California Beat
Insight, San Francisco »
Organizers of the 100th running of San Francisco’s zany Bay to Breaker’s race promised a toned-down and sober athletic event free of the keg-carrying floats and frat party atmosphere that plagued the annual tradition for years.
At first glance, Sunday’s event turned out calmer than in years past: fewer drunks, less public urination and a calmer crowd.
Insight »
A proposed ban on serving “shark fin soup,” long considered a delicacy in many Asian countries, is making its way through the California state capitol, but it is proving to be a difficult sell for some cultures who call the ban an assault on their culture.
The delicacy is a delicate balancing act between environmentalists view the fishing methods used to capture the shark fins as inhumane and communities who view the shark fins as important to cultural heritage.
San Francisco »
A four-alarm fire is burning inside a South of Market Area hotel at 1040 Folsom Street near Eighth Street, a fire dispatcher said.
The blaze began inside the Park Hotel at 6 p.m. and quickly engulfed the top floors of the building, witnesses said.
Political Beat »
The full text of President Obama’s remarks on the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US forces on Sunday:
Insight »
Despite the proliferation of camera-phones, the immediate uploads of TwitPics, and Facebook status updates, rarely is the public invited into celebrity weddings the way we were to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s ceremony.
With excruciating close-ups of the royal couple, networks and nearly all of the major celebrity websites provided a continuous stream of Royal Wedding related coverage. If you woke up early — 3 a.m. on the West Coast to catch the event as it happened — you were probably mesmerized by the pomp and circumstance of the event. If you didn’t bother to tune in, you’re probably wondering the same thing we are: have we gone overboard with the wedding?
Arts & Entertainment, The Bay Area »
This weekend, pure-bred Italian sports cars will take to the track in the Sonoma hills.
Every year Infineon Raceway hosts a segment of the Ferrari Challenge, an international motor racing championship comprised of races held in the United States, Italy and other European countries. It is a single-marque championship, meaning that all cars racing in the series are Ferraris.
Political Beat, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, The Bay Area »
On a 22-hour visit to the Bay Area, President Barack Obama fielded questions from Facebook employees and online viewers during an unprecendented online town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto Wednesday afternoon, then visited two San Francisco events expected to raise more than $3.9 million for Democratic campaign efforts.
These are the updates we put out during Obama’s visit.
Insight, San Francisco, Traffic & Transit »
There’s no denying that morale is down amongst MUNI drivers. Few will disagree that they have one of the hardest — yet decent paying — jobs in San Francisco.
Last week, a 24-Divisadero driver came under fire for illegally using her cell phone while behind the wheel of a bus. She was later fired by the transit agency.
San Francisco, World Series »
If you didn’t party enough last November when the San Francisco Giants brought home the city’s first World Series championship, today is your chance to live it up some more.
The reigning champs, fresh off a road trip through Los Angeles and San Diego, will greet its fans on home turf for today’s season opener at AT&T Park.
Bay Area Snapshots »
Don Edwards, Fremont
From the California Beat photography collection, Bay Area Snapshots is an occasional glimpse at daily life in the San Francisco Bay Area.
