3
Stephen B. Thornton / Associated Press TOP OF THE NEWS World/Nation Sporting Green Bay Area Business Report Datebook 1 Drug war: Nearly 40 people are killed, ending one of Mex- ico’s bloodiest weeks. A3 1 Pope address: Benedict XVI begs forgiveness from victims of clerical sexual abuse and promises action on pro- tecting children. A4 1 Deadly floods: At least 16 people die and dozens are missing after flash floods pound Arkansas, above. A10 1 Gulf spill: The White House proposes a way to help idled rig workers: make BP pay their lost earnings. A10 1 Giants dust A’s: Bengie Molina, facing, homers as Tim Lincecum prevails. B1 1 49ers’ QB prospect: Nate Davis enters his second season with much to prove. B1 1 D.A. staff changes: Kamala Harris’ top deputy retires amid questions over San Fran- cisco’s drug lab scandal. C1 1 Tree lines: Global warming is forcing California vegetation to higher elevations. C1 1 Big deal: An S.F. office tower occupied by Wells Fargo sells for $333 million to South Korean investors. D1 1 Regulators weigh in: Per- sonal genetic tests sold by five companies require federal review prior to sale. D1 1 Opera review: Magnificent production of Wagner’s “Die Walkure” is a testament to the powerful talents at the San Francisco Opera. E1 1 Theater review: Boxcar Playhouse’s production of “Forever Never Comes” is a compelling look at transgender love. It’s at the Crowded Fire Theater. E1 1 Galleries: Jeff Adams’ fear- lessly uncompromising works come to Braunstein / Quay. E1 1 Biography review: The conflicted life of Scottish writ- er Muriel Spark. E2 Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle SFGate.com | Saturday, June 12, 2010 | Printed on recycled paper California’s Best Large Newspaper as named by the California Newspaper Publishers Association | $1.00 Gxxxxx• Big blow to case

bad-weather delays at SFO - Patrick Gonzalez · Old Mill Park through Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais State Park and Steep Ravine en route Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle A runner trains

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Page 1: bad-weather delays at SFO - Patrick Gonzalez · Old Mill Park through Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais State Park and Steep Ravine en route Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle A runner trains

San Francisco Chronicle 06/12/2010

Copyright © 2010 San Francisco Chronicle $$edition June 12, 2010 3:57 pm / Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to 72% from original to fit letter page

Stephen B. Thornton / Associated Press

TOP OF THE NEWSWorld/NationSporting GreenBay Area

Business Report

Datebook

1Drug war: Nearly 40 peopleare killed, ending one of Mex-ico’s bloodiest weeks. A3

1Pope address: BenedictXVI begs forgiveness fromvictims of clerical sexual abuseand promises action on pro-tecting children. A4

1Deadly floods: At least 16 people die and dozens aremissing after flash floodspound Arkansas, above. A10

1Gulf spill: The White Houseproposes a way to help idledrig workers: make BP pay theirlost earnings. A10

1Giants dust A’s: BengieMolina, facing, homers as TimLincecum prevails. B1

1 49ers’ QB prospect: NateDavis enters his second seasonwith much to prove. B1

1D.A. staff changes: KamalaHarris’ top deputy retiresamid questions over San Fran-cisco’s drug lab scandal. C1

1Tree lines: Global warmingis forcing California vegetationto higher elevations. C1

1Big deal: An S.F. officetower occupied by Wells Fargosells for $333 million to SouthKorean investors. D1

1Regulators weigh in: Per-sonal genetic tests sold by fivecompanies require federalreview prior to sale. D1

1Opera review: Magnificentproduction of Wagner’s “DieWalkure” is a testament to thepowerful talents at the SanFrancisco Opera. E1

1Theater review: BoxcarPlayhouse’s production of“Forever Never Comes” is acompelling look at transgenderlove. It’s at the Crowded FireTheater. E1

1Galleries: Jeff Adams’ fear-lessly uncompromising workscome to Braunstein / Quay. E1

1Biography review: Theconflicted life of Scottish writ-er Muriel Spark. E2

Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle

SFGate.com | Saturday, June 12, 2010 | Printed on recycled paper

California’s Best Large Newspaper as named by the California Newspaper Publishers Association | $1.00Gxxxxx•

