That didn't take long.  The City's only Planned Parenthood at Valencia and Mission has been open for less than two months and it's already seeing protestors outside holding signs and praying at passersby, which means my walk to Bernal's Safeway just became a whole lot more interesting.  Brady Lea, who recorded some video on the 5-person protest, noted:

I asked if they knew what Planned Parenthood did, and they prayed at me. I asked if they knew about the exams, testing and women's healthcare they provided as well as all sorts of family planning education and they prayed some more. Then it started raining harder and I guess they left.

[link - Edit: Bernalwood also covered this]

Look guys, I know this was counter-culture and badass and stuff in the 70s and 80s, but I don't run around the Mission spraypainting “the revolution will not be printed” on derelict Chronicle boxes for the exact same reason I don't do this.  If you don't want to date yourself and your grasp on technology by a good five presidencies, why not just spraypaint “the revolution will not be streamed” on the window of The Summit?

[photo by octoferret]

I don't know if everyone has been following the epic NIMBY battle going on in Bernal Heights over the historic Coca Cola billboard, but it's good stuff.  To recap: a lone hater neighbor complained to the city that this 'corporate billboard' violated the city's strict laws against billboards, the city agreed and demanded the owner of the building paint over it.  After some neighborhood outrage, the city backtracked and said if the owner of the building could prove that the billboard was put up prior to 1965, it could stay as it would be deemed “historic” and would be grandfathered into the pool of legal billboards.  Some sleuthing by Bernalwood and Burrito Justice proved that the mural, which has been maintained by the building owner since 1991 (hence looking fresh), was originally painted in the late 1930's or early 40s.

Crisis adverted, right? Nope.  After proving the billboard met the city's requirement, the city's sign expert told the Chronicle, “But the law is totally nondiscretionary. This is a residential district and an unpermitted general advertising sign.”  Really?  What about that whole 1965 nonsense?  Basically, the city was just “lol jk!” about that and will require it be either painted over or that Supervisor David Campos introduce legislation to make a “special sign district,” legislation that would have to be “reviewed by the Planning Commission, the board's Land Use Committee, the Board of Supervisors and, quite possibly, the Historic Preservation Commission.”  Seems like a whole lot of bullshit for a harmless sign that has been visible for decades….

The Chronicle called up Supervisor Campos to see what he thought:

Campos is still mulling the issue.

“We haven’t really taken a position either way,” Campos said. “We want to hear more from the neighborhood.”

He said he’s already received a handful of passionate e-mails from both sides.

“We’re trying to fight childhood obesity,” he said. “We don’t want to promote kids drinking Coca-Cola.”

Sigh.

(Read more about the drama at Bernalwood | photo by Troy Holden)

Earlier this week, there was some concern that the “mob of folks” that smashed up a red truck during a York St. raid to retrieve stolen bike parts got the wrong truck.  Luckily an anonymous neighbor has some snaps to help clear up any future confusion:

here's some pics of his bobby, his truck with black cap, his license plate and some shithead who probably helps him steal this shit.

one of his neighbors does have the exact same truck but no cap on it. He's a nice guy and does not steal bikes or sell stolen property.