members of san francisco's hotel union held a noisy marchand demonstration today in and around union square. workers for the hyatt he hotel chain say they are fighting for the right to strike and want hyatt to let other hotel employees join the union. management called the demonstration "street theater and accused the local 2 leaders not allowing the current contract offer to go before members for a vote. >>> two hours ago in san francisco, protesters say they will stage a mass action on thursday urging passengers to ride bart for free. >> we are going to be in that station protesting exercising our free speech rights. and protesting the existence of the bart police and we anticipate that if bart wants to keep the station running they will open the fare gates. >> the protesters say bart often opens its fare gates during protest or other big events to avoid station overcrowding. and now they are calling for a spare the fare day thursday at the pal street station.

mike. >> reporter: just what union square needed, elizabeth. if you have drin around here at all, it's the worst traffic in a decade if you have driven around here, because of the central subway construction. about 2:00 today a crew working for the city cut into a pg&e gas line, that was at 2:00. gas spewed for almost an hour before it was turned off at 3:15. now, the gas wasn't dangerous but it could have ignited. two buildings were evacuated, 490 post which has life hack the doctors in town -- has like half the doctors in town there. there was a "shelter in place" order including the prescott hotel for about two hours. we saw official from the city and pg&e jawing about whose fault it was. we are going to play you two pieces of interviews we did. one is from the contractor, what they told us and what pg&e told us after they heard what the contractor said. >> our saw cutter, he was saw cutting and the pg&e mark was off so we started saw cutting where we're supposed to because they had the mark right here. so when we started saw cutting we hit

in san francisco near union square, leslie brinkley, abc7 news. >>> 4:37. new survey shows overwhelming majority of californians are pessimistic about the economy. half are worried a family member would lose their job. poll by the non-partisan public policy institute of california found record 67% thought jobs and the economy were the most important issue facing the state. 89% think the state is in a recession. the poll shows 40% of californians believe president obama's effort so far have failed to get more people working. still, 48% of likely voters say they trusted him on economic matters more than the republicans in congress. >> the maverick search contest heading back to the creator. tonight, the san mateo county harbor district is expected to approve a permit for the big wave contest held near half moon bay. it will be run by jeff clark, the man who started it in 1999, along with his wife and several other surfing community leaders. in 2009, clark's former partner gained control of the contest. it would allow it between september and march if it mater

they can go in and around union square. we have space is now up in the castro, in fact. >> how many are there? >> we have about 420. >> are they here all year round? >> out of the 420, i know 150 to sell all year round. i mean like five-seven days a week. >> are they making their living of of this? >> this is their sole source of income for many. >> how long have you been with this program. how much has it changed? >> i have been with the program since it began 37 and a half years ago but i have seen changes in the trend. fashion comes and goes. >> i think that you can still find plenty of titis perhaps. >> this is because the 60's is retro for a lot of people. i have seen that come back, yes. >> people still think of this city as the birth of that movement. great, thank you for talking about the background of the program. i'm excited to go shopping. >> i would like you to meet two street artists. this is linda and jeremy. >> night said to me to print them -- nice to meet you. >> can you talk to me about a variety of produc

. >> gas leak near san francisco union square is under investigation. yesterday, the crew working for the utility commission hit unmarked line. two hotel guests there were ordered to shelter in place. two other buildings were evacuated. utility said construction was supposed to start today and the contractor was a day early. >> this afternoon. two san francisco firefighters who died on the job will get a special memorial and hold a line of duty death memorial wall dedication ceremony to honor lieutenant vincent perez and firefighter paramedic anthony valerio. the names will be enscribed on the marble wall at the headquarters. they died after fighting a house fire in the dimond height neighborhood in june. they were the first to rush in the house. >>> the man charged in a san jose crime spree is expected to return to court in two weeks to enter a plea. emotional paul castillo was arraigned on murder, kidnapping and carjacking charges. prosecutors say he killed 60-year-old cindy nguyen friday after taking her car. they say he also shot a man at a gas stat

in the union square area, there is not a lot of real estate to go round on the sidewalk.t i was able to come up with is two spaces on post street, post at stockton just in front of the levi's building. i have a map that may work. right above there would be union square. there is currently permitted hot dog vendor on the corner. those two spaces, i was asking for four, but i dealt with the management of levi's and the hot dog vendor. we settled on two. i think the artists would be glad to have them. they would be good spaces. i am asking that they not be permanent. these would be temporary for the designation of only six months. if we still cannot get back the seven spaces in six months, i will come back and ask for a continuation of a number -- another temporary designation. it is not a plan to try to make these permanent basis. i want to assure you of that. these two spaces meet all of your public safety regulations. a street artist space cannot be within 10 feet of the outer edge of a doorway or entranceway. a street artist must maintain at least 8 feet of pedestrian pa

we're having a celebration in union square. today, i would like to welcome the leadership of the artists guild, and i want to thank you for everything you have been doing. congratulations. >> thank you so much. i am carol more, the president of the artists guild, and i want to thank all of your supervisors and president chiu. we're not only showing what locals and tourists with our art, being able to show a fine art in the public parks, but also helping many, many local artists to become viable business people in the city and continue to beginning -- to create there are in san francisco. we are really grateful and thankful for your support. >> thank you. we will look forward to another 50 years. congratulations. [applause] madam clerk, why do we not go to items 34 and 35? clerk: a public hearing on item 35 regarding the street vacation order and a jurisdictional transfer of mandan avenue and a portion of cayuga avenue. president chiu: is there someone here to give us information? >> director of real estate. i am also accompanie

in union square, we have been working closely with the union square association and other merchants. it is largely done trade largest chunk will be done before the holiday -- the holiday moratorium. there'll be little work after january, but the lion's share has been done. given the magnitude of the work and disruptions in one of our busiest commercial areas in the city and the fact that commercial businesses there are largely satisfied with how it is going is a great testament to the team. the design work on the three stations and the systems which will connect all of those stations, they are about 90% complete. those will be wrapping up soon and we will be putting those out for construction bids mostly next calendar year, 2012. the big contract, of course, was approved for the tunnel at $233 million. we have executed that contract and will soon be issuing our first notice to proceed to the contractor. there will be a number of notices to proceed. but the first one is coming soon. from a design and construction perspective, everything is moving forward. in terms of funding, we recen

take vo ---los propietarios de hoteles en las zonas turisticas de union square, yerba buena, el barrioharf han reportado un incremento de quejas de huespedes quienes han dicho sentirse acosados por las personas que solicitan dinero... ---para algunos hoteleros, el problema es el peor que han visto en mas de 30 aÑos en la zona aledaÑa a union square, dijeron... stop open roll open cu ---como parte de la colaboracin periodistica, nos enlazamos con celina rodriguez del programa "buenos dias con celina... ---buenas tardes y bienvenida celina... take live take weather cam in plasma cu ariel rodriguez tiene el pronostico del tiempo....... roll open roll open take pkg muchas gracias a traves de toda nuestra zona estamos viendo leve influencia maritima de hecho toda la nubosidad se ha quedado en la tarde a traves del sector costero por eso las temperaturas aumentaron mas a traves del area del interior... sin embargo estan pasando algunas nubes altas, estas a traves de nuestra zona no estaran provocando la lluvia aunque la lluvia si esta en el pronostico, al momento alta presion sigue en contro

in union square, we have been working closely with the union square association and other merchants. it is largely done trade largest chunk will be done before the holiday -- the holiday moratorium. there'll be little work after january, but the lion's share has been done. given the magnitude of the work and disruptions in one of our busiest commercial areas in the city and the fact that commercial businesses there are largely satisfied with how it is going is a great testament to the team. the design work on the three stations and the systems which will connect all of those stations, they are

i initially went to the troy davis rally the day after his legal lynching which took place in union square and i think in large part that's what gave the occupy wall street a great deal of militancy because when we had a spontaneous march from union square to wall street we were brutally attacked by the police and the n.y.p.d. very clearly showed their true colors by doing that by bringing out their butts hons by bringing a rubber bullet guns by bringing out here guests and having absolutely no regard for what was a very peaceful protests so we ended up going down to wall street and we met the folks from occupy wall street then it really showed on the police the fear that they had of people actually organizing so yes i hope it's the beginning of a revolutionary movement we have to organize organize organize in order to get there and not just on wall street but in our communities and says i want to talk to you about for the new idea that that that i know this is a subject that you teach a lot about in your classes let the media focus is to cover and when they don't they're in the i think wh

union members marched around nunin -- union square shouting about union power, over 20 years union powerbeen... >> diminished. >> putting it mildly. union members represent just 12% of the nation's work force. and the commerce department reports that private sector wage gains have lagged behind the wage gains of the great depression. >> and this is a period where there is a transfer of wealth over the last three decades that. is what we've seen. we can see working people standing up, fighting back whether in a union or not. >> the local union president believes like the great deprelgs, these hard times will help build union supports. not everyone is optimistic. and pines led the union chant and admitted tea party's message is resonating. >> i don't know how to convince working people, but they did a good job. >> today, sara palin address aid tea party rally and did not talk about organized labor. and opting to bash the president. >> our president has no plan to tackle the politicians deficit problem autos the president spent labor day talk bgs the economic plan intending to unveil on thu

we are so grateful to hilton san francisco union square for hosting this event, and i would like to recognize the key members from those who tells -- those hotels are also in the room with us today. let's take a closer look at the program. ♪ be >> hilton has been an industry leader ever since our leader opened his first hotel more than i did two years ago. he believed in the power of travel and tourism to bring people together. today, we continue his legacy of filling the earth with the brightness and warmth and hospitality. this important program welcoming chinese travelers from around the world is led by our flagship brand, hilton hotels and resorts, and it is available to all hotels across our brand. for generations, hilton hotel and resorts has welcomed guests from around the world. with tourism from china growing exponentially, we are introducing a new program that provides consistent amenity and service standards at participating properties to meet the needs of our most important chinese travelers abroad. hilton is growing at record rates across asia pacific and china in particular. equ

clinton's speech going on here, again the a the fairmont hotel in union square, san francisco, at 9:00 this morning. we will be there. >> grace? >> speaking of powerful women, ann, are you feeling a little inspired today? >> yes, yes, very empowered. i would like to get my hands on some of that capital and see what i can do with it. we will see what i can arrange. >> i'm sure you would be a force to reckon with. thanks, ann. >>> in the meantime, secretary clinton says she is optimistic that those two cal grads will be released by iran. clinton says the u.s. has received word through a number of forces that shane bauer and josh fattal will be freed. officials say arab countries iran and iraq are involved in the negotiations for their release on bail. oman was involved in last year's release of sara shourd. >>> 6:04. >>> a college football star shot dead and fairfield police are looking for the murder suspect. the 18-year-old is considered armed and dangerous. he is wanted in the fatal shooting of a community college student. the 21-year-old innis johnson. and police have arrested anothe

san francisco union square today. circus performers took over san francisco union square today. the performers put on an free hour show at lunch today. >>> news chopper 2 live again where an explosion within the last hour or so killed one worker there and injured another. >>> in ten minutes, i'll have your holiday weekend forecast. and it does include some of that. but some heat as well. >>> new at 6:00, a victory for the bay area lawyer accused of using craigslist to find women and rape them. >> i think she did go there for rough sex. >> how the alleged victims may have helped the case against him unravel. >>> then he's the lead singer of the east bay band green day. how his fans got him kicked off the plane at oakland airport. >>> plus the big swell is prompting rescues throughout the bay. >>> defense secretary leon panetta is raising eyebrows for his visits home. panetta has been home five weekends and several weeks of vacation. >>> a man with firsthand experience handling in air emergency, sullenburger is bringing

it gives the improvements that the union square business improvement district t install on powell street, thanks to money they receive from audi. unfortunately, the image on the screen is cut off. i would just cycled through this. basically, what we did is an extension along powell( street ellis to geary, abobo two blocks, along that corridor. powell street enjoys about 1000 pedestrians. it is one of the most active pedestrian street in the united states. we removed or re-purposed the sidewalk parking zone, which was not parking but just loading, and we were able to identify a location for the loading demand. we had an extensive community process. the business improvement district, over one year worth of engagement to ensure that we got the design right. really quickly, the images. as i mentioned, -- unfortunately, t te not going to be seen, but i think you can get the idea. supervisor mar: on the computer, if you use control minus, it reduces the size. it may not be the screen. >> i apologize for that. so unless there are any questions, that concludes my presentation. when we were orig