On SFGate.com

Social City: Cheers toACT’s Tosca Projectsfgate.com/ZJVL

WeatherSunny, warm andwindy.Highs: 76-97. Lows: 56-63 D6

IndexBridge, Chess . . . . . . . E9Classified . . . . . . . E10-11

Autos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B8Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . E11

Comics . . . . . . . . . . E8-E9

Crosswords. . . . . E8-E9Editorials . . . . . . . . . . . A13Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . E8Legal Notices. . . . . . . E11Lottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2

Market Report. . . . . . D4Movies . . . . . . . . . . E4-E6Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . C4Television. . . . . . . . . . . E12Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E2

By Bob EgelkoCHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

A federal appeals courtthrew out the prosecution’sstrongest evidence Friday inits perjury case against home

run king Barry Bonds: threepositive steroid tests conduct-ed before Bonds told a grandjury he had never knowinglytaken performance-enhancingdrugs.

In a 2-1 ruling, the Ninth

U.S. Circuit Court of Appealsin San Francisco upheld afederal judge’s decision bar-ring the evidence becauseBonds’ trainer, Greg Ander-son, who had arranged thetests, refused to testify aboutthem. That left prosecutorswith no valid evidence thatBonds was the source of the

Brant Ward / The Chronicle

Barry Bonds talked to reporters about a recent visit to Europeat the 10-year anniversary of AT&T Park on April 11.

Big blow to caseagainst Bonds Appellate panel rules steroid testsinadmissible as evidence of perjury

Bonds continues on A12

By Demian BulwaCHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

LOS ANGELES — A teenager who was withOscar Grant when former BART police OfficerJohannes Mehserle shot Grant on a station plat-form wept uncontrollably on the witness standFriday as he watched his own cell phone video ofthe incident.

Jamil Dewar, who is now 17, was composed atfirst as he described the events of Jan. 1, 2009, atBART’s Fruitvale Station in Oakland to jurors inMehserle’s murder trial. But then AlamedaCounty prosecutor David Stein started rollingDewar’s video.

It shows officers putting Grant, 22, on his chestto handcuff him after a fight on a train. Dewar,who was not among those being arrested, hadstepped off the train and was moving around,trying to get a clear angle past officers.

His camera did not capture the actual shoot-ing. But the bang of the gunshot is heard, as isDewar’s voice shouting, “He shot my cousin,man? He shot my cousin, blood?”

As the words rang out in the downtown LosAngeles courtroom, Dewar — who is not relatedto Grant but refers to him as a cousin — brokedown, sobbing heavily with his head in his arms.

Stein asked Judge Robert Perry to stop the Mehserle continues on A12

MEHSERLE TRIAL

Witnessin tearsas videois shown3 say victim didn’t resist —4th bystander saw motion

By Michael CabanatuanCHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

New technology being de-veloped by the Federal Avia-tion Administration and testedat San Francisco InternationalAirport promises to reduce

SFO’s notorious bad-weatherdelays.

FAA officials visited theairport Friday to tout theirNext Generation program,which will eventually replacethe nation’s ground-radartraffic control system, which is

based on technology developedafter World War II, with satel-lite technology similar to GPSnavigation systems.

“By 2020, radar will begone,” said Vicky Cox, seniorvice president of the FAA

Michael Macor / The Chronicle 2008

The new navigation system will allow greater use of SFO’sside-by-side runways in times of reduced visibility.

New GPS-style system to cutbad-weather delays at SFO

AVIATION

Navigation continues on A12

By Tom StienstraCHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

In your first steps on the Dipsea Trail, youwalk — or run — in the strides of ghosts, shad-ows and legends, just as thousands have doneover the years.

This Sunday is the 100th running of the Dip-sea Race, renowned as the oldest and one of themost beautiful and challenging cross countryroutes anywhere.

The trail spans about 7½ miles from MillValley to Stinson Beach, crossing the southflank of Mount Tamalpais, up and down fromOld Mill Park through Muir Woods and MountTamalpais State Park and Steep Ravine en route

Lacy Atkins / The Chronicle

A runner trains for the cross country Dipsea Race at the start of the trail earlier this month in Mill Valley.

