Authorities say a man was struck while waiting for a bus in San Francisco's Richmond neighborhood when a car plowed into the bus stop. The San Francisco Police Department reported the incident occurred around 4:50 p.m. Saturday at Fulton Street and Park Presidio Boulevard, across from Golden Gate Park, SF.

The injured pedestrian, an adult male, was found on the sidewalk by officers who quickly rendered aid. Paramedics took the victim to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to a statement obtained by KGO. The vehicle, a Nissan, landed on the curb and struck and hit a “Pedestrian Yield” sign.

To add to the severity, the accident occurred just a week after a tragic incident in which a 78-year-old woman drove into a bus stop in West Portal, claiming the lives of a family of four. Although no charges have been filed against the driver of the previous accident, Jen Nossokoff, a San Francisco resident and eyewitness to the most recent accident, expressed her dismay, telling KGO: “I'm heartbroken that I'm exactly one week after the terrible tragedy in the West Portal.” A man is placed on a stretcher after sustaining a head injury when another car collided with people waiting at a bus stop.

Law enforcement issued a citation for multiple traffic violations against the male driver of the Nissan. Following these incidents, State Senator Scott Wiener called for safer roads and stricter speed rules on social media, according to SFist, proclaiming, “We can make our streets safer.” Wiener is advocating for legislation that would enforce speed limits by limiting the speed of cars to no more than 10 miles per hour over the prescribed limit.

San Francisco Police are asking anyone with information about the recent crash to come forward and provide details to the department by calling 415-575-4444 or texting TIP411 and prefixing the message with “SFPD.”

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California’s Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) cited two contractors for multiple serious safety violations after a worker was fatally struck by a steel beam last August while working on a light rail tunnel project in San Francisco. The agency is seeking $65,300 in penalties.

Dmitry Kalinovsky / Shutterstock.com

“Hazards in tunnel construction work can include cave-ins, falling objects and breathable airborne contaminants,” Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum said in a statement.

The two contractors formed a joint venture to work on the Twin Peaks Tunnel Rehabilitation & Rail Replacement project. The tunnel project included refurbishing the infrastructure, replacing rails, and upgrading signal systems and other parts of the over 100-year-old tunnel.

Worker Struck by Beam

On August 10, 2018, employees were using heavy equipment and tools to work in and around the tunnel. One worker was operating a rail crane to push two flat railcars loaded with equipment into the tunnel.

The crane’s boom was in an upward, vertical position when it struck an overhead steel beam. The beam was dislodged from its support brackets and fell approximately 13 feet, fatally crushing an employee walking nearby.

Cal/OSHA investigators concluded that the two employers did not identify the potential hazards presented by pushing two loaded flat railcars into the tunnel and did not control the crane’s travel to avoid collisions. Investigators discovered the crane operators had not been trained to safely operate the equipment, and that workers had not been trained on safe procedures when the crane was being operated near them.

Serious, Accident-Related Violations

Cal/OSHA is seeking $65,300 in proposed penalties for two serious and two serious accident-related violations.

The serious accident-related violations were cited for failure to control the crane while it was moving and the employers’ failure to implement an effective injury and illness prevention plan (IIPP). California’s IIPP standard is Cal/OSHA’s most frequently cited regulation. There is no equivalent federal OSHA standard.

The serious citations were issued for two violations related to the employer’s failure to safely transport workers while in the tunnel.

Cal/OSHA classifies a violation as serious when there is a possibility that death or serious harm could result from the actual hazard created by the violation. Violations are classified as accident-related when the agency determines that an injury, illness or fatality is caused by the violation.

Cal/OSHA Mining and Tunneling Unit

Cal/OSHA’s Mining and Tunneling Unit investigates complaints of hazards and reports of accidents in mines and tunnels, and issues citations when violations are found.

The agency’s Mining and Tunneling Unit also:

• Conducts pre-job safety conferences;
• Issues permits prior to any initial underground mining or tunneling operation;
• Performs periodic inspections of tunnels, mines and quarries; and
• Offers safety training.

California Employers Face Stricter Rules

Employers in California must comply with a stricter set of workplace safety and health standards than employers in other states.

State occupational safety and health programs are required to be “at least as effective” as federal OSHA programs, but states can and sometimes do have standards stricter than the federal standards.

In addition to the IIPP standard, California also has its own unique standards for:

• Aerosol transmissible diseases,
• Heat stress,
• Repetitive motion injury, and
• Workplace violence prevention in healthcare.

