Yearly Archives: 2014

By Craig Miller, KQED Science/News Fix Tuesday is “New Year’s Eve” for water managers in California, but they are not celebrating. This is the end of the state’s official “water year,” kind of a fiscal year for the water budget. Officials watch water years more closely than calendar years because they run from October to […]

By Alex Emslie and Rachael Bale, KQED News Often it starts with a call for help. A family member, a caretaker or even a stranger dials 911 seeking paramedics to treat someone in a psychiatric crisis. But when there is a threat of violence, the first responders are usually police, and what started as a […]

By Jason Jaacks, Bay Nature Twelve feet above the Pacific Ocean on the flying bridge of the research vessel Fulmar, Jason Thompson, a volunteer observer with Point Blue Conservation Science, sits at the alert, eyes glued to his binoculars. It is eerily calm — no wind, hardly any swell and no fog — a perfect […]

By Bryan Goebel and Dan Brekke, KQED News Fix San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón and his counterpart in Los Angeles are threatening action against ride-service companies Uber, Lyft and Sidecar over alleged violations of state law. In a letter to San Francisco-based Sidecar, Gascón said an investigation conducted with L.A. County District Attorney Jackie […]

By Laura Wenus, Mission Local Behind the counter of every tasty sandwich joint, hip bar and go-to cafe so popular in the Mission are low-wage workers, manning the registers, chopping the vegetables, pulling the espresso shots. Many have worked for minimum wage for years, but that could change in November when voters will decide on […]

By Bryan Goebel, KQED News Fix The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to approve a special downtown tax district meant to support transportation infrastructure projects. The Transbay Transit Community Facilities District is designed to collect a levy from developers of high-rise projects surrounding the new Transbay Terminal. The funds collected would help […]

By Craig Miller, KQED Science/KQED News Fix It took less than 20 seconds to shake apart historic buildings and topple chimneys from Vallejo to St. Helena. But throughout the Napa Valley, the August 24 South Napa Earthquake left its calling cards — not just the startling damage in downtown Napa but also subtle traces on […]

By Daniel Hirsch, Mission Local After a rally today outside of City Hall to support a budget appropriation to increase funds for greater accessibility to pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV infection, Supervisor Scott Wiener acknowledged that he had been slightly anxious leading up to today. Yesterday, in a post on the Huffington Post, Wiener had “come […]

By Isabel Angell, KALW Crosscurrents In the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, at 1038 Howard St., sits the United Playaz headquarters. United Playaz is a homegrown organization that is trying to make the SoMa neighborhood a safer place. It was founded by Rudy Corpuz Jr. … but he was not always an anti-violence […]

By Jimmy Tobias, Bay Nature  Marching north along Ocean Beach on the San Francisco coast, Dan Murphy stops and points his binoculars at a clutch of birds that look like cotton balls with beaks. “There they are,” says Murphy, a veteran bird watcher and volunteer with the Golden Gate Audubon Society. “It’s a scarce flock.” […]