Author Archives: Public Press staff

By Abraham Rodriguez, Mission Local Take a stroll along Mission Street and you’ll see two sides of the ever-changing city: the family-owned, brick-and-mortar stores that go back decades and the new-school minimalist design of the more recently opened shops. No matter their tenure, nearly all of the 59 active businesses along the two blocks between […]

By Matt Levin, CALmatters The most controversial state housing bill in recent memory died with a pretty resounding thud. Senate Bill 827, which would have forced cities to allow taller, denser development around public transit, got only four votes on the 13-member Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing. Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers voted against […]

By Julian Mark, Mission Local As the mayoral race heats up, the city got some sobering news: Despite all the talk about the need for more housing, the city added fewer new units last year than it had in 2016. San Francisco added 4,441 housing units in 2017 — a 12 percent decrease, compared to […]

By Liza Veale, KALW/Crosscurrents When winter comes, Bay Area cities open temporary shelters to keep unhoused residents warm and dry. But, as winter comes to an end, these shelters close down. In Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco about 500 homeless people will be back on the streets. Dorothy Day, in Berkeley is one of these […]

By Liza Veale, KALW/Crosscurrents If you’ve heard of Proposition 13, you probably know that it cut property taxes in 1978, which reduced funding for public schools and other services. It also has a lot to do with the state’s shortage of housing and, many argue, the fact that rents are so darn high. Repeal efforts […]

By Marisa Lagos, The California Report Mary Stone Ross left her Oakland home Monday morning and drove to Menlo Park in search of Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg. After 10 minutes of driving around the tech giant’s campus, Ross found a place to park near Building 20. She marched inside and asked if she […]

By Guy Marzorati, KQED News Fix For nearly a year, candidates for the open 15th District state Assembly seat in the East Bay have been raising money, knocking on doors and participating in an endless series of debates and forums. On Saturday, they had to put their stump speeches aside and focus on two ideas […]

By Julian Mark, Mission Local On Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, civil rights attorney John Burris, along with the organization Brothers Against Guns, announced their support for arming San Francisco cops with Tasers. But only if the weapons’ use policy is subject to strict civilian oversight. Read the complete story […]

By Michael Toren, Mission Local Following dueling press conferences, protests and counterprotests, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday went on record about SB827, state Sen. Scott Wiener’s bill in the California Legislature that would reduce restrictions on height and density for residential developments near transit lines. They don’t like it. Read the complete story at Mission […]

By Felicia Mello, CALmatters The dream was always the same, Arthur Chavez says. He was following a bumblebee through a forest, stumbling over puddles and branches. When he caught the bee, he would find himself onstage, wearing a suit, in front of an applauding crowd. After the third time, Chavez decided the dream was a […]