A large January sewage spill at San Francisco’s main public library that was caused by someone who flushed “foreign objects” down a fourth-floor toilet led to $550,000 in damages.

The spill happened Jan. 20, when a sewer overflow that started on the fourth floor of the Larkin Street library across from Civic Center Plaza spread to the stories below, affecting all three of the first floors in the building’s northwest corner. 

Library staff said the spill contaminated just about everything in the spaces it spread to, with ceilings, ductwork, painted surfaces, insulation, cubicles and floor coverings all being damaged. The library’s Talking Books and Braille Center, Audio-Visual Room and Genre Room were all impacted by the spill, according to the city. 

Jaime Wong, a San Francisco Public Library spokesperson, could not say for sure exactly what kind of “foreign objects” clogged the toilet in question and led to the spill. 

“It might have been some fabric,” Wong said. “It got pretty mangled.”

Wong said toilet blockages in the library have caused spills before, but this appeared to be the first time that one on the fourth floor had caused such extensive damage.

The overwhelming majority of the bill will be paid by insurers, according to city officials. San Francisco is only on the hook for a $10,000 deductible that will be paid from its Library Preservation Fund. 

Cleanup of the spill began the day it happened and was completed Feb. 9, according to the city. Repair work started several days later and most of it has been completed, though some damaged flooring and cubicles still need to be replaced. The city hired a contractor, Belfor Property Restoration, to handle the cleanup and repairs.

The Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on Wednesday approved the repairs, which required an emergency declaration from the Public Works director. The full board is likely to sign off on the matter next week.

Reach J.D. Morris: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @thejdmorris

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A haunting image from Google Street View appears to show a man in a garden before he was decapitated and dismembered.

Officials found the decapitated body in the backyard of a Washington, DC home.

Washington, DC police believe the decapitated body found in the backyard was that of a handyman who was called home to workPhoto credit: Google Maps
The Google Street View photo was reportedly taken in July and shows the victim just months before he was killedPhoto credit: Google Maps
Dogs led investigators to knife evidence they believe may have been involved in the crime under the porch of a nearby homePhoto credit: fox 5

The victim was a handyman who was called to work indoors and his body is said to have been lying there for three months.

The Google Street View photo was reportedly taken in July and shows the worker just months before he was killed.

According to charges for Lavaughn Barnes, 32, dogs led investigators to knife evidence they believe involved in the crime under the porch of a nearby home.

The documents of the suspect arrested last week in connection with the discovered body learned that it is Abdulio Arias-Lopez.

Barnes lived in the house where Arias-Lopez worked, WRAL reported.

He lived in the basement, his sister and her daughter lived upstairs.

Barnes’ sister, when asked by authorities, identified the man in the Google Street View image as a handyman she’s known for five years.

She told them she last hired him in November, but as far as she knew, he never showed up for the job and stopped responding to their messages, according to WRAL.

When asked what happened when the handyman came to the house, Barnes admitted to killing Arias-Lopez in anger while he was working on the house in November.

Barnes recalled showing him paint because he wanted to paint the kitchen, according to ABC7.

As Arias-Lopez dumped the paint and walked away, Barnes tasered Arias-Lopez in the back.

The worker then asked Barnes why he was doing it, documents say.

Barnes replied that he was not in his right mind and began kicking and punching Arias-Lopez.

Before Barnes took his body to the basement, Barnes stabbed Arias-Lopez twice.

Barnes then went to an ACE hardware store to buy an ax to dismember Arias-Lopez’s body, court documents show.

Barnes was charged with second-degree armed murder.

Why Barnes was allegedly furious with the handyman remained unclear.

He told police he “passed out” when it happened.

Barnes said he panicked and recalled wondering, “What the hell did I just do?”

His sister told police he was “mentally challenged”.

He confessed to cutting off Arias-Lopez’s arms and then his head and tossing the body parts and his ID in the trash that garbage trucks took away, WRAL reported.

Barnes’ next court date is next month and he remains behind bars until then.

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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KABC) — As Southwest Airlines continues to sort out stranded passengers and unclaimed baggage, a reporter in San Francisco said her child’s car seat ended up at a stranger’s home.

