This week: a trinket box in the Sunset, a coyote in Japantown, a denim design legend, a local inventor, and a one-day artist talk on “taking a knee” activism. Plus, remembering Oscar Grant on his 40th birthday, catching crab right off the boat, foraging wild garlic, and protecting the snowy plover.

From boat to pot

On Saturday mornings at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, customers can purchase live Dungeness crab directly from individual fishing boats, then carry it to a dockside popup where it’s cooked — or cooked and cleaned — while they wait.

The market also sells whole fish and fillets from the local fleet, an effort to broaden what people associate with Bay Area seafood beyond crab season. The popup fish market runs Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. through the end of March at 101 Al Scoma Way. — Chronicle

Happy 40th Birthday, Oscar Grant

The Black Panther Party Museum is marking Oscar Grant’s birthday with a new exhibition, Happy Heavenly Birthday, Oscar, celebrating Grant’s life through sound, images, and participatory ritual as part of the 1-800 Happy Birthday project.

Grant, who was killed by a BART police officer in 2009, would have turned 40 this year.

The exhibition runs February 1 through February 28 at the Black Panther Party Museum in downtown Oakland, with an opening reception February 1 from 6 to 9 pm. — San Francisco Bay View

Little treasures

At 48th Avenue and Moraga in San Francisco, a tiny junction box has become a weekend destination. Sunset Trinket Trade overflows with friendship bracelets, claw clips, and tiny ceramic frogs, all curated by Deanna, who cleans, repairs, and sometimes reimagines items to make them swap-ready.

Neighbors and visitors line up to trade, chat, and leave little surprises for one another, turning a street corner into a small, shared celebration. The project has inspired people beyond the Outer Sunset to start their own trinket exchanges, and Deanna reminds participants to keep the goodwill going without disturbing nearby homes. — Mission Local

Side routes around the big game

Super Bowl week doesn’t require a watch party. Around the Bay Area, a handful of low-key options offer a different way to spend the weekend, from ice skating in downtown San Jose to a Bad Bunny lookalike contest at San Francisco’s Tacolicious.

Museums lean in too, with family craft sessions at SFMOMA and a one-day screening and talk by German artist Kota Ezawa at Santa Clara University’s de Saisset Museum on the history of taking a knee during the national anthem, spearheaded by 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016. — KQED

Love, Melody

From a pile of salvaged Levi’s to the suits of Elvis and Tina Turner, Melody Sabatasso built a career stitching together recycled denim into finely crafted, iconic outfits. Her early days involved hitchhiking across the Golden Gate Bridge, arguing for fittings, and discovering her own worth alongside Hollywood legends.

Today, her Greenbrae studio is a working archive filled with machines, studs, and memories, where past creations sit alongside new projects. She still collaborates with musicians, filmmakers, and collectors, keeping her decades of denim craft alive. — SFGate

Windows without walls

A San Rafael filmmaker stepped into the national spotlight this winter, pitching LiquidView — large-format digital windows that stream continuous outdoor scenes — on a January episode of Shark Tank. The idea grew out of years spent working in windowless rooms and gained wider notice after a feature on the Today show, helping the screens find homes in hotels, offices, and memory care spaces around the Bay Area.

Though he didn’t land a deal on the show, the appearance brought a surge of attention and new leads. LiquidView launched in 2021 and now displays places like Rodeo Beach, the Farallon Islands, and Venice in installations across Marin and San Francisco. — Marin Independent Journal

Foraging fever

Three-cornered garlic is spreading fast across Bay Area parks and can be harvested straight from the root. This pungent and flavorful vegetable grows abundantly, so don’t plant it at home since it’s invasive.

Forays organized by local foragers such as Cindy Doe Dee are teaching participants how to identify and gather plants safely, turning the hills and edges of the city into hands-on classrooms. — Cindy Doe Dee/Instagram

Snowy morning

Along Ocean Beach, Western Snowy Plovers make their home for most of the year, delicate birds eking out a life on shifting sand. Fewer than 2,000 adults remain along the Pacific coast, and simple habits — sticking to marked paths, staying near the wet sand — help them thrive.

