Here’s what’s happening in the Bay Area, as curated by KALW news:
Search in forest for missing S.F. teacher turns up body // SF Gate
“An investigation is under way to determine whether the body of a man found off of a trail west of Slate Mountain is that of a San Francisco teacher who went missing in the El Dorado National Forest.
“Edward Cavanaugh, a 45-year-old teacher at Downtown Continuation High School, was last seen July 17, authorities said. He was cruising on his blue Yamaha YZ250 motorcycle on trails in the Georgetown Divide area when he left a friend and fellow motorcyclist behind.
"Officers started the search for Cavanaugh on July 25, accompanied by family, friends and more than 50 volunteers. They searched for Cavanaugh on foot, in cars and with the help of a California Highway Patrol helicopter and a pilotless drone.
"At about 11:20 a.m. Monday, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a person searching for Cavanaugh who spotted a body and a motorcycle matching the one he was last seen riding."
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S.F. deputy guilty of beating homeless man in hospital // SF Gate
"A San Francisco sheriff’s deputy was found guilty Tuesday of abusing his authority as a law enforcement officer when he beat a homeless man — a man who was initially accused of attacking the deputy until video footage emerged.
"A jury convicted Michael Lewelling, 34, of assault under the color of authority, a felony, and misdemeanor assault in connection with the Nov. 3 encounter in the waiting room of San Francisco General Hospital."
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This Is What Happened When Bicyclists Obeyed Traffic Laws Along The Wiggle Yesterday // SF Weekly
"Hundreds of cyclists rode through The Wiggle yesterday evening in protest of a San Francisco police captain's calls for a crackdown on bikers coasting through stop signs. But instead of breaking the law, protesters wanted to show the city just how bad traffic would be if every bicycle approached intersections just as a car does.
"Riders arrived at every stop sign in a single file, coming to a complete stop and filing through the intersection only once they were given the right-of-way. The law-abiding act of civil disobedience snarled traffic almost immediately.
"The protest, flanked by an army of TV cameras and amused onlookers, was in response to a directive from SFPD Park Station Captain John Sanford, who ordered his officers to punish cyclists for riding past cars and supposedly endangering people."
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Netflix to give workers with babies a year of paid leave // ABC7 News
"Netflix is giving new parents on its payroll up to a year of paid leave in a move that could pressure other technology employers to improve their baby benefits as they vie for talent.
"The employee benefit announced Tuesday on Netflix's blog is generous even by the high standards of Silicon Valley, where free meals and other perquisites supplement lavish salaries in the fiercely competitive battle for computer programmers and other technology workers.
"The U.S. and Papua New Guinea are the only countries among 185 nations and territories that hadn't imposed government-mandated laws requiring employers to pay mothers while on leave with their babies, according to a study released last year by the United Nations' International Labor Organization."
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Things Have Gone From Sad to Worse at the San Francisco Media Company // SF Magazine
"Friday was a wretched day for the San Francisco Media Company. The parent organization of SF Weekly and the San Francisco Examiner parted ways with three editorial employees (two of whom, Jessica Kwong* and Giselle Velazquez, are on the Examiner's ubiquitous BART ads), in anticipation of today's debut of new, alarmingly thin Examiners.
"But, for SF Weekly, it was even worse. According to multiple staff members, Glenn Zuehls, the publisher of the Weekly and Examiner, unleashed a vicious tirade in which he reiterated his much-stated belief that there is no separation between the alt-weekly newspaper's advertising and editorial departments. He bypassed Michael Howerton and Mark Kemp—the company’s vice president of editorial operations and SF Weekly’s editor, respectively—and directly assigned an article to an SF Weekly writer. The task: Craft a fawning story to appease an indignant advertiser in two weeks' time, and then put it on the cover of SF Weekly.
"At issue was this short, humorous story in the paper’s current edition, a light tale of counting cards whilst surrounded by elderly drunks at a blackjack table at Graton Casino in Rohnert Park. This little yuk, it seems, spurred Graton to pull some $68,496 worth of ads. And that prompted Zuehls to offer up an SF Weekly cover story as a make-good, as it's known in the publishing trade."
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Public officials named in new findings from FBI probe of ‘Shrimp Boy’ Chow // SF Examiner
"Evidence from the prosecution of Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow potentially implicates a wide array of city and state leaders, including Mayor Ed Lee, in alleged bribery schemes, pay-to-play plots, campaign fund laundering and state construction contract rigging.
"According to a Tuesday filing by Chow’s attorneys in federal court, which includes never-before-released details and names from a yearlong investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mayor Lee, some of The City’s leadership, an Alameda County prosecutor and a state official were all named in alleged wrongdoing caught on tape or witnessed by undercover FBI agents or their sources."
