SAN FRANCISCO — A gas explosion started a major fire in a San Francisco Bay Area neighborhood on Thursday, damaging several homes and sending heavy smoke into the air.

Local outlets said there are possible injuries from the Hayward explosion.

A spokesperson with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said a construction crew damaged an underground gas line around 7:35 a.m. The company said it was not their workers.

Utility workers isolated the damaged line and stopped the flow of gas at 9:25 a.m., PG&E said. The explosion occurred shortly afterward.

It’s another packed night at La Cigale in San Francisco, where chef Joseph Magidow works the hearth like a conductor, each dish part of a high-end Southern French feast for the fifteen diners lucky enough to score a front-row seat. 

It feels like the beginning of any great night out, until you realize this restaurant has quietly removed the part of dining that usually causes the most indigestion.

“You get to the end and all of a sudden you have this check and it’s like a Spirit Airlines bill where it’s like plus this plus plus that,” Magidow said.

So La Cigale made a rare move: they “86ed” the surprise charges, restaurant-speak for taking something off the menu. Dinner here is all-inclusive at $140 per person, but with no tax, no tip, no service fees. Just the price on the menu and that’s the price you pay.

“There’s no tip line on the check. When you sign the bill, that’s the end of the transaction,” Magidow said. 

Though still rare, across the country, more restaurants are test-driving tip-free dining, a pushback against what many now call “tip-flation.” A recent survey found 41% of Americans think tipping has gotten out of control.

La Cigale customer, Jenny Bennett, said that while she believes in tipping, she liked the idea of waiters being paid a fair wage. 

“Everywhere you go, even for the smallest little item, they’re flipping around the little iPad,” she said. 

At La Cigale, servers make about $40 an hour whether the night is slow or slammed. The upside is stability. The downside? No big-tip windfalls. 

But for server and sommelier Claire Bivins, it was a trade she was happy to take.

“It creates a little bit of a sense of security for everyone and definitely takes a degree of pressure off from each night,” she said. 

The stability doesn’t end there. La Cigale offers paid vacation, a perk most restaurant workers only dream of.

For Magidow, ditching tips also means leaving behind a system rooted in America’s painful past.

“It was a model that was created to take former enslaved people, who many of them went into the hospitality industry, after slavery and put them in a position where they are still being controlled by the guest.”

And as for the bottom line? It hasn’t taken a hit. 

“It seems like everyone is leaving happy,” Magidow said. “That’s really all we can hope for.”

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A driverless Waymo vehicle turned into a temporary birthing center when a woman gave birth to a baby inside the car before she reached a hospital, according to the autonomous vehicle company.

The pregnant woman was apparently in labor and attempting to reach a University of California San Francisco hospital when the baby arrived.

Waymo’s remote Rider Support Team detected unusual activity, initiated a call to check on the rider, and contacted 911. The mother and her new baby arrived safely in the Waymo at the hospital, according to the company.

The newborn is likely the youngest-ever person to ride in a driverless vehicle in the Bay Area.

A Waymo spokesperson told KRON4, “We’re proud to be a trusted ride for moments big and small, serving riders from just seconds old to many years young. We wish the new family all the best, and we look forward to safely getting them where they’re going through many of life’s events.”

Waymo immediately removed the vehicle from service for cleaning.