Last week, one of San Francisco’s favorite unofficial “holidays” took place. Yup, 4/20. On this day, Hippie Hill off of Haight and Stanyan streets is the place to be. Whether you choose to participate in the festivities or not, it’s still a site to see, and a fun place to be on this famous day.

How did 420 get so famous? I’ve heard many theories, ranging from it being Hitler’s birthday to it being the police code for marijuana smoking. I decided to do a little research of my own to figure out where such an event initially came from.

Wikipedia, The Huffington Post, and Urban Dictionary all tell similar stories of the origin. The term was coined by a group of high school students in the early 1970s. The group of students, known by their nickname The Waldos, were looking for an abandoned pot crop and would meet up at 4:20 everyday after school to go search. They never found it, but the term 420 stuck with the group as a code way of alluding to smoking.

No one is clear on how this term spread so quickly, but one of The Waldos had a connection to the Grateful Dead, and theory has it that he must’ve used the term around them and then they spread it through their fans across the United States.

After hearing the term, the popular cannabis magazine High Times gave it worldwide publicity.

Now, every year on April 20th (especially at 4:20 in the afternoon), people across the nation are celebrating by getting stoned. University California, Santa Cruz, and University of Colorado at Boulder are known for holding the biggest 420 celebrations.


Hippie Hill, April 20th, 2010.

Wrapping up in the Sunset

For my final paper I plan on writing about ZooMobile Outreach, which is a program at the SF Zoo that busses animals to schools for educational hands-on demonstrations in the bay area. I've e-mailed their contact rep, and it sounds like an cool story so all I can say is that I hope it works out. Some of the programs for older kids actually sound really cool, if I had to pick one to come to the class it would definitely be "The Evolving Reptile:

Reptiles have been on the earth for hundreds of millions of years. Two hundred and thirty million years ago, there were 20 distinct orders of these scaly creatures. Now, there are only four. Learn how these survivors make their way in the modern world."

Lizards are awesome! Browse more programs @ ZooMobile

When I first went to the Sunset I thought this class was going to be a nightmare because all I saw were houses. Obviously, I wasn't looking close enough, because over the class I've been able to meet with and talk to some genuinely awesome people and write about things that are not only somewhat interesting to me, but relevant to the community.

After this class I feel like I've really gained the confidence in my ability to go out and find a story, interview sources effectively, and write it up in a way that is clear and adheres to AP style. I just think that I have to work on developing my own distinct voice in my writing style over the coming days (months, years...).

This semester flew by me like I never imagined it would have. This class coming to an end is more bittersweet for me than any other, since I have sincerely enjoyed the time I spent covering events in my neighborhood. Definitely one of if not the most enjoyable classes in the journalism dept.

These next few weeks are going to be a blast, and then I'm going to see to it that I have the best summer ever. Who's with me?

Castro Nightlife

This weekend I hit the bars in order to investigate the man to women ratio in the Castro. I asked my boyfriend Carl to come along hoping he would make it easier to break the ice. I’m not so sure if this was a wise decision or fatal mistake. On one hand Carl was able to attract attention from a variety of bar hoppers. On the other hand however, none of them were the least bit interested in talking to me. Carl introduced me to several men who completely ignored the fact that he was straight and that his girlfriend was standing two feet away. I couldn’t believe how aggressive some of the guys were being. Not that I was threatened in any way but come can’t you see he’s not interested? Nevertheless, we had a great time and ended up getting free drinks and making some good connections. Although Carl was a good sport, I don’t think we’ll make it a point to party in the Castro every weekend.

Pondering for my final story...

I know the biggest challenge I've had covering the Excelsior District is the separation between residents whose families have been living there for generations and the newer waves of immigrants. These "Natives" want to convince themselves that the district should stay the way it was when their parents or grandparents first came to that part of San Francisco. In reality, these people whom where once the majority, have become the minority among the bigger population of Latinos and Asians.

The problem here is that there is no communication between either parts. Though the Excelsior District Improvement Association wants to improve the Excelsior, they are not really putting the effort to include the bigger population, which are Latinos and Asians.

This creates tention among the residents. Gang violence is an issue in the Excelsior and these people have become very territorial. That is going to be my biggest challenge. I want to explore both sides, the older generation and the newer generation and see why there is such a greater separation between the two.

Final Feature

I can't believe it's already time.

I had been following the Omnicircus director, hoping it would turn into something. This man seemed so intelligent, so sure of himself. How could this charisma and education lead me to an end? When I cant fact check... His credible sources all had reasons for never contacting them. "Oh, so and so is running for political office" he'd explain. "But they will respond to emails." Emails so vague, and coming to my inbox weeks after being sent out. I suppose who am I to ask these questions and deserve an answer? If I were more dedicated I could hop on BART to their offices. But I'm too afraid to hear what I already know. Knew. Now know but deep down knew. His falsity.

My crime story fell short of what I had hoped. I wanted some huge connection to the victim, but of course hit a dead end. I suppose I care too much. I can't make something happen when it isn't already there. As much as I want to. Sometimes my perceptions of reality are a bit misguided. Maybe I just don't want to believe people are really bad. I want every aggressor for crimes to have been seriously victimized by our society and have no choice but to turn to crime. I couldn't find much about the aggressor in this story. Neither could the police. I think because Henderson once served jail time, and his ethnicity, police seem to not care. He has no gang ties, but thats where SFPD has looked into. They used the descriptions to apprehend men in Bayview... that makes little sense to me. The SOMA district has such little gang activity anyways. How can I help? Why can't my story advocate raising funds to avenge the death of a soon to be father? Or show why our police aren't trusted by the majority of residents. Because when crimes happen little is resolved. I need to find the names of the other two men. Or just focus on something new...