Bolinas Lagoon

PacificOcean

MillValley

MillValley

Corte MaderaCorte Madera

StinsonBeach

MuirBeach

101

Mount TamalpaisState Park

1

1

RIDGECREST

BLVD.

PANORAMICHWY.

MU

IR

WOODS

RD

.

DipseaRace course

START

FINISH

0 2

M I L E S

Sources: dipsea.org; ESRI; TeleAtlas Todd Trumbull / The Chronicle

The challenging, 7 ½-mile trail race starts in Mill Valley and ends at Stinson Beach.

Detailarea

S.F.

DIPSEA TRAIL 100th Race

A legendary run to the sea

Race continues on A14

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San Francisco Chronicle Single Issue Purchase Site 06/12/2010

Copyright © 2010 San Francisco Chronicle $$edition June 12, 2010 3:48 pm / Powered by TECNAVIA

Kim Komenich / The Chronicle 2007

Russ Giuntini did not discussa drug prosecutor’s concerns.

ment Friday. “His three de-cades of experience have beeninvaluable for our legal com-munity. I thank him immense-ly for his service and friend-ship.”

Giuntini’s staff referredquestions to the office spokes-woman, Erica Derryck. She

By Jaxon Van DerbekenCHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

San Francisco District At-torney Kamala Harris’ topdeputy is retiring amid ques-tions over his handling of anearly warning sign of the po-lice drug lab scandal.

Russ Giuntini, 60, a former

Alameda County prosecutorwho has been Harris’ chiefassistant district attorney sinceshe took office in 2004, is offi-cially retiring June 28.

“Russ Giuntini is a respect-ed prosecutor who has servedBay Area law enforcementwith dedication and commit-ment,” Harris said in a state-

SFPD CRIME LAB

Top D.A. aide exiting amid fallout

Paul Sakuma / Associated Press

Deborah Madden is suspectedof stealing crime-lab drugs.

Deputy failed to relay concerns over tester’s reliability

Giuntini continues on C2

San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com | Saturday, June 12, 2010 | Section CGxxxxx•

Bay Area InsideCampaign 2010: Insults are flying in governor and U.S. Senate races C2

There’s nothing wrong withbeing called a NIMBY — some-times.

Neighbors who don’t want amarijuana dispensary in aresidential area have a point.The people in the Tenderloinwho complained about thenoisy, violent nightclub wereperfectly entitled to raise a fuss.

But you have to watch it.

There’s a reason why NIMBY(Not In My Back Yard) is a termof scorn. It speaks of entitle-ment, selfishness and exclusiv-ity. And no matter how oftenyou explain that you honestlydon’t have a problem with agroup or cause or building, youstill look intolerant and cranky.

So here’s my advice for theMarina residents who have

turned out by the hundreds atmeetings to protest a proposedsupportive housing unit forfoster kids who are too old forthe foster care program: Becareful what you protest.

“This isn’t a flophouse,” saidTrent Rhorer, executive direc-tor of the city’s Department ofHuman Services. “My sense isthat the neighborhood has a

misperception about the type ofhome it will be and the pop-ulation that will be housed.”

The plan is to take over theEdward II Inn, a hotel origi-nally built for the 1915 World’sFair, and turn its 29 rooms into24 rental units for young peopleages 18 to 24. The residents willpay rent, attend classes, and

C.W. NEVIUS On San Francisco Marina — Be careful what you protest

Nevius continues on C3

By Carl NolteCHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

The sheriff ’s office in San Francisco’s CityHall was put on the cutting edge of historyThursday afternoon when a descendant of thecity’s most controversial sheriff brought anelaborate sword in for a ceremonial visit.

The sword, an antique Army officer’s weaponwith a golden hilt, had been presented to SanFrancisco Sheriff Charles Doane on the occa-sion of his retirement in the fall of 1861.

Doane was probably the most unlikely manever to hold the office of sheriff in San Francis-co. He became sheriff in 1857, a little more thana year after he had led more than 1,000 armedmen to the county jail and taken two prisonersfrom the previous sheriff.

