Arizona - SFist - San Francisco News, Restaurants, Events, & Sports

Photo Du Jour: Three-Way

Brock Keeling — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 13:34:24 GMT

Arizona Diamondback outfielders, from left, Mark Trumbo, A.J. Pollock, and Gerardo Parra celebrate after last night's unfortunate win against the Giants, 7-3.

Meanwhile, At Giants Spring Training...

Brock Keeling — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:21:18 GMT

Giants' favorite Buster Posey grounds out during the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the, ahem, Seattle Mariners, Sunday in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Remember, home opening is Friday, April 13th. Buy your tickets now, OK? OK.

Killer Bees Terrorize Giants Spring Training Game

Andrew Dalton — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:40:49 GMT

In the latest updates from Scottsdale, the San Francisco Giants were attacked by a swarm of killer bees at Sunday's training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The swarm delayed the game by a solid 40 minutes in the top of the second inning after they made their way on to the field and headed straight for the Giants dugout. Ground crews were eventually able to subdue the angry bees using cotton candy and lemonade to lead them away from the field.

Nobody was stung during incident, unless you count the D-Backs who lost 11-1 to your San Francisco Giants.

[NBCBayArea]

Fan Almost Plummets from Stands During Home Run Derby

Brock Keeling — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:18:42 GMT

Ugh, exhibition season is upon us. Now that that's out of the way, during last night's Home Run Derby a fan almost fell from the stands to the pool deck below. (Yes, there was a pool deck. Don't ask.) The Examiner reports: "Fans [held] the legs of Keith Carmickle from Kingman, Ariz. as he nearly fell over a railing trying to catch a ball during the MLB Home Run Derby Monday, July 11, 2011, in Phoenix. The ball arching against Chase Field's bright lights, Keith Carmickle climbed up on a narrow table, leaned forward and lost his balance, momentum carrying him toward a 20-foot fall to a pool deck below."

However, if it weren't for the the help of his quick brother and fans last night, Carmickle could've died the same way Shannon Stone did last Thursday. If you recall, the Texas fan died while trying to catch a ball thrown into the stands during an A's-Rangers game. He plummeted 20 feet while is young son watched on, later dying at a nearby hospital.

After being pulled up to safety, reporters asked Carmickle what he was thinking as he dangled from the stands. "I thought: I've lived a good life," he replied. Which: rad.

[Examiner]

Arizona House of Representatives Passes a Ban on Banning Happy Meal Toys

Andrew Dalton — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:00:32 GMT

So weary were we of last year's Happy Meal Ban that we almost missed this nugget from the Chronicle entirely: Worried that someone will take away their precious plastic toys, the freedom-happy states of Florida and Arizona have put forth legislation that would prevent local governments from banning "any kind of incentive offered by restaurants" - including the toys Eric Mar (D1, currently -1 in our Weekly Power Rankings) set out to ban in the first place. Arizona's prohibition on banning restaurant schwag sounds like it's the furthest along, having already passed through the House in that state, but we can't decide if this is a slap in the face to our so-called San Francisco Values or if we should just roll our eyes at Arizonans for legislating their way to freedom and childhood diabetes.

Previously on SFist: All Happy Meal Coverage
[Chronicle]

S.F. Giants Spring Training (PHOTOS)

Brock Keeling — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 11:05:04 GMT

Over the weekend, your San Francisco Giants trained for next season at the team's baseball facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. Here are some scenes from the training. Enjoy.

Jared Lee Loughner Pleads 'Not Guilty'

Brock Keeling — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:40:33 GMT

Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of going on a shooting spree in Arizona on January 8, pleaded 'not guilty' in court on Monday to murder and the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. "Dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and wearing wire-rimmed glasses, the shaved hair on his head starting to grow back, Loughner said nothing as the plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf," reports confirm. He is due back in court on March 9. [Gawker]

Scholarship Fund Created To Honor UC Santa Cruz Grad Killed In Tucson Shooting

Brock Keeling — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 09:35:31 GMT

Two UCSC alumni and The University of California at Santa Cruz have set up a scholarship in the name of Gabriel Zimmerman, the former banana slug/congressional staffer who was shot and killed in Arizona on Saturday. According to reports, The fund has had a Facebook page since about noon [on Wednesday] and has already garnered more than $3,000 through Facebook donations."

The two UCSC grads who created the fund - Alex Clemens and Jonathan Klein - "have no relationship to Zimmerman, but they received approval from the shooting victim's family." Regarding Zimmerman, Clemens said, "He embodied the traits you want to see for a person who goes into public service."

The university hopes to raise at least $50,000.

Please visit the Gabriel (Gabe) Zimmerman Scholarship Fund for more information. And, please, if you can, donate.

[SF Appeal]

Anti-Palin Posters Appear In San Francisco

Brock Keeling — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 11:35:02 GMT

We feel for Sarah Palin. We do. The Arizona shooting rampage was neither her fault nor the fault of Tea Party members. It just wasn't. (Championing a party that, at its core, centers around a collective dislike of President's Barack Obama's melanin levels? Sure, that's her fault. But certainly not what happened to Rep. Gabrielle Gifford, Gabriel Zimmerman and several others last week.) To attack Palin here is unfair. That would be like unjustly blaming Muslims for the actions of a few extremists, a thick slice of irony lost on the former GOP vice presidential candidate and her self-centered tirade against irresponsible journalists.