MORE RESEARCH FOR BETTER STORIES>>>>

It's almost over

I kind of don't want this class to end. After this class I only have 9 units before having a Journalism degree. I feel unprepared now but I am pretty confident that I have a good department to turn to if I ever need help finding my next step. I have really enjoyed myself and have learned so much. This semester I feel like I really got to play with soft leads which was really exciting. I felt like I could let my creative side go. In News Writing I was really rigid with just trying to get the facts down and keeping good structure, but now I can play!
Speaking of soft leads....
My Crime Story was about women in law enforcement, but no women in law enforcement had the time to speak with me. I found great articles about Penny Harrington, the first female police chief in the U.S (she was appointed in 1985...what?! Why so late?!) so I began with her story. Captain Ann Mannix and I talked about the subject, but I definitely wanted more. I tried to contact various people but cops are really hard to get a hold of. Worse, Mannix called me minutes before the class started. I was really thinking, "Could I just stick in her quotes here and there?" I decided against it. But I did feel like it was more of a research paper than an article.
I found some great studies on the subject though!
My final paper will be about the drag show at Marlena's in Hayes Valley. I haven't decided on specifics, after I go on Saturday night I will know for sure what my angle will be. I want to do this story justice, not only for a grade but because from what I heard the shows are a blast!

Figuring out crime in the Excelsior District

I had heard that most of the crime committed in the Excelsior District happens during the weekend so I decided to check it out for myself. I found nothing. I walked down Mission Street and even talked to some people on the street, but no one really gave me any feed back. I figured the least I can do is research statistics since I wasn't having much luck talking with people. The Ingleside Police Station was a drag, I'm surprised the captain added me on his email list at fast as he did. I tried going in there and talking to them. I know I'm not the most intimidating person on earth and my shyness gets the best of me at times, so I tried calling as well, that why they wouldn't go based on my appearance. That also didn't work.

Thank god the crime stories were due on Wednesday because I got the best insight from residents and merchants on Monday and Tuesday. There were more people on the street, willing to talk to me. What I noticed is that I tried looking up and asking for certain crime reports and the police station and they were not able to find any information. Now I don't know if because they were lazy or because there really wasn't much there.

Even though I didn't receive any help from the cops, I got plenty of information from business owners, residents, and workers in the Excelsior District.

Confusion or Colusion?

I have hit a bureaucratic brick wall with my crime story. My troubles, however, did not come from obstinate officers as I had anticipated.

I went down to the Northern police station expecting serious opposition from the people behind the counter. To my surprise, the receptionist was extremely helpful and kind. She was more than willing to search the police database for reports despite my relative lack of specific details. I suppose the station the covers the Marina, Pac Heights and North Beach isn’t the worst spot in the city to work.

Where I ran into trouble is when I found out that how the officers had compiled the repot for my incident. Instead of using one incident number to compile the entirety of the burglary ring I am covering, the police filed separate reports for each of the different locations burglarized by the ring. This means that there are 95 separate incident reports for my crime story. The simple logistics of acquiring, let alone reading, these reports makes them completely outside of my reach for this story.

I’ve been wondering about the lack of follow up on this story by local papers. Initial reports lacked any real numbers about how many places were burglarized and how much money all of the stolen items were worth. I figured these stories would happen because the sheer volume of stuff would make the final numbers newsworthy.

I now understand why no one has followed through on this story. It just isn’t important enough to be worth the time needed to put it all together. I can’t decide whether this was a deliberate tactic by the police. It’s not exactly a flattering story for them to have a woman burglarize at least 95 places in their district.
Making the logistics so difficult to overcome keeps this story off the pages and the ridicule off their work.

Broadway & Kearny crime map

View crime Broadway & Kearny in a larger map

Unlawful attempts to purchase apple chips!

Finding a crime story that doesn’t suck has been a daunting task. At first I was just going to pull some crime that happened somewhere in the Mission from the crime reports I get almost daily from the station and write a story on it, but I decided that was lame.
Then I was going to do a profile on some organization in the community that helps prevent crime in some way: wasn’t happening.
So, I’m settling on writing about a drug sting that happened on 16th and Mission yesterday. To me, it’s interesting because the cops targeted drug buyers instead of drug dealers, and instead of selling them crack, they sold them pieces of apple chips.
I’m pretty interested in this story because, for one, I want to know why the cops are wasting time and money trying to arrest crackheads instead of drug dealers. It doesn’t make sense that they are wasting money trying to arrest drug addicts when the city is straight broke. What’s the point?
Also, I want to know what they can actually arrest the crackheads for, considering all they really bought was a piece of apple. I know they thought they were buying crack, but they didn’t buy crack, so what do you charge them with? Possession of an unlawful apple?
It’s all weird to me and I hope to get to the bottom of it.
On a cooler note…Every time I go to Dolores park I hang out by this awesome ledge that I wish I was good enough to skate. It’s super perfect for someone good enough, but that aint me. I’m always totally bummed that I never see any pros skating it and I kind of gave up hope that I ever would.
Then I found this video of Brian Anderson, one of my all time favorite skaters, skating the Dolores park ledge! How groovy.
I didn’t get to see anything in person, but at least this lets me know it’s very likely that I could see someone like Brian Anderson skating there one day. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Everyone have a splendid weekend. See you next week.

