But in July -- on the eve of a Peoples Temple expose in New West, a California magazine owned by Rupert Murdoch – a spooked Jones suddenly uprooted his flock and fled to the jungles of Guyana, far from the reach of curious reporters and government investigators.

Dave Reuben and his team in the district attorney’s office were stunned by Jones’s sudden flight. They thought the timing of his escape was suspicious, prompted not just by the imminent publication of the New West expose but also by their own investigation. Somebody in the Hall of Justice had clearly tipped off the temple. “We were ready for grand jury indictments; we were this close,” said Reuben. “And [DA] Freitas would’ve had to go along with it, because he had no other choice. The next thing I know, I get a phone call in the middle of the night. ‘Guess what, he’s gone.’ Jones is gone, and the temple is packing up and getting ready to join him. I remember, we had a meeting in the office, and we said, ‘Somebody snitched us off.’”

Continue Reading...

Reuben had been recruited by San Francisco District Attorney Joe Freitas after the DA was swept into office with progressive mayor George Moscone in 1975. Like Moscone, Freitas was a Kennedyesque Catholic politician with wavy-haired, Mediterranean good looks. Raised in a Portuguese family in the Central Valley, Freitas had served in all the stations of the liberal cross, including the National Urban League and Common Cause, before running for San Francisco DA at the age of 36. Brimming with youthful self-confidence and political ambition, the new district attorney created a special prosecutions unit, filling it with young “red hots”—as Reuben described himself and his gung-ho colleagues. Freitas promised his mod squad a free hand in going after city corruption. “He told us there were no holds barred: dirty cops, dirty politicians, payoffs,” recalled Reuben. “Joe said, ‘I don’t care who it is, you go after them.’”

Continue Reading...

Jones’s flock, ignored and scorned by society, was electrified by the preacher’s vision of a new Eden. Everybody was exalted in his services, even the lowliest recovering drunks and addicts. “He made us feel special, like something bigger than ourselves,” said one temple member. “Total equality, no rich or poor, no races,” said another. “We were alive in those services,” testified one more. “They had life, soul power.”

Continue Reading...

Shortly after that, we moved to San Francisco. Shortly after that, I was on a different shore and she was on a boat drifting farther away from me each day. Shortly after that, we stopped having sex. Words were somewhere in the absence growing between us but I couldn’t find them. My only weapon was repetition. I made us dinner. We watched "Glee." We went to yoga. Shortly after that, she told me she wanted to date men, that our relationship was over.

My ex-girlfriend now has a boyfriend and lives in Minnesota. My yoga teacher, who announced to her mom at age 8 that she was a lesbian, now exclusively dates men, and has been in a committed relationship with a man for more than a year. My straightest guy friends have all at least made out with other men, while others are now dabbling in full-on dude sex. Whatever norm you came in with, San Francisco eventually takes it and turns it right on its (uncircumcised, pierced) head. It shouldn’t have surprised me that the City wanted to have its way with me too.  Still, I was the last person who thought I’d be a lesbian who spent the next year and a half of her life sleeping with men.

Continue Reading...

You’d expect this from a paper in Salt Lake City. But San Francisco? The place famous for nurturing the Beats and the hippies, the women’s and gay rights movements? The free-spirited city-state that has always laughed at American Babbitry and fought for social justice? We deserve better than this.

Continue Reading...

Ten people have been arrested outside the bank headquarters, according to KTVU. The protesters are sitting and standing around the bank chanting "We are the 99 percent."

The protest was organized by several groups, including "Causa Justa Just Cause, Unite Here Local 2850, the California Partnership, Young Workers United and the Chinese Progressive Association." Occupy San Francisco protesters have also been camped out in front of the city's Federal Reserve Bank.

Today's demonstration has swelled to more than 200 people -- railing against "foreclosures and unemployment" -- in spite of the arrests.

Continue Reading...

It's not uncommon to read scientists' predictions about rising sea levels and the crises they could cause. But to many non-scientists, the practical consequences of such climate alterations are fuzzy. If the oceanographers cited in the Times are correct, our own American shores face a transformative alteration in the immediate future. But just how dramatic would a 14-inch sea level rise be? And how would we see its effects in our everyday lives?

