Results tagged “cars”

Just outside the VidSF offices at PariSoma in SOMA, an SUV was in an accident, causing it to flip over.

First, it's no longer the Auto Arsonist, it's "Carsonist" (TM: Eve Batey) which is way radder sounding. Second, he or she took the night off. The person(s) responsible for at least 12 car fires since Saturday didn't strike last night. (One possible reason? A female arsonist was arrested last night at the Transbay Terminal, but police have yet to connect her to the car torches, so we cannot hand her the carsonist sash and tiara just yet.) But if you know anything about this week's rash of auto fires, please call the SFPD.

Here's a handy map that shows where the dastardly Auto Arsonist has flicked his or her Bic. Since Saturday morning, a whopping 11 automobiles have been torched. Why? No one knows yet, exactly. The incidents have happened all over San Francisco, from Ocean Beach to North Beach.

Last night, four more cars were immolated during the wee hours of the night. A little before 11:30 p.m. in the Bayview neighborhood at Newcomb Avenue and Selby Street, a car was lit ablaze. However, San Francisco Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge claimed that the Bayview incident wasn't related to the alleged Auto Arsonist. But the next three fires probably are. Two vehicles were "found on fire at Francisco and Powell streets in North Beach at 2 a.m.," SFGate reported. And, at around 3:25 a.m., "a Honda was found burning at La Playa and Balboa streets near Ocean Beach." This brings the total number of singed automobiles to 11 since Saturday. The is starting to get scary.

A total of seven cars in San Francisco were set ablaze since Saturday. Early this morning, according to CBS 5/KCBS, "Arson investigators responded to the scene of two early morning car fires in San Francisco," one in the Outer Richmond and another in the Western Addition. Also, a pickup truck was torched at 29th and Geary, bringing this morning's total to three. While it's still too early to determine whether the injured autos, a minivan and Volvo station wagon, are related to the other four immolated autos that happened over the weekend, it sure does look suspicious. Cars were previously set on fire, starting on Saturday, at 3 a..m in the Financial District on the 200-block of California Street, between Battery and Front streets; Saturday night at Franklin and Fern streets; Sunday morning at Van Ness Avenue and Olive Street near the Civic Center; and Monday at around 2:30 a.m. on 12th Street near South Van Ness Avenue. No word yet if the Auto Arsonist and the Toilet Torcher, the pyro who torched porta-potties in early 2009, are the same person, but hopefully not. We don't care much for crossover arsonists. (Har.)

Since people now swill the stuff, wash their hair with it. and even use it as a disinfectant (if you reacal, Monica used Chandler's to get rid of a nasty jellyfish sting, but since they ended up marrying each other a few seasons later, that was probably golden shower-related foreplay more than anything else), it makes sense that scientists have now figured out a way to power your car with urine. Yes, one day soon, your pee might make your Prius even greener -- well, a lighter green to be exact. How so? According to , a scientist at Ohio University, Garardine Botte, has "developed a catalyst capable of extracting hydrogen from urine." Said hydrogen would then be used to start your car.

Sealed cars by davitydave / Flickr.

Drivers without FasTrak, be sure to get one within the next year to avoid further cash bridge toll headaches. In an effort to decrease toll-collection costs, ease congestion, and encourage more drivers to pay tolls electronically, the Bay Area Toll Authority will likely be eliminating at least one cash lane on seven Bay Area bridges and adding an additional FasTrak-only lane on the Bay Bridge, the San Mateo Bridge, and the Carquinez Bridge, which would be open during commute hours. The new FasTrak-only lane on the Bay Bridge would be ready by next summer. The changes would cut the number of toll collectors by about 10 percent, and savings are calculated to amount to "several million dollars."

Over the last two days, according to the Chronicle, an arson spree set several vehicles ablaze in the early morning hours. Three of the fiery attacks, it seems, "happened this morning, all of them in different neighborhoods." (!?) One torching occurred on the 700 block of Commercial Street in Chinatown ("damaged two trucks and a minivan about 4:40 a.m.), another happened car on the 100 block of Downey Street (around 4:20 a..m.), and the final one was on the 1900 block of Newcomb Avenue (at about 5:25 a.m.) The report goes on to say that "a motorcycle was set ablaze on the 500 block of Belvedere Street in Parnassus Heights" early Sunday morning. Creepy. No one was injured, no arrests have been made. In other news, whatever happened to the Toilet Torcher?

We keep noticing this Prius around town, particularly near 7th and Bryant, and we just want to buy this guy/gal one of those scraper tools and a bottle of Goo Gone so that s/he can turn this ride from embarrassing anachronism into a usable vehicle again. Call us persnickety, but this is kind of like leaving the Christmas tree up past January 15th, or like leaving rotting jack-o-lanterns on your stoop until Christmas. The Age of Obama may have us feeling too complacent and like it's all going to work out now, but isn't it about time this person removes the sign from their window that says "Troops Home by Christmas?" Or at least cross out "Christmas" and write "Arbor Day"? Maybe because Nader didn't win this car owner is holding onto the signs as an act of silent protest?

If so, an SFist source, who saw what happened and asked to remain anonymous, writes in to tell us:

   

While most of us who could afford an electric car are being handed pink slips, San Francisco and other Bay Area cities announced plans yesterday to make the Bay Ara the electric car capital of the world!

Oh, sure, you've seen all the coverage of Jan Gehl's plan to turn Fisherman's Wharf into something tolerable. But wouldn't you like to know more? The excellent SPUR is holding a forum TODAY about the city's plan to alleviate pedestrian-congestion by updating the neighborhood's 1950s-style freeway-inspired urban design: widening sidewalks, installing benches, and adding bike lanes, injunction be damned. After all, be honest: when's the last time you went to Fisherman's Wharf? Probably when you had out-of-town guests.

