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* I Left My Accordion . ....

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* I Left My Accordion . . .: Beatnik bongos and cable car bells are out, says a band that insists the accordion’s sound is the essence of San Francisco. Musicians with Those Darn Accordions! revival band serenaded Mayor Art Agnos outside City Hall Monday as the city considered a proposal to proclaim the humble, pleated bellows the city’s official musical instrument. “There should be an official city instrument because we have official city songs and we need an instrument to play them on,” said band member Tom Torriglia. Besides, he said, “It’s a good way to meet girls.”

* Soccer Sacked: As if the repressive policies that led to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s overthrow were not bad enough, a former sports minister says the government had rigged soccer matches. “Most matches were tainted with corruption, political intrigues and the outcome was almost always completely manipulated,” Austrian Television News, ORF, quoted former Romanian sports minister Cornel Dinu as saying Monday. Dinu also said the deposed ruler almost always hand-picked which teams played in European championship matches.

* Burning Issue: Activist Dick Gregory apparently will spend a week in jail after refusing to post bail Tuesday on charges related to a protest at a store selling drug paraphernalia. He faces two counts of trespassing for refusing Monday to leave the Smoke Connection, a store selling devices used for ingesting cocaine and marijuana. Also arrested were two Chicago priests, the Revs. George Clements and Michael Pfleger. Clements paid a $79 fine Tuesday and was released. But Gregory declined to pay and was held at the city jail. The three men were arrested Monday afternoon after entering the shop. Municipal Judge James A. Gramling Jr. released them without bail Monday night but Clements and Gregory returned to the shop about an hour later and were re-arrested.

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