Observers can watch without disturbing, keeping the upper beach clear for nesting. — Bird Curious SF/Instagram

Courtyard visitor

Amid a string of recent animal visits — from a mountain lion at Lafayette Park to a coyote swimming to Alcatraz — another young coyote, likely from the Presidio, spent three nights quietly in Hotel Kabuki’s garden in Japantown this week.

Onlookers were urged to give it space and to keep pets at a distance while it gathered some respite before disappearing back into the urban wilderness. She’s quite a beauty. We’d love to see some paintings of her! — Hotel Kabuki/Instagram

Top image: ‘National Anthem’(2018); Kota Ezawa

Previously: Field Notes: Ancient Star Map, New Cat Cafe, San Jose’s Batman, and Disquiet in Suburbia

• The coyote that made it onto Alcatraz Island earlier this month appears to be thriving there, as rangers reported seeing carcasses from prey that it caught. Authorities were worried about the safety of the visitors the coyote was attracting due to the media attention, but local expert Janet Kessler said the coyote is used to humans, as it was born and raised in SF. [Coyote Yips/Instagram]

• A cute, new mascot called “Maverick,” who’s a descendant of Ma Sheng, the Horse God, has been unveiled for the 2026 Chinese New Year Parade in celebration of the rare Year of the Fire Horse, which only comes around every 60 years. [KGO]

• The ongoing swarm of earthquakes near San Ramon, which have been striking in clusters for over a month, hit the region again Friday with a 3.4M quake, followed by a 2.9. [KPIX]
• The National Football League reportedly told San Jose officials, including Mayor Matt Mahan, that ICE agents will not be targeting Super Bowl events, but leaders are remaining vigilant in case of a surge. [NBC Bay Area]

• San Mateo County authorities are investigating the death of a 31-year-old woman who was found inside a detached garage that was on fire early Friday morning in Fair Oaks and was pronounced dead at the scene. [KRON4]
• Check out this aerial view showing the massive turnout at Friday's walkout and anti-ICE rally at SF's Dolores Park, with more protests to come over the weekend.

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Family, friends, former students, local leaders, and the greater Oakland community attended a memorial Saturday honoring revered Laney College and former Skyline High School coach John Beam, who was allegedly killed by a former Laney student in November.

As the Chronicle reports, about 2,200 people were in attendance at Saturday's memorial for longtime coach and mentor John Beam at Oakland’s Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts. Per the Chronicle, Sunday would’ve been Beam’s 67th birthday.

As KPIX reports, Beam helped mentor over 30 NFL players, seven of which were Super Bowl participants, and many were in attendance Saturday.

“He was the embodiment of tough love, though I didn’t realize it at 14 or 15,” said Marvel Smith, who played for Beam at Skyline, per the Chronicle, and went on to play in the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006 and 2009. “He was setting a structure in place to help us long term, and I fully appreciate it now. It molded me into who I am today.”

“You were so much more than a football coach, you were my hero, my mentor and the most important person in my life,” said Kevin Parker, a former player, per KPIX. “You believed in me before I believed in myself and that belief changed who I am.”

Per NBC Bay Area, Beam also mentored students who weren’t football players. “I know that there’s been a lot of challenges in our city, but there’s still a lot of good, and John Beam brought a lot of that goodness out of community members, especially through young people and the rising generation,” said Feke Lauti, a 1997 Skyline High graduate whose older brothers played football.

“This is what a life well lived looks like,” said Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, per the Chronicle. “This is 45 years of love returned. Coach Beam believed in Oakland’s young people when the world told them what they were not. He saw potential where others saw problems.”

“I was born in the middle of football season,” said Beam’s daughter Sonjha, per KPIX. “And if you ask my dad, that was no coincidence. He always said it was perfect timing, early enough in the morning so he could be there with my mom, hold me and then still make it back up the hill to Skyline in time for practice.”

As SFist reported in November, Cedric Irving, Jr., who took one of Beam’s classes at Laney College in 2022, is suspected of fatally shooting Beam. Irving reportedly told police he believed Beam was practicing witchcraft on him. Per SFist, Beam was featured in the 2020 Netflix series, Last Chance U.

In the below video clip, Beam delivers an inspiring speech to athletes during a luncheon.

