SU N DAY, OCTOBER 18, 2009TH E E X A M I N ER
DON'T THINK SO
SINKING SHIP: San Francisco's unemployment rate rose to a record 10.1 percent in August with little sign of job recovery, according to the latest
available numbers. It is The City's highest unemployment since California started releasing monthly data 19 years ago, with 45,600 San Franciscans
currently jobless. Meanwhile, U.S. unemployment is 9.8 percent and California's August jobless rate was 12.2 percent.
10worst
ideas of
the week
San Francisco attempts to
repeat Oakland's mistake
with parking meter hours,
bridge tolls may increase,
and California's first lady
breaks a famous state law.
Deadly spork
1|Cub Scout faced
45-day suspension
for camping tool
The details: Delaware first-grader
Zachary Christie, 6, was ordered
to spend 45 days in his school
district's troublemaker "reform
school," where he would undergo
mandatory counseling and behav-
ior modification programs for
violating the no-weapons rule with
his Cub Scout camping utensil -- a
folding knife, fork and spoon. Fol-
lowing a nationwide no-stupidity
outcry and a thronged Thursday
school board meeting, Zachary
was granted a reprieve.
Jon + $180,000
2|Gosselin raids
couple's joint
checking account
The details: The reality show dad-
turned-cad has been ordered by
a Pennsylvania judge to return
$180,000 he took from an account
he shares with his wife, Kate.
The couple, who are the parents
of eight children and co-stars of
"Jon & Kate Plus Eight," are in the
process of divorcing after almost
10 years of marriage. If celebrity
tabloids are to be believed, he's
been living a bachelor's life since
the split, dating, sporting hipper
clothes and partying with friends.
Meter madness
3|City considers
extending some
parking meter hours
The details: Drivers in San Fran-
cisco could be hit with parking
meters that operate on Sundays
as well as weeknight hours as
late as midnight, according to a
recommendation made by the S.F.
Municipal Transportation Agency.
Muni chief Nat Ford said such
changes and others to local park-
ing could bring in nearly $9 million
to the cash-strapped agency. The
MTA board will hear the proposal
at its Tuesday meeting. Higher
parking costs will drive customers
away from city businesses. Did they
not learn anything from the public
outcry that followed a similar pro-
posal in Oakland?
Hostile workplace
4|Canadian truck
driver fined for
smoking in his vehicle
The details: A cigarette probably
sounds good to a truck driver on a
long haul -- but lighting up inside
the cab will get a driver fined in
Canada. One 48-year-old truck
driver on a highway in southwest-
ern Ontario found out the hard
way -- a police officer pulled him
over and gave him the equivalent
of a $290 ticket. A 2006 law pro-
hibits smoking in the workplace,
and that extends to work vehicles.
Expensive crossing
5|Bridge tolls may
be raised to $5
The details: The Bay Area Toll
Authority is determined to get
every penny out of Bay Area driv-
ers during this tough economy. The
Authority said this week that they
are considering three plans that
would raise the toll to cross the Bay
Bridge. One plan would raise the toll
from $4 to $5 and another would
raise it to $6 during peak hours. The
tolls would apply to all seven state-
owned bridges in the Bay Area.
Fizzy blunder
6|PepsiCo iPhone
app draws fire
for stereotyping
The details: An iPhone applica-
tion used to market PepsiCo's
"Amp" energy drink has prompted
a storm of online protests and
prompted a company apology this
week. The application, intended to
attract the drink's target market
of young men, includes tips on
how to pick up 14 different types of
women, complete with pickup lines,
and encourages users to post lists
of conquests with names and other
details. As the social-networking
blog Mashable observed this week:
"Alienate your female customers?
Pepsi has an app for that."
Balloon bust
7|Boy thought to be
up in the air
found alive, at home
The details: The Heene family led
the entire world on a wild goose
chase as everyone followed the
story of the boy in the balloon.
The problem? Six-year-old Falcon
Heene was never actually in the
hot-air balloon that the family was
building for their weather-chas-
ing hobby. Falcon's brother said
he watched the boy climb into the
balloon before it became detached
from the house and floated away.
But it turns out Falcon was hiding
in a box the entire time. Regard-
less, the Heene's shouldn't have left
their two young boys unsupervised
in the backyard with a balloon that
could reach heights of 10,000 feet.
Try to snatch my crops
8|Cops called about
attempted theft
of marijuana plants
The details: A 54-year-old Michigan
woman called sheriff's deputies
to report that two men broke into
her suburban Detroit home and
demanded her marijuana plants --
but fled instead. The woman was
then promptly booked on charges
of manufacturing and delivering
marijuana. She claimed the drug
was for personal use but didn't
possess a medical marijuana card.
Police will seek charges.
No nuptials
9|Interracial couple
denied marriage
license by judge
The details: A Louisiana justice
of the peace refused to issue a
marriage license to an interracial
couple, citing concerns that the
couple will have children and their
relationship will not last. "I'm not
a racist. I just don't believe in mix-
ing the races that way," said Keith
Bardwell, a justice of the peace in
Tangipahoa Parish. "I have piles
and piles of black friends. They
come to my home, I marry them,
they use my bathroom. I treat them
just like everyone else."
You're fired!
10|Size 4 model
says she was
dumped for being fat
The details: Filippa Hamilton, the
5-foot-10-inch, 120-pound model
who found herself at the center of
an online controversy last week
after Ralph Lauren digitally altered
her images to make her appear
completely emaciated, now claims
she was actually dumped by the
brand several months ago because
she couldn't fit in their sample sizes.
Hamilton said she never planned
on going public with the firing, but
after seeing the doctored photos
she grew concerned the American
brand was sending the wrong
message to young women. Ralph
Lauren claims Hamilton was fired
as a "result of her inability to meet
the obligations under her contract."
2
7
3
Dim bulb of the week
Maria Shriver
What: California's first
lady caught on her cell
while driving
Why: It's been nearly
two years since
Gov. Arnold Schwar-
zenegger approved a
state law prohibiting
drivers from using their
cell phones without
a hands-free device.
His wife, however, was
caught by photographers
chatting away, holding
a phone to her ear, while
behind the wheel.
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