Thursday San Francisco News Roundup
Bay Bridge Chicken Taken to Oakland Shelter
A stray chicken that startled drivers on the Bay Bridge Wednesday morning and was featured in countless jokes on social media has been taken to an Oakland animal shelter and might be reclaimed by its owner, Oakland Animal Services officials said Wednesday afternoon.
CHP officers captured the bird around 10 a.m., around four hours after drivers began reporting chicken-sightings in traffic east of the Toll Plaza, according to CHP Officer Sean Wilkenfeld.
The CHP took the chicken to the Berkeley Animal Services shelter, which then transferred it to Oakland, shelter manager Tiana Scott confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
“We do have the chicken in our custody and a potential owner has called us,” Scott said.
The chicken, which appears to be a hen, is being kept in an outside coop next door to two younger chickens, Scott said.
“It looks very healthy,” Scott said. “It’s walking around and talking a lot. It’s a vibrant chicken, well fleshed.”
The owner will have to provide pictures or vaccination records or other records demonstrating custody before they can reclaim the chicken. If the owner does not claim the bird, Scott said it will be available for adoption to those who live in areas where chickens are legal.
Backyard chickens are legal under Oakland city ordinances but roosters are not.
Scott said the shelter handles more chickens than residents probably realize, but they are usually taken in by rescue groups.
“The chicken will have a good outcome no matter what,” Scott said.
Community Rallies to Support Baptist Church in Bayview After Desecration by Vandals
A fundraiser has been set up to help St. Paul’s Tabernacle Baptist Church in San Francisco’s Bayview District as they pay for repairs after vandals desecrated the church on Friday.
According to the fundraiser, which is being organized by Showing Up for Social Justice (SURJ), a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice, states that the vandalism included graffiti of racial slurs inside the church, broken mirrors, and pews covered in bleach.
SURJ’s San Francisco chapter is collecting donations to show support for St. Paul’s Tabernacle Baptist Church on Oakdale Avenue and to help contribute to the costs of repairing the damage done to their community, according to the fundraising site.
Michael G. Pappas, a commissioner on the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and the executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council, said Wednesday that he reached out to San Francisco police Chief Greg Suhr after he learning of the vandalism.
Pappas said that Suhr told him the police department has launched a thorough investigation into the vandalism and would work to bring the suspects to justice.
Pappas said, “It’s important that the greater community understand what’s going on in our own backyard.”
Pappas said that this sort of display of hatred is seen across the country, but cannot and should not be tolerated in San Francisco.
On Monday, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission released a statement condemning the desecration of St. Paul’s Tabernacle Church.
Susan Belinda Christian, chair of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission said the commission condemns “the unconscionable vandalism that occurred.”
She said the commission stands with church officials in urging that the perpetrators be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“The desecration of a place of worship is a vile and despicable act propelled by ignorance, hatred and bigotry,” Christian said.
According to SURJ, this attack on a black church in San Francisco’s Bayview district is part of a history of violence against black churches dating back to the 18th century.
“Black churches have always been a place of power in black communities, place of community building and organizing, even before the civil rights movement. Recent attacks on Black churches are a reaction to the empowerment of the Black community and an attempt to terrorize and intimidate Black families in a place they should feel safe,” according to SURJ.
The online fundraiser set up by SURJ to help repair the church can be viewed at: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/we-stand-with-st-pauls-tabernacle-baptist-church.
Today’s Weather Forecast
Today will be mostly cloudy with patchy fog in the morning. Highs will be in the upper 60s and west winds will reach 10 to 20 miles per hour.
Tonight will be partly cloudy in the evening and then will become mostly clear. Lows will be in the upper 50s and west winds will reach 5 to 15 miles per hour.
Friday will be sunny and highs will be in the mid 60s. Northwest winds will reach 5 to 10 miles per hour and then will become west winds, reaching 10 to 20 miles per hour in the afternoon.
