Yearly Archives: 2025
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, City Hall, Homelessness, Law & Justice, Public Safety, Social Services

Visible Progress or Political Theater? Factions Disagree on How to Clean Up Street Conditions

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

In February, the San Francisco Police Department converted a Sixth Street parking lot in South of Market to what it called a triage center — a fenced-off area where police could connect people to social services or put them in a van bound for jail.

According to a city staff report, in the first month of the triage center’s operation, police made 350 arrests, three-quarters of them drug related. Triage personnel connected 275 people to shelter and 408 people to health care.

Advocates for people struggling with homelessness or substance use disorder say the city’s approach is unnecessarily punitive, but some business owners and community members say they approve of what the mayor and Police Department are doing.

Posted inClimate Change, Environment, Government & Politics

Scientist Who Helped Prove Humans Changed the Climate Watches Evidence Being Erased

Avatar photo by Michael Stoll

The data sources that trace humanity’s effect on the climate are under threat.

Under the Trump administration, publication of scientific reports is being frozen and some records risk being removed from public access. The National Centers for Environmental Information, which houses critical archives, has significantly reduced its staff. The White House has also moved to terminate a key contract with the firm responsible for producing the National Climate Assessment, casting doubt on the completion of the next scheduled report. Computer models and observational records climate scientist Ben Santer helped build are in the crosshairs.

Posted inEconomy & Business, Neighborhoods

Tech to Table: Second-Generation Business Owners Take Over Chinatown Restaurants

Avatar photo by Zhe Wu

Chelsea Hung wasted no time in making a life-changing decision: In her late 20s, she left her tech job in New York City, and headed back to San Francisco’s Chinatown to take over her parents’ restaurant, all within a month. 

Hung’s parents were planning to sell the restaurant, R&G Lounge. Her motivation was simple: She didn’t want to see the place where she grew up and celebrated so many milestones close its doors. 

After moving back in 2018, she kept the business running and in March, R&G Lounge celebrated its 40th anniversary.

Posted inEducation, Government & Politics, Immigration

Organizers Mobilize Nationally as SF Student, Grads Lose Visas in Spate of Revocations

by Laura Wenus

The visas of a student and four recent graduates of San Francisco State University have been terminated, according to a university statement. The revocations are the latest in a spate of visa cancellations by the Trump administration, which has targeted permanent residents and visa holders in retaliation against their involvement in political organizing and demonstrations. […]

Posted inCalifornia, Economy & Business, Public Safety, Transportation

Uber Submitted False Information to Regulators, Used Substandard Limousines, Agency Rules

Avatar photo by Seth Rosenfeld

Uber must pay a $50,000 fine for submitting false information to state regulators about numerous substandard rides it provided on its Uber Black luxury limousine service, violating a fundamental rule that officials said caused “harm to the regulatory process.”

In the previously unreported final decision, the California Public Utilities Commission found that San Francisco-based Uber had lax review procedures and failed to detect obviously falsified limousine licenses presented to it by independent limousine companies that Uber had subcontracted to give rides on Uber Black.

Posted inArtificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Economy & Business, Labor, Series, Technology

California Creatives Rally Behind State AI Rules to Save Their Artwork

by Yuri Nagano

Many creative professionals — including visual artists, writers, actors, singers and musicians — are concerned that companies are feeding existing creative work into data troves and applying generative AI to produce content based on their original work without giving credit or compensation. Creative professionals say their work is being used and monetized without their permission.

Posted inGovernment & Politics, Homelessness, Housing, Immigration, Law & Justice

‘They’ll All Be Homeless’

Avatar photo by Sylvie Sturm

San Francisco should brace for a surge in homelessness.

That was the assessment of local housing advocates following a Department of Housing and Urban Development announcement that it would “take steps” to ensure no funding would be used to “support sanctuary policies of states or local governments that actively prevent federal authorities from deporting” undocumented residents.

On Friday, HUD Secretary Scott Turner issued a letter informing the department’s grantees and stakeholders of his plans to comply with an executive order titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,” signed by President Trump Feb. 19.

San Francisco adopted its sanctuary city policy in 1989. It prohibits city staff and police from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless required to do so by federal or state law.

Posted inEnvironment, From the Newsroom, Health, Media

Public Press Wins 2025 Izzy Award for Series Investigating Human Radiation Experimentation

Avatar photo by Michael Stoll

The San Francisco Public Press is proud to announce that our investigative series, “Exposed: The Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point,” has been honored with a 2025 Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media.

The Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College presents this prominent national award annually to spotlight exceptional work in journalism. Named for trailblazing investigative journalist I.F. Stone, who in 1953 launched a fiercely independent newsletter that exposed government deception, racism and McCarthyism, the Izzy Award honors muckraking produced outside traditional corporate media structures.

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