SFist brought you this news yesterday, but somewhere around "100 police officers, Muni inspectors and sheriff's officials were involved in Citywide Operation Safe Muni," conducted between 1 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. CBS 5 reports that citations were issued for fare evasion, not having a pass or transfer, and eating/drinking on public transit.

According to Sgt. Lyn Tomioka, "Six people were arrested on felony warrants and three others were arrested before being cited and released."

This sweep was the first of its kind in San Francisco. This comes on the heels of this year's study that concluded one out of every 10 passengers doesn't pay their fair share.

Yesterday we mentioned the delightful work trip/vacation San Francisco supervisor Bevan Dufty and city treasurer Jose Cisneros took to Australia for Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras. Trannyshack founder Heklina was there, too. And many readers fretted about whether or not city tax dollars went to pay for this trip down under -- an excursion, it should be mentioned, that will reportedly bring in much-needed tourist dollars to SF. Anyway, according to Dufty's office:

No San Francisco tax dollars were used to pay for the trip. In fact, 25 out of 34 individuals paid their own way.

Out of the 9 members of the delegation who were sponsored, most of the funding came from corporate sponsorships like NakedSword [NSFW] or Qantas (which donated many of the flights). Two City departments, San Francisco Airport and the Port of San Francisco, made donations out of their promotion budgets. However, both these departments are what are called "Enterprise" Departments, which are funded by user fees (e.g. United pays to land at SFO) rather than through the General Fund (i.e. tax dollars).

No tax dollars went to pay for the trip? Not one cent? Then, what's the point of working at City Hall? This ethical behavior of our elected officials is most distressing to hear.

(Oh, and the image at right, taken at the California Expo "recognizing the most successful Australian Travel professionals for sending hundreds of thousands of Aussies to CA" was sent to us by Bevan Dufty. Black bar added for your protection by SFist editor.)

A small protest was held at City Hall yesterday by 400-plus pissed off Tibetan immigrants, honoring the 49th anniversary of Tibet's uprising against China, but also San Francisco's hosting of the Olympic torch. Just a preface of what will happen in the city next month, San Francisco will be the focus of a major protest since it's the only US city hosting the Olympic torch relay in the 2008 Beijing games.

According to CBS 5, the decent-sized group held banners on the steps of City Hall reading "Olympics in China, Torture in Tibet," and "Truth is our only weapon." Over at sftorch2008.org, it notes that a larger rally will be planned for April 9 when the torch finally makes its way here.

The Chinese government is running the Olympic torch around the world, hoping to win the approval of the global public and cover up its brutal occupation of Tibet and abysmal human rights record. When the torch relay reaches San Francisco on April 9th, China will be in the global spotlight like never before. We have an unprecedented opportunity to shine this spotlight on Tibet.

China's occupation of Tibet is a hearted issue -- even though China has maintained that it has "ruled Tibet for centuries" -- especially here in the Bay Area and on you more liberal college campuses. Next month's protest during the torch's arrival is expected to draw thousands.

You know how Mayor Gavin Newsom is supposed to make a special guest appearance at the Board of Supervisors meeting? At least once a month? To listen to their complaints, demonstrate that he's taking an active interest in neighborhood politics, powder the Supes' tender bottoms, and such? Well, it looks like he might not have to anymore, even though you, the voter, said you wanted him there. Over at Sweet Melissa, we came across the following news:

At tomorrow's Board of Supervisors meeting, they will be voting on the fast food menu labeling ordinance and on something that has ever-so-quietly made its way though the Rules Committee and on to the full Board: a motion to eliminate [.pfd alert!] the Board rule requiring a monthly appearance by the Mayor at the Board. Back in November 2006, SF voters passed Prop I, a policy statement requiring the Mayor to appear at the Board once a month.

SM goes into further legal detail, so check her out to find out the legal specifics. It goes without saying that we're all atwitter about how the vote will go come tomorrow. Well, as atwitter as one can get about City Hall, anyway

Well, it's been fun. The trailers, the megawatt celebrity sightings, the lights, the cameras, the not being invited to cast/crew parties -- SFist will miss it all. As most of you know, Gus Van Sant's biopic -- the story of assassinated San Francisco Supervisor and gay rights advocate, Harvey Milk -- started shooting in January. This past Sunday, the production came to an end. Alas.

For those of you who weren't able to make it to Milk's final shooting, Bluegrass Rave Backroom was at Sunday's Gay Freedom Day 1978 reenactment to catch Milk's final moments at City Hall. Above we have Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, showing off his well-sculpted arms, a cute shirt, and hit acclaimed method-acting prowess. To see some locals getting into the '70s groove, as well as some choice Muni and KRON 4 '70s signage, follow the jump.