I'll Figure it Out...I will

I thought I had a handle on this story. I mean how hard can a straightforward, fact based story be? I thought I’d call a couple of people and go to the police station, talk to a few cops, maybe sit in on a court case or two and take a couple of notes, turn it in and be done. Sigh how I get so ahead of my self?

It’s only Friday but I know how life takes me away from my studies so I knew I was going to get a head start, but I think I’ve backtracked in some instances.
Yesterday I went ahead a went to the police station anyway even though I had decided to do a profile instead because I was in the neighborhood and I might as well just do it. It was nothing like I thought. I wanted to see people being booked and charged with crimes, a couple of mug shots being taken, I thought something interesting would happen as I was there. You know that scene in the Hangover where the main characters had gotten arrested and were all sitting on the bench looking like they had just gone though hell, yea I expected to see something like that so I could take pictures of all the drunks and prostitutes. Only if… But it was a regular Thursday afternoon as side from the blue suits and badges I didn’t witness anything exciting.
I got bored and left. I used to work at the courthouse next to the jail and police station and I’ve witnessed more interesting things after someone has beaten a parking ticket case. Golly I’m mean this is OAKLAND!

But A couple of things arose from this firstly what kind of person must I be to really want to see bad shit happen in front of me/ what type of stereotyping am I playing into because I could picture clearly the black man I wanted to see/ and what does this mean for Oakland?

What I mean by that is, in the media Oakland is the worst place you can possibly be in the Bay Area, (maybe Richmond is worst now?) we hear about shootings, rapes, murders in the 1st and 3rd, kidnappings but as I strolled into the eerily empty police station I could figure out why what I have been showed about Oakland’s society is not what I’m seeing now. This prompted a series of other questions which came down to me doing a hell of a lot of research, and finding out that in Oakland crime is down 34 percent to put it simply, so why isn’t this news?

My initial plan had failed (like they often do) but I found another one. In the middle of robberies, murders, rapes ect. Something is changing. And although I don’t think I can really find the source in a couple of days, I think I can alter the image of Oakland a little even just to the students in this class and that is what I want to do for the crime story, Answer the question: Why is crime down in Oakland? What changed? And is this the result of people or do others just not feel like shooting any more?

My overall problem now shifted to how do I write a profile of cities’ changes verses a person who is changing the city?

Berkeley Crime Map for April 14, 2010

I'v been recording the Daily crime reports from the Berkeley Police Department's e-list serve for daily crimes and i though this Vandalism was pretty interesting because it covers the case of an artist drawing murals on a building that has been closed for over 10 years. I asked the police department for more information on this and they said "get the public records" but this case is still under investigation... hmm! Lets see what else i can find, I don't want to be too stubborn about this case but was very angry that the cop was not so nice. I hate to be carry such a cruel sexist mentality but for some reason female cops tend to be less nice than male cops in my personal encounters, i wonder if its because they feel more pressure on the job to be masculine and perhaps femininity is considered being too "nice"? That would be a story i'd like to cover!




View Berkeley Crime Map in a larger map

Life and stuff

View Mission District Crime Map in a larger map
Up until about a week ago I was under the impression that crack went out with the Reebok pump—I stand corrected. I grew up in the deep east bay where everyone is a tweaker. For those who aren’t in the know, that means that everyone and their mother smokes methamphetamine—often with their mothers. So I was fairly shocked to see how many crack related arrests the Mission police station boasts.
From the arrest reports I’ve gotten it’s easy to see that crack is alive and well in the Mish. Ironically, the corner of 16th and Mission, where the open mic I did my profile on is held, has the highest instances of drug arrests, mostly for possession or sale of crack. This creates a shitty situation considering how cool the open mic is and how much crackheads suck.
There’s a lot of domestic violence in the area as well, including one incident from which the arrest report reads, “Officers arrested a man who they encountered savagely beating his wife.” Whatever happened to morals and values and all that good stuff your momma taught you? I guess the future of California is bleak when Conan the Barbarian calls the shots…That doesn’t have anything to do with anything I’ve said or anything in particular, I just wanted to throw that out there…That fool was on the cover of High Times too, and that doesn’t even make him cool.
I’ve had a really shitty day and it makes me want to fill my blog with everything on my mind. However, this is neither the time nor place for such rambling. So let’s talk about something pertinent.
The two ideas I have for my crime story are equally boring to me, but crime stories bore me in general…Besides the ones written by criminals about how they fucked the system; I relate, my life is a constant struggle to stick it to the man.
At this point I’m leaning more toward the lady who jacked a bank for a grand with nothing but a piece of paper with a couple words scribbled on it. Maybe that appeals to my literary obsession, or maybe I know that nobody cares about some dude getting arrested for selling coke in the city. Either way, I hope my crime story doesn’t suck.
These Google maps are the coolest thing since Google Earth let you spy on your ex-girlfriend. I think I’ll make one to tell the world where the best burritos in the Mission can be found. The world needs to know! I want a burrito right now, but I think I’m gonna have to skip that and keep it movin toward Irish Car-bombs and Long Island Iced Teas: it’s just one of those days.
It blew my mind when Yvonne said there are only three weeks left in the semester today. Time flies when you’re stressed beyond comparison. I’ve learned a lot at SFSU, the most meaningful being that I have a voice of my own.
I feel like I’ve finally learned how to write some shit that matters without sounding stilted or lame. I’ve always known that I could express myself better through prose than through the monotone voice I was cursed with, but now I feel like I can do so without sounding like a square.
I love writing and I love learning; progression is the essence of life.
This blog has little to do with class and lots to do with the type of day I’ve had. But if you can’t blow off steam in a blog, where can you? Thanks for listening.
Note: This was written yesterday. Irish Car-bombs and Long Island Ice Teas are not friendly the next day. Stay up.

