the safety out there at union square. before approving it, we had spoken with the mta and with the bicycle coalition to help us in evaluating the potential safety of such a use out there. through those conversations, the department was able to reach a level of comfort that this would not create any additional unwarranted risk. when the item went to our commission, our commission decided to allow for nine months where we could collect data on the safety of the operation at union square. that was a time that roughly coincided with the peak season where we felt that would be large enough that we could get an adequate sample size to determine what the true safety factors are, and then after that nine months, and actually, any point after that nine months, so if two and a half years in, the department decides is unsafe, we can seize the operation at union square. the department and the commission did feel strongly, though, that it was necessary to have an adequate amount of time to develop -- to generate some empirical data on

the safety out there at union square. before approving it, we had spoken with the mta and with the bicycle coalition to help us in evaluating the potential safety of such a use out there. through those conversations, the department was able to reach a level of comfort that this would

we have not heard of any complaints or reports of injury in the union square area. what we have heard is a lot of our work is done around market street, that being the artery to other neighborhoods. we are focusing a lot of our attention there right now. we do see all over the downtown area a lot of businesses requesting bicycle racks. my understanding is people are bicycling in this area, but in terms of injury, we have not heard of anything. supervisor chu: do you think we will be able to work closely with you and your organization to improve the education on safety around the area? >> of course. we have a contract with the mta to do bicycle education, and as part of that, we would be more than happy to. especially thinking about a short, 1-page easy tips to offer to people renting a bicycle. i want to reiterate we work closely with the department of public works on construction- related issues on a bicycle lanes, how to make sure people on bicycles are afforded safety, and we would love to work specifically with the central subway team to make sure that everybody

i'm the executive director at the union square b.i.d. the lease before you today is all about location, location, location, and i'm happy to say we have locations at union square, the favorite destination of visitors to the city. it remains so based on recent surveys by the convention and visitors bureau, now known as the san francisco travel association. i'm here today to express a concern about safety for launching cyclists into traffic in the union square area, and i would like to elaborate on that. already, we have lots of pedestrian traffic around the square, which is where the service will operate. automobiles transferring through the area and also into the garages in the area. more recently, an explosion of tour bus operators that has at any time two or three tour buses parked to load and unload passengers on the south side of the square. add to that central subway construction that has just begun. stockton street is torn up, as our -- are gary and soon ellis street. all traffic south were down on stock and is now being diverted a

i'm standing near the intersection of post and grant in san francisco's union square shopping district. typically a very busy intersection for both cars and pedestrians. that all came to a halt this morning around 9:30 a.m. when a pg&e manhole cover in the middle of the intersection exploded 15 feet into the air. workers in the area heard a loud boom that shook some of the windows on this corridor. pg&e says it was caused by a cable failure underground. police cordoned off the intersection at four blocks forcing a rerouteing of traffic. witnesses reported seeing smoke but no flames drifting out of the manhole. >> this was a report of an explosion. that manhole cover went up about 15 feet and landed right where it's at. there was no damages or injuries. >> the cable failure generated pressure in the underground vault. when there's a pressure build- up it causes the manhole cover to come off. >> reporter: now, union square has been the site of a number of other manhole cover explosions including this june 2009 incident in which a pedestrian was burned. pg&e says it's replaced about 100 o

so i am forced to walk from market to union square. one way or the other, it is about a thousand feet. then i will take the subway to chinatown, which is clay and washington, a mile and a half. but if i wanted to go to broadway and pacific, where most shops are, then i have to walk. is there a bus going that way? it is too much trouble. the bus service will not it officially anyway. and then after that, with bags full of groceries, i have to walk back to clay and stockton, then go down all the way to the subway station, take the bus to union square, then walk again to powell and market. i say hey, that is too much trouble for me. i would like to take the bus or just forget about the whole thing. take the bus. but is there a bus system going directly from market street to chinatown? it turns out the bus system will not be as frequent as now. so i want you to consider a better plan to help seniors. most of us take buses anyway. so if this truly is really serving seniors, thank you. commissioner mirkarimi: thank you. next speaker, please.

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

in union square there is no way we would tolerate this. if there was some store front retail and they go out of business and i don't think necessarily it would comport with the retail unity and business community of union square that the immediate reflex would be, well, we need to certainly get that building leased and occupied and we don't want it to be boarded up so let's turn it into an office p unheard of. so why would we do that to a neighborhood merchant corridor, especially one that is struggling to return a flavor that makes it a cultural destination site. so i have done similar things and we have things like the sodero and the comeback kid story and great things have happened. so why less than a mile away, less than a mile, maybe half a mile, would we not provide that same right to the fillmore as we would to union square and others? and that is before you our legislation. and it is more perspective not to evict anybody that is now but should there be that turnover, in the future of those offices and that no longer have the releas

. >>> another san francisco manhole blew it's top today in the busy union square shopping district. people in that area reported hearing a loud boom that shook windows and sent a heavy metal cover 15 feet into the air. no one was hurt. paigepg&e says -- >> when there's a pressure buildup, it causes the manhole cover to come off. >> a pedestrian was burned in another underground explosion at union square in june of 2009. pg&e says it has replaced about 100 of the city's 1000 manhole covers with newer ones that allow pressure to vent. >>> new at 7:00, imprisoned for 20 years, a bay area man is set free. he went to prison for a crime he says he did not commit. our janine de la vega -- january nah -- jana is live in san francisco. >> reporter: we shared the moment with them when he walked out of that building this afternoon. after more than two decades in prison, 43-year-old maurice caldwell walked out of the san francisco county jail at 5:00 p.m. today a free man. his sister deborah was there to greet him with hugs and tears of relief along with friends, his attorneys and supporters. f

the man grabbed a girl from behind when she walked on union square. she was able to break free and run. the man was last seen running towards the bart station. >>> you will be able to see charlie sheen's show without turning on the tv. he is bringing his road show, titled violent torpedo of truth to san francisco. tickets went on sale today. when last we checked, there were seats available. >>> japan making progress with its nuclear crisis, a new problem has appeared and amazing pictures of the tsunami as it washes away a driver and its car. and we missed tonight, what made this moon so special. swep rvived --and his v >>> just amazing pictures of the tsunami coming ashore in japan from inside a car as it was swept away. the driver survived and obviously his video survived. the man says he saw the wall of water, but he had no choice, but to keep going. incredibly the camera continues to roll as the car appears to begin floating away. >>> late word tonight that pressure is again rising inside one of the crippled nuclear reactors at the fukushima comple

if you can avoid this area all little east of union square.n't come down here. >> darya: if your do your shopping or what ever getting ready for the shopping day with all the larry's what a mess. that is incredible. we will have to find out if this guy was new and did not know where or what. i'm sure there'll be some heat their in some explaining to do. >> reporter: i think the key word is was new, i don't think you'll be around much longer. >> darya: probably not. another developing story, live in washington d.c., there are hearings underway the ntsb is investigating the december and a gas line explosion that happened in san bruno. >> will: there back from break, they are being grilled by members of the ntsb she has been speaking for 15-20 minutes right now they're talking about the pipe pressure, was p&g in the in compliance. here's video of the explosion that killed eight people destroying homes. from what i've heard so far pacific gas and electric company said they were within the pressure lines. there is no definitive word yet on what cau

. >> a retail store on the union square side. as i understand, it will have local art from local artists and st. cultural items, and i know the applicants are year, and they can talk more about but, so it is not entertainment. it is simply a whole bunch of videogames that are mechanical devices. the hours of operation plant

