2011 Bay to Breakers to run dry

The Bay to Breakers is going dry.

Race organizers plan to announce today that the 100th running of the world-famous, 7.46-mile footrace will take place May 15, 2011 - only this time, "there will be no alcohol, period," race spokesman Sam Singer said.

The renewed push for a booze ban comes on the heels of insurance and financial giant ING's announcement that it was dropping out as the race's sponsor after five years of blottoed boozers, bare-naked runners and increasingly bad press.

Not to mention irate neighbors.

"Bay to Breakers is very concerned that someone is going to get hurt or worse because of the overconsumption of alcohol," Singer said. "Unfortunately, people can't control themselves."

Organizers said more than 30 participants had to be taken to hospitals via ambulance after this year's race, most for alcohol-related reasons.

Two years ago, organizers tried to crack down on public intoxication by banning keg floats and alcohol from the race. They relented after public protests, and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi helped broker a compromise.

After this year's mess, however, the floats and alcohol will be banned - with extra cops hired by organizers to crack down on public drinking.

Violators "will be arrested, cited and fined," warned Angela Fang, the race's executive director.

Mirkarimi, while not condoning the drunkenness, said organizers risked killing the very spirit that has made the race unique.

Plus, "I don't know how they are going to enforce it," Mirkarimi said.

Dugard dollars: One of the more puzzling aspects of the Jaycee Dugard kidnap case is the logic behind the $20 million claim settlement recently approved by the state Legislature.

According to an internal memo from the attorney general's office, $7 million is for what's expected to be a lifetime of counseling for Dugard and the two daughters allegedly fathered by kidnapping suspect Phillip Craig Garrido. Another $450,00o is for their education.

The biggest piece of the settlement, $12.55 million, is based on the premise that the state screwed up so badly in its supervision of Garrido, a paroled rapist, that a jury might give even more to Dugard and her daughters.

Probation officials must have really screwed up - because that's about 10 times what the state has paid in past parole flub-up cases.

History lesson: After looking over the latest Field Poll numbers, pollster Mark DiCamillo has two words of warning for Jerry Brown: "Huffington-Feinstein."

It was 1994 and Dianne Feinstein entered her re-election race to the U.S. Senate with a 2-1 favorable rating with California voters.

Then, multimillionaire Republican candidate Michael Huffington (at the time, husband of Arianna Huffington) hit Feinstein with a $30 million nonstop TV blitz.

"By the time the election rolled around, Feinstein's image was more negative than positive - which was pretty amazing," DiCamillo said. Feinstein eventually squeaked past Huffington by fewer than 2 percentage points.

"We're seeing the same thing at work here," DiCamillo said, referring to Republican multimillionaire Meg Whitman's attacks on Democrat Brown.

DiCamillo noted that Brown's unfavorable ratings have risen sharply in the wake of the attacks.

Not that Whitman is coming across that well. The latest Field Poll numbers show her favorable rating down there with Brown's.

More planning porn: A fifth supervisor has lost his job, and a sixth firing may be on the way in the fallout from the San Francisco Planning Department's computer porn scandal.

As many as two dozen staffers have been under investigation since complaints surfaced about e-mails at work containing sexually explicit images and videos.

The result has been the dismissal of some of the department's most senior and experienced staff, including the second in command. A number of workers have also been suspended.

Supporters of the accused are pushing back with their own e-mail blasts, accusing Planning Director John Rahaim of overreacting and "destroying the department."

To which Micki Callahan, the city's human resources director, shoots back: "If there are people feeling demoralized because they are no longer allowed to look at pornography in the workplace, then maybe employment in the city and county isn't right for them."

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Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle