San Francisco, CA
San Francisco mayoral candidates debate fallout from Ricky Pearsall shooting
SAN FRANCISCO – The impact of the daylight robbery attempt and shooting of San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall continues to reverberate throughout the city.
Mayor London Breed acknowledged that it is another high-profile incident for a city that is attempting to change perceptions about out-of-control crime.
She said that as shocking as the incident was, her recent push to support law enforcement played a role in the quick capture of the 17-year-old suspect from Tracy. The mayor pointed to recent data showing crime trending downward.
“But, I want to say, because everyone says it: when something happens to you, all that number stuff goes out the door,” said Breed. “I totally understand that. But, we are not letting up, and the fact is, what we put in place worked, and it sends a strong message that if you come to San Francisco and commit these crimes you will be arrested.”
Former Mayor Mark Farrell, who hopes to unseat Breed, described the shooting as yet another high-profile black eye for San Francisco. He said it’s a sign that new leadership with an eye on public safety is needed.
“She defunded the police department three years ago,” said Farrell. “Stripped $120 million out of our police department budget. Has mismanaged our police department, where now overtime is getting capped and cut and is now blocking reform of our police commission that is making it harder for police officers to do their work on the streets of San Francisco. I’m running for mayor because I’m going to change that.”
Daniel Lurie said the shooting is a clear indication that previous city leaders have failed. He plans to expand police staffing so that residents and visitors feel safe.
“In order for us to be able to draw conventions back, to draw tourism back, and to build our brand again globally, we have a lot of work to do and the people I’m running against have created this perception, this sense of disorder,” said Lurie.
District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí lauded the swift action of the officers on the scene. He noted that’s why he has advocated for creative ways to increase police staffing, adding that recent data showing that crime is down does not make anyone feel safer after a high-profile incident like this.
“They want to hear ‘What are you going to do about the problem? How are you going to solve it?’” said Safai. “So, my solution is to get them out of their cars on the street. We have the overtime to pay for it, and secondly, to get those numbers back up, let’s give incentives like student loan forgiveness to make them want to work in San Francisco.”
Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, also running for mayor, told KTVU in a statement that read in part, “Turning this into a political football doesn’t make San Francisco safer or represent who we are as a city… I’m representing by focusing on real public safety solutions: retaining 50 experienced officers at less cost than overtime via Prop F and legislating my College to Community Policing recruitment plan with forgivable loans.”
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Giants Predicted to Spend This Offseason in Free Agency
The San Francisco Giants are heading into free agency and the offseason as a very interesting team to watch.
It was another disappointing season for the Giants in 2024, as they finished under .500 once again and missed the playoffs for the third straight year.
The struggles in San Francisco resulted in a change in the front office, as Buster Posey took over as the President of Baseball Operations.
With the decision to add Posey to the front office, the hope is that he will be able to lure in some of the top caliber free agents that they have been missing out on in recent years.
The Giants haven’t been shy about spending money, but that money hasn’t always went to the right places.
Recently, Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report ranked teams in different tiers based on what they will spend this offseason. For San Francisco, he placed them in the tier that will be spending this winter.
“Perhaps the most interesting team on this list is the Giants, with former NL MVP Buster Posey now serving as their president of baseball operations. He’s talked about wanting to figure the shortstop position out, which is why we’ve projected the Giants as the landing spot for Adames. But San Francisco has had a hard time getting star players to sign on the dotted line in recent years, probably due in large part to Oracle Park being seen as a bad place to hit at 81 times a season.”
While the Giants have the desire to sign a superstar and the next face of the franchise, there have been some indications that they might not break the bank this offseason. However, at the same time, they have been linked to some of the top free agents this winter.
Currently, the biggest need for San Francisco is in their lineup. While Juan Soto would be a great addition, him going to the Bay Area seems unlikely. However, a player like Willy Adames or Alex Bregman might be a more realistic target. Neither one of those players would be cheap, but both would instantly upgrade the lineup.
In addition to trying to upgrade the lineup, the Giants also saw Blake Snell decline his player option to become a free agent. Considering how good Snell was in the second half of the season, it will be interesting to see what the plan is to either bring him back or replace him.
While San Francisco will certainly be spending this offseason, the real question will be how much the organization is willing to invest.
San Francisco, CA
Atmospheric river storm causes minor flooding in San Francisco
Some San Francisco roadways and neighborhoods experienced minor flooding Friday as the atmospheric river dumped heavy rain on the city.
Matthew Coric said he was inside his restaurant when all the sudden he noticed water rising outside.
“Water was coming over the curb already and Rainbow Grocery closed for the day because they flooded or started to flood, and the next two restaurants had water in their restaurant already,” said Coric.
Two years ago during another big storm, the entire block flooded with several feet of water.
Coric told KPIX he was determined to not let that happen again, so he and some of his employees grabbed brooms and anything else they could get their hands on and ran towards the flooding.
“These two drains right here on either side of the street, we literally couldn’t see them. This was up above the curb. We were just blindly scraping trying to get it unclogged until we could see the little tornado start,” said Coric.
He said they were able to unclog the drain just in time to stop the water from flooding his restaurant, and that it took about 30 minutes for the water to fully recede.
While he is happy they were able to avoid another crisis, he said he wishes the city would have been monitoring the area so that he and his employees didn’t have to fix it on their own.
“It flooded two years ago, and then last year the city was like high alert. They would park their trucks out here and make sure nothing happened. But now it’s been two years, they forgot about us again and same thing happened,” said Coric.
He said, from now on when it rains, he’s going to monitor the drains himself and step in anytime he sees them getting clogged.
He recommends that others in areas where flooding happens do the same.
“If you’re out on the street, anybody right, and you see the drain overflowing, I know if you can wait for the city that’s great, but it might not come. Just clean it yourself or get somebody that can just to save everybody a bunch of headaches,” said Coric.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco D.A. announces conviction in 2015 quadruple murder
SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly 10 years after a quadruple murder, drive-by shooting shocked the San Francisco Hayes Valley neighborhood, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Friday announced the conviction of the San Francisco man responsible.
The D.A.’s office issued a news release that said Lee Farley, 36, was found guilty by a jury on four counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances when he opened fire on an occupied vehicle on the night of January 9, 2015.
According to evidence and testimony, four men were ambushed from behind on Laguna Street just south of Page Steet at around 10 p.m.
The jury found that Farley committed this act as a participant of a criminal street gang and that he was a felon in possession of a firearm.
Police arrested Farley in the summer of 2016. He was already serving time at a federal prison in Atwater on unrelated weapons charges when he was taken into custody.
The slayings of Manuel O’Neal, David Saucier II, Harith Atchan and Yalani Chinyamurindi left the victims’ families in turmoil as they waited for justice.
“I would like to thank the jury for their service in this trial,” said District Attorney Jenkins. “I would also like to thank the mothers and families of the murdered men for their patience, faith and trust in my office to get justice for their families. Our strong legal team fought hard, understanding that while nothing we do can bring back their loved ones, that hopefully this verdict brings them some comfort.”
The D.A. thanked her team and the San Francisco Police Department’s homicide unit for their work on this case.
Farley’s sentencing will be scheduled after a bench trial on priors. That date is set for Dec. 16, 2024.
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