With eight hours left in a calamitous year, a stolen car sped through downtown San Francisco.Inside the gray Honda HR-V, police say, was a pistol with an extended ammunition magazine, a cash register belonging to a vegan bakery and an intoxicated man on parole. He’d used the gun, they say, to steal the vehicle that provided the getaway from the bakery. Troy McAlister, 45, had been in and out of jail and prison since he was a teenager — his most recent arrest just 11 days earlier.Blocks away, at Second Street, two women walked alone, tracing separate paths through a neighborhood transformed...…With eight hours left in a calamitous year, a stolen car sped through downtown San Francisco.Inside the gray Honda HR-V, police say, was a pistol with an extended ammunition magazine, a cash register belonging to a vegan bakery and an intoxicated man on parole. He’d used the gun, they say, to steal the vehicle that provided the getaway from the bakery. Troy McAlister, 45, had been in and out of jail and prison since he was a teenager — his most recent arrest just 11 days earlier.Blocks away, at Second Street, two women walked alone, tracing separate paths through a neighborhood transformed...WW…

UPDATE: The allergic reactions that caused California to halt 330,000 vaccine doses occurred at San Diego’s Petco Park. Visit for the latest details.California’s top epidemiologist is warning health providers to delay using a batch of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine after a “higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions” were reported at a Southern Calfornia vaccination clinic.The affected lot includes 330,000 doses — roughly 1/10th of what the state so far has distributed.The reaction was observed in fewer than 10 people who required medical attention after receiving the vaccine at...…UPDATE: The allergic reactions that caused California to halt 330,000 vaccine doses occurred at San Diego’s Petco Park. Visit for the latest details.California’s top epidemiologist is warning health providers to delay using a batch of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine after a “higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions” were reported at a Southern Calfornia vaccination clinic.The affected lot includes 330,000 doses — roughly 1/10th of what the state so far has distributed.The reaction was observed in fewer than 10 people who required medical attention after receiving the vaccine at...WW…

San Francisco’s vaccine supply will run dry by the end of this week if the city doesn’t receive any new shipments, Mayor London Breed said Tuesday.The city could run out of vaccines by Thursday, Breed said. That would affect people who would get the vaccine through the city; private providers have a separate supply, and Breed added that the supply constraint for the city “should not have a significant impact” on plans to open a mass vaccination center soon at City College.Dr. Grant Colfax, the city’s main public health official, said that the city has received 8,000 doses from the Moderna...…San Francisco’s vaccine supply will run dry by the end of this week if the city doesn’t receive any new shipments, Mayor London Breed said Tuesday.The city could run out of vaccines by Thursday, Breed said. That would affect people who would get the vaccine through the city; private providers have a separate supply, and Breed added that the supply constraint for the city “should not have a significant impact” on plans to open a mass vaccination center soon at City College.Dr. Grant Colfax, the city’s main public health official, said that the city has received 8,000 doses from the Moderna...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSome ambulances are sitting outside Santa Clara County emergency rooms for up to seven hours waiting for a bed to open up for the patients they are carrying, according to county health officials.The delays — which mean the waiting ambulances cannot respond to other calls — have caused the San Jose Fire Department to transport people to emergency rooms at least a half dozen times in the past week, county health officials said.This type of backup has been already seen in the hard-hit Los Angeles area. There, ambulances have waited...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSome ambulances are sitting outside Santa Clara County emergency rooms for up to seven hours waiting for a bed to open up for the patients they are carrying, according to county health officials.The delays — which mean the waiting ambulances cannot respond to other calls — have caused the San Jose Fire Department to transport people to emergency rooms at least a half dozen times in the past week, county health officials said.This type of backup has been already seen in the hard-hit Los Angeles area. There, ambulances have waited...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigatePlaygrounds can remain open under California’s new stay-at-home orders, state officials said Wednesday, quietly reversing their original lockdown rules following intense public backlash.The move marked the second significant modification of the guidelines, which are less than a week old, further fueling the mounting political and legal challenges to California’s latest attempt to get the surging coronavirus pandemic under control.Counties were required to close playgrounds under announced last week as cases of the coronavirus...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigatePlaygrounds can remain open under California’s new stay-at-home orders, state officials said Wednesday, quietly reversing their original lockdown rules following intense public backlash.The move marked the second significant modification of the guidelines, which are less than a week old, further fueling the mounting political and legal challenges to California’s latest attempt to get the surging coronavirus pandemic under control.Counties were required to close playgrounds under announced last week as cases of the coronavirus...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA San Francisco supervisor has vowed to introduce legislation requiring sprinklers in older buildings after a large fire broke out at a high-rise apartment complex in San Francisco’s Financial District early Friday morning — for the second time in two years.The Fire Department was investigating whether a battery from a charging scooter ignited the blaze, according to a document reviewed by The Chronicle.The east tower of the Gateway apartment complex at 440 Davis Court caught flames around 1:20 a.m. Friday morning, displacing 15...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateA San Francisco supervisor has vowed to introduce legislation requiring sprinklers in older buildings after a large fire broke out at a high-rise apartment complex in San Francisco’s Financial District early Friday morning — for the second time in two years.The Fire Department was investigating whether a battery from a charging scooter ignited the blaze, according to a document reviewed by The Chronicle.The east tower of the Gateway apartment complex at 440 Davis Court caught flames around 1:20 a.m. Friday morning, displacing 15...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe Bay Area was barely awake when Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump engulfed television screens, computers and social media after four days of vote-counting, but as the news spread, people took to the streets in spontaneous celebrations with strangers, banging pots, honking horns and, in one case, singing “Happy Days Are Here Again.”In mostly liberal San Francisco, two masked strangers high-fived with their elbows, adhering to pandemic protocol, amid exclamations of “All right!” and “Finally!”It had been a tortuous wait for a...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe Bay Area was barely awake when Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump engulfed television screens, computers and social media after four days of vote-counting, but as the news spread, people took to the streets in spontaneous celebrations with strangers, banging pots, honking horns and, in one case, singing “Happy Days Are Here Again.”In mostly liberal San Francisco, two masked strangers high-fived with their elbows, adhering to pandemic protocol, amid exclamations of “All right!” and “Finally!”It had been a tortuous wait for a...WW…