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SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco police said dozens of people have been subpoenaed or arrested and resources have been made available to sex workers as part of an ongoing crackdown on prostitution along Capp Street in the city’s Mission District.

In an update on Friday, police said more than 30 people have been arrested or subpoenaed for soliciting prostitution since the raid began in fall 2022.

According to officials, the raid was prompted by community members who have raised concerns about the increase in sex work along the corridor.

“This street has always been known for sex work,” Bill Blum, a longtime Capp Street resident, told KPIX last month. “If I could just take the pimps out of the equation, I wouldn’t care.”

Mikayla Mays has also seen the young woman walking up and down Capp Street looking for a client.

“Personally, it makes me deeply saddened and concerned for her,” she told KPIX in February.

Mays shares the same opinion as many others living on Capp Street. There is sympathy for the women trying to earn a living on the streets.

Police said Friday sex workers they encountered during operations have been given resources to help them transition out of the industry and have not been subpoenaed for any sexual offences.

The operation also included increased traffic patrols in the area. Officials said nearly 150 traffic citations were issued for violations including failing to stop at a stop sign, speeding and driving without headlights.

Along with the crackdown, city crews have erected concrete barriers along the street to deter sex work. The move has led to complaints from the firefighters’ unionwho claim that the barriers could impede fire response.

Police said on Friday that operations against prostitution in the area would continue “for the foreseeable future”.

Anyone who knows someone who has been trafficked is asked to contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or text “BeFree” to 233-7888. The San Francisco Bay Area Human Trafficking Hotline can be reached at 415-907-9911.

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Customers walk past products locked in safety cabinets at a Walgreens store scheduled to close in San Francisco, California on October 13, 2021. Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

• Walgreens said it was closing some stores in San Francisco due to an increase in retail thefts.

• Police data obtained from the Chronicle did not show high rates of shoplifting reports in the shops that were closing.

• An expert said people leaving town during the pandemic could harm Walgreens’ business.

Walgreens announced Tuesday that it would close five of its San Francisco locations for “organized retail crime” Saturday.

While the report says the chain experienced retail theft, other factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and store oversaturation were cited as potential factors in the decision to close stores.

Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso said retail theft at its San Francisco locations had increased five times the chain’s average in recent months, SFGate reported.

However, the data from the San Francisco Police Department received from the Chronicle contradicts claims made by Walgreens, as one of the stores slated to close since 2018 has only reported 23 shoplifting incidents per month since 2018.

“Organized retail crime remains a challenge for retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to it,” Caruso told SFGate. “To combat this problem, we have increased our investments in security measures in stores across the city over this time to 46 times our chain average to create a safe environment.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed dismissed Walgreens’ reasons for closing the shops.

“They say (shoplifting is) the main reason, but I also think when a place is not generating revenue and when it’s saturated – SF has a lot of Walgreens locations across the city – so I think there are other factors coming into play “she told reporters last week.

The story goes on

Dean Preston, supervisor for San Francisco’s 5th District, which will be affected by a store closure, said the pharmacy chain was “out of the community” and had “long planned to close,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“Weird that some would be so offended that I would suggest that a huge corporate chain shut down retail locations for the very reason they told investors they were going to shut down, rather than the reasons outlined in their external PR are specified, ”said Preston in a tweet on Friday.

In a 2019 filing by the Security and Exchange Commission, Walgreens announced it would launch a Transformational Cost Management Program that would close 200 stores in the US to save $ 1.5 billion annually through 2022 in spending.

A May study published by Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom found that 15% of San Francisco residents left and did not return during the pandemic, which the Chronicle says could explain Walgreens’ dwindling customer base in the city.

San Francisco has relatively high rates of property crime, which according to the Chronicle, criminal justice researcher Magnus Lofstrom may be due in part to the Bay Area’s enormous income equality.

Walgreens did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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Customers walk past products locked in safety cabinets at a Walgreens store scheduled to close in San Francisco, California on October 13, 2021. Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

• Walgreens said it was closing some stores in San Francisco due to an increase in retail thefts.

• Police data obtained from the Chronicle did not show high rates of shoplifting reports in the shops that were closing.

• An expert said people leaving town during the pandemic could harm Walgreens’ business.

Walgreens announced Tuesday that it would close five of its San Francisco locations for “organized retail crime” Saturday.

While the report says the chain experienced retail theft, other factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and store oversaturation were cited as potential factors in the decision to close stores.

Walgreens spokesman Phil Caruso said retail theft at its San Francisco locations had increased five times the chain’s average in recent months, SFGate reported.

