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Paul Elias

SF pays millions in legal claims against cable cars; one to 'nymphomaniac'

Last updated Saturday, April 13, 2013 - 1:09pm

SAN FRANCISCO -- In this city of innumerable tourist attractions, the clanging, hill-conquering cable cars stand out as a top draw.

The quaint conveyances also stand out for the inordinate number of accidents and the millions of dollars annually the city pays out to settle lawsuits for broken bones, severed feet and bad bruises caused when 19th-century technology runs headlong into 21st-century city traffic and congestion.

Cable cars, Lawsuits, Mass transit, National Read more Comments

Thousands file claims after Chevron refinery fire

Paul Elias The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, August 11, 2012 - 7:39am

RICHMOND, Calif. — Several thousand Richmond residents have filed legal claims against Chevron Corp., seeking compensation for a refinery fire that fouled the region’s air for hours and sent more than 4,000 people to seek medical care for breathing problems and irritated eyes.

Refinery, Fire, National Read more Comments

A sheriff's deputy removes a body from outside Oikos University in Oakland, Calif., Monday, April 2, 2012. A gunman opened fire at the Christian university, killing at least seven people and wounding three more, before being captured hours later at a shopping center in a nearby city, authorities said. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

School shooting suspect was upset about teasing

Paul Elias The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - 10:27am

OAKLAND, Calif. — A nursing student expelled from a small Christian university and upset about being teased over his poor English skills opened fire at the school, going from room to room in a rampage that left six students and a secretary dead, police said Tuesday.

Crime, Murder, Christian school, Koreans, School shooting, College, National Read more Comments

Marilyn Daniels, center, an employee at Oikos University, is comforted near the school in Oakland, Calif., following a shooting on Monday, April 2, 2012. A gunman opened fire at the school Monday, killing at least five people, law enforcement sources close to the investigation said. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Students fled for their lives, hid as gunman opened fire

Paul Elias, Terry Collins The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - 9:25am

OAKLAND, Calif. -- One wounded woman cowered in the bushes after the gunman opened fire on the campus of a small Christian university. One student hid in a locked classroom as the shooter banged on the door. Another heard the shots and ran to safety.

All within an hour Monday, police said, a 43-year-old former student named One L. Goh walked into Oikos University, and began a rampage that left seven people dead and three people wounded, trapped some in the building and forced others to flee for their lives.

Crime, Christian school, Gunman, Koreans, Religion, School shooting, College, National Read more Comments

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, Air National Guard parajumpers, from the 129th Rescue Wing prepare medical supplies to be dropped from a Coast Guard aircraft to a 67-foot sailing yacht with three injured persons aboard, the Clipper Venture Six which is sponsored by Geraldton Western Australia, in the Round the World Yacht Race, Saturday, March 31, 2012. The Coast Guard's Rescue Coordination Center in Alameda, Calif. is coordinating the efforts to rescue the three injured persons 400 miles west of San Francisco. (AP Photo/Seaman David Flores, U.S. Coast Guard)

Battered racing yacht limps into SF Bay

Paul Elias The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, April 2, 2012 - 2:07pm

SAN FRANCISCO -- The battered "Geraldton Western Australia" yacht and its bruised crew were limping into port here Monday after a giant wave smashed over the stern with such force that it carried away the boat's steering wheel and knocked the crew about like bowling pins.

Sailing, Ocean, National Read more Comments

S.F. waterfront plans for America's Cup scaled back

Paul Elias The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - 8:31pm

SAN FRANCISCO -- Organizers of sailing's most prestigious event said Monday they are dramatically scaling back plans to renovate San Francisco's dilapidated waterfront.

Mayor Ed Lee made the announcement during a news conference at San Francisco's Pier 80, where software mogul Larry Ellison is building his space-age catamaran to defend the America's Cup trophy he won in 2010 off the coast of Spain. Ellison picked the San Francisco Bay as the location of the 34th race for the America's Cup, scheduled for September 2013.

Sports, Auto Racing Read more Comments

Remains in Calif. ID’d as serial killers’ victim

Paul Elias The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, February 11, 2012 - 4:24pm

SAN FRANCISCO — Human remains uncovered in Northern California with the help of a convicted serial killer have been preliminarily identified as one of his victims, and authorities continued to search another site for the remains of as many as 10 people.

Murder, DNA, Serial killer, National Read more Comments

(KATHY WILLENS/The Associated Press) In this Oct. 11, 2011 photo, people dance as a drummer pauses while other musicians continue playing music for Occupy Wall Street protesters and passersby at Zuccotti Park in New York. At the Occupy Wall Street protest camp in Manhattan, protesters agonized over what to do about drum players who had turned part of the site into an impromptu dance floor. The neighbors were complaining about the racket. The protesters had tried to put a time limit on the noise, but the drummers were refusing to obey. Reining in a few pesky percussionists would seem to be an easy task for a movement seemingly on the verge of becoming a political force. One month after the Occupy Wall Street movement burst onto the scene and inspired similar protests across the country, it remains stubbornly decentralized, complicating everything from enforcing camp rules to writing a national platform.