Crimes in Western Addition

When I downloaded the map for the Western Addition, I found out there were assualts and auto thefts. I didn"t find any breaking news in crime and I was having a hard time to deceide on how to write my crime story. So, I thought about it and I want to focus on the crime stats in the Western Addition. I"m going to interview people this week and I"m going to research more about the crimes in the Fillmore and Japantown.
View Western Addition in a larger map'>http://
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View Western Addition in a larger map'>http://

Crime in the 'set

View Sunset district crime map - March 2010 in a larger map

Legend for the map:
Green - - car crimes
Blue - - crimes involving money or theft
Pink - - violent crimes
Red - - crimes I want to look into
Yellow - - all others

When I first looked at crime in the Sunset I wasn't very surprised at all. I saw car crimes. Car thefts, burglaries from motor vehicles and homes, as well as some pickpockets and assaults. I had access to and looked mostly at the residential neighborhoods of the outer Sunset for the month of March, but can't find anything earlier than that. I eventually found a couple crimes that sparked my interest and made me think they would make for great stories, if the investigation turned out.

One of the crimes was an alleged arson committed at Lincoln High School by a student. Another was a bank robbery that occurred on Noriega St. where two suspects supposedly held up the bank with a gun and then fled. Not sure which bank, but it would be cool if it led to something.

I definitely was not looking forward to this assignment at first, but I think it's because I was taking the wrong approach to it. Maybe focusing in on just the facts will make this assignment less ambiguous and up in the air for me than more of a profile approach. I guess I'll find out.

View Bayview Hunters Point Crime Map in a larger map

This is a representation of all the crime in my hood. The fish and hook represents drug offenses, the volcano/lava represents aggravated assault and the wrenches represent vandalism. After a considerable amount of time working on this google map, i've come to realize that there's a lot of crime in Bayview! There's a lot of crime everywhere, but I especially thought there was a lot of crime since i spent so much time staring at the police crime map and trying to match the crimes to their exact location on my map. VERY TIME CONSUMING!

Crime Map of Sunset

View Crime Map of Sunset District in a larger map

Crime

I want to be honest in this blog and admit that I have been dreading this assignment all semester. It took all the energy I had on Saturday to drag myself to the Castro to start investigating. I complained to myself the entire time. After visiting the wrong police station, dealing with difficult police officers and sacrificing one whole afternoon, I was anxious to finally go home.

Driving far way from the Castro, I smiled to myself knowing I was done with my research for the day. However, the closer I drove to home, the more I began to realize that my perception on the assignment was a crime. All of my whining and anxiety toward the story made me feel like a child. By the time I arrived home I came to the conclusion that I should be grateful to have the opportunity to improve my journalistic skills and report on I really interesting district.

Growing up my mom always said, “instead of saying I have to, say, I get to.” I know having this disposition will only improve my experience and the story.

Tomorrow I am heading to the Castro with the attitude of a journalist, instead of a spoiled brat.



View Castro District in a larger map

Hayes Valley Crime Map

View Hayes Valley Crime Statistics in a larger map

Hayes Valley Crime Map

View Hayes Valley Crime Statistics in a larger map

Google Map: Richmond district

View Richmond district crime map in a larger map

Hayes Valley Crime and Other Topics

Last Thursday, I attended the Northern Police Station Community meeting. I arrived 15 minutes early in an attempt to talk to some residents to get their perspectives on the crime scene in Hayes Valley. I arrived to a completely empty bland white room and I thought that maybe I had gotten the day or time wrong. Unfortunately, the meeting attendance came to a grand total of 3 people. Captain Ann Mannix, a delightful (though insanely talkative) woman named Sheila, and I discussed crime in the Northern district for about an hour. They seemed to be more interested in my education at SFSU than crime that wasn't taking place in Hayes Valley. Eventually I got to a couple of subjects that would be of some interest. Captain Mannix talked to me about the process of car theft in Hayes Valley, as well as opportunist crimes. I had noticed that car theft was one of the most prevalent crimes, and although not as exciting as I hoped my crime story would be, the story would certainly be informative.

Another interesting question that Captain Mannix brought to my attention: where are the women in law enforcement? I really hated it when she brought this to my attention because this story would obviously be of interest to me. I swear, I didn't even bring it up! There are to female Captains who are in the Hayes Valley area, and this is somewhat unique. Mannix explained to me that although women account for 51 percent of the population, they make up less than 20 percent of the police department. I already have gotten some amazing quotes from her regarding this topic and why more women in law enforcement are needed. However, I'm unsure that this is really a crime story, which is slightly disheartening. If I am unable to do this story as a crime story I intend to do it anyways!

One more side note.

This has now happened to me 5 times this semester. I am in the groove of the news gathering process, trying to talk to people about crime and getting the feel of the neighborhood. I'm at Patricia's Green and I start up this conversation with this young man. I tell him what I'm doing and start asking him questions about crime and how often he's in the neighborhood. Then he says "You have pretty hair." Oh God---I thought. Here we go. I try to keep this discussion as professional as I can, explaining again I'm just trying to get information for my story. "I like your bag, my sister makes bags like that. You should give me your number so I can get you one." Really? When did this conversation get all personal? So I say no, and this guy keeps heckling me for my number. I am not talking to you to be flirtatious or coy, I really am just trying to get my work done. Impossible, this man thinks, he is much too attractive and witty with his seduction involving his sister's bags. But I have found that one line always works. "Sorry, that's conflict of interest."

Crime Mapping for Downtown Oakland.

