Author Archives: Public Press staff

By Louis Freedberg, EdSource Despite an improving economy and new efforts to recruit teachers, California’s teacher shortage is showing no signs of easing up. In fact, shortages are becoming more severe in many communities. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the Learning Policy Institute, based on a survey of 25 school districts of […]

By Sam Harnett, KQED News Fix/The California Report Carl Ditlefsen vacuums out his car as the sun sets on the Green Cab taxi lot. He’s the only cab driver here. Next to the lot is a cluttered two-person office and a tarp lean-to. It covers a portable toilet with a sign that reads “Taxi Driver […]

By Molly Peterson, KQED News Fix/KQED Science California’s biggest disaster cleanup in a century is now three-quarters complete, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. And like the North Bay fires that caused it, this massive response is one for the record books. “It is a very complicated debris removal operation,” California Office of Emergency […]

By Julian Mark, Mission Local Use of force by S.F. Police Department officers continues on a sharp downward trend, according to recently released use-of-force data. Citywide, the department continues to disproportionately use force on people of color, specifically African Americans, the numbers show. And, despite the overall downturn in use-of-force incidents, there were four deaths […]

By Marisa Lagos, KQED News Fix/The California Report Immigration advocates derisively called former President Barack Obama the “deporter-in-chief,” but new data obtained by KQED show the Trump administration has been even more aggressive in targeting jail inmates for deportation from San Francisco. San Francisco Sheriff Vicki Hennessy said the sheriff’s office received more than four […]

By Joe Eskenazi, Mission Local Nobody is disputing the cops who sent racist texts committed misconduct. But they stand to never be punished. That’s the law — and that’s how it was designed to work. Earlier this month, the San Francisco Police Department announced that the state attorney general, and not the federal Department of […]

By Scott Shafer, KQED News Fix/The California Report It’s not uncommon for visitors to San Francisco to leave town shocked by all the homeless people roaming the streets, many with visibly severe mental health problems. Now, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-S.F., is teaming up with state Sen. Henry Stern, D-Canoga Park, on legislation to give […]

By Farida Jhabvala Romero, KQED News Fix/The California Report Mariano Guzman has worked as a truck driver for a San Francisco Bay Area waste management company for 17 years. But last month, the 55-year-old Honduran immigrant got a major surprise when he showed up for his job south of San Francisco. Guzman’s employer said he […]

By April Dembosky, KQED News Fix Pediatricians across California are calling on Congress to pass legislation protecting immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, saying their patients are skipping appointments because they’re afraid a visit to the hospital will get them deported. Doctors and hospital administrators have started formulating protocols so that staff members will […]

By Joe Eskenazi, Mission Local Dale Duncan is trying to be a nice guy. He’s trying real, real hard. But, sometimes, it’s just too much. Anne Kihagi is just too much. And not just sometimes. “I’m not a big schadenfreude guy,” says the former Kihagi tenant who, last year, won a $3.5 million ruling against […]