Image: Laney College

Previously: Alleged Shooter of Laney College Football Coach Reportedly Claimed Coach Used Witchcraft on Him

• A Gilroy teen found a razor blade inside a Milky Way candy bar this week but wasn’t seriously injured. She said she received it while trick-or-treating in her immediate neighborhood. [NBC Bay Area]
• Oregon U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut ruled Friday that the Trump administration must remove National Guard troops from Portland within 14 days, permanently blocking their deployment and calling his attempts to federalize troops “a gross abuse of power.” [KPIX]
• A group of singles sick of dating apps showed up to a singles night at Costco Thursday thinking it was a quirky one-off thing organized by a person but quickly discovered it was put on by an AI app (although SFist could tell right away when we saw the slick marketing out in the wild). [Chronicle]
• A family in Fremont is searching for the owner of an off-leash dog that attacked and killed their small dog, Cheese, on October 23, then fled the scene; they’re raising funds to pay for $20,000 in vet bills. [KTVU]

• The occupants of a black Dodge Charger were nabbed by the California Highway Patrol and taken into custody by the Novato Police Department when it was discovered they were allegedly in possession of $20,000 worth of stolen designer glasses. [KRON4]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

The San Francisco 49ers clinched a 23-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this afternoon, thanks to a clutch field goal from second-year kicker Jake Moody in the game's closing seconds.

All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey put up a solid effort in his return from injury, rushing for 39 yards and gaining another 68 yards as a pass-catcher. Brock Purdy threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was a 46-yard throw to Ricky Pearsall, marking the rookie receiver's first-ever trip to the endzone.

The game was close throughout, with the 49ers either tied or holding only a small lead for the whole game. Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield even led his team on a drive that tied the game at 20 with just 41 seconds left on the clock, before the 49ers offense stormed back to set up Moody's 44-yard game-winning kick.

Moody, who missed the previous three games with an ankle sprain, ended the day three-of-six overall. 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel was one of the few teammates not seen congratulating Moody after his successful go-ahead attempt. Late into the 4th quarter, Samuel was caught on video taking a swing at Moody after his third missed field goal.

"It’s heat of the moment. It happens. I do have to make those kicks at the end of the day. That’s all I’m focused on," said Moody after the game, in reference to the incident.

The 49ers improved their record to 5-4 after this win, amid a season defined by injuries and ugly, uncharacteristic losses. Next Sunday, they host the Seattle Seahawks, a crucial rivalry game that will leave the winner leading the NFC West.

Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

An old Candlestick Park touch has been applied to much-maligned Levi’s Stadium turf as the 49ers host their first home playoff game of the Santa Clara era.

Saturday afternoon’s 1:35 p.m. San Francisco 49ers Divisional Round playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings will be broadcast on NBC with the Sunday Night Football team of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth (more like Collins-worthless, ammirite?). The sterile new environs of Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium have never hosted an NFL playoff game, though last year’s College Football Championship played there was an NCAA playoff game. So Levi’s is pulling out some of that old Candlestick magic, as USA Today’s Niners Wire reports that the stadium has applied the old 1980s-style red end zones for the playoffs. We’ve seen the retro saloon font ‘49ers’ in the end zone throughout this year’s regular season, but this “new” version is fully Ray Wersching-era compliant, with red grass, the NFC logo, and hilariously obsolete facemask.

Pull up a bong rip and watch how the grounds crew did this in the delightful time-lapse video below from the official 49ers Twitter account.

Being the No. 1 seed playing the No. 6 seed Vikings, the 49ers are seven-point favorites to win. For those of you with advanced gambling problems, the over-under is 44.5 total points. The “action” at halftime will feature performances from Tone Loc, Young MC, and the Sugar Hill Gang says the Mercury News, so hopefully NBC will broadcast a little bit of that.

Tackle-proof tight end George Kittle should figure largely into Jimmy Garoppolo’s first ever playoff start. The Vikings, meanwhile, are quarterbacked by Kirk Cousins. ESPN has a provocative look back on the 2017 Garoppolo trade, which seemed ill-advised when Jimmy tore his ACL and missed most of the 2018 season. But that trade ironically led to Cousins ending up on the Vikings, as he’d been reportedly angling to sign with San Francisco in free agency, with ESPN writing in July 2017 that “Cousins to the 49ers has become something of a fait accompli.”

