San Francisco, CA
Underwhelming experience at SF taco and beer festival leaves attendees calling for refunds
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Hundreds of people attending the West Coast Taco and Beer Festival in San Francisco Saturday were met with a long line leading to underwhelming expectations. For many, the event was not what they paid for.
“It was probably like almost an hour in line,” said Matt Jenkins who attended the event with his fiancée. “They only had one person checking tickets at the front door, which was insane. I don’t know, there were like probably over 1,000 people that were waiting in line.”
According to an admission ticket, the event offered alcohol tastings and taco samples from over 30 vendors. However, according to Jenkins and his fiancée Willa, it wasn’t anywhere close to that.
“It was not 30,” said Willa Bautista. “Ten maybe, and the beer was a little sample, and the line to get it was long.”
They also say none of the food was free. It all costed extra.
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“We had heard after the first 20 minutes, all of the free options ran out,” Jenkins said. “But no one was even able to get in by the time that was offered.”
In a statement, Blue Stream Entertainment, the organizer said:
“We’re saddened to hear about the reaction we’ve had coming to San Francisco. When we built this company, our mission was to bring a community together to celebrate local chefs and breweries. We are as transparent as we possibly can be and we understand the community’s frustration with the long lines and the limited tastings. We are currently working with our vendors to improve future events to make sure that we hold our mission statement true and improve the guest experience.”
They went on to say they have changed the format for their upcoming event in San Jose. The tickets will include bottomless beer samples and the food will be for purchase. Jenkins and Bautista say they have tried to ask for refunds but haven’t been able to get ahold of anyone.
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“I DM’d them on Instagram explaining the situation and asking for a refund, but I haven’t heard anything back yet,” Bautista said. “There wasn’t, like, an email or ‘contact us’ or anything, like, so I don’t know.”
Bautista said the event’s Instagram page was full of angry comments from festival attendees, and she believes a lot of those comments were deleted.
“I was looking at the comments. It was basically saying ‘This is a scam. Don’t go,’” she said. “Then, when we left the event like 30 minutes later, I wanted to see if more had commented and all the comments I saw before were gone.”
To them, it was something they looked forward to, but now they think they just wasted $100.
“It is extremely deceptive of those people to throw an event like that,” Jenkins said. “Then to think they will be ok having people come to an event like that.”
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San Francisco, CA
Exclusive: San Francisco Police Department investigating Zoox collision with a parked car | TechCrunch
The San Francisco Police Department is investigating an accident involving a Zoox autonomous vehicle that crashed into the driver’s side door of a parked car, TechCrunch has learned.
Officers responded to the crash, which occurred at around 2 p.m. local time on January 17 near the intersection of 15th and Mission Streets, according to the department. The Zoox robotaxi was traveling along 15th street when a street ambassador named Jamel Durden opened the driver’s-side door of his 1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, according to MissionLocal, which first reported the crash.
Durden’s hand was reportedly smashed during the crash, and the Zoox vehicle suffered damage to its glass doors. The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) told TechCrunch the Zoox vehicle was carrying a passenger at the time, which has not been previously reported. That passenger was an employee of Zoox, according to the company, and was not injured, which the SFPD confirmed.
The police department declined to provide TechCrunch with an incident report “[d]ue to the fact it is still an open investigation.” Zoox filed its own police report about the incident, the company told TechCrunch, but said no additional details have been requested. In a statement on January 20, Zoox said it was “cooperating with local authorities to provide an accurate account of the incident.”
The California Department of Motor Vehicles, which regulates autonomous vehicles in the state, has also met with Zoox about the January 17 crash. The DMV told TechCrunch that Zoox filed a crash report “in compliance with California regulations.” That report is not yet publicly available.
Zoox is in the early stages of building out its robotaxi service in San Francisco. In November, the company started offering free rides to members of the public who are part of the “Zoox Explorer” early-rider program. The company is operating a similar program in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This rollout has come with challenges. The Amazon-owned company issued a recall in December to fix an issue where some of its vehicles were crossing center lanes and blocking crosswalks. (Zoox also issued two different software updates during recalls earlier in 2025 before it started offering public rides.)
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The January crash in San Francisco happened when Durden “suddenly opened” the door of his car into the path of the robotaxi, according to Zoox. The company said the robotaxi “identified the opening door and tried to avoid it but contact was unavoidable.” (Durden’s employer could not be reached for comment.)
Zoox also said it offered medical attention to Durden, who allegedly declined. According to MissionLocal, Durden refused medical treatment until his car was towed.
“Safety and transparency are foundational to Zoox, and we are cooperating with local authorities to provide an accurate account of the incident,” the company said in a statement.
San Francisco, CA
Video: Mountain Lion Spotted in San Francisco
new video loaded: Mountain Lion Spotted in San Francisco
transcript
transcript
Mountain Lion Spotted in San Francisco
Residents were shocked to see a young mountain lion roaming the streets of San Francisco this week. Local animal control agencies were able to capture and tranquilize it on Tuesday.
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Swear to God, am I tripping? There’s a mountain lion. What is that? I can see it. Oh my God. What the. Dude!
By Cynthia Silva
January 27, 2026
San Francisco, CA
Animal control locates mountain lion in San Francisco
A young mountain lion that was spotted Monday night in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood has been located, city officials said.
Around 6:20 a.m. Tuesday, city officials said San Francisco Animal Care and Control found the mountain lion and that they are working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage the situation. No injuries were reported.
A biologist is on their way to the scene, with the plan to tranquilize the animal and move it to a suitable location, officials said.
The mountain lion was first reported Monday night after being seen near Octavia Street and Pacific Avenue, according to an alert from the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
Animal Care and Control officials said experts believe the animal is about a year old. It had also been seen earlier Monday morning near Lafayette Park, just a few blocks from the later sighting.
City officials said the mountain lion was likely lost and may have been trying to move south out of the city.
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