After covering a big Pro-Tibet rally all day Tuesday (and getting a rare sit-down interview with Hollywood’s most famous Buddhist, Richard Gere) we were rather surprised yesterday morning to see the all well-organized Chinese and Chinese Americans who turned out in much larger numbers to welcome the Olympic Torch, and celebrate China’s emergence as an economic and political power.

For all the talk about protesters, the Pro-China groups had remained fairly silent — until yesterday, when they gathered at Justin Herman Plaza with banners and bullhorns and prepared performances. Some were there as part of the city-sponsored closing ceremonies for the Eternal Flame.. but here’s how it ended: They threw a party … and the guest of honor didn’t show up. It was confusing when officials changed the relay route at the last minute … and unnerving to stand in the middle of the crowd, not very happy to hear me report that the whole event been moved several miles away.

Many were angry, many were heartbroken, and with good reason. But for some lucky city slickers who happened to be walking along San Francisco’s Marina Green … they saw an historic sight, free from protests and politics: A torch, held high by Americans… runners chosen for excellent reasons… celebrating the Olympic spirit.

(PHOTO: AP, 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch, over San Francisco torch relay rally)

We always try to travel light in this business and the airlines have helped there…requiring we bring the smallest conceivable sizes of personal items and suitcases (or in my case a duffel) that can fit into the smallest possible overhead bin. The challenge is that we can be sent to one climate for an assignment- let’s say warm and sunny- and then mid-day have to “turn around and hit the ground” in a place that requires us to bundle up big time!

But I got lucky traveling to the west coast last week after the area had suffered severe storms and power outages. I took a chance (a big one had I been sent from there to South Carolina where they had snow on primary day!) leaving the cold weather gear at home. My single suitcase and minature grooming products in hand, I boarded a flight for —-SOME OF YOU GUESSED IT—SAN FRANCISCO and I stayed in a very cool hotel.

The Orchard Hotel is actually two hotels. Both have a very important policy. THEY ARE GREEN!! That means energy efficiency everywhere, recycling, environmentally safe cleaning products and conservation is key. I was really impressed with the hotel management’s committment to protect the environment. Here’s a website that describes what it takes to be a “Green” hotel and lists those it says have met the requirements.

Fox and Newscorp (our parent company) have incorporated many of these policies the last few years. It’s an initiative we take seriously. So why not incorporate being GREEN into your next business trip or vacation to San Francisco? Check out the hotel website to read more about building the city’s only green hotel from the ground up. It’s even certified GREEN!

And tell me about what your company is doing or what you’ve changed at home to protect the environment. If we all do a little…it will mean A LOT!

I can’t wait to read your suggestions…maybe I can read the best ones on the show.

And, click over to see some exclusive “GO Green” web videos on FOX’s lifestyle magazine, iMag!

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We are learning more each day about the events surrounding the terrifying tiger attack that took place at the San Francisco Zoo Christmas evening.

This weekend, 17 year old Carlos Sousa Jr, who was killed in the mauling, was laid to rest and his two friends, Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal were released from the hospital.

The Dhaliwal’s are brothers age 19 and 23, and didn’t talk to reporters when they were ushered out. I sure am curious what they have told investigators about the night in question.We are now getting an even more vivid picture of just how chaotic the time-line of events really were after Tatiana escaped her habitat that fateful evening.

The time stamps and the content of the 9-1-1 calls have been released, and it looks like zoo employees and police may not have thought this escape and attack was as serious as it was at first.Just exactly how Tatiana, the 350-pound Siberian tiger got out is still up for debate, but police said Friday that they had completed their investigation on the grounds of the zoo, and that investigators found absolutely no evidence of an intentional release.

The one thing we do know: from the moment Tatiana’s enormous paws hit the pavement, she was on a tear, and after blood. A rough breakdown of the 9-1-1 calls reveal the following:At 5:07 PM, the first call to 911 comes in. Zoo employee reports a man “bitten by an exotic animal.” Police are dispatched, but skeptical.

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The sun has come up and the first police officer has arrived. Through the employee entrance across the street from Lake Merced here in San Francisco, car after car begins to arrive. I am told these are the workers in charge of animal care. The zoo is closed for the day after the attack and only essential employees are asked to be on the site.

The officer doesn’t seem to be part of the early morning search. We’re told investigators are going back in this morning in force, to ensure there are no more victims and to try and determine how this big cat got out.We have just checked out the entire perimeter of the zoo.

All gates are locked down and locked barriers stop anyone from entering any of the parking lots. The only activity is here at the employee entrance. Along the ‘Great Highway’ which splits between the zoo and Pacific Beach, the exit is even coned off. At one point you can see inside from a bluff and there is no activity and the animals even seem to be hunkered down.

I hadn’t been to this zoo in years. Like many, it was a shock to hear the initial reports of 4 massive tigers loose and roaming through the San Francisco Zoo. The information came fast and furious as it always does during breaking news and almost always the information changes. In this case I had just finished Christmas dinner when I noticed the light on my blackberry flashing. Both phones and the blackberry had not rang, but cell coverage in the hills above Calabasas is spotty at best.

Within minutes I was in my car, presents stuffed in the trunk and madly, but safely, making my way south to my home in the western part of Los Angeles. Our crew, producer Nora Zimmett and photographer Keith Railey, had spent the evening closer to LAX and had already made thier way to the gate. I stopped for what seemed like a second, but probably lasted about 5 minutes, grabbed my gear and was back in the car battling traffic. Of course there wasn’t just one accident, but two, and traffic on any night in the ‘City of Angels’ is never easy.

Airport lots were full and shuttles few and far between. I found a valet who had some space and then ran across LAX hoping to make the last flight. I have to say, LAX IS NOT pedestrian friendly. I had to zig zag back and forth across parking lots and down sidewalks and then double back to get to my airline and eventually the gate. Along the way, people movers weren’t working and escalators were broken; doesn’t it always work that way? In any case I got to the gate as my fellow passengers boarded. Keep Reading …

To get an idea of the path and the way the tanker hit the bay bridge after it left the Oakland area, here’s a cool link that re-creates the path of the tanker.

As for the oil spill itself, it just goes to show the dynamic way the waters swirl and move about the bay and outside aling the coastline…and how quickly a horrible spill can damage so many areas in so man places. By the way, one of the main bird rescue facilities is right near where I am right now. Not far from Napa, in Fairfield California.

Here’s the latest with a picture I pulled from the web:

Investigators want to know whether a ship pilot under investigation in San Francisco Bay’s biggest oil spill in nearly two decades initially played down the damage to his vessel, according to the Coast Guard.

Immediately after the Cosco Busan struck the Bay Bridge last week, Capt. John Cota quickly radioed authorities to report the vessel had “touched” the bridge, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation.

“Traffic, we just touched the delta span,” Cota said, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing criminal probe. Cota was referring to one of four supports beneath the bridge’s western section.

The impact did not damage the bridge, but it opened a 90-foot gash in the hull of the ship and ruptured its fuel tank, dumping 58,000 gallons into the bay, fouling miles of coastline and killing dozens of shorebirds.

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