San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary on the Pacific coast of the Americas, and it is a place of great biological diversity. We journey underneath its surface to swim with the harbor seals; we look overhead at a million migratory birds; and we explore marshlands along its shores. This story is part of a media […]
Author Archives: Public Press staff
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Signs of the Season: From Crab Pot to Stovetop, Dungeness Crabs Arrive
By Jackson Karlenzig, Bay Nature Thanksgiving time marks the start of one of the most exciting sustainable, local food events of the year: Dungeness crab season. This year’s crabbing is expected to be lower than average, due to natural cycles in the crab population. But that hasn’t stopped fishermen like Don Murch of Bolinas from […]
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Algae Fuel Comes to the Bay Area, but How Ecological Is It?
By Laird Harrison, KQED News Fix To the list of things that started in the Bay Area (blue jeans, sourdough French bread, fortune cookies), you can now add automobile fuel made by algae. Last week, four service stations in Oakland, San Jose, Berkeley and Redwood City became the first in the world to pump the […]
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Climate Change: The Flood Next Time
Chuey Cazares is part of a large extended Chicano family, living in the tiny hamlet of Alviso. Nestled in between salt ponds, on the southern tip of San Francisco Bay, Alviso is at risk of flooding from both the creeks above and the Bay below. Converting the salt ponds back to their original wetlands could […]
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Garden Grows at Mission District Elementary School
By Erica Hellerstein, Mission Local It’s a noisy Tuesday afternoon on Mission and 16th. Music blares through the crackle of static, tires screech and vendors hawk their wares. But just one block down from the raucous intersection, the soundtrack of Mission life melts away. At the Marshall Elementary School garden, students sift through soil and […]
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New Development Diminishing Mission District Parking
By Talal Ansari, Mission Local Lack of parking is a leading gripe for San Franciscans, who live in a heavily commuted city with more than half as many registered vehicles as residents. The Mission District is no exception, and the opening of such large-capacity venues in the neighborhood as Preservation Hall West and the Alamo […]
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Chinese Americans Flexing Political Muscle, But Fears of China Persist
By Peter Schurmann, New America Media Barack Obama’s victory, the numbers show, is in large measure thanks to the support he received from, among others, Hispanics, blacks and female voters. Less credited, however, are Asian Americans, who voted 72 percent in favor of the president. While their numbers remain small, at just 5.8 percent of […]
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Hetch Hetchy Measure Questions S.F. Water System
By Heather Mack, Bay Nature On the eve of the 100-year anniversary, the decision to drain Hetch Hetchy Valley to build a reservoir for San Francisco is still actively debated, even as the city’s dependence on the Sierra water has deepened. San Francisco voters are headed to the polls on Tuesday to decide whether to […]
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Portrait Gallery: Faces of San Francisco Affordable Housing
By Catherine Borgeson, KQED News Fix It’s a hard time to find an affordable place in the city. Rents have climbed 10 percent at a time of year when they’re normally going down. Exacerbating the problem, San Francisco lost millions of dollars in low-income housing funding when Gov. Jerry Brown dissolved redevelopment agencies in February. […]
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Meet the Most Committed Candidates You’ve Never Heard of
By Lilah Crews-Pless, KALW News If you’ve got a mailbox, chances are that at this point in the election season, it’s stuffed with campaign literature. You might be so sick of it that you’re considering writing in your own candidate on Election Day. It’s a whimsical way to show dissatisfaction with the candidates who are […]