However, the data from the San Francisco Police Department received from the Chronicle contradicts claims made by Walgreens, as one of the stores slated to close since 2018 has only reported 23 shoplifting incidents per month since 2018.

“Organized retail crime remains a challenge for retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to it,” Caruso told SFGate. “To combat this problem, we have increased our investments in security measures in stores across the city over this time to 46 times our chain average to create a safe environment.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed dismissed Walgreens’ reasons for closing the shops.

“They say (shoplifting is) the main reason, but I also think when a place is not generating revenue and when it’s saturated – SF has a lot of Walgreens locations across the city – so I think there are other factors coming into play “she told reporters last week.

The story goes on

Dean Preston, supervisor for San Francisco’s 5th District, which will be affected by a store closure, said the pharmacy chain was “out of the community” and had “long planned to close,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“Weird that some would be so offended that I would suggest that a huge corporate chain shut down retail locations for the very reason they told investors they were going to shut down, rather than the reasons outlined in their external PR are specified, ”said Preston in a tweet on Friday.

In a 2019 filing by the Security and Exchange Commission, Walgreens announced it would launch a Transformational Cost Management Program that would close 200 stores in the US to save $ 1.5 billion annually through 2022 in spending.

A May study published by Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom found that 15% of San Francisco residents left and did not return during the pandemic, which the Chronicle says could explain Walgreens’ dwindling customer base in the city.

San Francisco has relatively high rates of property crime, which according to the Chronicle, criminal justice researcher Magnus Lofstrom may be due in part to the Bay Area’s enormous income equality.

Walgreens did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The post Walgreens cited shoplifting as rationale for closing 5 shops in San Francisco, however native officers, information, and consultants solid doubt on that rationalization appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A Google Street view of the Hajoca showroom in Hendersonville, NC.

Google Maps

Six months after a wall under construction on a plumber’s branch collapsed, killing a bricklayer and injuring four others, three North Carolina state companies were charged and fined.

A notice from the North Carolina Department of Labor said that distributor Hajoca Corp. and Robert Crawford Masonry were each cited with an alleged willful willful gross violation and an alleged serious violation of the North Carolina Labor Protection Act, with each company fined $ 30,800. The department also cited Pinnacle Grading Co. Inc. with alleged serious breach of the law and fined $ 2,800.

According to the city of Hendersonville, on the morning of Jan. 13, a retaining wall under construction in the parking lot of Hajoca’s showroom in Hendersonville, NC, collapsed, trapping five contracted masonry members underneath. A press release said a crew member who got away with minor injuries said that four other members were working with him. Rescue workers rescued three of them, followed by the 37-year-old man who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Two of the injured were flown to hospitals and one was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

Hajoca describes itself as the United States’ largest private wholesaler of plumbing, heating and industrial supplies. It’s also one of the oldest – founded in 1858. Headquartered in Lafayette Hill, PA, northwest of Philadelphia, the company employs approximately 3,500 people.

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Professor Aron Walsh was named to Web of Science’s 2020 list of Frequently Cited Researchers.

The 2020 List of Frequently Cited Researchers identifies influential researchers from around the world who have been most cited by their peers over the past decade. Selected researchers have authored several frequently cited articles and found to be among the top 1% by subject and year citations on the Web of Science.

These researchers represent the top 1% of their fields of expertise, meaning that researchers and social scientists highly cited by the world’s population are 1 in 1,000.

Professor Aron Walsh said, “When you present your new research to the world, it is difficult to know who is watching. While we always have to take citation metrics with a pinch of salt, it’s comforting to know that my work is widely read. I made the list thanks to the efforts of my research group and my staff. “

Imperial is a signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, which a Commitment not to consider journal-based metrics in evaluating the research performance of employees or candidates for recruitment.

Current research

Chemical Science, Vol. 11, No. 43

Professor Walsh’s group deals with the theory and simulation of energy materials such as solar cells, fuels and batteries. That year, his group developed a new technique or predicted the upper limit for the efficiency of converting solar energy into crystalline materials published in Energy and Environmental Science. The approach enables the rapid selection of next generation solar energy materials without expensive or toxic elements suitable for terawatt scale application.

His most recent discovery in collaboration with NIMS in Japan is a novel organic crystal, which is built up from a radical tetrathiafulvalene derivative and which leads to exceptional electrical conductivity. The publication was featured on the cover of Chemical Science.

Article text (without photos or graphics) © Imperial College London.

Photos and graphics are copyrighted by third parties and are used with permission or © Imperial College London.

Kayleigh Brewer

Department of Materials

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