The station will host a free BBQ and provide special activities for the community including tours of the police station, and hands on time with an SFPD horse, motorcyle and even a SFFD fire engine.
There will also be a special children’s area with face painting, a bounce house, and hula hooping.
Stop by the Richmond District police station at 461 6th Avenue between 5pm and 8pm to check it out. Some of the festivities will also be held in Muriel Leff Mini Park, located behind the station on 7th Avenue.
As we wrote about earlier this week, the dog fight between PETCO and our neighborhood pet stores and Richmond District Supervisor Eric Mar came to a head at City Hall. On Monday, the Land Use Committee, on which Mar sits, approved the proposal to ban formula pet retailers from Geary between 14th and 28th Avenues.
Supervisor Eric Mar, who introduced the legislation, said the ban protects smaller, independently owned pet shops in the area. Supervisor Scott Wiener opposed the legislation along with Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu. Wiener said it was a mistake to change the rules and instead Mar should let the application run its course using the existing voter-approved process.
Today, the issue comes before the Planning Commission, who like the Land Use Committee and Board of Supervisors, is recommending that PETCO’s conditional use permit be denied. Read their full recommendation document here which includes these reasons for disapproving the PETCO permit:
The proposed new use will not provide a development that is necessary or desirable with the surrounding neighborhood. There are a number of pet stores and services within the area, including two smaller locally-owned pet supply stores in the immediate vicinity and several others within two miles of the subject site, making the proposed use unnecessary.
The subject area has a large concentration of formula retail establishments, and adding another formula retail store will only increasing this concentration.
The neighborhood is well served by smaller locally owned pet stores and a larger destination formula retail pet supply store (Pet Food Express, on California Street near Presidio Avenue).
The proposed formula retail establishment could have a negative impact on existing neighborhood character by displacing smaller local stores that provide similar products and services.
So, it looks like 5411 Geary will remain vacant for the time being, or at least until another potential tenant is found or if PETCO tries to appeal the decision.
Do you agree or disagree with the city’s action? Answer the poll above and leave a us a comment with your thoughts.
This Saturday, the Internet Archive is hosting their first-ever RECORD-A-THON, a grassroots language documentation project where they’ll see how many different languages they can document in a single day.
IA’s goal is to capture 50 different languages and they’re depending on members of the community to stop by the Archive offices at 300 Funston at Clement to participate.
If you can’t make it in person, you can also participate remotely by providing a video or audio clip online. Just head over to the event page at Coveritlive.com
Linguists from the Rosetta Project and professional videographers from Mightyverse will be on site at the Internet Archive to document you and your friends speaking word lists, reading texts, and telling stories.
You can also document your language using tools like your mobile phone, digital camera, or laptop – just bring your device by the event and the IA will guide you through the documentation process. Or tune into the online broadcast to get all the details.
As an extra incentive to participate, the first 100 participants to arrive at the Internet Archive event will receive a commemorative Record-a-thon notebook by Levenger.com, packed with information about the event, and with lots of room to record your own experiences.
They’ll also have contests for both in-person and remote participants who upload recordings of the most languages, who are recorded speaking the most languages, and every submitted recording earns a chance to win an iPad 2.
What languages do you speak? Leave a comment to let us know. I bet we can cover at least a couple of dozen just from RichmondSFBlog readers!
Our beloved homemade Joe’s Ice Cream is inexplicably left off the list of the city’s best scoop spots. Boo.
Food critic Michael Bauer is glad he took in another meal at the renewed Kam’s on Balboa. Reviewer’s tip: Bypass the regular menu and order off the chef’s special menu.
I love this photo taken at Hamburger Haven on the corner of 9th and Clement. I think you could time travel back to the 1960s and it would look exactly the same…
Brothersbychoice.net has some great photos of the Stow Lake owls from last weekend, including the spectacular one above of their impressive wingspan. Be sure to click on each pic to enlarge them on their site.
Thanks to RichmondSFBlog reader Ariana for the tip!
Starting this Friday, the Balboa Theatre will present “From Britain with Love”, a collection of six brand new films representing the very best of British independent cinema.
Curated by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and presented by UK Film Council and Emerging Pictures, the mini festival includes three films making their U.S. premiere plus three more that have screened only at select U.S. festivals
The six films, featured in the trailer above, are:
Toast Showtimes: Friday, July 29, 9pm | Saturday, July 30, 2pm | Tuesday, August 2, 7pm
Based on the bittersweet story of food writer Nigel Slater’s childhood, TOAST is a delicious love letter to the tastes and smells that a young boy associates with his journey into adulthood.
In Our Name Showtimes: Friday, July 29, 2pm | Sunday, July 31, 9pm | Tuesday, August 2, 7pm
When Suzy returns home from a tour of duty in Iraq, her experiences begin to haunt her, driving her to erratic and paranoid behavior that endangers her own daughter. The first British film to deal with the aftermath of war from a female point of view.
Third Star Showtimes: Sunday, July 31, 7pm | Monday, August 1, 4:30pm | Wednesday, August 3, 9pm
James and his three closest lifelong friends go on an ill-advised trip – their last together – to the stunning coastal area of Barafundle Bay in West Wales to experience the joy of a group adventure and to resolve the latent tensions that affect the group. The results are touching and funny.
A Boy Called Dad Showtimes: Saturday, July 30, 7pm | Tuesday, August 2, 4:30pm | Thursday, August 4, 2pm
When Robbie, who’s been neglected by his own dad, becomes a father himself at the tender age of 14, he kick-starts a series of events that will catapult him into adulthood. Newcomer Kyle Ward gives a wonderfully assured and impressively mature central performance that belies his young age.
Africa United Showtimes: Friday, July 29, 4:30pm | Monday, August 1, 2pm | Wednesday, August 3, 7pm
The extraordinary story of three Rwandan children who walk 3000 miles to South Africa, hoping to attend the Soccer World Cup. Their adventures lead through an Africa rarely seen, in a story of joy, laughter, hope and generosity.
NEDs Showtimes: Saturday, July 30, 9pm | Tuesday, August 2, 2pm | Thursday, August 4, 9pm
When studious John McGill starts secondary school, new friendships lead him to join a gang of NEDS, ‘Non-Educated Delinquents’. As John’s rage spins him out of control, he’s left with no future, until he’s given one extraordinary chance of redemption. Set in 1970s Glasgow.
Since I started the blog a couple of years ago, I have come across lots of neighborhood photos on Flickr. One local photographer I’ve always enjoyed is Justin Beck, and have featured several of his photos.
So I was sad to hear via SFCitizen that Justin is now without a lens after his camera was stolen out of his hands at the corner of Arguello and Balboa – in broad daylight – last week.
Last Thursday Justin tweeted: “I’m OK but was just robbed at the corner of Arguello and Balboa. Talked to cops. Time for a new camera I guess. :/”
The camera was likely damaged as well. “That camera sure took a beating…knocked out of my hand into the street,” he wrote.
Let’s hope Justin’s camera is recovered soon or another one finds its way into his capable hands.
Sarah B.
Past photos of Justin’s that I’ve featured here on the blog:
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Next Tuesday night, the Richmond District Police Station will participate in “National Night Out”, a nationwide event designed to develop partnerships between the police department and the community.
Supervisor Eric Mar, who introduced the legislation, said the ban protects smaller, independently owned pet shops in the area. Supervisor Scott Wiener opposed the legislation along with Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu. Wiener said it was a mistake to change the rules and instead Mar should let the application run its course using the existing voter-approved process.
This Saturday, the 
