San Francisco leaders are trying to cancel a party.
D. Boyer
8/8/07

City officials, namely Bevan Dufty and Gavin Newsom, have decided to think for the city and its residents by supposedly committing to the shut down of the Halloween celebration in the Castro for 2007.

Audrey Joseph from the city's Entertainment commission declared "There will be no party," and efforts to try and hold an outdoor concert at the baseball park have failed.

So far only one business has said they will close for Halloween.

Bevan Dufty believes the party will get more violent, but some members of the community believes it's just a sign of the times as gang violence and homicides are on the rise and is now spreading into other neighborhoods.

Some residents said believe city officials are blaming the people for their lack of leadership when it comes to crime, and they believe that the leaders are ruining the fun in San Francisco.
Halloween in the Castro is the "Gay Christmas" and has become a tradition.

Historically traditions are hard to break, so police may have their hands full this Halloween, and so far the Entertainment Commission has failed to update their website since Halloween 2005, so getting the message out may be slow going.

http://www.sfgov.org/site/entertainment_index.asp