San Francisco’s vote to raise the minimum wage on Election Day reflects the widening recognition of deep income disparity. While the wage hike is a boon for those who toil under law-abiding bosses, thousands of San Francisco employers skirt existing minimum wage requirements, studies indicate.
Yearly Archives: 2014
Posted inNews
California Revenues Up, Schools Get the Cash
By John Myers, KQED News Fix/The California Report It’s exactly what voters said they wanted when they amended the California Constitution in 1988: When the state’s coffers fill up with tax dollars, public schools should be guaranteed the single-largest portion of the cash. And so consider it good news from the Legislature’s independent fiscal watchdogs […]
Posted inNews
S.F. Study: Childhood Trauma Lasts Into Adulthood, Leading to Public Health Crisis
By Anna Challet, New America Media Past experiences of childhood trauma are common among California adults, and those experiences correlate with harmful behaviors and chronic disease at a level that constitutes a “public health crisis,” according to a new study. The report by the Center for Youth Wellness, a health organization that serves children and […]
Posted inNews
2014: The Most Expensive S.F. Election in Years
By Rigoberto Hernandez, Mission Local When it comes to ballot measures, this has been the most expensive election cycles since at least 2011, and that year does not even come close in spending. Proponents and opponents of 12 city ballot measures, which ranged from a tax on sodas to approval of soccer fields in Golden […]
Posted inClimate Change, Government & Politics
New Virtual Reality Installation Reveals How Sea-Level Rise Will Affect Bay Area Shoreline
A San Francisco technology company is helping Bay Area residents visualize in 3-D how their neighborhoods could look under three feet of water when sea-level rise accelerates later this century.
Posted inNews
811: The Number to Call Before You Dig
By Ngoc Nguyen, New America Media Wolfgang Gordillo recalls the day when a fellow worker, digging on a construction site in Seattle, accidentally struck and ruptured a gas pipeline with a pickax. “The fire department showed up, evacuated the area [and] closed off the gas line,” said Gordillo, who works as a contractor in construction […]
Posted inCity Hall, Health, Homelessness, Homelessness and Mental Health, Housing
How San Francisco Places Homeless Into Supportive Housing
INFOGRAPHIC: Two city departments run similar programs focused on getting people off the streets and into housing. Audits of San Francisco’s homelessness programs say that the demand for permanent supportive housing far outstrips supply. More than 7,000 people are homeless today; only a few hundred spaces in housing become available each year. Part of a special report on homelessness and mental health in San Francisco, in the fall 2014 print edition. Stories rolling out online throughout the fall.
Posted inCity Hall, Health, Homelessness, Homelessness and Mental Health, Housing, News
Promise of Supportive Housing for Homeless Faces Reality of Short Supply
10 years ago, San Francisco’s politicians pledged to end chronic homelessness, getting the neediest people off the street through a “housing first” policy. Today that outcome is nowhere in sight. Few people are lucky enough to leave the streets through the city’s subsidized housing placement system, where some wait perpetually to receive a home. Part of a special report on homelessness and mental health in San Francisco, in the fall 2014 print edition. Stories rolling out online throughout the fall.
Posted inNews
Californians Will Soon Have More Time to Turn in Mail-In Ballots
By Lisa Pickoff-White, KQED News Fix Late voters will have more opportunity to mail in their ballots, thanks to a new law that goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2015. The law stipulates that vote-by-mail ballots will need to be postmarked by Election Day and received up to three days later, rather than the current […]
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Housing, Housing Solutions, Land use, Neighborhoods
Housing Solution: Build Manhattan-Style Towers in Candlestick Park
Business journalist David Cay Johnston pitches the idea of building high-density apartment buildings at Candlestick Park instead of planned retail, offices and hotels. He says “Manhattanizing” the area could bring down housing prices across the city by adding 14,000 new units of housing.