San Francisco, CA

SFist Turns 20: The San Francisco Scandals That Made This Website What It Is

Published

1 year ago

July 19, 2024

SFist Turns 20: The San Francisco Scandals That Made This Website What It Is

As SFist celebrates its 20th anniversary, we remember the ridiculous San Francisco City Hall scandals that made us a go-to destination for salacious political gossip and mockery in our early days.

We are celebrating our 20th anniversary at SFist this week, and in looking back, we acknowledge that some of our critics have called our tone perhaps a little unprofessional in the early years. But those early years were a time when San Francisco had a famously philandering mayor, a supervisor who used the word “fuck” at every board meeting, and another supervisor who secretly did not even live in San Francisco but still shook down local boba shops for $80,000 bribes. So really, our unprofessional tone was perfect for covering such an unprofessional era at SF City Hall.

SFist published its very first post just six months after Gavin Newsom was sworn in as Mayor of San Francisco in 2004. At the time, Newsom was married to a certain Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is (sigh) that Kimberly Guilfoyle. But back then, Guilfoyle was a highly respected SF assistant district attorney known for winning a conviction in a high-profile dog-mauling case.

The two had a dignified break-up in 2005. But the path going forward for both was anything but dignified.

Image: KLTV

The then-38-year-old Newsom quickly developed a reputation for dating much younger women. The most infamous of these paramours was a 20-year-old Brittanie Mountz (seen above), who appeared to have used a fake ID to get into events at which she drank with Newsom.

But there were others! So many others that SFist ran updated power rankings on the always fluid pecking order of Newsom’s various side-pieces: CSI: Miami bit-part player Sofia Milos, reality TV personality Erin Brodie, and the eventual winner of the Gavin girlfriend sweepstakes, Jennifer Siebel (now Jennifer Siebel Newsom).

This all hit fever-pitch in January 2007, in a bombshell incident that spurred the greatest SFist headline of all time. News broke that Newsom had an extramarital affair with his own campaign manager’s wife Ruby Rippey-Tourk. Her husband Alex Tourk had been Newsom’s deputy chief of staff before being named reelection campaign manager in September 2006. And for months after that, it became appointment reading to catch each day’s developments as side-splittingly summarized by SFist writers Eve Batey and Rita Hao in their As the Gav Turns series.

Newsom blamed the behavior on alcohol and entered treatment. But many SFist commenters alleged that it was fake rehab and Newsom never really stopped drinking (which was confirmed by the Sacramento Bee years later).

*Image:* *From a political hit piece, origin/authenticity unknown*

It was during this phase that Newsom dealt with the fallout of a very hilarious photo of him staring at a woman’s breasts that became public. The image was from the political hit-job mailer against Newsom from the 2007 mayoral election seen below, and its origin, and degree of authenticity, are still unknown.

Just one week before the Rippey-Tourk affair scandal broke, Newsom’s campaign was reeling from a separate scandal, unearthed here at SFist.

SFist discovered that Newsom’s press secretary Peter Ragone had been posting sock puppet comments in the SFist comments section under someone else’s name, a scandal came to be known as SFistGate.

So at this point, SFist wasn’t just covering the scandal, we were part of the unfolding scandal.

Despite all of this mortifying behavior, Newsom still easily won reelection that year with a landslide 74% of the vote. This was likely because his opponents were a cast of gag-candidate characters like Chicken John, and Power Exchange bondage club owner Michael Powers.

There were other ongoing scandalous matters which obsessed SFist and our readers during this mid-to late-2000s era.

We chronicled the exploits of foul-mouthed then-supervisor Chris Daly in a series called Everybody Hates Chris. A reckless driving incident from then-state Senator Carole Migden inspired the How’s Carole Migden’s Driving? series. And surely the most bizarre ongoing SFist series of that day was Oh No, Ed Jew!, the saga of the then-District 4 SF supervisor who secretly did not even live in San Francisco, but more significantly, solicited an $80,000 bribe from a Quickly boba shop. He was sentenced to more than five years in prison.

On a personal note from this SFist correspondent, one day I was called to serve on a jury duty pool with Ed Jew, and at the height of the Ed Jew scandal at that. I wrote a lengthy SFist comment about the experience, and SFist co-founder Rita Hao emailed me later that day and offered me an (unpaid) position as an SFist contributor. And I’m proud to once again be an SFist contributor today.

So in some ways, some of these scandals truly did, to some degree, make SFist what it is today.

SFist Turns 20: Here’s to 20 Years of Gossip, Snark, and Covering This Beautiful City [SFist]

Image: From a political hit piece, origin/authenticity unknown

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San Francisco, CA

Suspect arrested in Caltrain copper wire theft in South San Francisco

Published

4 hours ago

January 12, 2026

Press Room

Suspect arrested in Caltrain copper wire theft in South San Francisco

January 12, 2026 / 2:46 PM PST
/ CBS San Francisco

Authorities on the Peninsula have arrested a man on probation on multiple charges after he allegedly stole copper wire from Caltrain tracks over the weekend.

According to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, deputies and volunteer pilots flying the sheriff’s office airplane were monitoring the tracks early Sunday. Authorities said they found a suspect actively removing cable from the tracks in South San Francisco.

In what deputies described as a “coordinated effort” which included help from South San Francisco police, deputies found the suspect and took him into custody. The suspect has been identified as 24-year-old Diego Sanchez-Palomares.

An aerial view of what deputies said was a theft of copper wire along Caltrain tracks in South San Francisco on Jan. 11, 2026.