they marched from union square to the financial district. calling for an end to a two year labor dispute. amber lee is live with when both sides will go back to the table. >> we're in front of the embarcadero, where they have been balking the picket line since last thursday. in two hours, the strike will be over. but earlier tonight, workers hit the streets to express their demand. hundreds of hotel workers started the strike at union square. joining a strike by hyatt workers in san francisco, los angeles, and honolulu to demand better treatment. one worker told us, she's a switch board operator. she says employees are underpaid and overworked. >> if somebody wants to go to the restroom, there will be somebody else to answer. >> we've got more than 20 years. 20 years, 25. and they do not appreciate what we've done. >> reporter: this woman says she's been cleaning rooms at the hyatt for 12 years. she told us, lifting a mattress that weighs 150 pounds is hard work. hyatt workers have been without a contract for two years. a key sticking point,

and i thought about my own experiences here in new york shortly after the attack, of places like union squarehington square, and how important they were to bringing people together that day. they aree not just places that brought us together physically but they connected us and gave us an opportunity to comfort others and be comforted by others and i know that there was near and trepidation surrounding everything and i thought that we should have a public site like union square, like washingtonet square and if we were toro suppress it, it would cut it off from the life of the think is. m we should bring it up and make it level with the surrounding street and sidewalks and knit iá back in the fabric of the is it i and believe we can is haveit many people that come to this plaza, whether this to mourn or whether it is to tie a five-minute break from theiracet office pulling thank is thedi across the street ask have those different uses side by side, actually enriching the experience of being on this memorial site for whatever purpose that you are there? >> rose: did you get everything? >> at th

you know, one reason tourists go to union square, and they go to a public place where they can belong without knowing anybody. every city needs space like that. we realized at our scale, we needed a civic plaza. we thought about bands, but as soon as you put them up on stage, you have these consuming crowds listening to the band. the longer they stood there the more beer bottle they drop on the ground. that did not seem attractive at all. we do not leave a trace after the event. we do not want a stage. if you want your own, build it, which people did. so we turned to copy. it affords you a social place. you can stay there all day, we do not care. we are not doing it to make money. we lose money. we do it for the sake of public interaction. to create a civic environment that led to communal feelings. that seems like an exception to the dogma, but what did emerson say? a speech of consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. >> i was just thinking that. [laughter] going the other direction, as fast as possible, one of the things -- a pattern that has arisen over the years -- a lot of t

took place last week and i it -- as a result there were three, $270,000, so they can to work at union square. passed by, seven-one, with one abstention, the discussion for the meeting was around community involvement as put into the planning. the other item on the agenda was the central subway. this was the first time we had passed anything regarding the central subway. the discussion on that was very focused on the risk management issues and the assumptions that the mta was making about the central subway project. i believe we have something coming up on the agenda. the last one, if you look just look, i think that it was the -- excuse me -- signals, right? that is right, officials. we discussed it more from a community perspective. what were the priorities in the right order? and should that be higher on the list? that was a big concern with prioritized projects around signals. three items on the agenda. one of them, the adoption of priorities for 2012. there are four priorities. the circulation plan was also passed unanimously. there was discussion on this item early on and did included n

they marched from union square to the financial district. calling for an end to a two year labor dispute. amber lee is live with when both sides will go back to the table. >> we're in front of the embarcadero, where they have been balking the picket line since last thursday. in two hours, the strike will be over. but earlier tonight, workers hit the streets to express their demand. hundreds of hotel workers started the strike at union square. joining a strike by hyatt workers in san francisco, los angeles, and honolulu to demand better treatment. one worker told us, she's a switch board operator. she says employees are underpaid and overworked. >> if somebody wants to go to the restroom, there will be somebody else to answer. >> we've got more than 20 years. 20 years, 25. and they do not appreciate what we've done. >> reporter: this woman says she's been cleaning rooms at the hyatt for 12 years. she told us, lifting a mattress that weighs 150 pounds is hard work. hyatt workers have been without a contract for two years. a key sticking point,