. >> i was at a tent in union square and they did not serve bottled water. they had pictures and glasses, so maybe somebody got that message. >> in a similar vein, we had an award ceremony called h-2 of solutions that gives prizes for water, wastewater energy, the black gold discussion we add at our ocean plant, the pilot we are doing for turning black grease and dark brown greece into biofuel was one of the finalists in that. the celebration was at a facility in san francisco that said they had to serve bottled water because their water was not good enough to serve. we went down there and help them slash the pipes. since they did not use water, they had never washed the pipes out. after doing that, they were able to serve regular tap water for the event. it took some convincing to tell them that your water is o.k. but you never use the pipes. president vietor: there is an excellent book that as just come out called "water matters." it's quite informative. there is a panel tonight and it talks a lot about bottled water and how we need to wean ourselves off o

. ♪ here we are in union square and excitement fills the air fills a love that is here today at 0 how love this affair -- oh, how i love this affair this foundation started back in 1994 they do their part in help and hope ne to give a brand new start come on, everybody just do your part today is a day here at heroes and hearts where you must buy table top bart just in case you were unaware is the sixth year of this luncheon hard to believe, you know we still have the most amazing ceo executive director of this foundation stephanie [inaudible] board of directors president to the guggenheim says each hero is a leader, and she thanks them for all their time raising funds for sfga and the trauma center is all thanks to you this yearly luncheon, such an elegant bunch and was chaired by patrick smith and connie judy guggenheim started this ball just six years ago and to our sponsors laying our foundation, you both get and a -- an a we all could learn a lesson from you chevron and webcor united health group and visa we need you for sure let's hear it for the sponsors yeah ♪ [applause] ♪ so,

also wanted to add that controls like these have been in place in the union square area for about 20 years. for the eastern neighborhoods and better neighborhoods processes, controls like this one were imposed in lots of neighborhood commercial districts. upper market street in district age or the up about half in district 10 have identical controls to this -- or the other dog patch -- the upper dogpatch in district 10 have identical controls to this. supervisor mar: thank you. is there anyone else who would like to speak on this item? mr. washington, you were on the list as well. >> ♪ land use, won't you lift me high above and all play its we'd play it great fillmore jazz when the fillmore jazz man makes it better he takes your blues away make the district make it better again make it better today land use, won't you lift this district high above it all make it good make it a great fillmore jazz man and the jazzman makes it better, makes it good takes my fillmore blues away and you make it good, make it great, make it better today jazzman take my fillmore blues away you are going to

it also brought out a parade of umbrellas, as you can see here on union square in san francisco. let's go to leigh glaser. >> leigh: this storm him system continuing to bring moisture across the bay area. much of this has been in the north bay. light amounts, less than a half inch. san jose only a trace amount of precipitation. you can see it moving its way actually moving north and then rotating back towards the west, and novato seeing the rain. american canyon, benecia, concord. oakley, antioch, and brentwood reporting light rain. and milpitas and san jose, very little moisture right now. that will pick up a little a little overnight tonight. >> alan: we're not sure if this next story is whether-related but a jackknifed big rig caused a major backup all morning and into the afternoon on the san francisco approach to the bay bridge. a safeway truck crashed just after 8:00 a.m., blocking three lanes of the lower deck. the front end of the rig was heavily damaged and the drier had to be -- driver had be to pulled out. caltrans used sand to clean up the fuel leak. traffic was back

he was last seen running towards the union square bart station. anyone with information is asked to call police. >>> today a rally and march held in san francisco to mark the 8th anniversary of the war in iraq. the group act now to stop war and end racism is holding the rally to voice its opposition to the war. it will also be joined by labor and student organizations to protest what they call the war on working people here. the group says this is part of a national day of action. the rally begins at noon at the u.n. plaza in san francisco. organizers say it will be held rain or shine. >>> we are following the littest developments in libya this morning. an announcement just made minutes ago by world leaders. and it's something that has not happened in decades, what egyptians are casting ballots for today. and here's a live look outside at the san mateo bridge. you can see traffic moving smoothly but remember the rain is coming, so is the wind, so be careful if you're on the roads today. >>> welcome back. good morning. live look san francisco there