As you read this, linebacker Kwon Alexander has just been cleared to play again after he tore a pec muscle in that Halloween night scare against the Cardinals. Defensive end Dee Ford is back from a hamstring injury, which ought to reduce the double teaming of Nick Bosa. And exquisitely named safety Jaquiski Tartt returns to the secondary, which will help stack guys up front, because Vikings running back Dalvin Cook dropped a 94-yard, two touchdown performance Sunday against against the Saints (along with three catches for 36 yards).

But enough with analysis! On to the stupid shit! Speaker Nancy Pelosi was going to attend Saturday’s game, but now she’s not, telling reporters she has “responsibilities to save our country from peril this weekend.” Some asshole morning zoo DJ in Minnesota bought digital billboards across town with the 49er-trolling message seen above, a gimmick promoting his station’s frequency number of 101.3. And also from SFGate, we learn that this is the highest-priced playoff ticket of the weekend slate of NFL games on the third-party ticket sales sites, and the highest-average-price 49ers game ever played at Levi’s.  

Which means the 49ers’ Santa Clara experiment is finally paying off, not just in terms of cash (which it always did), but in terms of fan engagement and a home field advantage they lost when they left Candlestick. The 49ers’ home games are no longer plagued by empty seats and a glut of visiting fans, though on the flip side, KPIX reminds us this means heightened security and more cops at the game. But the possible return of noise, along with the retro end zone designs, will make Saturday’s game feel like those classic 49ers-Vikings playoff battles of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Which Cris Collins-worthless is sure to remind us many, many times.

Related: 49ers Land NFC West Division Title For the First Time In 22 Years [SFist]

Top image: @49ers via Twitter

In the time since Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and violence against people of color, other teams and players have voiced their support of Kaepernick and taken up their own demonstrations. But the limit to that support is evident when it comes to actually giving Kaepernick a contract with a team. According to a report from the Washington Post, Kaepernick has now filed an official grievance against the NFL, accusing team owners of colluding to keep him from playing.

The SF Examiner says that Kaepernick has turned to criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos, who issued a statement explaining the grievance. He wrote:

If the NFL (as well as all professional sports leagues) is to remain a meritocracy, then principled and peaceful political protest — which the owners themselves made great theater imitating weeks ago — should not be punished and athletes should not be denied employment based on partisan political provocation by the Executive Branch of our government … Protecting all athletes from such collusive conduct is what compelled Mr. Kaepernick to file his grievance.

WaPo brings up one example in the Tennessee Titans, who signed on Brandon Weeden to add depth to their quarterback position behind Matt Cassel. As USA Today pointed out in a story about the fan response to Weeden's signing, there were more than enough NFL enthusiasts who decrying the move on Twitter. There were even quite a few fans upholding the idea that Kaepernick has essentially been blackballed from playing in the NFL. CBS Sports pointed out that even Weeden chimed in with an opinion on Kaepernick's ability to play, telling the Tennesseean: "He's had a heck of a career. He played in a Super Bowl. Obviously, he's done a lot of really good things. I think us as players, we all kind of firmly believe that he's a good enough player to play in this league."

But if Kaepernick and Garagos are trying to prove collusion, they may have an uphill battle ahead of them. In order to prove collusion in court, there has to be hard, verifiable evidence that at least two people engaged in a conspiracy against a person. WaPo spoke with Gabriel Feldman, director of Tulane University's sports law program, who told them: "Disagreement over personnel decisions, as obvious as it may seem to someone looking at this, does not provide evidence of collusion. There has to be some evidence of an explicit or implied agreement. There has to be proof of a conspiracy."

Related: Sports Reporter Retracts Incorrect Report Saying Kaepernick Would Stand For National Anthem Again

We were determined to loathe and ignore the Oakland Raiders this season, as the team has one foot out the door now that their obnoxious move to Las Vegas is a done deal. (The team will move in 2019 or 2020.) But it became a little tougher to hate upon these Raiders once they traded for Skittle-loving local shopkeeper Marshawn Lynch in April, as Lynch represents the nice homecoming story of an Oakland Tech and UC Berkeley grad now playing for his hometown team. And it became impossible to ignore the Raiders after Saturday night’s preseason opener, when Lynch refused to stand for the national anthem according to the AP, taking the lead from Colin Kaepernick’s Star-Spangled Banner kneeling protest that created nonstop controversy last season.

