A vigil was held in SF’s Castro neighborhood to honor Supervisor Milk and Mayor Moscone Sunday night…. and, yes: You can cut your own Christmas tree in NorCal.
San Franciscans are the most likely to have a package stolen than any other local in any other metro in this country. Catalytic converter theft in the seven-by-seven is at an all-time high; we’ve all become worryingly numb to lines of “don’t break my window, no valuables in here” notes inside parked cars.
Downtown San Francisco feels completely different than it did two months ago.
I rode my bike with my kids, parked on the sidewalk at Union Square, ate at a restaurant, went ice skating, watched World Cup, shopped at three stores, and bought candy. Lots of ppl enjoying the day.
— Chris Albon (@chrisalbon) November 27, 2022
After a string of smash-and-grab burglaries in Union Square last year — one of which emptied the Louis Vuitton store on Geary Street — SFPD increased its downtown presence. The move, which carried over to this year, was an act to both thwart these types of crime and improve shopper confidence.
Well… this weekend, a group of at least four robbers stole $178,000 worth of high-end gear from the camera shop Leica and caused $20,000 in damages.
Oh! The store’s address? It’s located just a quarter-mile away from the aforementioned Louis Vuitton store that was ransacked in 2021. And this all transpired just days after both Mayor Breed and SFPD Chief Bill Scott announced the City had increased safety measures downtown.
*Cue a collective frustrating fit of bemoaning and fist-flailing.*
What else happened over the weekend in and around San Francisco? Here’s a quick rundown of some of the more important bits of news.
- Caltrain had its tenth fatality this year on a Bay Area track. This past Saturday morning, Caltrain #221 train heading north collided with a person on the track of Tunnel 3 in San Francisco — becoming the second deadly Bay Area train collision in just three days, too. More info.
- A new report shows that residents in the SF Bay Area are most likely to experience package theft. Findings from Safewise show that second to the Bay Area where “porch pirates” strike most is Seattle. More info.
- Sunday was the somber anniversary of the City hall that lead to the assassination of SF Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. The two were shot and killed by former supervisor Dan White on November 27th, 1978, and their deaths were mourned and lives were celebrated in a candlelight vigil in The Castro yesterday evening. More info.
- If you’re keen on cutting down your own Christmas tree, you can at CA’s Stanislaus National Forest — for the first time ever. But you’ll need a permit to do so, with just 5,000 of them available. More info.
Feature image: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
