San Franciscoâs Mayor Proposes Fee on Sales of Sugary Soft Drinks
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In a move he says is necessary to trim the cityâs waistline, Gavin Newsom has proposed charging big stores a fee when they sell sugar-sweet soda.
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Sweetener intended to persuade them to back PM's plan for extending surgery opening hours
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By Therese Poletti, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.  Feb.
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Having watched sales of light beer and diet soda go through the roof, Bacardi Global Brands wants a piece of the lucrative market for low-calorie beverages.
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The proposed sale of Greater Southeast Community Hospital could cost the District government up to $87 million in public money, roughly $60 million more than initially thought, according to an initial review by aides to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D).
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By Claudia Mel, The Monterey County Herald, Calif.  Mar. 4--Someone thinks Salinas needs a shop to sell marijuana for medical uses, and that person has asked city officials how to go about opening one.
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The fast-food leader is paying the price for its unhealthy ways, but it just isn't fair.
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New York state voters oppose a plan by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to impose fees on drivers in Manhattan, but they would support it if the money raised staves off hikes in tolls and transit fares, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
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The drinks industry will have to pay towards policing when 24-hour drinking starts, ministers are to announce.
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Democratic Sen.-elect Dan Foster, a strong advocate for banning or restricting soft drink sales in public schools, plans to stock the mini-refrigerator in his statehouse office with healthy drinks: bottled water, juices and milk.
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City officials are considering charging grocery stores 17 cents each for grocery bags to discourage use of plastic sacks.
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By John Castellucci; Journal Staff Writer  PAWTUCKET - A City Council committee is recommending the elimination of fees for the pickup of bulky trash items.
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By Nicole C. Wong, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.  Mar.
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Hoping to stir up thirst for milk, officials installed advertisements in several San Francisco bus shelters on Monday that give off the scent of freshly baked cookies.
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By Kerri Ginis, The Fresno Bee, Calif.  Sep. 18--Faced with the prospect of dark streets -- and criticism from local leaders -- residents in an upscale Fresno County neighborhood say they want another chance to vote on a fee increase to maintain their streetlights.
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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday proposed raising spending in the next fiscal year by 3.7 percent to $58.5 billion, despite falling tax revenues due to Wall Street's sinking profits.
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(InfoWorld) - San Francisco city officials could bring the city'sÂ proposed Wi-Fi networkÂ closer to reality at two meetings this week as a key leader proposes significant changes to the plan. The network, to be run by EarthLink, has been closely watched because it is one of the biggest of many proposed municipal networks in the U.S. and because it would include a free service offered by Google. The city would sell EarthLink access to some of its streetlight poles and other locations for Wi-Fi access points. Some leaders and activists in the famously liberal city haveÂ slammed the dealÂ on issues including privacy and service and called for a network owned by the city. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will reconsider an April decision by the city's Planning Department to exempt the network from an environmental review. The San Francisco Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union (SNAFU) appealed the April ruling, saying the access points could cause health problems. The board could let the Planning Department's decision stand, strike it down or decide to study the issue further. On Wednesday, the Board's Budget and Finance committee will vote on the full Wi-Fi proposal. Unless the vote Tuesday requires an environmental review, the only remaining hurdle then would be a vote by the full board. The Budget and Finance panel will hear proposals by board President Aaron Peskin that may boost support for the politically troubled plan. Both the mayor's office and EarthLink are aware of the proposals, Peskin said in an e-mail interview. The mayor's office seems to approve of them, but Peskin doesn't know where EarthLink stands. Peskin's ideas affect aspects of the proposed contract that have drawn much of the fire. Key points include: - Increase the speed of the free service from 300Kbps to 500Kbps. (A service priced at about $20 per month would still deliver 1Mbps.) - Provide for user privacy on the free service. - Add an enforceable requirement that the network provide adequate service in all areas of the city. - Shorten the maximum term of the contract from 16 to eight years and let the city buy the network at full market value at that time. As it stands, the contract initially would be for four years and could be renewed three times, an eternity in the world of wireless technology. - Ensure the city is properly compensated for giving EarthLink access to its light poles. The city and EarthLink settled on the terms of a contract in January. It gave EarthLink the right to pull out if the plan wasn't approved by the Board within 180 days. That time has passed, according to EarthLink spokesman Jerry Grasso, but the company hasn't given up. The plan calls for building a two-square mile test network first before deploying the whole system. Â