Photos by Lance Iversen / The Chronicle

This antique Army officer’s sword with golden hilt was displayed for a day at City Hall before heading to Hawaii with its owner.

S.F. HISTORY

Storied sword makes a visit

San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey at City Hall wields the ceremonialsword once owned by a distant predecessor, a vigilante before he was sheriff.

Gift to city’s sheriff in 1861— he once led a lynch mob

Sword continues on C3

By David PerlmanCHRONICLE SCIENCE EDITOR

The world’s warming climateis forcing trees and the plant lifearound them into new territo-ries where the environment ismore like the areas where theynormally thrive, scientists re-port from a new global survey.

Some forests and groups ofvegetation have begun movingupward to higher elevations, ornorthward to higher latitudesto meet the climate change,while others in areas that aredrying are shifting southwardtoward greater sources of mois-ture, the researchers say.

In California, for example, adetailed forest census along thewest side of the Sierra in theTahoe National Forest by UCBerkeley scientists found thatthe warming climate is shiftinggrowth patterns uphill amongmany species of shrubs, oaks,firs and pines that for hundredsof years have been thriving atlower elevations.

Trees shiftupslopeas climatewarms up

ENVIRONMENT

Trees continues on C3

North Beach naysayers, itseems, have found a new tacticto try to stall the controversialdevelopment of the NorthBeach Branch Library and JoeDiMaggio playground: Theyclaim the new plan will shrinkthe field to the point where itdoesn’t meet InternationalSoftball Federation standards.

The proposed plan calls for

the distance to the left-fieldwall to be shortened from 214feet to 173 feet.

The problem, though, is thatthe current field already doesn’tmeet those standards, exceptfor 16-and-under boys’ andgirls’ fast-pitch softball. Feder-ation standards suggest at least250 feet worth of outfield.

Even then, the diamond’s

all-asphalt surface with four-square courts in left field wouldlikely prevent any seriouslycompetitive games from beingplayed.

Many history buffs andNorth Beach residents opposethe plan because they fear aredeveloped park and softballfields will tarnish the memoryof DiMaggio, the famed NewYork Yankees slugger whogrew up playing ball at thepark.

“With such a substandardball field, Joe DiMaggio and hisbrothers might never havedeveloped into great baseballplayers — and American histo-

ry and values would have beendiminished,” wrote HowardWong, a co-founder of Coali-tion for a Better North BeachLibrary and Playground.

In an interview, Wong saidmoving the right-field wall 41feet closer to home would pre-vent future sluggers from hav-ing the same experience asDiMaggio.

“If you make the fence 40 feetcloser, then everyone is going tohit a home run,” he said.

The battle over the proposedredevelopment of the park andlibrary branch has raged foryears. History buffs and local

History buffs resist library plan

CITY INSIDER

Insider continues on C3

By Rachel GordonCHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

Muni operators rejected aproposed package of laborconcessions Friday that cityofficials said was needed tohelp San Francisco’s financial-ly pinched transit agency par-tially roll back the deep servicecuts imposed last month.

Members of TransportWorkers Local 250-A, whichrepresents about 2,000 Munioperators, voted 747 againstand 538 in favor of the pro-posed pact, according to unionofficial Walter Scott.

The reductions, which wentinto effect five weeks ago,amounted to 300,000 servicehours a year, or about 10 per-cent. They have led to morecrowded buses and streetcars,fewer transit options late atnight and longer waits be-tween runs.

Operatorsat Muniturn downgivebacks

PUBLIC TRANSIT

Muni continues on C3

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San Francisco Chronicle 06/12/2010

Copyright © 2010 San Francisco Chronicle $$edition June 12, 2010 4:00 pm / Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to 72% from original to fit letter page

GXXXXX• San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com | Saturday, June 12, 2010 | C3

FROM THE COVER

Similar forest changesare being found on everycontinent by biologistsworking around theworld, according to areport published thisweek in the journal GlobalEcology and Biogeog-raphy.