However, that didn't stop these posters from appearing in San Francisco overnight. This one here, found in Hayes Valley on Grove between Laguna and Octavia, says: "Enrage them with fear until they feel justified in their violence."

So much for nonpartisanship.

Crosshair Map Cover of The Stranger This Week, Created by Dan Savage and Aaron Huffman

Brock Keeling — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:00:43 GMT

While no one in their right mind could accuse Sarah Palin of fostering an environment of violence that resulted in Saturday's Arizona shooting rampage - as SFist dutifully noted, accused shooter Jared Lee Loughner is sanity-esstrangerd and thus acted alone - her now infamous, career-ending "Don’t Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" map was an unfortunate bit of timing and thoughtlessness.

WIth that, The Stranger, a Seattle-based alt-weekly, will hit newsstands tomorrow with this cover created by editor Dan Savage (a columnist popular with many a San Francisco gay) and Aaron Huffman.

Hmm.

Makes San Francisco look downright Orange Countyish by comparison, doesn't it?

The Suspected Arizona Gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, Has a YouTube Channel

Jay Barmann — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:19:00 GMT

The events today in Arizona were horrific and disturbing to say the least. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, including federal judge John Roll, and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who remains in critical condition.

Not much is know yet about the suspected gunman, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, but it's not tough to surmise from what little internet evidence there is that this was a kid with some political anger. People who knew him in school called him "a political radical," but it's still unclear which side of the fence he fell on. This photo at right has been released by the AP, from a book fair in March. But this may be a YouTube video he made, in which he appears disguised, with one arm bound, and burns an American flag in the desert to a heavy metal soundtrack. It's called "America: Your Last Memory in a Terrorist Country!" and it was uploaded in October. The lyrics to the song playing include "the bodies hit the ground." Some screenshots of his Myspace profile have gone around, and of the few photos there, there is one of a gun sitting on top of a photo labeled United States History. Also, he has several other videos on his YouTube Channel that are more insane-seeming, and text-based. In one he declares, in text, "I define terrorist."

This is the video, which would normally just seem like your average adolescent protest art piece:

Bay Area Man Wants "Arizona-Like" Immigration Law

Andrew Dalton — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:45:55 GMT

Michael Erickson of Belmont won approval from the secretary of state to start petitioning signatures for a ballot initiative that is more or less the same wording as that controversial Arizona immigration law passed earlier this year. If Erickson collects the necessary 433,971 signatures from registered voters by next April, the 2012 ballot will have an initiative which, per the Chronicle, "would require state law enforcement officials to investigate a person's immigration status if they are 'reasonably suspicious' the person is in the country illegally." It would also make it a crime to hire an illegal immigrant, whether or not you were aware of their citizenship status. [Chron]

19 Arrested During S.F. Immigration Rally

Brock Keeling — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:31:39 GMT

Last night, 19 protesters were arrested during a sit-in on Seventh Street for immigration rights. Organized by the SF Bay Area Coalition for Immigration Reform, the majority of those arrested were clergymen.

Last night's rally "brought more than 100 people outside the San Francisco Federal Building at 90 7th St. to call on Congress to pass an immigration reform bill," notes KTVU. This prefaced a massive Arizona immigration protest underway today, wherein hundreds of Californians rolled into Arizona this morning "to protest the state's new immigration law, a day after a federal judge put its key measures on hold."

Rallies will be held in the Bary Area, starting at 3 p.m. at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, and then later at 5:30 p.m. at the 24th and Mission BART station in San Francisco.

Berkeley Boycotts Arizona

Brock Keeling — Wed, 19 May 2010 09:49:46 GMT

In news that will shock 0.0 people, the city of Berkeley boycotted Arizona over the red state's creepy immigration law. (San Francisco, if you recall, agreed to some sort of boycott in April.) The City Council voted unanimously on last night "to restrict staff from traveling to the state on city business." In related news, California gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and and Steve Poizner are arguing over who loves SB 1070 more. Whitman, we should point out, promises to bring in the National Guard to rape and vivisect anyone who even looks at the Mexico-Cali border. Or something like that. [via KTVU]

Cal Hunger Strike Students Free to Eat Quinoa Again

Brock Keeling — Thu, 13 May 2010 09:21:09 GMT

After UCB Chancellor Robert Birgeneau agreed to a meeting with representatives, Cal students called off their 10-day hunger strike last night. The Daily Californian, "The strike, which began May 3 as a demonstration focused on a controversial Arizona immigration law and has attracted attention worldwide, concluded as all but one of the 18 strikers ate ears of corn together in a symbolic gesture." Whatever the hell that means.

Although Birgeneau met with the starving students, he couldn't meet all of their demand, which included making the UC Berkeley campus a sanctuary campus for workers and students, clearing all charges against the students involved in the Wheeler Hall slumber party, and re-hiring laid-off workers.

However, according to BCN (via CBS 5), UC Berkeley did agree to "[expanding] a task force that looks at issues surrounding undocumented students and workers ... and will continue to work with labor management to address concerns regarding layoffs."