San Francisco Chronicle Bay Area - Spoken Edition

He spent nine years at San Francisco’s City Hall. He served as chief of staff to three mayors (one of whom held the job twice). But in those thousands of days spent helping to run the city, one in particular stands out for Jason Elliott. Dec. 11, 2017. The last day he spent with his boss and good friend Mayor Ed Lee. Elliott recalled that day in an interview in his office shortly before packing up and leaving to join Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign for governor.

A fatal drug overdose in a BART bathroom wound up shutting down the Bay Fair station in San Leandro for two hours Wednesday night. The drama started at about 9:20 p.m., when the station agent reported a person being in the restroom for an unusually long time. Police arrived, opened the door and found a young man on the floor — along with drug paraphernalia. Police declared the bathroom a possible crime scene and ordered the entire station closed.

It was a typical foggy morning at the end of summer, and I was waiting for the J-Church Muni car at 30th and Dolores streets. I had just read about Mayor London Breed’s stern letter to city transportation chief Ed Reiskin, chewing him out for a big screwup involving bus service and the Twin Peaks Tunnel. Shape up, she told Reiskin. Just then, and just on schedule, the J car showed up. It was a new German-made railcar, the gray and crimson paint still shiny.

Two videos posted on Twitter on Thursday night show two men violently grabbing, choking and restraining a young man or juvenile on a Muni train — then forcing open the doors and pushing him out. Anna Sterling, an independent journalist who posted the videos, wrote that the men were trying to throw “this kid” off the train because “ “he was playing music too loudly.” It’s unclear whether Sterling was on the train or obtained the video from another person.

Mayor London Breed, who issued a call Tuesday for other cities to join San Francisco in reducing their garbage output, might want to take a look in her own backyard. Breed is urging cities to cut their solid waste generation by 15 percent by 2030 — and cut their landfill hauls by 50 percent by 2050. “We all need to work together ... to save our planet for generations to come,” Breed said in a statement announcing the challenge.

Amber More, 10 watches through binoculars as her 15-year-old sister Angel More nears the shoreline of her 21.3 mile swim across Lake Tahoe on Sat. August 25, 2018 in Incline Village, Nevada. Her mother Archana helps to search the waters.August 25, 2018 in Incline Village, Nevada. More went on to complete the "Triple Crown" of swimming events, crossing the Santa Barbara Channel, the Catalina channel and now crossing Lake Tahoe, becoming the youngest swimmer to do so.

FILE--A bus using one of the red transit-only lanes and a car driving in the center of the lanes is seen reflected in a sign at 16th and Mission St on Friday, Dec. 16 2016 in San Francisco. Muni recently approved new red lanes on Geary Boulevard between Stanyan and Gough streets. less FILE--A bus using one of the red transit-only lanes and a car driving in the center of the lanes is seen reflected in a sign at 16th and Mission St on Friday, Dec. 16 2016 in San Francisco.

Peeling paint and rust are among the issues that need attention in the restoration of the SS Red Oak Victory ship in Richmond. A 20mm gun is pointed to the west on the aft section of the SS Red Oak Victory ship as restoration work continues in Richmond. Alan Burns, a docent aboard the SS Red Oak Victory ship, views the ship’s original diesel-powered stove, capable of making up to 30 pancakes at a time, in Richmond. The World War II-era ship is undergoing an extensive restoration.

Redwood Memorial Grove in Golden Gate park to honor the fallen soldiers of World War I. To the right is the monument to the war dead from San Francisco, 748 men and 13 women. Also known as Hero's Grove Handout, October 4, 1964 less Redwood Memorial Grove in Golden Gate park to honor the fallen soldiers of World War I. To the right is the monument to the war dead from San Francisco, 748 men and 13 women. Also known as Hero's Grove .

The previous Portals described how a young man named Walter Noble Burns, while eating breakfast in a San Francisco restaurant in the late 19th century, saw an advertisement in a newspaper for whaling crews and impulsively signed up. At the time, San Francisco was the most important whaling port in the world, home to 30 or more whaling ships.

Web surfers might have been a bit surprised to see a Go Fund Me page set up for Stanley Roberts, star of KRON-4 TVs long-running “People Behaving Badly” segment. Roberts, who just recently announced he was leaving for a similar gig in Phoenix because he could no longer afford to live in the Bay Area, tells us the fundraising page is for real — though he had nothing to do with creating it.

Edward Lee Truman Kennedy eats a slice of pizza given to him by Andrea Carla Michaels, who hands out food donated by Nob Hill Pizza and Shawerma. Late-afternoon shadows were overtaking the quiet alley off Polk Street when James Hensel glanced up from the battered cushion that would be that night’s bed and grinned. Striding up the street was his salvation for the next 10 minutes, complete with a crossword puzzle, new socks and something to eat. It was the Pizza Lady.

Lyle Tuttle greets people as they pass by while his tattoo shop. Lyle Tuttle, San Francisco’s most noted illustrated man, is still hard at work after 70 years as a tattoo artist. Now he wants to celebrate the fine art of applying color and ink on human skin with a big show this fall. Tuttle is kind of a show himself. Ninety-five percent of his body is covered with tattoos.

You might’ve noticed Eddie Smith standing at the corner of 35th and Market streets in Oakland. He doesn’t hide his dark, glassy eyes. He wants drivers of cars paused at the stoplight on their way to Highway 24’s on-ramp to make eye contact. He wants you to see his dusty brown hat that announces he’s a Vietnam veteran, with a slim, salt-and-pepper mustache that is always neatly trimmed no matter how his body is feeling.

A child plays on a lighted floor at the Salesforce Transit Center on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018 in San Francisco, CA. People walk by an art piece of moving words at the Salesforce Transit Center on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018 in San Francisco, CA. John Grunstad arrives at the Salesforce Transit Center on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018 in San Francisco, CA. Jesleen, 6, and Jaival Walter, 2, (foreground) and June Tenney, 7, Miles, 4, and Elizabeth Sckolnick, 7, at the Salesforce Park on Sunday, Aug.