District 11 Supervisor John Avalos spoke on KQED’s Forum yesterday to promote a proposed fee on alcohol distributors. The fee would be levied against wholesalers to help pay for treatment and transportation of local alcohol users, which costs the city some $19 million a year.
The board votes on the measure Sept. 7.
UPDATE:
The Supervisors passed the measure and will now go to Mayor Newsom’s desk for final approval.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s columnist Phil Bronstein gives his take on the lone gun store in the city. He interviews Ingleside Police Stations Capt. Loius Cassanego. Read it here.
The San Francisco Examiner has a news brief about a neat sculpture in Visitacion Valley. Read it here.
Over at the Excelsior Branch Library’s blog, there is a story about the Excelsior District Improvement Association’s work in the neighborhood. Read that here.
Pam Pierce, in her Golden Gate Gardener column for the Chronicle, answered a reader’s question about the crazy grass growing on a Juniperro Serra embankment near Park Merced. She gives the who, what, when of the planting and also a complete rundown on the plant itself. It really is the greenest grass around, especially considering it’s the middle of summer.
The San Francisco Chronicle published a story about Annemarie Conroy, the law enforcement coordinator, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. attorney’s office, Northern District of California, who is also an Ingleside Terraces resident. Read it here.
The San Francisco Examiner has a story about promotions and demotions in the police department after the crime lab scandal. Two familiar names appear: Lazar and Schmitt. Read it here.
Ocean Avenue Revitalization Collaborative will be having a fundraiser for holiday decorations August 31.
Mingle with residents and merchants while enjoying appetizers to help make Ocean Avenue festive for the holidays from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Caffe D’ Melanio’s (1314 Ocean Ave.). All donations are tax-deductible and made out to OMI-NIA.
For more information, contact Dolly at (415) 375-2265 or dolly.oarc@gmail.com.
Neighbors of an ARCO fueling station at 5898 Mission St. found out the results of a government ordered investigation in early August. The results for “soil, groundwater and soil vapor…have been submitted to the Department of Public Health, Local Oversight Program as part of the process in approving the Corrective Action Plan” for cleaning up an old fuel spill from the station, according to Steve Currier of the Outer Mission Merchants and Residents Association.
The Ingleside Light reported on this issue last November. Fuel tank remediation, as it’s known, is fairly common in the city. Many of the old gas stations around town are now gone, and when the tanks are dug up out of the ground, there is often residual spillage.
In this case, neighbors of the station on Sickles Avenue and Huron Avenue were very worried that the leak may have contaminated their property. The results of the report can be viewed at 1390 Market St., Suite 210, according to the OMMRA newsletter.
Any one interested in giving feedback on a proposed play area in McLaren Park should attend the Help McLaren Park barbecue on August 21 at 11 a.m.
A small, shaded cookout section at Peru Avenue and Burrows Street has been targeted for construction of whatever kind of play area you want. There is a basketball court there now along with a set of child swings, but no other play structure.
Help McLaren Park wants you to bring ideas, photos and your kids to the park to meet up and decide what configuration is best. According to their website, architect Leslie Golden will show some preliminary designs.
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There is a great story (with video!) on Peter Vaernet, a man who dedicates much of his time to maintaining Brooks Park, on an interesting site called Spots Unknown. Read it here.
SFMTA plans to paint bicycle lanes on 21 street sections by July 2011 and Ocean Avenue is number five on that list. They began implementing the bicycle plan August 9 and will begin project number three August 23.
That means the Ocean Avenue project could start within a few weeks. A small section of Holloway Avenue and part of Alemany Boulevard are further down the list also. The Ocean Avenue section will have a dedicated bike lane between Alemany Boulevard and Lee Avenue near City College.
In other news, the Balboa Park BART Station already has new bus shelters on Geneva Avenue and the new west entrance is currently under construction.
Captain John Sanford begins his tenure this week as the third Captain in less than a year at the Taraval Police Station. The station serves Ingleside District (the boundary runs partly along Ocean Avenue) and, like the rest of the department, must endure the obligatory new police Chief shuffle.
Chief Gascon was brought in from outside the department last year, and previously also moved Ingleside Station Captain David Lazar. At the Taraval Station, Captain Chignell was put on night duty, and most recently, Captian Denise Schmitt was promoted to Commander.
Sanford worked at the Taraval Station 14 years ago as a newly minted Sergeant, according to taraval.org. In a June 19 statement, Sanford introduced himself and admitted that it was “a department in transition.”