cranes used to build WWII battleships loom over dilapidated artist studios, where working-class fishermen bob up against first-class ocean liners docked for repair.

Residents of San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood overlook the rough-and-tumble Pier 70 waterfront and bask in the smell of fresh fish, the cacophony of fog horns and Canadian geese, the jumble of Victorian cottages tucked between corrugated barns and industrial brick icons of the late 1800s.

The $30 million do-over of the Metreon is starting to show its stuff. Beginning Saturday, a bevy of new restaurants and retail outlets will be opening at the “reimagined” mall in downtown San Francisco. More >

Officials at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco closed the Jesuit high school until Monday after more than 20 percent of students came down with stomach flu. More >

San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi is seeking visitation rights with his 2-year-old son as the domestic violence case against him continues. Mirkarimi’s attorney, Lidia Stiglich, filed a petition in family court on Monday to allow Mirkarimi to see his son and have contact with his wife to hand the child off.

Mirkarimi has been barred from seeing or speaking with his wife and son since his arrest on suspicion of domestic violence on Jan. 13.

San Francisco’s police chief and city attorney are taking a drastic and unusual step this morning — hoping to reverse a worsening drug and crime problem in the Tenderloin. The city attorney’s office has filed lawsuits against Barah Market at 200 Leavenworth Street, and Razan Deli, at 391 Ellis Street. After two years of undercover operations by the SFPD, the businesses are accused of being host businesses for illegal activities which include drug sales and the fencing of stolen goods.

San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr and City Attorney Dennis Herrera made the announcement in a news conference this morning.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said on Tuesday he would ask the local sheriff to consider taking a leave of absence, after the lawman was charged with domestic violence and another woman added fresh abuse allegations against him. The criminal case against newly elected Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi has thrown the city’s politics into turmoil.

Mirkarimi pleaded not guilty earlier this month to misdemeanor counts of domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness in an incident stemming from an argument with his wife on New Year’s Eve.