San Francisco Chronicle

The San Francisco Chronicle is switching publishers for the second time in 20 months, bringing in a hard-nosed executive who presided over a contentious newspaper labor strike in Detroit. Steven Falk left as the San Francisco paper's publisher Friday. He will be replaced Jan. 1 by Frank Vega, who runs the company that oversees the shared business operations of the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News. Falk, 50, took over as Chronicle publisher in March 2003. Hearst Corp.

SAN FRANCISCO - Its decaying architecture, fluorescent lighting and kitchen prep sink wedged next to a toilet have served as fodder for a ribbing by comedian Conan O'Brien . Its 3 a.m. closing time made it a favorite for late-night club hoppers But most of all, the Sam Wo Restaurant in the heart of Chinatown was a haven for unassuming regulars and curious tourists - who for decades streamed through the cramped kitchen and up a narrow staircase...

Abe Mellinkoff, 79, who was city editor of the San Francisco Chronicle for 26 years. He joined the Chronicle in 1935 as a reporter and became city editor in 1949. At the time of his death, he was a weekly columnist for the newspaper. On Thursday in San Francisco of a stroke.

Reporting from San Francisco -- A day after Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi was sentenced in a domestic violence case, a somber San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee said he would suspend the sheriff — the first step in removing him from office for "official misconduct. " After reviewing the city charter, evidence in the case and consulting with the city attorney, Lee said, he gave Mirkarimi an opportunity to resign. The sheriff refused, the mayor told reporters Tuesday, "and now I must act. " "As public officials, our first responsibility must always be to fulfill the obligations entrusted to us by the people of San Francisco," Lee said.

The San Francisco Examiner is a financial failure and its profit-sharing deal has harmed newspaper readers by holding back its larger partner, the Chronicle Publishing Co. said in legal filings Friday. The owners of the Chronicle, whose $660-million purchase by the Hearst Corp. has been challenged in a federal antitrust trial, urged U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker not to block the deal.

The new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and an influential Republican congressman asked Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales on Thursday to withdraw grand jury subpoenas to two San Francisco Chronicle reporters facing 18 months in federal prison for refusing to disclose their confidential sources of information about steroid use in professional sports.

Ending decades of jockeying and rivalry between this city's two daily newspapers, the parent company of the San Francisco Examiner announced Friday that it is acquiring the San Francisco Chronicle and will put its own flagship paper up for sale. The sales accord between the Hearst Corp. and the Chronicle Publishing Co. would end a federally approved joint operating agreement that had preserved one of the country's most vibrant cities as a two-newspaper town for nearly 35 years.

When Jeffrey Zalles needed a new cashier for his coin laundry in the South of Market district, his help-wanted ad in the San Francisco Chronicle brought just four responses. So Zalles posted a notice on Craigslist, a San Francisco-based network of websites that specialize in classified advertising. His cyber-ad drew 400 applicants. Zalles found his cashier and hasn't relied on the Chronicle since, advertising instead on the Internet and the city's array of free papers.

Police are closing the case of the city's notorious Zodiac killer, whose identity has haunted inspectors for 35 years. "The case is being placed inactive," said San Francisco Police Lt. John Hennessey, head of the department's homicide unit. "Given the pressure of our existing caseload and the amount of cases that remain open at this time, we need to be most efficient at using our resources," he said.

SAN FRANCISCO - Its decaying architecture, fluorescent lighting and kitchen prep sink wedged next to a toilet have served as fodder for a ribbing by comedian Conan O'Brien . Its 3 a.m. closing time made it a favorite for late-night club hoppers But most of all, the Sam Wo Restaurant in the heart of Chinatown was a haven for unassuming regulars and curious tourists - who for decades streamed through the cramped kitchen and up a narrow staircase...