View Downtown Oakland Crimes 2010 in a larger map

Grand Theft Nada

View Crime Map in a larger map

As expected, crime in the Marina was pretty mundane. I had to expand my search criteria multiple times to have enough waypoints to make my map worthwhile. I eventually settled on a 30 span of time that gave me a serviceable number crimes.

I only found two crimes that involved any sort of danger to the victims. There was one assault with a deadly weapon and on robbery at gunpoint. Otherwise, it was just a boring list of petty and grand larcenies. I know that it's great for the people of the Marina that violent crimes don't really happen there, but it makes a crime map a bit dull.

There's even an area of about 5 square blocks in the residential area that didn't see a reported crime in the last 30 days. That's amazing in a big city like San Francisco. Most of the crime was centered around Chestnut street, which is the commercial center that sees the most foot traffic of any street.

It says a lot about a neighborhood and the affluence of its residents that there even exists a crime called "Grand Theft Pickpocket."

Crime In the Excelsior District.

I was finally able to get on the Ingleside Police Station email list and started doing my crime map. At first, I thought I was going to have trouble located the crime sports that only fell in the Excelsior District. Luckily their reports are really easy to read and doing my crime map wasn't much of a hassle.

What I noticed about the crime reports for my district is that most of the crimes reported are assault. They also range from just minor assaults to assaults with weapons. As I kept reading, I started to get a little scared because some of the streets where there were crimes committed, I had just been in a couple days ago. I kind of didn't like reading the reports because now I feel I have to be extra careful when I'm walking in the Excelsior. It is good to know what kind of crime often happens in the district and what kind of people are targeted. I had both crime reports with little information and reports with detailed information. I can say it was fairly even and the detailed crime reports did help me get a sense of what kind of crime happens in the Excelsior District.

As for my crime story, I'm debating between stories. I want to pick a story that has enough information or at least a story I can access information. We'll see how it goes...

View San Francisco's Excelsior District in a larger map

Procrastinator... Part deaux

This is a terrible idea. Maybe I'm a going insane. I'm trying the same tactics over and over and expecting different results. I need a calendar so I can micromanage my time. If I don't stick to a plan I don't get anything accomplished...

ANYWHO!

Crimes in the SOMA are definitely not hard to find. The majority being close to Market street and Sixth Street.

View SOMA Crime Map in a larger map

My crime story has barely began to form, but time management will solve my problems.

And now I hear the voice of reason... Too late.

Vehicle crime in the heights

View Vandalism and Theft from vehicles in Bernal Heights in a larger map

I'm particularly interested in writing a story about the great number of theft involving vehicles in Bernal Heights. In all the reports that I've been receiving from the Ingleside Police Station they have been warning against vehicular thefts.

The last one had a Captain's message that said:
"Prevent Your Car from Being Stolen

After reading numerous reports on stolen and recovered cars, there are a
few common traits:
· Most of the stolen cars are 1990's Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans.
· The criminals are using a type of "master key."
· The theft takes less than a couple minutes.
· The method is commonly known throughout the criminal community.

So how do you prevent your car from being targeted for theft? The cheapest
method is to use a steering locking device, commonly seen as a red, metal
bar. An alarm system can be pricey, but effective. Ingleside Station
officers have made several stolen auto and auto tampering arrests, but the
impact has been minimal. Until we are able to arrest every auto thief,
prevention is the best alternative."

And in another e-mail:
"We have seen a rise in the numbers of incidents of thefts from vehicles in the Bernal Heights area. You can prevent yourself from being a victim of this crime by removing all valuables from your vehicle while parked. Just putting the items in the glove box or center console will not dissuade the criminals. iPod charging cords left out and suction cup rings on your windshield will entice a criminal to break into your car to steal your small electronics and other items of value."

A Crime Issue So Uniquely Nob Hill

View Nob Hill Crime Map in a larger map

The above crime map illustrates the recent crimes of note in the Central Police District of San Francisco that includes (but is not limited to) Nob Hill in the last two weeks.

As the graphic clearly illustrates, Nob Hill itself is clearly lacking in the crime department. This is not to say that there is no crime whatsoever in the area: SFPD CrimeMaps showed lots of little crime dots coloring the region. However, most of these are parking citations and misdemeanor offenses. The crimes noted are those that Central District Captain Anna Brown felt the fine citizens of the district needed to know about for one reason or another. The issue, again, is a lack of crime within the neighborhood boundaries and the apparent prevalence of general safety along Nob Hill's posh avenues.

I was able to find one recent story: Officers responded to a tip that the University Club, a members-only establishment across from the Fairmont Hotel that holds various events and functions, was serving alcohol to non-members. This prompted a sting, wherein plainclothes officers infiltrated a Harvard graduates mixer - fake name tags and all. One officer was served a glass of wine, which was all it took for the club to get its liquor license suspended temporarily.

The San Francisco Chronicle called this story "unusual." I find it even more unusual that, while Russian Hill and Polk Street grapple with rising street prostitution and associated complications spurned by crime migration north from the Tenderloin, Nob Hill still remains fairly insulated for one reason or another. The biggest crime story marring the neighborhood's sterling reputation comes down to a glass of wine at an ivy league mixer. That, plus dogs off leash pooping in Huntington Park... choices, choices...