San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office

“The arrest highlights the effective use of technology and resources, including the Sheriff’s Office airplane, to detect crimes in progress,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

An investigation determined Sanchez-Palomares removed about 50 feet of cable from beneath the Caltrain tracks. Deputies also learned he was on probation.

Sanchez-Palomares was booked into the Maguire Correctional facility in Redwood City on multiple charges, including grand theft, receiving stolen property, conspiracy, tampering with a railroad and trespassing at a railroad facility.

Deputies said the cable was recovered by deputies. The estimated repair cost is about $5,000.

According to jail records, Sanchez-Palomares remains in custody as of Monday.

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San Francisco, CA

George Kittle used bottle of tequila to deal with devastating Achilles injury

Published

17 hours ago

January 12, 2026

Press Room

George Kittle used bottle of tequila to deal with devastating Achilles injury

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle finished a bottle of top-shelf tequila after tearing his Achilles in the 49ers’ eventual 23-19 wild-card victory in Philadelphia Sunday night, according to The Athletic.

Kittle, who popped his Achilles in the second quarter, requested it after the injury, and a San Francisco employee was seen delivering a bottle of Patron to the 49ers’ locker room.

The bottle reportedly was sent from the owners’ suite at Lincoln Financial Field.

49ers owner Jed York personally visited Kittle in the locker room and asked if he could get him anything — and that’s when the bottle of tequila was delivered a few minutes later, according to The San Francisco Standard.

Kittle was pushed out of bounds on a 6-yard reception and immediately grabbed his leg.

The All-Pro tight end was carted off the field and hobbled on one leg into the locker room, as seen in videos online.

He was ruled out for the rest of the game.

York and Kittle’s wife, Claire Kittle, both appeared visibly somber as they entered the locker room, according to The Athletic.

The Niners were the underdogs heading into the wild-card clash with the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles.

San Francisco was already down two key players in defensive end Nick Bosa (knee) and linebacker Fred Warner (ankle).

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San Francisco, CA

49ers Show ‘Resiliency’ in Upset Victory, Thanks to LFG Winner Demarcus Robinson

Published

1 day ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

49ers Show ‘Resiliency’ in Upset Victory, Thanks to LFG Winner Demarcus Robinson

The San Francisco 49ers suffered another devastating injury on Sunday. But, thanks to a strong supporting cast, they found a way to prevail once again.

San Francisco pulled off the biggest playoff upset so far in what’s been a wild wild-card round, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-19, on the road. Unheralded wide receiver Demarcus Robinson was a major reason behind Sunday’s upset as he hauled in six receptions for a game-high 111 yards and a touchdown en route to winning Tom Brady’s LFG Player of the Game.

When Robinson spoke with Brady after the game, it didn’t take long for him to find the one word to describe the 49ers.

“If it was one word, I’d say resiliency. Resilient,” Robinson said of his team. “These guys play with resiliency. We’ve got a lot of injuries throughout the year. Even tonight, like you said, losing Kittle, guys stepped up and knew they had to make plays. That’s what we were able to do today, go out and make plays.”

Sunday’s victory also came in comeback fashion for the Niners, who rallied from a 16-10 fourth-quarter deficit despite losing tight end George Kittle in the first half to a torn Achilles.

Tom Brady’s LFG Player of the Game: 49ers WR Demarcus Robinson 🏆

Robinson’s resiliency was on full display on the 49ers’ opening possession. He turned an intermediate pass from Brock Purdy over the middle into a 61-yard gain, zigzagging through the Eagles’ secondary on his way to Philly’s 16-yard line. He then caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to end the drive.

There was possibly no greater sign of the team’s resiliency, however, than the play that gave them a 17-16 lead early in the fourth quarter. After their offense seemed stuck in the mud for most of the game, the 49ers found the end zone when wide receiver Jauan Jennings threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to running back Christian McCaffrey on a trick play.

Robinson was just one of a few supporting characters who contributed to the 49ers’ win. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk had a season-high four receptions for 49 yards, making a pair of big grabs that helped set up touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Defensively, linebacker Garret Wallow had a game-high 11 total tackles after recording just nine total tackles in the regular season.

The 49ers’ top player in McCaffrey also showed his resilience in the win. McCaffrey turned 21 touches into 114 yards and two touchdowns, with the second TD coming via a 4-yard grab with 2:54 remaining to give the 49ers a decisive 23-19 lead.

“I think the guys are just playing with resiliency, man,” Robinson said of his team. “Everybody knew what we had at stake. Everybody came out there and did their part. So, that helped us get the dub.”

The injury to Kittle was his second serious injury of the season after he missed time earlier in the year due to a hamstring tear. San Francisco has also seen some of its other stars get sidelined for the majority of the year, such as edge rusher Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner.

Warner could potentially return later in the postseason, but another key piece in wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who missed Sunday’s game, remains in limbo as he battles a knee injury. Of course, Purdy missed time this year due to shoulder and toe injuries that cost him eight games.

Despite all of that, the 49ers will now move on to play for a spot in the NFC Championship Game when they take on the Seahawks in Seattle next weekend. They nearly hosted the divisional round game, but lost to the Seahawks at home, 13-3, in the regular-season finale to give Seattle the NFC West and the conference’s No. 1 seed.

Robinson is optimistic, however, that there will be a different result this time around.

“Hopefully, we get the dub, obviously,” Robinson said. “We’ve just got to lock in, man. We’ve got to lock in and put more points on the board than we did last week at home. Just put more points on the board. The defense played lights out tonight. Hopefully, we keep playing that same way, man, and it leads to more dubs.”

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