in union square, leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. >>> okay. we'll follow those, of course. leslie, thank you. >>> a major strike is planned for tomorrow at 34 hospitals in northern and central, california. more than 23,000 nurses from southern and kaiser hospitals will join forces in a show of solidarity first thing in the morning. heather ishimaru explains why. >> reporter: the california nurses association is loading trucks with pickets and other gear getting ready to fan out over northern and central, california. 23,000 nurses from 34 hospitals will be on strike starting at 7 tomorrow morning. the nurses union says suter health is the main target. >> suitosuter all it cares abos profit margin. it made cuts in patient services that it doesn't think are profitable enough regardless of how that affects communities. >> striking for take aways from the communities. services needed like cardiac cath services. psychiatric services. mother ssh baby service. >> suter issued a statement saying we are deeply disappointed in the union decision to call the strike. we remain committed

>> i was working on union square. on lunch hours, i would be there visiting the artist. it was interesting, exciting, and i have a creative streak in me. it ranges from t-shirts, jackets, hats. what is the day of the life of a street artist? >> they have their 2536 in the morning. by the end of the day, the last people to pack the vehicle probably get on their own at 7:30 at night. >> nice to me to condemn the -- nice to meet you. >> it was a pleasure to share this with you. i hope that the bay area will descend upon the plaza and go through these arts and crafts and by some holiday gifts. >> that would be amazing. thank you so much for the hard work that you do. >> i just want to make a public statement to acknowledge that appointments to the police commission and any commission which is a policy-making body is very important. i want to encourage about keep in front of our minds the importance of not only to elect women, but to work to get more women appointed to these bodies that help make legislative decisions for our city and county of san francisco. >> i am from san

now with the line now cut, gas was flowing into the union square area. san francisco fire and pg&e quickly arrived on scene, both had police shut down the surrounding streets. two buildings were evacuated, 490 post, which was a medical office building, as well as an academy of art building. also, there were closures near two hotels. we asked about the flow of gas, and the length of time, pg&e said it took 59 minute. >> the first priority is public safety. the first priority rather than working to shut the gas off is to secure the area. a few moments after we did that, then we began to work the valves, with the gas going to the area. we started to shut them down, the gas was shut down about 3:14 this afternoon. >> reporter: the shelter in place has been lifted. they are making sure the gas has been vented from all the buildings. right now crews are working on the broken pipe, as the new one is expected to be put in later on tonight. as to who was exactly at fault, pg&e says an investigation has already been launched. ktvu channel 2 action news. >>> and th

pg&e said the contractor cut through a 10-inch gas linep around union square this afternoon. two blocks remain closed. the contractors started digging before the crews could mark the area. markings were in the wrong place. >>> happening now a plan to open a new sex shop is creating a controversy. the good vibrations out lout is asking for approval to move into a store. the meeting is underway right now. >> reporter: i just stepped out of the meeting where they are considering this application. the store says they want to move into the location because of the night life there. some support it but they are -- some say they are opposed to any store like that. attracting many shoppers and families and this spot is where good vibrations want to open trz newest -- its newest store. >> why not? some shops don't always stay. maybe that one would. >> i think it would do well. we need to feel good. >> reporter: along with three in san francisco with window displays. it sells adult oriented toys, books and other materials and health and education programs. some residents say they have c

if you are in union square station, you will be able to connect with market street to get onto bart of muni doing is to west, that is correct? there is also this discussion that the line does have to go to bart or muni because you cannot go through them. i would expect escalators or elevators so people will not be going down 200 feet of stairs as they do not want to walk. >> there will be. commissioner antonini: it is common in new york. on grand central where you're on the lines and you're going to the lines on the west side, they have a short subway but they also have a walkable people mover thing that takes you between the two and that might be a suggestion. that is going to have to happen in some of these places. >> we could come back and present of that. president olague: that would be great. congestion pricing, that is something i support or asking the question. i am sometimes concerned about aging populations and folks living with disabilities. maybe next time you come i will have more to say on that. and then sometimes, when you're talking about the polarization of incomes, tha