Lynch did not play Saturday night, but it’s unlikely he was benched as punishment for refusing to rise. Most of the Raiders best-known stars were held out of the first preseason game, likely to minimize injury risk in an exhibition contest. Starting quarterback David Carr, All-Pro defensive end Khalil Mack, and first-team linebacker Bruce Irvin were also healthy scratches for the game.

But Lynch made the biggest headline of any of the Raiders on Saturday, as he has a tendency to do. Oakland coach Jack Del Rio, who is known to be something of a Sean Hannity fan, downplayed the protest. “That’s a non-issue for me,” Del Rio told the AP. “[Lynch] said, ‘This is something I’ve done for 11 years. It’s not a form of anything other than me being myself’.”

Lynch himself did not speak to reporters, and is typically quite media-shy. But there is some dispute on the “11 years” claim, as ProFootballTalk has unearthed 2011 footage of Lynch standing for the anthem. Protesting the anthem was popularized by the now-exiled 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who remains unsigned amidst speculation he’s being blackballed for his national anthem protest.

For what it’s worth, the Raiders lost the meaningless exhibition game 20-10. In other not-standing-for-the-national-anthem news this weekend, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett also chose not to rise for the Star Spangled Banner, indicating this culture-war controversy will remain front and center during what is obviously already a rather tense moment in U.S. race relations.

Related: Entire Mission High School Football Team Follows Kaepernick's Lead, Kneels During Anthem

In a speech Monday in Kentucky, Donald Trump bragged that it was for fear of Twitter criticism from him that NFL owners had shown little interest in approaching Colin Kaepernick, the now-former 49ers Quarterback who is in his first week of free agency. As CNN reports, Trump couched his remarks about Kapernick, made in an otherwise nationalistic speech, as having been reported accounts he was merely repeating. Regardless, he and the audience took clear delight in the idea of punishing Kaepernick for a political gesture he made last year by kneeling during the National Anthem.

"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick said when he began his protest in the 2016 pre-season. "To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Originally sitting during the speech, Kaepernick began taking a knee instead to show his respect for American troops, and others in the league and in other sports have followed suit. Now, however, and perhaps at the suggestion of his new agents, the player claims his protest has run its course and earlier this month said he plans to stand for the National Anthem if he plays with another NFL team next season. That could happen, but it very well may not. So far, his phone hasn't been ringing.

As Trump put it in his Kentucky speech, "Your San Francisco quarterback, I'm sure nobody ever heard of him... It was reported that NFL owners don't want to pick him up because they don't want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump. Do you believe that? I just saw that. I just saw that. I said, If I remember that one, I'm gonna report it to the people of Kentucky. Cause they like it when people actually stand for the American flag, right?"

Amid cheers, Trump pivoted his remarks to his campaign promises. "Our struggling industries are going to be revitalized, and our dying factories will come roaring back to life."

One article Trump could have been referring to is this one from Bleacher Report, although surely this has all been speculated elsewhere. "It's hard to emphasize how unusual Kaepernick's current situation is," NFL writer Mike Freeman explained. "If a Super Bowl quarterback can walk and chew bubble gum simultaneously, he gets opportunities. Those opportunities usually arrive until that player is totally and completely done. That's not the case with Kaepernick."

Why? "He can still play at a high level," one AFC general manager told Freeman. "The problem is three things are happening with him. First, some teams genuinely believe that he can't play. They think he's shot. I'd put that number around 20 percent. Second, some teams fear the backlash from fans after getting him. They think there might be protests or [President Donald] Trump will tweet about the team. I'd say that number is around 10 percent. Then there's another 10 percent that has a mix of those feelings. Third, the rest genuinely hate him and can't stand what he did [kneeling for the national anthem]. They want nothing to do with him. They won't move on. They think showing no interest is a form of punishment. I think some teams also want to use Kaepernick as a cautionary tale to stop other players in the future from doing what he did."

Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler echoes the sentiment. "After struggling last year to regain weight lost to surgeries, Kaepernick is back to full strength, and possibly to full speed," Ostler observes. "On a terrible team with castoff receivers, his TD-to-INT ratio last season was 4-to-1. He earned the respect of his head coach, team owner and teammates, who found him inspirational in times of crisis."

By Ostler's math, the divided opinions on Kaepernick are just 50-50. "The league seems split into two camps: Teams (coaches/owners/general managers) who hate Kaepernick for his national-anthem protest, and teams that are afraid of Kaeper-lash from fans and maybe from the president of the United States."

NFL contract or not, Kaepernick is spreading his wealth and making more political statements. SB Nation reports that the player has been donating $100,000 a month since last October, and is on his way to making $1 million in donations over the course of a year. The latest donations are $100,000 split between Love Army for Somalia, directed at famine relief, and Meals on Wheels, an organization to which Trump's first budget plan would cut federal grants.

Previously: As Colin Kaepernick Becomes Free Agent, He Says He'll Stand For National Anthem Next Season

Immortalized by the San Francisco 49ers for his two Super Bowl wins with the team over a nine-year period that ended in 1987, Dwight Clark, now 60, has just revealed a positive diagnosis for ALS, a condition that he speculates is related to his career in the NFL. “I've been asked if playing football caused this,” Clark said a post to his website, which is below in full. “I don't know for sure. But I certainly suspect it did.”

Clark's famous touchdown catch in the 1981 NFC Championship Game is a play so iconic in the sport that it's remembered as just "The Catch" — no further specification necessary. For the record, it was against the Dallas Cowboys and thrown by Joe Montana. But these days, says Clark, "I can’t run, play golf or walk any distances. Picking up anything over 30 pounds is a chore."

In a statement obtained by the LA Times, 49ers CEO Jed York said “Many know Dwight as an iconic figure in 49ers lore, whose accomplishments on the field brought joy to fans around the world...Our organization is fortunate to know him more intimately as a wonderful man who has given so much of himself as an ambassador to the entire Bay Area. We will stand alongside Dwight and his family as they wage this battle.”

Clark adds his name to the growing list of former players who want the NFL to reconsider equipment and rules in the game as it results to may relate to brain injury. "I encourage the NFLPA and the NFL to continue working together in their efforts to make the game of football safer, especially as it relates to head trauma," he writes.

Here's Clark's letter, which he tweeted out last night.

In September of 2015, I started feeling weakness in my left hand. I was mildly paying attention to it because since my playing days, I’ve constantly had pain in my neck. I was thinking it was related to some kind of nerve damage because it would just come and go. After months of tests and treatment, I got some bad news. I was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. I have ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Those words are still very hard for me to say. While I’m still trying to wrap my head around the challenge I will face with this disease over the coming years, the only thing I know is that I’m going to fight like hell and live every day to the fullest.

There is no test that will positively diagnose you with ALS. You have to eliminate the possibility of all other diseases and disorders and then wait to see what additional symptoms you develop. I visited six neurologists and three ALS specialists. I also was treated for a B1 deficiency, which sometimes can mirror the symptoms of this debilitating disease.

In addition to losing strength in my left hand — which makes opening a pack of sugar or buttoning my shirt impossible — I have now experienced weakness in my right hand, abs, lower back and right leg. I can’t run, play golf or walk any distances. Picking up anything over 30 pounds is a chore. The one piece of good news is that the disease seems to be progressing more slowly than in some patients.

I’ve been asked if playing football caused this. I don’t know for sure. But I certainly suspect it did. And I encourage the NFLPA and the NFL to continue working together in their efforts to make the game of football safer, especially as it relates to head trauma.

What I do know is I have a huge battle in front of me and I’m grateful for the strength and unconditional love from my wife Kelly. She has been my rock. She keeps thinking positive and convinces me each day that we can beat this, as does my daughter Casey and my son Mac. My brother Jeff, his wife Debra and their family also have been unwavering with their love and support.

I get the same pep talk from the Boss, Eddie D. His support has been incredible. So rest assured, I know I’m not alone in this fight.

Every single one of my 49ers teammates that has contacted me has said whatever I need, anytime I need it, they will help. That’s just the kind of guys they are. They were so giving as players and now they are the same as friends.