Through all of my time in the area, I have noticed that Nob Hill residents, businesses, representatives, fanatics, and so on are so vehement in defending the aforementioned reputation of their neighborhood that they are effective in preserving it. Neighborhood standards are very high. At the meeting I covered, one could feel the sharpness in various residents' words as they declared live music would bring porn and fast food to San Francisco's affluent crest. One real estate agent I spoke with went as far to assert that Nob Hill benefits from better security and police responsiveness because residents contribute more to government coffers (which is a theory I don't really buy, but felt was worth mentioning). For whatever reason, I have to give credit to the neighborhood for committing to a design, an ideal, and a certain snobbery that so uniquely defines Nob Hill. They have attained as close to neighborhood nirvana as one will ever see in a city such as this. Hats off.

View Crime in Haight/Ashbury (March 2010) in a larger map

When I looked at the Haight/Ashbury district crime map for the month of March, I wasn’t too surprised by one of the results. Purple dots, meaning narcotic related crimes, littered the street of Haight.

I was surprised to find, however, that there weren’t more of some other crimes. The way that some people are advocating for the passing of the sit/lie law, I would have thought there’d be a ton more assault crimes. However, the map showed only three in the past month. There were more vandalism crimes than assault crimes.

I also thought that there would be more vandalism crime, but I assume that most of vandals probably get away with their vandalism.

Other than the high amount of narcotic crime and the low amount of assault, the rest of the map seemed pretty average for a San Francisco neighborhood.

There were four burglaries, and multiple car thefts in parts of the neighborhood off of the main street (mostly on Waller Street). I also noticed that most of the narcotic and larceny crime was situated between the entrance to Golden Gate Park and the corner of Haight & Clayton.

There was only one robbery at the intersection of Schrader & Carl.

Poetry and stuff

So, my biggest fear right now is that my profile story is going to lead to police presence on the corner of 16^th and Mission. I emailed a representative from BART and asked about their stance on the corner poetry slam. I expected they knew about it, after their response I’m sure they didn’t.

The lady who answered my questions, Luna Salaver, responded to like 10 inquiries about different things with the same answer: if they’re on BART property they need a permit. If they don’t have one it’s illegal for them to be there.

She seemed pretty annoyed that the open mic was happening there, and even more annoyed that I thought it was an awesome idea that BART would be cool with.

I’m gonna be there tonight and I hope that nobody comes and tries to break it up –I don’t run fast.

But at least I’m happy with my profile! I’m glad it’s finally done, even though I’m doing a whole different, gigantic, story on the corner for another class.

I’ve gotten into poetry a lot more since I started hitting up the corner; I’m also finding grimy bars on 16^th that appeal to me endlessly.

I’ve met the vast majority of the poets who are on the corner every week. I definitely want to do a profile on this dude Pat Dale—the guy with the poem about Charles Bronson’s face—he’s totally intriguing to me.

The guy I used as the main source for my profile, Charlie Getter, is also super kick ass.

His story is awesome: he came to the city to write a novel, it sucked. He wrote another, it sucked. A hot girl used to walk by his apartment window so he started writing poems to read to her.

He fell in love with poetry and ended up on the corner, where he has been since. I’m going to try and post a video of him reading a poem on the corner, but blogger usually hates on me anytime I try to do something cool like that.

Carnaval in the Mission is quickly approaching; I’m stoked on that. I think it will probably play a part in my final story. Maybe I’ll find a beautiful brown skinned woman with a long, exotic name who wants to marry me and make me chorizo and egg burritos for breakfast every morning. I’ll make her macaroni and cheese every night.
It could be beautiful!

Last week I was in the Mission after the Giants got their asses handed to them by the A’s, I saw funny things. This dude in full Giants attire came out of the BART station, drunk as fuck, screaming some crazy shit about how he’d beat up anyone who wasn’t from the city, and that if you were from Oakland you’ better go home. It was like watching HBO for free AND in 3D!

Anyway, I’ll let you know if I get beat up by a gang of theater kids for ruining the coolest corner in the city in my next post. Stay golden.

Crime

Richard Corriea is the captain of the Richmond district police station. The police station is located at 461 Sixth Ave. I emailed the station a second time to have the put me on their email list but still haven't heard from anyone. Luckily I can find the weekly blotter on a Richmond district blog. Most crimes reported on the weekly police blotter were usually theft crimes. There have been multiple incidents of bicycles being stolen from garages and cars being broken into. About a month ago an officer went to the home to check on a person who crashed their car and left it at the scene. When he arrived he smelled marijuana and found that there were growing large amounts. This case is still being investigated. I'm not sure what I want to write on yet. I have seen the same homeless man in front of a liquor store on Geary multiple times and was thinking I could ask how the sit/lie law, if passed, would affect his living situation.

Small Town, Small Stories

I got a very interesting lesson in newsworthiness over the break. I spent a few days at my parent’s house in Solvang, CA. It’s a white bread-middleclass town of just under 5,000 with nothing going on at all.

Cases in point, the lead story on the local news for Friday night was the building of a gas station. Not a gas station that exploded, or had exorbitant prices or even a fluff piece about a window-washing goat, simply a gas station.

I don’t even know how you report this, “ummmmm first up tonight, uh… there will be a gas station…. Back to you.”

I stopped watching at this point, but I can’t even imagine how the anchors filled the rest of the 10 o’clock hour if the single most important item of the day was a gas station.

Anchor: “Now we take you live to a field behind the high school where our correspondent in the KCOY 12 Action News Van has some shocking breaking developments.”

Correspondent: “Thank you, I’m here beneath a tree in a filed behind the high school where a crowd of 1-3 community members stand in awe of the spectacle they they’ve just seen. Witnesses report that just one hour ago a man was seen who can only be described as- and I quote- ‘a black guy.’ No news on what the black guy was doing in the area, but be assured our entire team coverage- myself and the van driver- will be on the scene to fill you in with further details whenever the present themselves.”