The global report wascompiled by Patrick Gon-zalez, a visiting scholar atBerkeley’s Center forForestry in the College ofNatural Resources, to-gether with U.S. ForestService researchers at

Corvallis, Ore. Gonzalez is also leading

a research group that hassurveyed hundreds oftrees and shrubs along a12-mile transect of theTahoe National Forest,ranging from the foothillsat 2,300 feet to the HighSierra at 6,900 feet.

The researchers mea-sured more than 1,000trees and took 197 coringsof the larger oaks, pinesand firs to determine theirages. They found that inthe past century, the oaksand Douglas firs that werenormally found at lower

elevations are beginningto be seen “upslope” inareas dominated by whitefirs and sugar pines, Gon-zales said.

“Those species, in turn,may be moving into thehigher elevations, wherered fir thrives in the deepwinter snow,” he said inan interview.

Gonzalez said climatedata for the Sierra transecthave been clear becauserecords taken at a Nation-al Weather Service stationthat has been operating innearby Downieville since1948 show that average

annual temperaturesthere have been increasingat seven times the globalrate. There has been noheavy logging, burning orgrazing in the transectarea, so climate changecould be the primarycause of the changes invegetation, Gonzalezconcluded.

In their survey of ob-served changes in vegeta-tion reported by otherscientists around theworld, Gonzalez and hiscolleagues noted that treesand shrubs in northernAfrica’s Sahel region havebeen dying where droughthas increased as the cli-mate warms, and have

moved further southwhere rainfall is moreabundant.

Similar changes havebeen taking place in thehigh Arctic, he said,where warming hasbrought new shrubs en-croaching on the tundra,where caribou and otherwildlife could be threat-ened.

The report on Sierratree seedlings moving tohigher elevations becauseof a warming climatereflects earlier evidencethat many mountain-dwelling animals are alsomoving their ranges up-ward to cooler areas.

James Patton and Craig

Moritz of UC Berkeley’sMuseum of VertebrateZoology surveyed 28 spe-cies of mammals living atsites from the San JoaquinValley across Yosemite toMono Lake and found thatas average annual temper-atures warmed by 5 de-grees Fahrenheit duringthe past 90 years, morethan half the species hadshifted their ranges up-ward by as much as 1,600feet. The two biologistspublished their survey inthe journal Science on Oct.10, 2008.

E-mail David Perlman at [email protected].

Warming shifts trees, data showTrees from page C1

residents say the city’splan to tear down thelibrary, built in 1959, andclose a section of MasonStreet to give its replace-ment a larger footprint,will irrevocably alter thefeel of the neighborhood.

The plan is still un-dergoing an environ-mental review before itcan head to the city’splanning commission.

— Will Kane

We’re No. 4! Time forour ranking du jour. (Orsemi-du jour, or whenev-er we get around to it.)

So, good news: SanFrancisco is more in-novative than Seattle,Boston, Portland, Ore.,and Provo, Utah. (Pluslots of other places.)

Bad news: We’re onlythe fourth-most-innova-tive city in the country,according to Forbes.com’sAmerica’s Most Innova-tive Cities ranking.

The folks there used aformula combining the100 largest U.S. met-ropolitan statistical areaswith data from the U.S.Patent and TrademarkOffice to determine num-ber of patents per capita.Then they added in ven-ture capital investmentper capita from the Na-tional Venture CapitalAssociation, along withthe cities’ ratios of high-tech, science and “cre-ative” jobs fromZoomProspector.com andPayscale.com.

We were beat by SanJose, Austin and Raleigh,

N.C., respectively.At least our football

team hasn’t moved toSanta Clara. Yet.

— John Coté

Heading to court:Supervisor MichelaAlioto-Pier gave SanFrancisco elections chiefJohn Arntz until 5 p.m.Tuesday to change hismind and let her run forre-election in November.

“In the event that youfail to do so, I will beforced to seek a judicialresolution of this matter,”Alioto-Pier wrote in aletter sent to Arntz thisweek.

Arntz announced lastweek that he would notallow Alioto-Pier’s nameto appear on the fall bal-lot, and said that despiteher new demand, he doesnot intend to switch posi-tions.