I can’t thank my teammates and friends enough for their support. Mr. D always treated us like family and that family is still together. I also want to thank all the great 49ers fans. Your support over the last 35 years has allowed me to remain connected to you. Rarely does a day go by when I’m not asked about ‘the Catch,’ when we were able to get past the Cowboys and go on to win our first Super Bowl.

I’m not having a press conference or doing any interviews. That time will come. Right now, I’ve got work to do. I’ve got to devote all my energy preparing for this battle and I would hope you can respect my family’s privacy as I begin this challenge. My ultimate hope is that eventually I can assist in finding a cure for ALS, which disrupts the lives of so many and their loved ones.

Sincerely,

Dwight Clark.

Related: Former 49ers, Raiders Cheerleader Sues NFL Alleging Minimum Wage Violations

Suspended Oakland Raiders' player Aldon Smith was detained Thursday morning after a vehicle he was in struck an unmarked SFPD vehicle, injuring two officers, as ABC 7 reports. The incident happened outside SFPD headquarters near China Basin at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, and a 25-year female was said to be driving the SUV at the time. She was detained for driving under the influence, and Smith was detained for public intoxication.

Per KRON 4, the SUV is registered to Smith, and Smith told reporters as he left the police station that he "never hurt anyone," and he denied that he had been detained at all. He's not expected to be charged. But, they say, he was still "reeking of booze," which, at that hour of the morning, is pretty impressive.

Smith, 26, was suspended from the Raiders in November on substance abuse charges connected to an August 6, 2015 drunk driving incident that was the same incident that led to getting him released from his contract with the 49ers that year. Prior to that, there were several DUIs and a gun charge, and Smith has actually been arrested a total of five times since he began his NFL career in 2011.

You may recall that Smith, back when he played for the 49ers, was also connected to the December 2014 incident at Ray McDonald's San Jose home in which a woman accused McDonald of assaulting her while she was unconscious, at a time when Smith was at the house as well.

Meanwhile, Dennis O'Donnell at KPIX/CBS 5 is calling for the NFL to end Smith's suspension, saying "Smith is a troubled man who makes poor decisions that have put his career in jeopardy," but saying he's "never understood the NFL’s policy of substance abuse suspensions."

Previously: Now Aldon Smith's Been Suspended From The Raiders For Substance Abuse

The management of the San Francisco 49ers is playing defense today following word from Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor that the city may take over Levi's Stadium. At issue is the city's claim that, in violation of voter-approved Measure J, taxpayer money may have been used to cover NFL event costs. As the Chronicle reports, the mayoral threat appears to be a way to force stadium officials to turn over budget documents which Gillmor believes could prove her case.

“We have to stop the bleeding of the General Fund money into the stadium,” Gillmor told NBC Bay Area. “It’s against the law. If they don’t cure the breach, we are going to take steps to take back management of the stadium.”

If Gillmor's suspicions are borne out, the 49ers could be on the hook to pay taxpayers back for any inappropriately used funds.

The fact that appropriate stadium budget documents have not been shared with city officials came to light as a result of an independent audit called for by Santa Clara. What's more, auditor Fred Brousseau told NBC Bay Area that taxpayer money may have paid for the stadium's field to be reseeded on several occasions.

“If they are not managing the stadium properly, we will get someone who will,” Gillmor told the channel.

The Mayor's threats have not fallen on deaf ears, and the Niners released a statement yesterday denying any wrongdoing. "The Mayor's accusations that money is going from the City's General Fund into the stadium are false and irresponsible," the statement reads in part. "As the Mayor surely knows, since she voted for the agreements, the stadium does not use general fund money. In fact, funds are flowing into the General Fund from the stadium."

Whether or not Gillmor ever intended to follow through on her threat is unclear, and we may never know either way. As the Chron reports, the Niners agreed to hand over the requested documents and said they would do so today.

