You go grrrrrrl

Local women are putting a positive spin on the once antagonistic phrase "Throw like a girl!"  More >>

Foster kid poster boy, Steve Jobs.

The California Alliance of Child and Family Services is accusing the Department of Social Services of violating the Child Welfare Act by not providing sufficient funds for foster family agencies. The group filed a lawsuit last week in San Francisco, following a previous court decision that allotted foster group homes more money. 

The Child Welfare Act says that the state and federal governments must  share the cost of foster care with the Foster Family Agencies (FFAs), which oversees the state's 16,000 dependent children and wards of the state.

And like almost every other state agency, FFAs have been hit hard financially, and having no increase in funding over the last decade has made matters worse.

"The state is the deadbeat parent of the year," said Jay Berlin, executive director and founder of Alternative Family Services, an FFA.

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That hair alone could close San Francisco's public school budget gap

​Leonard Flynn School is no different than every other education facility in the city --- it has no money! Thanks to ongoing budget cuts, local parents have been shouldering much of the cost for the fun part of the kid's education, like art and music.

In the latest endeavor to help out San Francisco schools, local moms with some hair-styling experience are asking you to get a haircut to help offset budget cuts.

But don't worry, they can guarantee you won't be getting a Newt Gingrich helmet hairdo. These moms work as hair stylists in the chicest salons in the San Francisco, and they are volunteering to cut your hair at the second annual Flynn Cut-a-Thon this weekend.

As Teresa Mockler, owner of Zindagi Salon and mother of two at Flynn School, bluntly put it: "We have to come up with creative ways to raise money."

Because San Francisco Unified School District isn't going to.

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Erin Browner

Activists use a billboard to correct Mirkarimi's point of view on domestic violence

You might notice a new billboard on the corner of Harrison and 10th streets during your commute today -- you may even recognize a face on it.

A local domestic violence group unveiled its new Ross Mirkarimi-inspired billboard Thursday afternoon, which references Sheriff Mirkarimi's disturbing quote in response to his own domestic violence allegations.

The billboard says: "Domestic Violence is NEVER private matter," and is there to remind commuters passing by Harrison Street that there is help for victims of domestic violence.

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Give him your kidney

​Tom Brady has movie star good looks, a supermodel wife, a palatial estate, and three Super Bowl rings -- and one at play Feb. 5. But what he really wants are your bodily organs.

Not for himself, but for his longtime mentor, Tom Martinez, a QB coach who has been waiting for a kidney donor for six long years -- and his progress is not looking good. Martinez, 68, of San Mateo, has been a coach and mentor to Brady, a Sierra High graduate in San Mateo, since Brady was 12 years old.

Just before Brady's championship game last weekend, Martinez was taken to John Hopkins Hospital, where he presently awaits a much-needed kidney transplant.
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Please give these hapless victims some cash

​SF Weekly readers probably haven't forgotten the disastrous blaze that consumed several Western Addition buildings just three days before Christmas. But you can stop wondering what happened to those unfortunate victims, and start helping them. 

St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church is hosting the Beyond the Blaze benefit to raise cash, all of which will go toward helping these fire victims get back on their feet. Tonight, residents are invited to come grub, win prizes, and hear Leonard Cohen tunes covered by an a cappella group. Come check out the four local bands playing -- Gaucho, Even Taylor, Conspiracy of Beards, and The Sundance Kids.

As if that wasn't good enough reason to dole out money for fire victims, there will also be a cash bar -- at church!
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Dancing Without Borders, an Oakland nonprofit, teamed up with Code Pink and the National Organization for Women over the weekend to breath new life into the Occupy movement in both San Francisco and Oakland.

These activists-turned-dancers put on a show for the 100 percent living in the two cities, presenting a choreographed performance with a new twist to this national movement: A reconciliation between the 99 percent and the 1 percent.

Here's some images from the San Francisco show:

Karina Louise

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Eric Quezada and the city.

​Eric Quezada, the San Francisco politico and devoted housing rights activist, ended his seven-year battle against cancer this morning, dying at 5:55 a.m. His wife, Lorena Melgarejo, posted the news on her Facebook wall:

"Eric Quezada died this morning August 24th, 2011 at 5:55 a.m. with his mom, his brother, and me holding him. He did it like he told me he would. Eric Quezada PRESENTE! La lucha sigue! Gracias comunidad por todo el amor y solidaridad."

For nonSpanish speakers, that translates to "The fight continues! Thank you to the community for all your love and solidarity."

Quezada fought for housing rights for low-income San Franciscans as the executive director of Dolores Street Community Services. He also served as the second vice chair of the Democratic County Central Committee, after having lost the supervisor race against David Campos in 2008.
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[Correction appended on Friday, July 29, 5:40 a.m.:]

KUSF friends enjoying a gentler time

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The Federal Communications Commission has agreed to narrow its request for documents from the University of San Francisco as the regulator investigates the transaction that turned KUSF from community radio programming to a classical music format.

"With this latest decision, the FCC agreed that the scope of their original request was so broad as to include material that was not relevant to their inquiry," a USF spokeswoman said.

Ted Dively, president of the board of directors of Friends of KUSF, which seeks to block the proposed sale, said he was encouraged that the FCC continues its quest to shed light on what he says was an unusual transaction.

"I think the light of day on this deal is an excellent thing, and I think the public has a right to know what went on between USF and Classical Public Radio Network," he said.
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Matt Smith

More people are biking to work

​San Franciscans are on average older, more Asian, more likely to ride their bike to work, and better educated than they were 10 years ago, according to a new Planning Department analysis of Census data.

You might have guessed all that, but this might surprise you: Despite years of politicians moaning that San Francisco was unfriendly to families, the number of S.F. households with children has grown over the past decade -- albeit meagerly.

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