National

LONDON, ENGLAND—On Thursday, January 14, Alan Rickman, 69, died of pancreatic cancer. The actor had not disclosed his condition to the public, and close friends said Rickman had not revealed the severity of his illness until recent weeks. Rickman’s representatives at the Independent Talent Group Ltd. say he had a short battle with cancer from the time of his...

SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently announced their decision to change the legal age to purchase tobacco and nicotine products. Beginning June 1, anyone looking to purchase tobacco and electronic smoking products is required to be at least 21 years of age. The legal age for the majority of the cities in United States is currently 18 to...

SAN FRANCISCO—An elementary school in San Francisco has become the first school in the city to implement gender-neutral bathrooms. Miraloma Elementary School removed the typical triangle and circle labels on the bathroom doors and substituted in signs reading "Inclusive Bathroom," accompanied with a male/female/transgender logo. Kindergarten and first-grade students at the school will now be able to use bathrooms without having to identify themselves simply as...

HOLLYWOOD—"Glee" star, Mark Salling, 33, was arrested at his home in Sunland, California on charges of child pornography on Tuesday, December 29, according to reports. Officer Aaron Jefferson, from the Los Angeles Police Department released a statement that Salling was arrested at 9 a.m. then booked at downtown L.A. where he posted $20,000 bail. According to the Internet Crimes Against Children...

SAN FRANCSICO—A high school in San Francisco is ready to become the first public school in the nation to offer an LGBT studies course. Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts has developed a curriculum for the LGBT studies course and plans to offer it in fall 2015 for their students. Lyndsey Schlax, a teacher at Ruth Asawa since...

SAN FRANCISCO—Transgender San Francisco County prison inmates will soon have the option to be sent to a prison based on their gender preference. San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi made the announcement on Thursday, September 10. According to Mirkarimi, the change will begin to take place in a few weeks and is set to be completed by the end of the...

SAN FRANCISCO—UCSF chancellor Sam Hawgood announced on Monday, July 27, the university's support of bringing the 2015 NBA Champions the Golden State Warriors back to San Francisco for their new arena. The new San Francisco arena would be located along Third Street in San Francisco's Mission Bay District, near the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay. The 35,000 square foot project, which is...

SAN FRANCISCO—The City of San Francisco is anticipating over one million visitors starting this week for its nine-days of activities and events leading up to Super Bowl 50. A considerable number of visitors are expected to be coming in from Denver, Colorado to support the Denver Broncos. Super Bowl City will be taking place at the Justin Herman Plaza, as...

SAN FRANCISCO—Last month, San Francisco saw its first medical marijuana food festival, known as the “Get Baked Sale," held in its city limits. City officials have ruled that it will not allow a second medical marijuana festival to take place next year, nor would it allow the same organizers’ upcoming “Pot Luck” in August. The decision comes following a move...

SAN FRANCISCO—The autopsy report for Mario Wood, 26, was released to the public on Friday, February 12. According to the autopsy, Woods was shot and killed by officers from the San Francisco Police Department  after they  fired at Woods 21 times. The report indicates, six shots were fired in Woods’ back and two to his head.  Woods was shot in the back, arm,...