News from San Francisco and around the bay

Four Powerball Tickets Sold in Bay Area Match Five Out of Six Numbers

Four winning lottery tickets with five out of six matching numbers for Wednesday night’s unprecedented $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot were sold here in the Bay Area, according to California Lottery officials.

In Sonoma County, winning tickets were sold at the Larkfield Union 76 station at 4605 Old Redwood Highway in Santa Rosa and the Quik Stop at 601 N. Cloverdale Blvd. in Cloverdale.

The other two tickets were sold at the Chevron at 404 Soquel Ave. in Santa Cruz, and the 7-Eleven at 2000 Nut Tree Rd. in Vacaville. A total of 12 tickets with five out of six matching numbers were sold statewide. One ticket sold in San Bernadino County matched all six numbers.

It is currently unclear how much of the total jackpot each winning ticket is worth, lottery officials said.

Super Bowl to Cost To Cost at Least $4.1 Million

San Francisco’s estimated costs for hosting the Super Bowl will be more than $4 million, including $2.3 million for public transit and parking enforcement, according to revised figures released Wednesday. Estimates released last week by the mayor’s office put the costs to the city for hosting Super Bowl 50 at around $3.5 to $4 million, including $1.7 million in costs to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and between $1 and $1.5 million for police.

However, the cost estimate from the SFMTA mistakenly left out the cost of additional parking control officers, spokesman Paul Rose said. The agency this week released revised estimated costs of around
$2.3 million, raising total estimated city costs to between $4.1 and $4.6 million. This places costs for the Super Bowl well ahead of other recent events including the World Series playoffs and parade, which cost around $2.3 million in 2014, according to city figures.

Rose noted that the total cost, while higher than the original estimate, is still within the agency’s existing budget, which includes funds for special events, and will not require any additional appropriations. “We have no plans to ask for reimbursement,” Rose said. While Super Bowl 50 will be played at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 7, more than 1 million people are expected to attend Super Bowl-related events in San Francisco between Jan. 30 and Feb. 7. The city is hosting Super Bowl City, a free fan village, The NFL Experience, an interactive theme park at Moscone Center, and a media center. The mayor’s office report noted that the full impact will not be known until after it is over, but other cities that have hosted the Super Bowl have seen economic benefits as well as costs. Phoenix, which hosted in 2015, saw $719.5 million in total economic impacts, while New Orleans, which hosted in 2013, saw $480 million in total economic impacts and $10.1 million in direct local tax revenue, according to the report.

Despite the touted benefits, the event has drawn criticism from residents and public officials concerned about the costs to taxpayers and about the impact of planned street closures and public transit changes on residents and commuters.

Supervisors have held two hearings on the expected costs, and Supervisor Jane Kim on Tuesday introduced a resolution calling for the Office of the Controller to conduct a cost analysis in the future before the city commits itself to large events.

In introducing the bill, Kim said her priorities were to make sure that people can get to work and that the city is not “left with a fiscal hangover when the party’s over.”

Bones Found in Alamo Square Planter Identified as Those of Child, Second Person

Human bones found in planters near San Francisco’s Alamo Square in November have been identified as those of a child and another individual, police said Wednesday.

The bones were found by a resident in the 1300 block of McAllister Street on Nov. 23 while she was gardening, according to police. The medical examiner has confirmed that the bones are human, belonging to a child 8 to 14 years old and to another individual of unknown age, according to police Officer Grace Gatpandan. The identities and genders of both people remain unknown. The medical examiner’s office is now working to extract DNA from the bones and submit it to databases in the hopes that it will match with missing persons or other cases, Gatpandan said.

Homicide investigators are working the case and police are looking at missing persons cases in the area, but Gatpandan said it was unclear at this point whether foul play was involved.

“Those remains could have been put there numerous ways,” she said. “The juvenile could have died of natural causes. They might not have come from San Francisco, they could have come from anywhere.”
Gatpandan said cadaver dogs were used to search the area after the bones were discovered, but no additional remains were found.

(News by Bay City News)