The man accused of fatally shooting two law-enforcement officers in California this summer was communicating with another man accused of shooting up a police precinct in Minneapolis during protests against the police killing of George Floyd, according to court documents released Friday.Both men are members of the “Boogaloo Bois,” a loosely connected group of anti-government extremists who hope to accelerate a second American civil war, prosecutors said.The connection between Steven Carrillo and Ivan Harrison Hunter was revealed after Hunter, 26, was charged Friday with spraying 13 rounds...…The man accused of fatally shooting two law-enforcement officers in California this summer was communicating with another man accused of shooting up a police precinct in Minneapolis during protests against the police killing of George Floyd, according to court documents released Friday.Both men are members of the “Boogaloo Bois,” a loosely connected group of anti-government extremists who hope to accelerate a second American civil war, prosecutors said.The connection between Steven Carrillo and Ivan Harrison Hunter was revealed after Hunter, 26, was charged Friday with spraying 13 rounds...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSan Francisco police said six people were injured, including three officers, during clashes between a small group of President Trump’s supporters and a larger crowd of counterprotesters Saturday near Civic Center. No arrests had been made by early Saturday evening.The pro-Trump protest, billed as a free speech rally, drew people from Team Save America wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and carrying pro-police “Thin Blue Line” flags. They set up a stage at the Federal Building at U.N. Plaza, but dozens of black-clad...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSan Francisco police said six people were injured, including three officers, during clashes between a small group of President Trump’s supporters and a larger crowd of counterprotesters Saturday near Civic Center. No arrests had been made by early Saturday evening.The pro-Trump protest, billed as a free speech rally, drew people from Team Save America wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and carrying pro-police “Thin Blue Line” flags. They set up a stage at the Federal Building at U.N. Plaza, but dozens of black-clad...WW…

UPDATE: Gov. Gavin Newsomlifted mandatory stay-home orders across California.California will lift regional stay-at-home orders across the entire state on Monday, sources have told The Chronicle.A source close to the governor’s office confirmed that the state plans to end the stay-at-home order on Monday morning, moving counties back into the reopening framework based on colored tiers. It will no longer be tied strictly to the number of beds that are available in intensive care units.Now, with the post-holidays surge lessening, ICU availability in the regions that remained under the...…UPDATE: Gov. Gavin Newsomlifted mandatory stay-home orders across California.California will lift regional stay-at-home orders across the entire state on Monday, sources have told The Chronicle.A source close to the governor’s office confirmed that the state plans to end the stay-at-home order on Monday morning, moving counties back into the reopening framework based on colored tiers. It will no longer be tied strictly to the number of beds that are available in intensive care units.Now, with the post-holidays surge lessening, ICU availability in the regions that remained under the...WW…