Bay Area

New Environmental Justice Coalition Protests EPA Cuts 

03.26.2025
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About 150 Bay Area residents and advocates for environmental justice gathered on the steps of an Environmental Protection Agency office in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday to protest the Trump administration’s rollbacks of environmental protections. 

The coalition enables member organizations to share ideas and learn from one another, said Sarah Ranney, director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Sierra Club. 

“Historically, things have been done through movements just like this,” said Arieann Harrison, the founder and executive director of the Marie Harrison Community Foundation, an  organization advocating for full remediation of the toxic Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

Community

More Tenderloin Tenants Face Eviction Amid Rent Strike

03.18.2025
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Tenants at 781 O’Farrell St. who have been on a rent strike for more than a year face eviction by Veritas Investments, the owner of their building and once the city’s largest residential landlord.

The four tenants have vowed not to settle unless Veritas fulfills their collective demands for quality-of-life improvements in the building. 

Veritas acknowledged but did not respond to a request for comment. 

City Hall

Democratic Club Splits From Engardio Over Great Highway

03.14.2025
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The Chinese American Democratic Club, one of the city’s oldest political associations for Chinese Americans and a vocal opponent of closing the Upper Great Highway to cars, voted on Thursday to withdraw support of Supervisor Joel Engardio.

The supervisor faces a recall attempt brought by constituents angry over his co-sponsoring last fall’s successful ballot measure to close the highway, which runs along the Pacific shoreline in his district. 

Immigration
Three women smile and hold hand drawn signs reading "my parents fought for my future — now I will fight for theirs" and "mis padres no son criminales, por querer darnos una vida mejor."

Thousands Across Bay Area Mobilize Against Mass Deportation

03.11.2025
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Ever since President Donald Trump’s inauguration this year, thousands of residents and officials across the Bay Area have been showing support for municipal and state policies that protect undocumented immigrants.

Communities from San Mateo to Dublin have held protests each week in response to the Trump administration’s promises of mass deportation and threats to cut federal funding to sanctuary cities.

Environment

Toxic Waste Cleanups Take Longer in Marginalized Communities

03.10.2025
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Toxic site cleanups take longer in marginalized communities, according to a new Public Press analysis of more than 20,000 sites of varying size across the nine-county Bay Area.

In areas that scored high on a national index of socioeconomic vulnerability, the median cleanup took more than 450 days longer than in the least vulnerable areas.

Many factors, including the type of toxin, the nature of the site and the complexity of the cleanup, could affect how long a remediation takes and explain some of the differences. But in a subset of more than 12,000 cleanups of comparable complexity, the disparities were even more pronounced.

Experts warn that prolonged exposure to contamination as a result of slow cleanups can increase the risk of illness for nearby residents.