i see them almost every day in union square. why are the tourists more important than the citizens? in philadelphia -- i believe the chief should be hired from within. a looked down and i noticed that his night stick had all the paint off of that. you can see the wood grain. i asked, what happened? he said, that's from beating heads. what do you think that before community relations? what kind of attitude is that? i am a citizen coming out of the store. i just want to see beat cops walking real beats. it might not be the thing to do it in outlying areas, but in dense areas -- [chime] >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> the evening, supervisors, and some of our police commissioners. i am -- >>-share of the northwest alliance. unfortunately, i am a former member. i served in 2009 and 2010. when the chief had his summit, he handed down a guide or rules. we read we could not serve on two cabs. we had to live within a police precinct in order to serve at that station. that meant that people that live in a supervisory district may not be able to serve on the police cap that the neighbo

go down to union square. there is 100 companies that are located here. earlier, an african man was crying here, and a latino woman was crying here. that is a crime, a travesty. that they are crying of here, and these people are pandering to larry ellison. he is worth $18 billion. right? he got the city to give him all kinds of tax breaks, property, everything else. that is who they pandered to and try to tell us we are the problem. it is a crime. these police officers should be addressing them -- for arresting them. san francisco is controlled by the white, the wealthy, and their businesses and corporations. they do not come to a town hall meeting and get two minutes to a top. larry ellison had his ear right away. they stuffed the agenda. they profit from san francisco, and i will tell you -- their agenda is not our agenda. me? i do not give a fuck about race. fat is not my agenda. we need health care. we need services. we do not need more rich white men and their agenda. [applause] >> before our next speaker, the next three people i would like to call u

. >> reporter: so this protest marched to join another one, a labor moment at a union square hotel. there were also signs for education funding, anti-racism and this guy, who thinks serving wrong. don't you kind of lose your message then? >> i don't think so, because i think that the reality is that we're fighting against the big corporations and banks and military industrial complex, the oil companies. that who is really the heart of the problem. >> reporter: in san francisco, anne makovec, cbs are 5. >>> coffee connoisseurs as well as the coffee industry are getting jittery. prices are going up. prices at are their highest levels in 14 years and you know what that means? it's forcing roasters andlatee and latte makers to raise their prices. >>> it will be a while before a collapsed section of highway 11 back open to traffic. engineers say a two-mile stretch north of big sur will be closed for at least a month. it slid into the ocean wednesday. contractors started to repair the road yesterday. highways 101, and 68 will be used as detours until it's fixed. >>> if you just heard lawr

wonder that took a fall with the wind whipping this sign off the building landing on a street near union square. >> everybody was running around over here, going on. >> reporter: nobody was hurt. also in the city a tree fell onto a car at lincoln avenue just after midnight. when the ground soaked we could see a lot more tree damage. >> it's good because we are getting a lot of rain but bad that it hasn't slowed down. i would expect to see a lot of trees. >> reporter: and more rainfalling but hope fly not to the level of this on-ramp from 101 or the power outages caused by falling trees and lines, today thousands were out of power across the bay area as pg&e worked to restore the lines. >> we are used to it here. it happens quite often. >> reporter: this tree isn't just inconvenient, this roadway is now blocked and it's one of the only ways in and out of this neighborhood. >> the other way is a round the loop but we are okay. >> yep. everybody is okay. >> reporter: veteran comparison to the old oak tree. >> just going to have to live, very sad and the house will look very different without it. >

it landed near union square. >> i heard a big crash, went to the window and everybody was like running away across the way and hollering. >> reporter: luckily no one was hurt. also, a tree fell on to a car at lincoln avenue just after midnight with the ground saturated, we could be seeing a locality more tree damage -- a lot more tree damage. >> it's bad because it hasn't slowed down and i would expect to see a low the of -- a lot of trees falling in the next couple of days here. >> reporter: hopefully not to the level that caused this flooding. or the power outages caused by falling trees. today thousands of people were without power. >> we are used to it here. >> this fallen tree isn't just an inconvenience for this household. this roadway is now blocked and it's one of the only ways in and out of this neighborhood. >> we are okay. >> everyone is okay. >> reporter: better in comparison to the old oak tree. >> just going to have to live with it and the house is going to look different without it. it's very sad. >>> the bad weather need it difficult for fishermen and boaters. how local