A wealthy philanthropist has kicked in $5 million in seed money. A top management consultant has come up with a business plan. A renowned university will lend not only its students but research help. And the budding endeavor has a chief executive who will pull down $400,000 a year and one of the world's most prestigious newspapers ready to give its future news offerings a home. When the Bay Area News Project launches its website in late spring or early summer, it will be just the latest -- and perhaps the most ambitious -- nonprofit venture among a string of similar start-ups.

Burl Toler, the first African American game official in NFL history, has died. He was 81. Toler died Sunday at a hospital in Castro Valley, Calif., according to the University of San Francisco. He was a star lineman and linebacker on the Dons' 1951 football team that was denied a bowl bid despite a 9-0 record because it refused to leave its two black players -- Toler and Ollie Matson -- behind. "We were disappointed at the time, sure," Toler told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2001.

Four months after Nick Adenhart's tragic death, a makeshift shrine to the fallen Angels right-hander continues to grow outside Angel Stadium. . . . "It's something that fans initiated," Angels spokesman Tim Mead says, "and it will stay as long as fans feel a need for it." . . . Adenhart and two friends were killed early April 9, only hours after Adenhart pitched six strong innings in an Angels loss, when their car was broadsided by an allegedly drunk driver. . . .

The San Francisco Giants toured the White House last week -- and, no, they weren't being honored for not winning a World Series since moving from New York to the West Coast. While the players were waiting to have their IDs checked, center fielder Aaron Rowand was pulled out of line and told to step into the guardhouse. "If a Secret Service agent pulls you aside, that's not good," Rowand told the San Francisco Chronicle. As it turns out, the agent was from Philadelphia and a big fan of Rowand's during the player's years with the Phillies.

Is he in or out? People close to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Sunday dismissed a report in the San Francisco Chronicle that he had decided not to run for governor in 2010. Villaraigosa insiders said the mayor has still not made a decision. Chronicle political columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross reported Sunday that their sources had told them Villaraigosa had decided not to run, in part because he was facing "bloody political fights" at home. Villaraigosa begins his second four-year term as L.A.'s mayor July 1. He has said for months that he was considering a run for governor in 2010, but has not offered any rock-solid clues about a decision.

Re "Local news front and center," March 3 Tuesday morning, when I picked up my skinny little newspaper, I was compelled to write this letter. I am one of the many people who love to read. I love the sensation of holding paper in hand and curling up in a favorite spot for a good story. Mine happens to be the back window, looking out over the garden. A well-lived life is made up of small but meaningful pleasures like this one. The loss of paper journalism is a travesty. It caters to our younger society, which wants things fast, short and preferably on a hand-held piece of technology.

Reporting from San Francisco -- A day after Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi was sentenced in a domestic violence case, a somber San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee said he would suspend the sheriff — the first step in removing him from office for "official misconduct. " After reviewing the city charter, evidence in the case and consulting with the city attorney, Lee said, he gave Mirkarimi an opportunity to resign. The sheriff refused, the mayor told reporters Tuesday, "and now I must act. " "As public officials, our first responsibility must always be to fulfill the obligations entrusted to us by the people of San Francisco," Lee said.

The Hearst Corp. has recorded $330 million in losses in its investment in the San Francisco Chronicle and attempted to sell the newspaper to MediaNews Group Inc., according to court documents made public in a media antitrust case. Terms of the 2005 proposal were not revealed. MediaNews did not offer enough, so no deal was made.

When a newspaper goes belly up, journalists tend to talk about the loss of a government watchdog, declining civic engagement and the threat to our democracy. So when those sober words came flowing out of Denver last week over the collapse of the Rocky Mountain News, the sentiments didn't strike me as surprising, or wrong. Just inadequate.

Hearst Corp. said Tuesday that it would sell or close the San Francisco Chronicle, the second newspaper the company has put on the block this year, after the publication lost more than $50 million in 2008. Hearst plans to cut a "significant" number of jobs at the newspaper, the New York-based publisher said. Hearst said Jan. 9 that it may close the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which lost $14 million last year, if it cannot find a buyer by March.