*FILM: The 5th Annual San Francisco Irish Film Festival kicks things off with by director Lenny Abrahamson and writer Mark O’Halloran. This is followed by a reception with the Consul General of Ireland, Emer Deane. According to LS, "other highlights include Speed Dating, a romantic comedy about a lovelorn amnesiac; the award winning Irish-language feature film Kings, and finally The Undertaking, a documentary about Irish American undertaker and poet Thomas Lynch, who is famed as the inspiration for hit HBO series Six Feet Under. Thomas Lynch and film director Cathal Black will be at the screening for a Q &A. Plus, the ever popular, Magners n’ Shorts Program (Magners Irish Cider is served for free during the film program) and Irish TV Night will also return to this year’s festival."

LECTURE: Yeah, yeah, you can go listen to Greil Marcus prattle on endlessly about the Magnetic Fields and the outback, or whatever, later this month at teh JCCSF. Or better yet, you can hear Family Ties creator Gary Goldberg talk about what it was like working with Michale J. Fox (his second choice to play Alex P. Keaton), Stephen Spielberg (who Goldberg tried to talk out of doing E.T.), on the set of Spin City, and more. He speaks tonight at the Jewish Community center of San Francisco. (Also, according to IMDB, he doesn't own a computer. The hell?)

DANCE: While the members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater probably can't bust out "Turkey Lurkey Time" to save their lives, they're still not half bad. Check out the famed dance troupe across the bridge over UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall.

The listed events were chosen by the editors of SFist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla.

God, sometimes we love Orange County. It's such a parody of itself at times, which we admire. Especially when it comes to brilliance like the following found over at Laughing Squid. You see, the city of Santa Ana (oy) wants to help parents determine, via the graphic above, whether or not their child is a rat bastard tagger. The city of Santa Ana's site explains their accusatory and unfair image, along with the final word as to what is and is not art, thusly:

Tagging is not an art form or about expressing oneself. It is vandalism and the destruction of private and public property. Tagging is any unauthorized marking, etching, scratching, drawing, painting or defacing of any surface of public, private, real or personal property.

Tagging causes blight in our community resulting in a genuine threat to the quality of life, incalculable economic losses to businesses, and can lead to the general deterioration of the area in which you live or work. The eradication of graffiti is a huge drain on the City’s resources in both cost and manpower. In most cases, the difference between graffiti being art or a crime is PERMISSION!

Totally. You just can't argue with that kind of bold, all-caps logic.

Next up: a graphic from the Newport Beach city government helping parents figure out if little Dylan or Taylor is a racist, varsity football-playing date rapist. Really, that would be even more helpful.

Last time, we gave away a copy of her debut release, "Neptune City," but this time, one lucky winner will win a spot (with a +1) on Atkin's guest list for Monday night's concert at The Independent. Doors open at 7:30pm and the show starts with The Parlor Mob, another New Jersey band, at 8pm. Of course, if you don't win, you can buy tickets here - they are only $12 in advance and $14 at the door.

Enter below to win:

Photo courtesy of Sneak Media Attack

We'll 'fess up. We haven't been to the Cow Palace since the 2005 Tattoo Expo. With that said, we're a bit torn with how to feel about the possibility of the Cow Palace being demolished. With such historical events as the Beatles playing there and John F. Kennedy speaking to the masses about starting the Peace Corp, on that hand alone, we'd hate to see this place go.

The other hand, however, has to admit that the Cow Palace is an eyesore. The proposal on the table is to allow Daly City to purchase the property and bulldoze to bits redevelop the Cow Palace's 68 acres. According to the Chron, the plan is to "build a grocery store, bank, housing and other projects that will benefit people in the underserved areas - including San Francisco's Visitacion Valley - that border the Cow Palace."

We're all for creating some business for the Visitacion Valley area and helping create a better neighborhood and environment near the Cow Palace. And while we're not die-hard historical site preservationists, we have a soft spot for the Beatles, too. The Chron article has some good arguments for/against the venue that's worth reading over to help confuse you more make up your mind.

Tonight will be a public forum at the Bayshore Community Center at 450 Martin St. in Daly City. If you feel very strongly about the issue, attend and see what has to be said about the proposal. (And let us know how it goes, will ya?)

Hundreds of people whose homes and yards were sprayed in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties from September to December have filed reports that said the pesticide seems to have caused coughing, wheezing, muscle aches and headaches, among other symptoms. One Monterey family reported that a child had a first-time asthma attack.

While reading the article, we imagined that the spray will hit the air around early morning hours to minimize exposure, but the spray time mentioned was 8 p.m in Monterey. Looks like no one will be dining al fresco when the weather gets nicer.

Update: Looks like Sentaor Migden is getting in on the fight and trying to keep pesticides from being sprayed on the masses.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.