Occupy protests inspires T-shirts, trademark bids

Paul Elias The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, November 6, 2011 - 5:22pm

SAN FRANCISCO — T-shirts, coffee mugs and other merchandise emblazoned with Occupy locations and slogans related to the nationwide movement are now being offered online and amid the camp sites that have sprung up in cities across the country.

Occupy Wall Street, National Read more Comments

Feds' anti-doping expert recounts detecting steroid

Paul Elias, The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, March 24, 2011 - 7:44pm

SAN FRANCISCO -- One of the world's foremost experts in detecting performance-enhancing drug use among athletes recounted on Thursday for the Barry Bonds jury how authorities unmasked the designer steroid dubbed the "clear."

Bonds has admitted using the steroid, but said his personal trainer misled him into believing it was flaxseed oil.

Larry Bowers, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's chief scientist, told the jury Thursday that his agency anonymously received a syringe with trace amounts of liquid in the summer of 2003. Scientists using highly technical chemical-detection equipment came up with a recipe for the liquid. Using the recipe, the agency had a batch ginned up and injected into baboons on their way to developing a urine test for the steroid, also called "THG," that was put in place by late 2003.

MLB, Sports, Baseball Read more Comments

Bonds trial: Trainer jailed for refusing to speak

Paul Elias, The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 12:59pm

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge has sent Barry Bonds' former trainer to jail for refusing to testify at the slugger's perjury trial.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston found Greg Anderson in contempt Tuesday and ordered him held in custody until he testifies or the trial ends, which could be as long as four weeks.

Prosecutors allege Anderson provided Bonds with performance-enhancing drugs and detailed instructions on how to use them. His refusal to testify has undercut a significant portion of the government's case against Bonds because the judge has ruled much of the evidence tied to Anderson is off limits.

Anderson served more than a year in prison for refusing to testify in 2006 before the grand jury investigating the home-run record holder. He also served three months in prison after pleading guilty in 2005 to steroid distribution and money laundering.

Courts, Sports, Baseball Read more Comments

Court weighs constitutionality of gay marriage ban

Paul Elias, The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, December 7, 2010 - 10:43am

SAN FRANCISCO -- A line of questioning at an appeals court hearing over California's gay marriage ban suggested the three judges could issue a decision that would legalize same-sex marriage in that state but leave intact bans in other western states under the court's jurisdiction.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard nearly three hours of arguments Monday during a televised hearing that reached a nationwide audience anxious for a final decision on whether voter-approved Proposition 8 and similar same-sex marriage bans violate the U.S. Constitution.

Courts, Gay Marriage, National Read more Comments

Thousands cheer on Giants at San Francisco parade

Jason Dearen, Paul Elias, The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, November 3, 2010 - 4:30pm

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tens of thousands of baseball fans flocked to downtown Wednesday to toast the San Francisco Giants' World Series championship and see their hometown heroes take a victory lap in a ticker-tape parade reminiscent of the one held when the team moved west from New York 52 years ago.

MLB, Sports, Baseball Read more Comments

Appeals court hints at tossing part of Arizona law

Paul Elias, The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, November 1, 2010 - 1:31pm

SAN FRANCISCO -- Arizona's immigration law faced tough scrutiny from a federal appeals panel Monday as the state's governor appeared in person to support the controversial provision on the day before the election in which she's seeking her first full term.

Courts, Immigration, National Read more Comments

(PAUL SAKUMA/The Associated Press) In this April 5, 2010 file photo, former San Francisco lab technician Deborah Madden appears for her arraignment for drug possession in South San Francisco. Forensics experts say Madden is not the first crime lab worker suspected of stealing drugs or other illegality, and San Francisco's lab joins several other cities in suffering a loss of credibility.

SF crime lab at center of growing scandal

Paul Elias, Terry Collins The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, April 19, 2010 - 1:09pm

SAN FRANCISCO -- The tape recorder started rolling as two police investigators sat in their car in a hospital parking lot with Deborah Madden on Feb. 26. "You're causing a huge nightmare for the city," said one officer.

Crime, Drugs, National Read more Comments

Many felony pot cases getting tossed out of court

Paul Elias The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, March 28, 2010 - 5:55pm

SAN FRANCISCO -- Police in a northern California town thought they had an open-and-shut case when they seized more than two pounds of marijuana from a couple's home, even though doctors authorized the pair to use pot for medical purposes.

Courts, Drugs, National Read more Comments