And on a Nazi-mobile, no less. Oy.

There are two events of interest to Muni this weekend: Critical Mass tonight at 6, and Supercross Saturday at one of the baseball parks. Both events are dedicated to the elimination of automobiles, but only one will actually accomplish its goal, while the other will just be a noisy, irritating echo chamber.

The man suspected of mowing people down during a hit-and-run spree in August 2006 , Omeed Aziz Popal, 30, pleaded not guilty today in San Francisco Superior Court. Really.

-- Roller Boogie (1979): '70s campfest about brightly colored roller skaters trying to keep their roller skating rink open should be fun, we think. For some reason older folks seem to have a higher tolerance for prolonged '70s-era camp like this, so younger movie watchers might get bored, but it's worth it to see Linda Blair in a non-possession role. (We always wished her career has gone a bit farther than it did. Alas.) Screens at 7 p.m. (followed by Skatetown, U.S.A. at 9 p.m.) at the Castro Theatre; $6-9.

Last week's winner, the Bay Guardian. Tim Redmond says the Navy is the gayest armed services branch. Well, sure. Cars are worse than homeless people, says a letter writer. Halloween will suuuuuck. A former director of Intersection for the Arts died in a car crash. The new crackdown on homelessness, and why aren't people more upset? Cover article: Our pals at SwapSF make the cover! About the whole freetail trend! Yay SwapSF! (and other freegans!) Annalee Newitz loves to IM. This Woggles concert sounds like fun ("I go to a lot of shows where dudes in hoodies stand around, solemnly head-bobbing with their hands in their pockets" -- but the Woggles won't be one of those!) Okay, the band name Eat Skull caught our attention. Damon and Naomi are coming to town. Is a Chinese restaurant filled with non-white people really better than the other option? And L.E. Leone wishes she were an alcoholic.

With Gavin caught up in a tough re-election campaign against...ummm...well...huh.... he's started playing up his street people street cred. Recently, he announced a plan to deal with all the vagrants caught doing vagrant-like by sending out "Homeless Outreach Teams" to deal with it. The teams consist of police officers and social services and when they catch somebody doing something unpleasant, they're supposed to give them a choice between going into outreach services or being issued a citation, which as far as we can tell, is the handing out of giant frowny faces that will be put on a giant white board in the local police station. The program will be focused on targeted areas around Union Square and SOMA, read, tourist traps. Apparently, tourists don't appreciate seeing people defecate in the streets while riding the Cable Cars and eating soup in a sourdough roll-- kinda gives new meaning to the phrase "San Francisco Treat." Gavin has been putting putting some of these policies into effect lately but is now making a bigger deal out of it.

Previously, we asked our Muni Driver how he'd fix Muni. This time around, we're going to ask our Security Guy. And hey, if you got any questions you'd like asked, send them to editor@sfist.com.

We (sort of) hate to say "we told you so," but it looks like our obsession with the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association's focus on trash cans was just the tip of the iceberg on the garbage can tip.

--Turns out rescuers totally missed the car of the missing Alameda County woman and her priest friend, even though they got exact directions from 911. [Chron.]

When not fending off rumors that he's been horking lines, Gavin has lately been running around proposing ideas to fix Muni, spurred on by the latest SPUR report and the Transit Effectiveness Project.

The "Celebrities Doing Things" reality TV trend continues tonight on ABC with "Fast Cars & Superstars." This sounds almost as stupid as that show that had LaToya Jackson arresting people in Indiana. Is it any surprise the "celebrities" in this reality show/product placement vehicle include the likes of Jewel, William Shatner, and wrestler John Cena?

In this week's installment, our Security Guy answers questions that were asked in last week's segment. But before we get into it, we'd like to point you to this story, about more concerns involving the collecting of fares on Cable Cars.

In today's installment of "Ask a Muni Security Guy" our security guy answers questions that commenters asked last time around. He will also discuss this week's Muni news about budget cuts and their impact on Muni security. And before we go to the post, we'd like to formally announce that "Ask a Muni Driver" will be returning next Monday as we have another driver willing to answer all your questions.

We can barely bring ourselves to write about this excruciatingly uncomfortable incident in Berkeley, in which, to our dismay, bicyclists successfully provoke car drivers into behaving very poorly indeed. Who's at fault here? Unpleasantly, nobody seems to be able to agree. Cars, with their bulk and speed, are generally are viewed as the bullies in these sorts of situations; but like in that scene in when the spiders crawl up out of the shower drain onto the lady, there is power in numbers. Did the Critical Massers use that numerical power for good or for evil? Perhaps you'd like to furiously scream your opinion in the comments.

-Bad cops, bad cops, whatcha gonna do, watcha gonna do when they start tracking you -Man found dead in Page Street apartment is finally ID'd. The guy whose apartment it was says he hired the guy to look after his cat.

Here t'is, just in time for the four day work week, the Official Best MUNI Line poll. We have the F Market Line as the favorite because, well, who doesn't love that line? We love riding them all the time despite the fact they're always crowded. Also tapped as favorites are the Cable Cars. Would we be San Francisco without them?. Then there's the Fightin' 1 California which seems to be a favorite of a lot of people. We've always found the 1 to be one of the better lines, mainly because they seem to roll by every minute. The dark horse, however, just might be the 41 if only because it's the, well, most scenic of routes.

about his search for gasoline, a living, and hope in today's Iraq and the musical group The Loins (featuring writer Beth Lisick and her husband Eli Crews of Beaulah & Spezza Rotto) does a surprise performance of an car-based piece of literature, plus more! (7pm)