Anchor: “Wow, amazing stuff thank you. Brings to mind the ‘kinda-Mexican-looking or maybe middle-eastern chick of 2003’ And now to sports.”

Sports guy: “there are no sports. Why do I have a job?”

I have a whole new sense of what is important to different demographics. Sometimes proximity trumps impact.

Completion of Profile

I really reveled in the time off that we've had for the last week. I was able to meet one more time with Sanford Johnson who owns Sunset Pet Supply to complete my profile story, as well as take time to relax and enjoy the great weather while also picking up more hours at work and growing my beard out. I realize that while my profile may not be the most newsworthy piece, it covers a store and a person that makes a big difference in a lot of people's lives.

I noticed that a new Wells Fargo is being constructed in on Noriega St. around 35th where there used to be a produce market. It might make for an interesting story to find out what happened to the market, but when I asked someone inside they had no idea about anything, and were just working on the building. I want to look into it and find out what happened.

This week I also ended up getting some great Italian food with some friends at this spot called Spiazzo cafe, which was right around Sunset Pet Supply which I profiled for my story. The cuisine was most excellent, as I am always looking for new masters of the fine art of food. Kind of fancy-shmancy for my personal taste, but a great restaurant nonetheless.

I ended up in LA visiting family and friends for Easter weekend, and recorded a five song EP with my old ska band, which I am thoroughly excited about on a personal level. And on Sunday I actually felt the 6.9 quake that hit Tijuana, Mexico. It was somewhat surreal to find out what caused it a mere half-hour after it hit, especially since much of my family's and friends' homes were damaged during the Northridge quake of '94. It makes me wonder; Can feelings of nostalgia hold negative values? Maybe I just can't think of the right word. And I call myself an aspiring writer.

My friend came to visit me for spring break last week so I felt like killing two birds with one stone and take her to Excelsior so I can finish getting interviews for my profile and at the same times, show her a part of San Francisco she has never even heard of.

We walked up Mission on Saturday which was perfect because it wasn't raining. I showed her around and she couldn't believe how similar the district was compared to back home. We went inside Mama Art Cafe where I saw Cruzita, the owner's mother and I introduced her to my friend, Mel.

Hanging out there didn't even feel like an obligation anymore, and it helped that I actually knew my way around. I could see she enjoyed the area and appreciated going to a certain part of the city that is never really mentioned like Haight Street or North Beach.

It was a really cool experience and I felt a little proud being able to introduce something new to my friend.

I want a dog, I want to be fit!

Preparing for my profile story on Fit Bernal Fit has made me really want a dog! All the people who bring their dogs with them to work out seem so in love with their pets. It was interesting to see how strong of a connection some folks have with their dogs. The people come in ready to work out and have goals of fitness in mind and the dogs seemed to know they were going to be socializing and getting some fun and exercise in.

Fit Bernal Fit helped remind me of how awesome San Francisco is. What other city has a dog gym? What other city has a plethora of facilities dedicated to improving health for people and their pets? I found Fit Bernal Fit a refreshing idea of what makes San Francisco so unique: It's ability to open it's mind and heart to any idea.


This photo is of the owners of Fit Bernal Fit, Jeanne and Dean Ericksen and their dog, Coyote. It is from their website, if you click the photo it takes you to the site. :)

Earthquake Prepardeness

I was just in Southern California for spring break and narrowly missed the earthquakes there yesterday and today. It makes me worried for the predicted “big one” that might hit the bay area in the near future.

Are we prepared?

At a recent Haight Ashbury Improvement Association meeting, the San Francisco Police Department and The San Francisco Fire Department presented the Earthquake Fire Safety and Response Bond.

According to members of the police and fire departments, the high-pressure firefighting water supply system could fail after an earthquake. It suffered multiple breaks after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Fire stations, the Hall of Justice, and the Police Command Center are all claimed to be in desperate need of repair and are vulnerable should a big earthquake hit

.

The bond would upgrade the aging emergency firefighting water supply system as well as provide safety improvements to neighborhood fire stations. The bond would also provide tools to the police and fire departments that would be necessary for rapid emergency response. Not to mention, the passing of this bond would provide nearly 3000 jobs.

However, the downside is that the bond would cost a whopping total of $412 million.

It will be available for public vote on the June 8^th, 2010 ballot. For more information: http://sfearthquakesafety.org/

North Beach- blog6- stephanie shin

It took a long time to write my profile story. and i didnt' know how to organize it, or whats most important to talk about. I had no much information! ALso, do all profiles and features have to have a set-up lead? cant it be hard?

I had first talked to Beat Museum owner Jerry Cimino back when the first assignment was due and thought I’d like to write a story about him and the museum. I interviewed him extensively for more than 2 or 3 hours for the main interview, and I asked questions several times more and stopped by the museum briefly to patch up the finer details. I probably have been there now five or six times. Cimino also was friendly enough to answer by text some short questions I forgot the answers to. It was fun to get to know someone I wouldn’t have gotten to know so well if I hadn’t been in journalism class. Cimino and I have similar view points, although we are very different, and we clicked and made a great connection, so the interview was laid back and easy going.

The Beat Museum is in a perfect location, I think. It’s right across from City Lights where it all started in San Francisco, and it’s in the center of the red light district, which has history and entertainment and glitz. It’s near all these delicious restaurants too! Convenient!