Megan Cassidy, a reporter at the SF Chronicle, tweeted Tuesday night telling Southwest, “Please tell me you’re guarding the stranded luggage. Because I’m tracking my kid’s car seat and today it moved from the STL airport to a random house in Riverview Gardens.”

A representative with Southwest Airlines responded to Cassidy with a tweet shortly after, telling the mother, “Hi, Megan. We have delayed luggage sectioned off, and we require the baggage tag in order to release any items. Please DM us so we can discuss this situation further.”

According to a tweet posted by Cassidy, she is tracking her luggage using AirTag, a tracking device developed by Apple.

Cassidy is among thousands of Southwest travelers whose luggage remains unclaimed.

At Hollywood Burbank Airport on Wednesday, a pile of unclaimed luggage sat outside baggage claim carousels and in a change from regular operations, Southwest staff individually called out names and personally handed each passenger their luggage.

“Everybody has just been talking about how crazy this entire thing was,” said traveler Sydnee Roddy. I definitely got like the better end of it because I was visiting my family, but there are people in the airport talking about they were on their last day of medication, and how, like, they were splitting their family up and I felt really bad about the whole thing.”

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan issues video apology

Jordan apologized to passengers and employees in the video released on Tuesday evening.

“We’re doing everything we can to return to a normal operation, and please also hear that I am truly sorry,” Jordan said.

He said with large numbers of airplanes and flight crews “out of position” in dozens of cities, the airline decided to “significantly reduce our flying to catch up.”

While Jordan acknowledged problems with the company response, the statement suggested that he did not foresee massive changes to Southwest’s operating plans in response to the mass cancellations.

“The tools we use to recover from disruption serve us well 99% of the time, but clearly we need to double-down on our already-existing plans to upgrade systems for these extreme circumstances so that we never again face what’s happening right now, said Jordan.

Meanwhile, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has taken the airline to task. He’s pulling no punches, referring to the situation as a complete “meltdown” of the system.

An official for the union representing Southwest pilots said they expect to have their flight schedules almost back to normal by the end of the work week.

But it’s not just Southwest dealing with issues.

On Wednesday, Eyewitness News found stranded passengers at John Wayne Airport flying Frontier and Spirit Airlines.

However, at 4 pm Wednesday, FlightAware reported more than three quarters of those with canceled flights at John Wayne Airport were flying Southwest Airlines.

The airline accounted for more than half of the 4,600 flight cancellations nationwide. The second highest was China Eastern, making up 13% of cancellations in the US

So what should customers do who are stranded?

“First things first, travelers who are still stuck waiting on Southwest and need to get somewhere should try to book a flight with another airline as soon as possible … right now, really,” said Kyle Potter, executive editor at the travel advice website Thrifty Traveler, in an email to CNN Travel on Tuesday.

“Every airline in the country is jam-packed right now, so your odds of even finding a seat — let alone at an even halfway decent price — get smaller by the hour,” Potter said.

Phil Dengler, co-founder of travel advice site The Vacationer, said stranded Southwest passengers should get their heads out of the clouds.

“I recommend searching for alternative forms of transportation. While Southwest may get its act together over the next few days, I would not take the risk,” Dengler said. “It is legally required to provide you with a full cash refund if your flight was canceled, so it is in your best interest to have a solid backup plan.”

He also suggested looking for cheap car rentals from services such as AutoSlash.

“I also recommend checking Amtrak to see if any available trains are going to your destination,” he said.

He said if renting a car or taking a train are not options, you should use Google Flights to search for cheap flights from other airlines.

And “if all else fails, Southwest will eventually get you to your destination, but it may not be until the weekend or early next week. Travelers in the thick of this should be sure to save all their receipts,” Potter said.

Southwest itself has urged the same thing on receipts.

“If you’ve already left, take care of yourself, do what you need to do for your family, keep your receipts,” Southwest spokesperson Jay McVay said in a news conference earlier this week. “We will make sure they are taken care of, that is not a question.”

If you’ve been left in the lurch and your efforts to reach a customer service agent are going nowhere, the founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights suggests trying an international number.

“The main hotline for US airlines will be clogged with other passengers getting rebooked. To get through to an agent quickly, call any one of the airline’s dozens of international offices,” Scott Keyes said.

CNN contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2022 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.

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