Free Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner at Cafe Gratitude | Mission Dist.

Thursday, November 26 , 11:00 am to 3:00 pm | Cost: FREE
Cafe Gratitude - SF | 2400 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 2 Comments

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For the fifth year in a row, Cafe Gratitude is hosting a free Thanksgiving dinner for vegans on Thanksgiving Day from 11am to 3pm. Ingredients donated by Veritable Vegetable, Bariani Olive Oil, and other local purveyors. Dinners will be served on a first come first served basis at Cafe Gratitude’s San Francisco, Berkeley, San Rafael and Healdsburg locations.

Participating Cafe Gratitude Locations:

2400 Harrison Street (@20th Street)
San Francisco, CA 94110

1730 Shattuck Ave (@ Virginia)
Berkeley, CA 94709

2200 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA 94901

206 Healdsburg Ave (in the Olive Leaf)
Healdsburg, CA 95448

The Oakland location is not participating in the Thanksgiving event.

thanks Miss Cellanie

The show must go on.

That's the rallying cry for Macworld 2010, which is preparing to soldier on for the first time in 26 years without Apple as its anchor vendor. The show, a production of IDG World Expo, has been tweaked in a number of ways to compensate for the loss of Apple, including a date change to February, registration price cuts and an emphasis on more training.

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Some early signs suggest this year's edition will still be a solid draw. While the following year is anyone's guess, organizer Paul Kent, IDG World Expo's vice president and Macworld general manager, said the show is evolving to become more of a platform for developers and fans.

"Apple leaving is obviously not a great thing, but it opens up a lot of opportunities. In the past, the show serviced Apple's goals but now we can turn the show into a community fan fest," Kent said.

Apple announced last year that it was ending its involvement in Macworld because it is reaching users through its Web site and its collection of Apple Stores. The move follows Apple's pull-out from Macworld New York, Macworld Boston and the National Association of Broadcasters Show, leading many to wonder about the long-term viability of the San Francisco gathering.

"They did the same thing at (Macworld Boston) and it folded within two years," said Leander Kahney, author of "Cult of Mac" and "Inside Steve's Brain." "Without Apple it doesn't have the pull."

IDG World Expo has responded by pushing Macworld out of its traditional early January slot to Feb. 9-13 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. The date change gives vendors more time to finish products after the holiday season, and allows the show to distinguish itself from the Consumer Electronics Show, which falls around the same time.

Registration prices have also been cut by about 10 to 15 percent. For the first time, the show is opening its expo showroom floor on Saturday so more fans can check out Apple-related products. There will also be about 150 education sessions, up slightly from the previous expo.

Kent said there have been more than 28,000 pre-registrations so far, equal to the number of people who attended the previous show. But the overall size of the show will be significantly reduced. At least 135 exhibitors have signed on so far and about 300 are expected to set up shop. That's down from 420 vendors at the last show.

Also, between the tight economy and the absence of Apple's massive 20,000-square-foot pavilion, the overall square footage is coming down, from about 115,000 square feet this year to a projected 65,000 square feet. Big-name vendors such as Adobe and Belkin, which pulled out of the last show, are also staying away for 2010.

Perhaps the biggest loss will be on the keynote stage, where Steve Jobs traditionally unveiled Apple's vision of the future. While Jobs pulled out of the keynote duties this year for health reasons, he has used the stage in the past to introduce products like the iPhone, iMac and iTunes.

In Jobs' place will be a team of presenters, including tech journalists David Pogue and Leo Laporte and director and actor Kevin Smith, a fan favorite for his free-for-all talks.

"If you're looking for a comparison to Jobs, we don't go down that route," Kent said. "But we have a stellar lineup of feature presenters."

Mark Spencer, founder of Day Street Productions and a Final Cut Pro training session leader, said IDG World Expo is right to focus on more training, which he said will need to be a bigger component for the conference to survive.

"What people will come for is not so much new toys now but education and training," he said.

Steve Martin, founder of Ripple Training, who will be leading a Final Cut Studio session, said he's saddened that Apple chose to pull out. While he understands the business factors that went into the move, he said the company should still send trainers or marketing executives as a sign of good will to the user base.

He expects the next expo will yield a solid turnout. But Martin said the following year will be the better measure of the long-term health of Macworld.

"This year is a trial," Martin said. "No one knows what to expect. A lot of people will go to see who shows up, and that will determine if they'll do a repeat performance next year."

E-mail Ryan Kim at rkim@sfchronicle.com

oh wow!