Previously: Santa Clara Taxpayers Stuck Paying Some Of Levi's Stadium Operating Costs

Bayview's Kneeling Colin Kaepernick Mural Removed: ‘It’s Not Legitimate Art’ https://t.co/QuRIazxKVF pic.twitter.com/AMJ9LUEatS

— Hoodline (@Hoodline) October 26, 2016

A mural depicting San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling in protest has been painted over after neighbors complained about it to the city. Hoodline reports that SF Public Works received two complaints from neighbors alleging that the Bayview mural was both "not a mural" and not "legitimate art." As the city agency is required to do, it then notified the building owner that it could either appeal the complaint or paint over the mural. To the frustration of many, the company chose the latter.

The citation was issued on the fourth of this month, and a thick coat of white paint went up sometime thereafter. "All [Golden Properties] had to do was respond and let us know that they intended to keep the mural," SF Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon told Hoodline. "Public Works doesn't tell property owners what to paint on their buildings, as long as it [is] not considered hazardous or offensive. I can't say that this mural was offensive, but when we get complaints, it's our job to respond."

While debating what is and is not "legitimate art" (or if even such a thing exists) is literally the stuff of college courses, it is hard to argue that the above pictured work is not a mural — and one depicting an act of political protest, at that. The image of Kaepernick kneeling is of course a reference to the starting quarterback's ongoing protest of the national anthem and the treatment of minorities by police. The claim that this is somehow not "legitimate art" is confusing, to say the least.

And if some neighbors were upset about the mural going up, others are upset that it was painted over.

Interestingly, the now-gone Bayview work was not the only one of its kind in the city. Another mural in tribute to Kaepernick's protest was recently painted in the Mission, however Mission Local reports that that piece, done on plywood covering a broken window, is only temporary. It will be removed when Impact Hub moves into the Mission Street building near 15th Street next spring.

In San Francisco, Kaepernick's actions have sparked more than murals, with the entire Mission High School football team kneeling during the national anthem in solidarity with the NFL star — an action in support of black lives that no white paint can cover up.

Related: Entire Mission High School Football Team Follows Kaepernick's Lead, Kneels During Anthem

For NFL fans, Twitter has mostly just been a platform for issuing death threats to placekickers who miss crucial field goals. But that all changes tonight, when Twitter begins livestreaming Thursday Night Football, which it will do for much of the season, starting with the New York Jets-Buffalo Bills contest at 5:25 p.m. PT. According to an email this reporter received from Twitter about an hour ago, the games will be streamed “in full HD” though pretty every internet video stream claims to be “full HD” these days regardless of its actual picture quality.

Still, this is a nice development for cord-cutting fans and a banner moment for the recently-beleaguered Twitter (unless the platform crashes again, of course). The game stream will be available — completely for free, with no cable subscription or Twitter account required — at TNF.twitter.com or on your Moments tab, which is the “lightning bolt” icon that you only ever click on by accident.

The stream will also feature a prominent sidebar of “game-related tweets” that promise a mix of targeted brand advertisements and hashtagged tweets from regular users that are by and large so illiterate they make YouTube comments look like Isaac Asimov footnotes.

What is novel here is that this stream will be available on all smartphones and tablets, a luxury not afforded to most NFL livestream watchers. Because of the NFL’s exclusive deal with Verizon, most regular season game livestreams are only available on smartphones to Verizon customers. Furthermore, those streams require an additional app, whereas Thursday Night Football on Twitter will be streamed on all mobile browsers, with no auxiliary app install required.

For local 49ers and Raiders fans, your teams’ obligatory Thursday Night Football appearances are 49ers-Cardinals (October 6) and Raiders-Chiefs (December 8), both of which will be streamed on Twitter as well. Twitter will be livestreaming all of the Thursday games broadcast on CBS and NBC, but not those broadcast on the NFL Network. That means 10 Thursday night games are livestreaming for free, and here is that schedule for cable-avoiding cheapskates:

• Week 2, Sept. 15: New York Jets at Buffalo Bills


• Week 3, Sept. 22: Houston Texans at New England Patriots


• Week 5, Oct. 6: Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers


• Week 6, Oct. 13: Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers


• Week 7, Oct. 20: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers


• Week 11, Nov. 17: New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers


• Week 13, Dec. 1: Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings


• Week 14, Dec. 8: Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs


• Week 15, Dec. 15: Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks


• Week 16, Dec. 22: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Related: Here's What You Do With An Inflatable Penis At A 49ers Game