. >>> union square this morning, an electrical problem underground sent a manhole cover sailing into the air. luckily no one was hurt. pg&e says they are in the process of replacing the covers. >>> you have heard the joke about the bridge for sale. there is an island that's also on the market here in the bay area. it's red rock island. they are asking $22 million for the island. elizabeth cook shows us what you get for that. >> so how often does somebody walk into your office and say i would like to buy an island today. >> it hasn't happened yet. >> steven has a one of a kind property he wants to sell. red rock island is the only privately owned island in the san francisco bay. its asking price is $22 million. >> it's pretty spectacular. it's 360 degrees for sure. >> it's just shy of 6 acres and the highest peak is 170 feet above the water. it also touches three counties, marin -- and san francisco. >> you have to get a permit to do anything, so obviously the counties are going to have a say over it. then the public would possibly have a cry depending on what it is you you want to do

this year's theme is power of flowers and it includes lofty arrangements all over the union square storeswell as in its windows. this is the 65th year for the flower show. >>> well, facebook may be hazardous to teen's health warning the popular social site is not for everybody. >>> a crew member that disappears that has passengers on edge. ,,,,,,,,,,,, ♪ [ male announcer ] escape convention. ♪ escape definition. ♪ escape compromise. ♪ introducing the most fuel-efficient luxury car available. the radically new... 42 mile per gallon ct hybrid from lexus. ♪ welcome to the darker side of green. ♪ the american academy of >>> too much facebook could be bad for teen's mental health. the american academy of pediatrics is warning that troubled teens could suffer from facebook depression. they say looking at photos and updates of happy people having fun can make kids who suffer from low self-esteem even worse. the group says parents should talk to their kids about all their online use. >>> a mystery aboard a disney cruiseship. a young cruise member disappeared while cruising from l.a. to mexico. >>

. >> a retail store on the union square side. as i understand, it will have local art from local artists and st. cultural items, and i know the applicants are year, and they can talk more about but, so it is not entertainment. it is simply a whole bunch of videogames that are mechanical devices. the hours of operation plant are 3:00 until 10:00 on weekdays and the belief from 12:00 noon until 2:00 a.m. begins. i am not sure that they are open yet, so there is some experimentation that will go on in terms of hours. the planning department has indicated that this is a permitted use, and no one officer is here. they have recommended approval with conditions, and they are attached. essentially, one is that a security guard be present friday and saturday night to monitor a royce ring.from 9:00 p.m. until the close of business and that they do not deviate from the business plan unless agreed to by the planning commission. this item was to be before you at the last meeting, and there were some concerns. they have been worked out, and we

we're standing about a block away from union square. there were a lot of people walking around in this area. the managers here say they're just glad no one walking around was hurt when this sign came crashing down last night. elsewhere, the wind brought down trees. a tree crashed on top of a parked car, leaving a lot of debris, and a broken windshield behind. no one was hurt in that incident. this morning, around 5:00 a.m., we found more signs of debris, and downed trees around golden gate park. this is at 5:00 this morning, around golden gate park. the national weather service says we had wind gusts of 60 mile-per-hour in the bay area. a wind advisory expired about an hour ago. for now, live in san francisco, alley rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> that powerful storm did bring down lots of rain, and that has been causing problems on the roads this morning. >> reporter: we're here near the 101, and 380 connector. we're actually standing near the airport. the roadway was simply so wet and dangerous, we didn't want to set up alongside of