S.F. fire forces 15 residents from homes

Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer

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No injuries were reported in the blaze that started at a vacant three-story building at 607 -609 2nd Ave., said San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Ken Smith.

Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire, which spread to the exterior of the upper stories of adjacent buildings in a neighborhood where there is little space between structures.

The fire was reported at 4:33 p.m. and contained by 5:14 p.m. by the 100 firefighters on the scene, Smith said.

By early evening some of the displaced residents were milling outside the buildings, anxiously waiting to learn the extent of the damage inside.

"There is a lot of stuff inside that money can't replace," said Rick Chiu, 32, who has lived for 10 years with four family members in one of the buildings that was damaged.

City releases ambitious Transbay Terminal proposal

John Coté,John King, Chronicle Staff Writers

Thursday, November 19, 2009

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(11-19) 15:43 PST San Francisco -- The recession hasn't stopped San Francisco's city planners from thinking big.

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The Planning Department released an ambitious set of proposals today to turn the blocks around the Transbay Terminal into a commercial and transportation centerpiece of the region over the next two decades.

The 145-acre "Transit Center District" would redraw San Francisco's skyline with a half-dozen towers taller than almost any in the city, including one stretching at least 100 feet higher than the Transamerica Pyramid. The plan would widen the sidewalks and narrow the streets around a rebuilt terminal. It also would reroute most Bay Bridge commuter traffic outside the pedestrian-oriented district.

Officials say they're confident the 147-page plan, which has been in the works since 2007, will bear fruit despite a stumbling economy that has stalled several projects in the area.

"This is a 25-year plan," said John Rahaim, the city's planning director. "There's no question in our mind that this is the part of the city that should grow much more dense ... It's appropriate for us to embrace this, and make sure it happens well."

The draft pulls together previously aired concepts, such as taller towers, with new details ranging from bicycle-sharing programs to a district-wide energy network. It also suggests potential development fees to fund the estimated $567 million in public improvements.

The comprehensive plan's release marks the start of an approval process scheduled to culminate in hearings before the Board of Supervisors late next year.

'Crown of the skyline'

The focus of the new district would be the block of Mission between First and Fremont streets. That's where the Transbay Terminal is to be rebuilt to accommodate commuter rail service and the state's high-speed rail system. That project will be funded in part by proceeds from the sale of part of the block to the development firm Hines for construction of an iconic office tower.

The plan promotes creating "an elegant skyline ... with its apex at the Transit Center" by allowing the Hines tower to rise 1,000 feet in terms of occupied space. Another 200 feet would be allowed for mechanical equipment and sculptural flourishes so long as they cast minimal shadows.

To ensure "that this building be the crown of the skyline," the plan also would require it to climb at least 950 feet. By contrast, the Transamerica Pyramid is 853 feet.

This emphasis on height could prove to be the plan's most controversial aspect; besides the transit tower, the proposed zoning makes room for six other skyscrapers exceeding the city's current 550-foot height limit.

A greener alternative

City planners say skyscrapers offer a way to place large amounts of housing and office space near transit. There also are environmental payoffs. The district is projected to produce 62 percent less carbon dioxide than a typical Bay Area suburban development with the same square footage, according to the report.

But the revised zoning is likely to draw fire from past critics of downtown growth, and not just for aesthetic reasons. Towers at the proposed heights could cast new shadows on nearby city-owned parks, which runs counter to a 1984 voter-approved sunlight protection initiative.

Detour for drivers

The extra height is just one part of the effort to transform the blocks bounded roughly by Market, Steuart, Folsom and Hawthorne streets - a once-forlorn area that already is home to a cluster of glassy towers erected during the past decade.

Sidewalks would be widened through much of the district to make the pedestrian environment more appealing, along with new mid-block crossings. Bicycle lanes would be added on several streets.

Conversely, the plan criticizes the daily backup of Bay Bridge-bound traffic as "an inefficient and unsustainable use of the district's street network." It would divert commuters from Folsom and First streets as much as possible, and nudge drivers toward transit by capping parking spaces in the district at an as-yet-unspecified number.

"We can't even accept the amount of traffic we have today," city planner Joshua Switzky said. "We can't just settle at 70 percent of people taking transit. We need to get to 80 (or) 85 percent."

The plan to make a new, walkable downtown still faces hurdles, including developers potentially balking at the taxes and fees the city would levy in return for added heights.

"The fees we have on the table are based on what's feasible for developers," Rahaim said. "When the market turns around there will be renewed interest. Downtown San Francisco will continue to be a desirable place to do business."

E-mail the writers at jcote@sfchronicle.com and jking@sfchronicle.com.