Yearly Archives: 2025
Posted inHealth, Homelessness, Labor

Arrested UC Workers Released, Charged with Disrupting Public Meetings with Labor Protest 

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

More than 20 labor leaders and University of California workers were arrested May 15 as they protested at a UC Board of Regents meeting at UC San Francisco’s Mission Bay campus. They were charged with willfully disturbing a meeting. 

Demonstrators, who were protesting working conditions and calling for the university to engage in fair contract negotiations, were released after a few hours, said Liz Perlman, executive director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299 , which represents 35,000 employees across several UC campuses, medical centers, clinics and research labs. Perlman, who was arrested, said she was given a citation with a follow-up court date.

Posted in“Civic” Podcast, From the Newsroom, Government & Politics, Media

Audience Trust Essential Amid Attacks on Media, DEI and Democracy, PBS Public Editor Says

Avatar photo by Lila LaHood

The San Francisco Public Press on April 30, 2025, hosted a fireside chat with Ricardo Sandoval-Palos, the public editor at PBS, and Lila LaHood, executive director of the Public Press, about recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, and threats to democracy and the media.

Sandoval-Palos and LaHood talked about what might happen if the federal government were to cut funding to PBS and NPR, which receive a portion of their budgets from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The next day, President Donald Trump signed an executive order attempting to do just that.

Posted inAging, Government & Politics, Immigration

Esta cuidadora es una defensora inmigrante con discapacidades. Bajo el mandato de Trump, su futuro es incierto.

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

Cuando Elisa se levantó de su silla en la sede de Mujeres Unidas y Activas, un grupo activista de mujeres latinas e indígenas, buscó un bastón para apoyarse. Hace unos años, de camino al trabajo, Elisa se resbaló en unas escaleras y sufrió una fuerte caída. El accidente le dejó lesiones permanentes y agravó las deformidades con las que había nacido en ambos pies. Las secuelas han tenido una grave consecuencia toda su vida. De repente, ya no podía trabajar. Sus ingresos desaparecieron, lo que la obligó a abandonar su hogar.

Posted inAging, Government & Politics, Immigration

This Caregiver Is an Immigrant and Disabled Advocate. Under Trump, Her Future Is Uncertain.

Avatar photo by Madison Alvarado

Elisa is a longtime caregiver for older adults and people with disabilities. Like many caregivers, she was born abroad, and her story is one of many examples of how the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant attacks are on a collision course with a nationwide staffing crisis in the care economy. Programs that support older adults and those with disabilities face cuts, and those populations increasingly rely on people like Elisa — who, as a disabled immigrant worker, is more and more vulnerable to exploitation by employers.

Posted inEnvironment, Social Justice

Racial Disparities in Toxic Cleanup Times Especially Pronounced in SF, Data Shows

Avatar photo by Audrey Mei Yi Brown

Toxic site cleanups take longer in parts of San Francisco where fewer residents are white, a new data analysis from the San Francisco Public Press shows. The analysis also shows that a higher proportion of residents who are Black, Indigenous and other people of color in an area correlates directly with longer cleanup durations.

Across all sites in San Francisco, cleanups took more than four years longer in areas with high proportions of BIPOC residents than in majority white areas. The size, complexity and nature of toxic sites varies and could account for some differences but further analysis shows that these disparities hold when comparing sites of similar complexity and size.

Posted inGovernment & Politics, Labor, Social Justice

May Day Rallies in SF Draw Thousands to Protest Trump Administration Policies

Avatar photo by Jason Winshell

Thousands of people turned out for a protest rally at San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza and other locations on May 1 — also known as May Day and International Workers’ Day — to express outrage against Trump administration policies targeting immigrants, federal workers, labor unions, the social safety net, environmental policy, education and free speech.

The rallies on Thursday in San Francisco were among more than 1,000 demonstrations staged nationwide that coordinated with the grassroots 50501 movement, which billed the protests as a fight against a “billionaire takeover.”

Posted inCity Hall, Homelessness, Housing, Law & Justice

Eviction Rates in SF Soar as Legal Aid Faces Deep Funding Cuts

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

San Francisco is experiencing a surge in eviction court filings that has taken even the most seasoned eviction defense lawyers by surprise.

In February, 365 eviction lawsuits were filed — up 57% from a year earlier — and March had 303 filings, bringing the total for this year to 929.

At this pace, San Francisco is on track to seeing more than 3,700 eviction lawsuits this year, versus 2,923 cases filed in 2024, according to the Tenant Right to Counsel, which was established in 2018, when San Francisco passed the “No Eviction Without Representation Act,” requiring the city to fund legal representation for residents facing eviction.

Posted inGovernment & Politics, Immigration, Law & Justice

Legal Battle for National Ruling Continues in Student Visa Case Despite Sudden Reinstatements

Avatar photo by Zhe Wu

Just a day before a key hearing in which a United States District judge in Oakland could have decided the fates of hundreds of students nationwide whose visas had been terminated, students, attorneys and universities across the country began reporting unexpected reinstatements of their status — even for individuals who had not filed a lawsuit. […]

Posted inArtificial Intelligence, Government & Politics, Health, Technology

Opposite of Efficiency

Avatar photo by Jason Winshell

A team of 20 people from the U.S. Digital Service had been providing project oversight and design expertise to modernize the CDC’s National Electronic Disease Surveillance System Base System to ensure it would flexibly meet the diverse needs of public health departments nationwide. 

When DOGE laid off 19 of those federal employees. it stripped away the expertise and accountability needed to ensure the project would be successfully completed by federal software contractors — in effect promoting government waste and inefficiency instead of reducing or eliminating it.

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