He based his decisionon a 2008 ruling by CityAttorney Dennis Herre-ra stating that the DistrictTwo supervisor is noteligible to run again be-cause of term limits.

Mayor Gavin Newsomfirst appointed Alioto-Pier to the seat in January2004 to fill out the re-mainder of his term whenhe was elected mayor. Sheargues that having wonjust one four-year term,she is eligible to run for asecond four-year term.

Herrera, however, saidthe time she served priorto her winning a full termin 2006 should count asher first full term.

Each side has offeredlegal arguments to but-tress its case. Litigationlooks more and morelikely.

— Rachel Gordon

E-mail the City Insiderteam at [email protected] and followus on Twitter@SFCityInsider.

CITY INSIDERFrom page C1

work on becoming mem-bers of the community.They are not battlingalcoholism, drug addic-tion or mental illness.

The building also willbe managed by two high-ly regarded local groups— the Community Hous-ing Partnership andLarkin Street Youth Ser-vices.

“I think both CHP andLarkin Street do a very,very good job,” MarinaDistrict Supervisor Mi-chela Alioto-Pier said. “I

just feel right now likethis is a case of trying toforce a square peg into around hole.”

Granted, there havebeen some kinks. Alioto-Pier said the projectpopped up out of the blue,creating pushback in theneighborhood. (True.)There have been issuesabout accessibility for thedisabled to the upperfloors. (Supporters saylifts will make two unitson each of two floorsaccessible.) The areasurrounding the EdwardII, near Lombard, has a

history of police incidentsaround the infamousBridge Motel, which isjust a block away. (Isn’tthat a problem with theBridge?)

“This is not the rightlocation when there arebetter alternatives in theneighborhood,” saidPatricia Boyd of the Mari-na Neighbors and Mer-chants Association.

I get all that. But this isa prime spot for support-ive housing in the chicMarina and a well-re-garded program. If theneighbors successfully

defeat the project, theymight regret it when theysee the next proposal forthe location.

Take it from a neigh-borhood group that wasadamantly opposed to asimilar project.

When CHP announcedplans to put the ArendtHouse for chronicallyhomeless seniors in theHaight, groups like theNorth of PanhandleNeighborhood Associa-tion hit the roof. Theirconcern, said associationpresident Jarie Bolander,was that they didn’t needany more social servicesin the area, especially notone for people who are

difficult to keep in hous-ing.

“There were somepeople who were upset,”Bolander said. “But overthe last few years, wehave never had a prob-lem. And (the associa-tion) hires the LarkinStreet kids to do cleanupwork for us and they havebeen stellar. Both CHPand Larkin Street areA-plus organizations inmy book.”

Do the Marina protest-ers recognize that theformer foster kids will bein programs and alsopaying rent? Do theyknow that the renters’visitors must be regis-

tered before they come tothe complex and that theymust be able to show agovernment-issued ID?Do they realize that aged-out foster kids are beingindividually screened tosee which applicants havethe best possible chancefor success? And that thesuccess rate is excellent inprograms like thisthrough Larkin Street?

I doubt it. Right now itdoesn’t sound as if any-one is listening.

C.W. Nevius’ columnappears Tuesday,Thursday, and Saturday.E-mail him [email protected].

Housing proposal has meritsNevius from page C1

The prisoners —Charles Cora, a gambler,and James Casey, a mem-ber of the city Board ofSupervisors — were thentaken by the vigilantesand hanged for murderafter a drumhead trial at“Fort Gunnybags,’’ thevigilante headquarters onSacramento Street.

Doane, then a SanFrancisco merchant withsome military experience,was the grand marshal ofthe Committee of Vigi-lance, as the vigilantescalled themselves. He had2,000 to 6,000 armed menat his disposal, the enforc-ers of vigilante justice.

Civil order in the cityhad broken down in theirview and they were goingto do something about it.

Doane is sheriffThe vigilantes had such

broad public backing thata political party withvigilante ties nominatedhim for sheriff. He waselected and served fouryears.

“One day he was break-

ing into the county jail andthe next he was runningit,’’ said Michael Hen-nessey, the current sheriff.“It’s a very San Franciscokind of story.’’

