Mission Mission

How would you feel if someone wanted to give you a cupcake?  Like, REALLY wanted to give you a cupcake, as our pal Jimmie relates:

This morning on Feb 1 around 9:45am a man tried to force his way into our house.  I was in the shower and my wife heard our doorbell ring.  Assuming it was the mailman, she opened the door, but found a shirtless white male, about 5’8″ tall with short brown hair and stubble.  He said “Oh hey!” and immediately tried to enter our home.  She pushed him out by forcing the door closed.  Soon after he rang the door bell again and said “I have a cupcake for you!”  By that time we had called 911 and the police showed up soon after.  The man had indeed left a cupcake on our doorstep but was nowhere to be found.  Other neighbors reported a stranger ringing their doorbells or knocking on their doors immediately prior to this event.

Watch your backs, people!

[Cupcake image]

[from Ben V. via our Facebook wall]

Kristin W. wrote in via our Facebook page:

Just a public service announcement. Someone stole $900 out of my Bank of America account yesterday from the 16th and Mission ATM. Apparently, I hadn’t completely signed out of my account (even though it said “Thank you for using this ATM” or whatever) and someone got into my account by re-entering my PIN # (which he/she must have watched me enter). I wouldn’t be surprised if someone sits there all day and does this repeatedly. Heads up to be extra furtive when entering your PIN and to make sure your transaction is finished before walking away!

[File photo via "Guerilla activists hack Bank of America ATMs all over SF"]

Watch:

[via Mission Local]

A friend of Mission Mission writes in to tell us that her partner was assaulted last week, allegedly by the man in this still from their lobby’s security camera.

They explain:

“WANTED FOR ASSAULT: WED. 10/30 9:16PM This man stalked me home into my apartment lobby and punched me in the head and jaw several times after I brushed by him at 18th and Valencia as he was standing in the crowded street looking at his phone. The last thing he said was “I know where you live!” Caucasian, 5′ 10″, 30-35, 170-180 lbs, short dark hair. He was wearing a tan or gray sweater and blue jeans. If anyone has any information on this attack please call the SFPD: (415) 558-5400, case #130922883. Flyers will be going up all over town….”

Ben explains his plight:

I am one of the residents displaced from my home by a fire at the restaurant Maverick a little bit ago. While most of my stuff survived the fire a little damp and smokey, in the time between the fire and when the building inspector said it was safe to return to the building to sift through our belongings, sub human scum broke into the units and took everything of value. While most of my stuff can be easily replaced the one thing that hurt the most was the theft of my beloved red bike. It’s a Surly Cross Check with the stickers removed. It has Paul brakes. In the rear there is one black brake arm and one silver one from a crash. The stem has an organic apple sticker on it that never fell off. Four years ago I used it to ride from Philadelphia PA out here to SF and it has a lot of sentimental value and I love her. I know it’s a long shot but if you guys could spread the word of this I would really appreciate it. And maybe she’ll find her way back to me.

Larisa, from Factory 1 Design, writes in to respond to the heated debate raging on the post about treetopping on Stevenson Street. She writes that:

We all work really hard to keep our little corner of the mission awesome and the church blighted our street in an instant.

Two bits of info that were missing are 1) this was done by the greek church and 2) they hired a hauling company to do it. The urban forest guys may not have passed on that info.

There were at least 40-50 nests in those trees.

Ben Carlson from Friends of the Urban Forest informs us of some extreme pruning on Stevenson Street, near The Armory, that basically leaves the trees for dead. The process, known as topping, is illegal in San Francisco, with fines of $1,754 per tree.

Before

[Google Street View]

After

[San Francisco DPW]

The San Francisco Department of Public Works issued a fine this week of $17,540 to the owner of property in the Mission where trees were “topped” in June. The fine is for $1,754 per tree for 10 topped trees. Topping is an excessive form of pruning that damages and often kills trees, severely diminishes the benefits trees provide, and is illegal in San Francisco (Article 16, Sec. 811 of the Public Works Code).

The DPW and Friends of the Urban Forest were notified by concerned neighbors that the trees, on Stevenson Street adjacent to the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, had been “massacred.” One resident observed birds trying to find their nests among the piles of discarded foliage on the ground.

“We’re afraid that incidents of tree topping are likely to rise, because the city is transferring its tree maintenance responsibilities to property owners who don’t know how to care for trees,” said Doug Wildman, program director of Friends of the Urban Forest. “The city’s tree maintenance program is understaffed and underfunded, and consequently our urban forest is in decline. We’re working closely with city officials to identify possible solutions.”

That looks pretty harsh. Why would you want trees that look like that? I happen to really like those trees. Ficus Microcarpa, I believe? They’re what the trees in The Secret Alley are built to resemble. I mean, I’m a plant eater, so obviously I’m not against killing plants, but this just seems lame.

Ben adds:

Anyone who sees a tree being topped, or that has already been topped, should report it to the city, along with the address of the tree, the name of the company or individual responsible for the topping (if known), and a digital photo (if possible). Topping may be reported by calling 311, or by writing to urbanforestry@sfdpw.org.

Property owners can ensure the proper maintenance of their trees by using only ISA-certified arborists. Friends of the Urban Forest maintains a list of such arborists at http://www.fuf.net/resources-reference/arborist-referrals/.

For more information about the fine for the Stevenson Street trees, or about the city’s urban forestry program, contact DPW spokesperson Rachel Gordon at 415-554-6045.

San Jalisco’s famous red panties (which I’m pretty sure date back to before San Jalisco was San Jalisco) have been heisted!

First of all, we should all keep a close eye on cellybrain (the Flickr account that revealed the location of a hostage Mr. Pickle all those years back). Also, what’s the deal with those enormous red panties anyway?

(Thanks, Robin, for the tip and the pic!)

Marta Franco has the story of the “Naked BART Man” over at Mission Local.

[Photo by Marta Franco]

“I was giving out flyers of the show, and somehow I started thinking that my friends were pulling my leg and everybody there was pretending,” he said. “And I don’t know how, but I got naked and I was performing and I saw the people taking photos of me and I thought, ‘I’m at the Cirque du Soleil, I’m the great Yeiner, from Colombia’.”

She says that he hadn’t eaten or slept for four days and had a history of suicidal depression. The story also ties into possible political maneuvers by BART workers negotiating wages.

Read the story here.