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City’s struggle against graffiti tries rewards, murals and profiling

San Francisco’s ongoing battle against graffiti is finally paying off – at least for those turning in taggers to the city’s Graffiti Rewards Program. Anti-graffiti strategies like the reward program have proliferated in the last five years as the Department of Public Works has adopted a mix of law-enforcement and community engagement measures to reduce tagging. City agencies as a whole spend $20 million on graffiti abatement each year.

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Is Bayview the new Gulf of Mexico? Activists see parallels

This week’s debates over environmental approval for the $8 billion redevelopment planned for Bayview brought to the forefront comparisons with neighborhoods in the Gulf of Mexico — both in terms of environmental and racial justice concerns. The neighborhood redevelopment plan passed its latest milestone — the contentious environmental impact report — when the Board of Supervisors gave it a thumbs-up after more than nine hours of debate Wednesday morning, by an 8-3 vote.

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Treasure Island residents face choices for relocation

Residents of Yerba Buena and Treasure islands are divided on the relocation plan city officials have presented to the public. While many Yerba Buena residents expressed concern over maintaining their quality of life through more than a decade of construction, Treasure Island residents tended to express more support. Read more…

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Normally zen, tea lounge evacuated after crash

Samovar Tea Lounge, a San Francisco café, closed its Sanchez Street location on Sunday afternoon after an SUV lost control and crashed into its facade. Jesse Jacobs, founder of Samovar, said the crash forced the café to close for seven hours, costing the tea room several thousand dollars’ worth of business.

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