Profile flakiness and the veil of silence

With the profile assignment, I got my first taste of how difficult it can be to get people to talk to you when you want more than just a couple of answers from them. My potential profile subjects in and around Nob and Russian hills have been eluding me for weeks, and at one point it felt as if I had exhausted most of my viable options. Luckily, due to some last minute frantic phone calls and a genial previous contact, I was able to eek out an interview from a decent subject.

But before it came together, I got to run the gauntlet of Nob Hill evasion and, frankly, snobbery that proved maddening at times. My first idea was to write a story about the Fairmont's Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar. The tacky, faux-Polynesian restaurant/bar is a relic of the San Francisco of old, having been around for over half a century, and possessed high news value due to the Fairmont's recent development plan to wipe the place out and put in a parking garage for proposed condominiums that would take the place of numerous empty hotel rooms. It seemed like the perfect fit, but when I finally got a hold of the manager on site after countless phone calls, messages and emails, she told me that, though she had gotten all of my emails and messages, she wasn't allowed to give interviews and that no one except the public relations manager could speak with me at all. She said had passed my information onto the company's PR manager and that she would definitely call me within the next couple of days. Fine, I thought, that should still work, but I wasn't about to wait around for this person to make first contact. So, I called and emailed the PR manager for almost a week with no response whatsoever. Either she’s an extremely busy woman that’s never in the office and doesn’t have any access to a computer or smart phone, or I was being ignored after the promise of dialogue.

At this point, I decided that it might be a good idea to try some other places. I contacted the owner of the Bigfoot Lounge: not a whole lot of news value, but its quirky log cabin design centered in Nob Hill (plus the fact that they light the bar on fire at midnight) was intriguing enough for a desperate student. Again, I was referred to the PR manager, whom I then emailed and called over the span of a couple of days. Again, no response. In fact, out of the 6-7 different people I called or spoke with just trying to get to the people I needed to speak with, none ever followed up or answered again when I called. So I tried again, contacting a high-end dog walker whose business was called "Ruff Lauren" (the name alone was hilarious enough to generate interest). The lady, though she did call me back, said she couldn't do any interviews until June. At least she got back to me.

Through it all, I still clung to my vision of writing a relevant, timely story about the Tonga Room and that the ever-evasive PR woman would call me back soon and everything would be perfect. But, with time running out, I went back to my very first list of contacts from the start of the semester and, on a complete whim, got in touch with the chef of La Folie restaurant, one of the most celebrated and expensive fine dining restaurants in the city. Here, at this place where a nice dinner for two can run more than my share of the monthly rent, I found the one solace from the silence and snobbery of the surrounding neighborhood and was welcomed by the chef and got an excellent interview from him. Difficult, surprising, and ultimately worth it (if the piece turns out decent), this project shed much light on the fact that it can be damn near impossible to get people who hardly want to give someone such as myself the time of day to answer a few questions for an article. My only hope is that, as soon as I'm done with this class and have moved onto further writing, my time in and around Nob Hill will be seriously limited.

Spring Break

I absolutely loved having all the extra time to work on the profile story. The extra hours to interview and meet new people and gain a true understanding of my subject. But here I am Sunday evening re-reading my profile story till my eyes bleed feeling like I need more.

At what point will I take a look at the words I have written and feel like they are a true representation of all sides of the Defenestration controversy? Okay, maybe it isn't a controversy but it sure is making a stir.

And as much magic the building brings to the people traveling far and wide to take pictures, the people of the neighborhood could truly utilize the space for something greater. But my story should get these points across, and do so flawlessly.

How can I get so lost in a single sentence, tripping over the punctuation and subject-verb structure? And then decide that I want to write. I want to write my whole life. I want to blog and comment and tweet and get my thoughts across clear and concise.

And looking at stories from news writing I've made some drastic improvements.

So why can't I stop hating this story? I've restructured and re-written again and again and it's still not what I want to come through.

Hooray for procrastination... but lets celebrate tomorrow?

Just an update

Last week I interviewed my profile subject once more and contacted my other sources and have really just been gathering more information about the reverend and her work. Although I think ( im sure others would feel this is a great thing as well) researching is very important and is the right thing to do, but the problem is looking at my draft the Saturday before its due, I am now over loaded with information and I’m confused about how to use it.
So last week I attended what I thought was church so I could really to get the reverend’s message and a sense of who she is. So I got off BART on time (this time) went to the church grabbed a seat in front and started to talk with random people. And this one woman I was talking to about the reverend had stopped me and said, “You’re going to do great things, I can tell from the positive energy your sending me.” Obviously I was very humbled by her comment, it just made me really smile.
So then the choir came out and it was pretty small but they were very good, inspirational and extremely moving I wished I recorded it. Next was prayer, then the woman I was there to profile spoke. The reverend told everyone a story of how she gave a perfect stranger $100 check to buy a part for daughter’s car, and when he went to go cash it, she said she just waited and waited for the man to come back and when her daughter had started to get frustrated about the situation but the reverend insisted on being patient. The man came back the next day and gave her some of the money back for having her wait. The moral of the story is that she knew God was following that man and she didn’t have to trust the man because she trusts god. That story, the way she told it just really touched me. Then I stopped looking at the church so critically and saw all types of people bond together in spirituality, and it didn’t matter what condition they were in as long as they were all receiving the message that God loves you (regardless of what they may call him).
But the point of this blog was to say I had made it to another meeting unintentionally but it definitely helped my research because not only did I get more sources, but I also have documents on what the church makes and how they spend the money, how they get their money, just a lot of information that I would not have gotten if I hadn’t walked into another meeting.

The picture I've included is a painting one of the members did in order to represent the church's belief structure...It doesn't matter what you have faith in, as long as you have faith.