On Thursday, Hen-nessey presided over asmall gathering of histori-ans, deputy sheriffs andpolice officers at City Hall.They listened as Hen-nessey and James Davis,Doane’s great-great-grandson, told tales of thevigilante days. A fewpicked up the sword andlooked at it reverently.

“I think it’s beautiful,’’said Senior Deputy Sher-iff Michael Anderson,“Not just beautiful, it’soutstanding. It is hand-made with skill and care.You don’t see that kind ofworkmanship anymore.’’

Doane was a merchantand former soldier. Bornin Vermont, he turned upin California in 1851, whenhe was 39 years old.

San Francisco was awild and lawless place inthose days. Murders,robbery and arson werecommon. A previousCommittee of Vigilance

had cleaned up the townin 1851, but by 1856 SanFrancisco was in controlof what Hennessey called“rascals,” including Coraand Casey.

Both had killed men incold blood — Casey’scrime was to shoot downJames King of William,the editor of the DailyEvening Bulletin. Therewas widespread beliefthat Cora and Casey were“in cahoots” with then-Sheriff David Scannelland would get off scot-free.

Vigilante justice“The feeling was that

the criminal justice sys-tem was not going to servejustice,’’ Hennessey said.So when Doane, riding awhite horse with perhaps2,000 men at his back,appeared at the county jailon Broadway in NorthBeach and demanded theprisoners, the sheriff hadlittle choice.

The vigilantes weredissolved after fourmonths. They then turnedto politics and what theycalled “moral force,’’ and

Doane was elected sheriff.He served two two-yearterms. In those days,county sheriffs were alsoin charge of executionsand Doane presided overthe hanging of five men inhis time in office.

He retired in 1861, wasmade a general in theCalifornia militia, anddied in 1862, at age 50.

His sword became afamily keepsake, andDavis, an 83-year-oldformer California stateparks official, acquired itabout 75 years ago.

Davis has been corre-sponding with Hennesseyand promised he’d bringthe sword to San Francis-co next time he was intown. He’s going to see hisgranddaughter get a mas-ter’s degree at Santa ClaraUniversity this weekendand the sword came withhim.

There will be no publicdisplay of the heirloom;Davis is taking it back toHawaii with him. Eventu-ally, he said, the familyplans to present it to theSociety of California Pio-neers in San Francisco.

E-mail Carl Nolte [email protected].

Sword from S.F. vigilante daysSword from page C1

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Mayor Gavin Newsomcalled the rejection “aslap in the face to every-one who rides Muni andto every other publicemployee union mem-ber,’’ who already agreedto givebacks. “Onceagain, I call upon themembership of the TWUto reconsider and re-vote.’’

Scott said the union’sexecutive board willreconvene and decidewhat to do next.

The leadership ofTransport Workers

Union Local 250-Aforged a tentative agree-ment with Muni manage-ment two weeks ago thatcity officials say wouldcut costs by about $19million over two years.

Union membershiphas been split bitterlyover the proposal.

Bucking union offi-cials, the rank and fileresoundingly rejected adifferent set of proposedgivebacks in February.

The new proposalcalled for lifting the defacto prohibition on theuse of part-time opera-tors, tightening overtime

rules and changing de-pendent health carecoverage.

It also would haveextended the operators’contract for another year,through June 30, 2012.That would have givenoperators an extra yearto benefit from a guaran-tee enshrined in the citycharter that they are paidat least the second-high-est wage among U.S.transit operators.

That operator-friendlyprovision could be injeopardy. Two separatecharter amendmentsproposed for the Novem-

ber election seek to undothe automatic pay guar-antee, though neither hasqualified for the ballot.

The proposed ballotmeasures seek to setoperator salaries throughcollective bargainingwith the aim of givingmanagement more flex-ibility in getting rid ofinefficient work rules.

Municipal Trans-portation Agency chiefNathaniel Ford said thata favorable ratificationvote would have bene-fited riders by restoringhalf the service cuts byearly September.

E-mail Rachel Gordon [email protected].

Operators reject givebacksMuni from page C1