“Special policemen should be stationed in the Park, armed with shotguns, to shoot the tires of automobiles exceeding the speed limit.” Those were the heated words of William H. Metson, president of the Golden Gate Park Commission, at the peak of an early 20th century battle over cars in Golden Gate Park. The clash among lobbyists, park leaders, car-lovers and the citizens who were injured by automobiles has mostly been lost in time — overshadowed in nostalgic media by a San Francisco mayor who was imprisoned in 1907, graft trials and a certain earthquake and fire that wiped out most of the eastern half of the city. But there are some important parallels between that 1902 to 1911 debate and the current battle to remove cars from a 1½-mile stretch of John F. Kennedy Drive, which appears to be coming to a final decision with a Board of Supervisors vote this winter. If nothing else, it proves that San Franciscans have always been polarized when it comes to using our greenest spaces as freeways.

Many people are too scared to confront the groups of middle-aged and older women who take over public parks and sports arenas to exercise along to music

As an Asian woman who saw white men being romantic on TV, that informed how I approached dating and relationships

Despite hearing public, firsthand accounts of sexual abuse from eight of at least 177 victims of Ohio State sports physician Dr. Richard Strauss, state Republican leaders indicated they never planned to pass introduced legislation that would allow his victims to hold the university accountable in court. Both former House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, and current […]

Cambel McLaughlin thought he was being punked. An unapologetic opponent of lockdowns and Covid-19 vaccine skeptic — he is, as he puts it, “pro-medical choice”— the 27-year-old Brit is founder of Jam for Freedom, a group of U.K. musicians that plays for free in public spaces, spreading the anti-lockdown word and sometimes singing songs with lyrics like “You can stick your poison vaccine up your arse.” For their efforts, Jam for Freedom are often hassled by police, and McLaughlin himself says he was arrested for what he calls “breach of Covid regulations” during one show. This past spring, the car the group used to transport its gear was rendered nearly unusable after an accident, so McLaughlin started a GoFundMe page to help pay for transportation, gas, and legal fees. And one day this past spring, he was shocked to see a £1,000 donation on the site from Eric Clapton. “I’m, like, this could be fake,” McLaughlin recalls. But when McLaughlin emailed the account listed with the donation, he received a text from the 76-year-old British guitar hero himself. “It was something complimentary, along the lines of, ‘Hey, it’s Eric — great work you’re doing,’ ” McLaughlin says. The two later talked by phone, and before McLaughlin knew it, Clapton offered his family’s white, six-person VW Transporter van as a temporary replacement for Jam for Freedom’s wheels. He also gave them a chunk of money (McLaughlin declines to say how much) to buy a new van — and said he might even sit in with the group at some point. Thanks to Clapton’s assistance, Jam for Freedom are now free to spread their message all over the U.K.

Jon Bair stood in the parking lot of a Portland convenience store one Friday in late August, his shadow falling over the very spot where he once killed a man. The cries, gunshots and blood-stained snow are 28 years behind Bair now, the city’s war between racist and anti-racist skinheads a dimming memory. But he can’t stop thinking about the young men who once collided there, sending a neo-Nazi skinhead to the morgue. “It just kind of gives me the chills,” Bair said. “A weird combination of feeling both heavier and kind of floaty at the same time. It just feels eerie.” The bullet Bair fired at approximately 4:40 on the first morning of 1993 shattered the rear window of a compact car and marked the moment when Portland’s anti-fascist movement — today often shorthanded as antifa — turned deadly. Bair’s painful memories of that morning flooded back with a fury last year, when history repeated itself near the end of a long summer of racial justice protests and political brawling.

Guy with 220,000 followers on Twitter and who probably doesn't want Google to make him disappear from the Internet has concerns about the concentration of power in large technology companies that are oddly specific to Facebook.

A handy time-saver or a big piss in the Great British teapot?

The Delaware County Black Caucus is calling on the officers involved in the Aug. 27 shooting that killed an 8-year-old girl to be fired.

While congressional Democrats negotiate within their ranks over the "Build Back Better" plan, the public is more likely to have heard about what it would cost than about the specific policies that would be in it. Despite the popularity, in principle, of these program ideas, some of the very popular ones — like expanded Medicare coverage and lowered prescription costs — are among the least heard about. Perhaps as a result, even though a slight majority approve of it, only about a third of Americans think the plan would help them directly — or help the economy overall, for that matter. That includes only 61% of Democrats, though it's their party's bill.

Ezra Klein did a piece last week about David Shor and so-called “popularism,” which was ultimately defined this way:

Some poorer countries are paying more and waiting longer for the company’s vaccine than the wealthy — if they have access at all. Moderna, whose coronavirus vaccine appears to be the world’s best defense against Covid-19, has been supplying its shots almost exclusively to wealthy nations, keeping poorer countries waiting and earning billions in profit. After developing a breakthrough vaccine with the financial and scientific support of the U.S. government, Moderna has shipped a greater share of its doses to wealthy countries than any other vaccine manufacturer, according to Airfinity, a data firm that tracks vaccine shipments. About one million doses of Moderna’s vaccine have gone to countries that the World Bank classifies as low income. By contrast, 8.4 million Pfizer doses and about 25 million single-shot Johnson & Johnson doses have gone to those countries. Of the handful of middle-income countries that have reached deals to buy Moderna’s shots, most have not yet received any doses, and at least three have had to pay more than the United States or European Union did, according to government officials in those countries. Thailand and Colombia are paying a premium. Botswana’s doses are late. Tunisia couldn’t get in touch with Moderna. Unlike Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, which have diverse rosters of drugs and other products, Moderna sells only the Covid vaccine. The Massachusetts company’s future hinges on the commercial success of its vaccine.

Church-loving surf instructor Matthew Taylor Coleman fell into online conspiracy theories, then allegedly admitted to killing his kids to save the world. How did no one see it coming?

Students were protesting for the safety of female students at the school

Guam has one of the highest vaccination rates in the nation, but it also has a lot of fully vaccinated people getting COVID-19.

At a meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council this week, crabbers called for additional restrictions in other harvests.

"It doesn't matter to me what the definition of hate speech is," Mark Robinson responded to calls for his resignation. "I said what I said, and I believe what I said. Many people across the state feel the same way...

Golden resident concludes that a meteor spotted in the area that night just missed her head

Despite the title, this is not about basement bars in the Boston area.

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson faces calls to resign for calling LGBTQ people "filth."