Are San Francisco's Bar Pilots Drastically Overpaid?

Monday, April 30, 2012 San Francisco Bar Pilots Encounter Political Turbulence SAN FRANCISCO -- Since the days of Mark Twain, the San Francisco Bar Pilots have had it good. Thanks to outsized political clout and highly specialized training, this elite cadre, currently numbering 56 ship captains, has enjoyed monopoly control over the San Francisco Bay since 1850. State law requires a bar pilot to guide every large vessel – be it a luxury liner, a billionaire's yacht, aircraft carrier or cargo ship – in, out and around the San Francisco Bay. Most of the ships are docked at the Port of Oakland. 'THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM' WATCH: Local Man Sues Car Company Over Painful Two-Year Erection California Leads The United States With This Disturbing Statistic PHOTOS: Beloved Golden Gate Park Landmark Is Finally Back In Action It's Been A Bad Week For Marijuana BLOG POSTS George Heymont: Searching for a Balance With Nature and Self Jiro Dreams of Sushi is balanced between the story of a remote and complex father and capturing the fine art of making sushi and photographing it in the immediacy of its freshness. It is also filled with surprises -- like watching how someone gets a live octopus into a plastic bag! John Seed: Mitchell Johnson: "Are You Going With Me?" The Italian colors, the clay earth, the buildings, the vast quilts of man-made fields really overwhelmed me. I was clueless as to how to make the shiny saturated colors coming out of my tubes comment on the experiences I was having discovering a new world. Anne Stevenson: Corporate Lobbyists Discriminate, Declare War on Disabled (Show This to Your Legislator) Should disabled litigants be forced to elect between the loss of wealth and opportunities, or alternatively, going broke engaging in excessive litigation? Isn't that just another way of starving the little guy's interests out of court on account of their disability? William Bradley: Back on the National Stage? Jerry Brown Brings An Incomplete Story California is an important proving ground for new energy and transportation initiatives. Governor Jerry Brown is in Washington for a round of meetings and appearances. What will he say? Steve Heilig: "Kids Today" - The (Young) Poets Speak Unless you have teens in your family or work with them in some capacity, it's easy to lose touch with what being a young person is like. This is one reason I try to go to the local Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam every year.

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