Salon spoke to professor Peter Ward, author of "The Flooded Earth: Our Future in a World Without Ice Caps" (whom we've interviewed before), who explained that while a 14-inch sea level rise is frightening enough on its own, it's the specter of a resulting "storm surge" -- and the failure of many local authorities to plan effectively for the future -- that actually worries him the most.

Continue Reading...

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday named 58-year-old City Administrator Edwin Lee to fill the remainder of Gavin Newsom's term. Newsom was elected California's lieutenant governor in November and took office on Monday.

Lee was sworn in immediately following the board's vote. He will serve as interim mayor until next January, when the winner of this November's mayoral election will take over. Lee says he doesn't plan to run.

San Francisco's population of 815,000 is roughly one-third Asian. With Lee's appointment, the city is now the largest in the country with an Asian-American leader.

Continue Reading...

The California Highway Patrol halted all traffic on the upper deck of the span during Thursday's morning rush hour after the man called in threats around 7 a.m. The patrol told the Contra Costa Times that he reported having a gun and a pipe bomb.

Authorities have not discussed a motive.

Footage from television news helicopters showed the suspect being taken into custody after an hourlong standoff.

The patrol reopened some westbound lanes shortly after 8 a.m. Eastbound lanes on the lower desk remained open during the incident.

An average of 280,000 motorists use Northern California's busiest bridge each day.

Continue Reading...

The California Highway Patrol says it halted westbound traffic during the morning rush hour Thursday after the man reported having a gun. The patrol tells the Contra Costa Times that he also reported having a pipe bomb.

Footage from television news helicopters shows a man standing outside his SUV near the railing of the bridge while on a cell phone.

Authorities have not discussed a motive.

Eastbound lanes on the lower deck of the span remain open.

An average of 280,000 motorists use the iconic bridge each day.

Continue Reading...

Revelers were seen jumping on cars, rocking buses and tossing toilet paper Monday night after the Giants captured their first World Series title since they moved from New York more than a half century ago.

Video from KTVU-TV showed crowds swarming and attacking the occupants of a car in the city's Mission District before police intervened. A window at the Dugout Store at AT&T Park was also broken, and several fires were started nearby.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom says the vast majority of people celebrated peacefully and police did a good job of keeping order.

Continue Reading...

As the final out of the 3-1 win was recorded, the thousands watching on a big-screen TV at San Francisco's Civic Center plaza leapt for joy as City Hall glowed bright orange in the background.

"I have a permanent smile on my face," said Valerie Nicklas of Berkeley, who partied at another large street gathering near the Giants' AT&T Park. "This makes all the years of suffering worth it."

Fans waving Giants flags and rally towels danced in the downtown streets near the Civic Center as car horns blared. A lone accordion player played a tune as fans swirled around him. Others surrounded a drum corps as it pounded out a rhythm.

Amy Anderson Giugliano shot a bottle of champagne into the air, dousing those nearby.

"I never thought this would happen!" the 42-year-old from San Carlos said. "I'm going to celebrate all night!"

The club last won the Series in 1954 when they were the New York Giants. They moved west four years later, but suffered World Series losses in 1962, 1989 and 2002.

Continue Reading...

Sen. Leland Yee says he was briefed Friday morning by the California Emergency Management Agency. California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado said at a news conference at least four people were killed and more injured.

Thursday night's explosion was heard for miles and shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet in the air and sent frightened residents fleeing for safety and rushing to get belongings out of burning homes. Authorities have said there could be other casualties but the fire and darkness blocked them from checking.

Continue Reading...

Thursday night's explosion was heard for miles and shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet in the air and sent frightened residents fleeing for safety and rushing to get belongings out of burning homes, witnesses said.

Utility officials said a gas line ruptured in the vicinity of the blast, which left a giant crater and sent flames tearing across several suburban blocks in San Bruno just after 6 p.m.

At least one person was confirmed dead, San Bruno Fire Chief Dennis Haag said. At least 20 others were injured, some with critical burns.

Authorities said there could be other casualties but the fire and darkness blocked them from checking.

"It's going to take us until at least until tomorrow into the afternoon to do a full search," Haag said late Thursday.

Resident Connie Bushman returned home to find her block was on fire. She said she ran into her house looking for her 80-year-old father but could not find him. A firefighter told her he had left, but she had not been able to track him down.

Continue Reading...

The threat rattled nerves in San Francisco and beyond and marked the latest in a series of airline scares in the past year.

American Airlines Flight 24 was grounded at San Francisco International airport at about 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Passengers were removed from the plane and taken by buses to a terminal where they were sent through security again.

Passenger Michael Kidd told The Associated Press that he saw uniformed police officers handcuffing a young man and a young woman sitting in the back row.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the threat call originated from a hotel in nearby Alameda to the city's police department Thursday, and officials there quickly notified federal authorities. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to release the information.

Another person close to the investigation says it was a hijack threat. Details about the call were not immediately clear.

Continue Reading...

The $955,000 pilot program is scheduled to begin in January. Police Chief George Gascon says the department will train 15 civilians to interview victims and witnesses, write reports, take crime scene photos and collect fingerprint and DNA evidence.

They will only be dispatched to nonviolent crime scenes such as burglaries.

Gascon says the civilians will cost less money than uniformed officers. They are also expected to free up officers to investigate crimes in progress and dangerous offenders.

But the police union says the plan is misguided.

Gary Delagnes, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, says evidence collected by civilians might not stand up in court.

------

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle

Continue Reading...

West Hollywood, Calif. had done it, with little fanfare. Why not the city of St. Francis, patron saint of animals, which prides itself on its compassion toward all creatures great and small?

So Gerrie, a bee keeper and secretary of the San Francisco Commission of Animal Control & Welfare, a seven-member advisory board on animal issues to the city's lawmakers, decided to suggest adding the idea to the commission's agenda.

"Then we came across the idea of adding small animals as well," Gerrie recalled, "since all these animals are being euthanized" by animal shelters.

The proposed ban on puppy and kitten mills became a proposed ban on the sale of just about every animal that might end up in a shelter: gerbils, guinea pigs, birds, hamsters, turtles, snakes, rats. Sales of rabbits and chicks are already banned in the city.

The idea came back to bite the commission. It led to the panel's biggest, longest monthly meeting in recent memory, not to mention blogger fodder around the world.

Continue Reading...

Continue Reading...

The term "evil powers" is one you hear only in the church, or in Marvel comic books, or Republican speeches, and it isn't something I renounce every day. I am a romantic democrat, raised on William Saroyan and Pete Seeger and Preston Sturges, and we have faith in the decency of the little guy, and we believe you can depend on the kindness of strangers. But it ain't necessarily so.

Evil lurks in the heart of man, and anonymity tends to bring it out. Internet flamers would never say the jagged things they do if they had to sign their names. Road rage is anonymous; there is no equivalent pedestrian rage or bicyclist rage. (Have you ever yelled vile profanities at a fellow motorist -- a spontaneous outburst -- and then found that you're holding a cellphone in your hand and a female colleague is on the other end? I have and it is excruciating.) War requires very well-brought-up people to do vicious things that they are able to do efficiently because the recipients of their viciousness are unknown to them. The bombardier never sees the quiet shady street of brick houses that he is about to incinerate.

Continue Reading...

Just last month, Pier 39, famous in San Francisco for its sea lions and the throngs of tourists they attract, was groaning under the weight of more than 1,500 of the animals. The record number delighted tourists and baffled experts.

Marine experts suspect the sea lions came and stayed for the food, then left largely for the same reason.

"Most likely, they left chasing a food source," said Jeff Boehm, executive director of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, which runs an information center and gift shop at Pier 39. "It's probably what kept them here in the first place."

The animals began leaving in droves the day after Thanksgiving, almost as if someone had issued an order. But Boehm said the fact that so many sea lions stayed for so long is even stranger than their disappearance.

"They do move off," Boehm said, adding that in the fall, older sea lions head to breeding colonies in the Channel Islands, off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel. Younger sea lions, he said, "don't mind those rules and tend to travel far and wide."

Continue Reading...