Author Archives: Public Press staff

KALW/Crosscurrents Many San Franciscans believe that homelessness has been growing. In 2016, residents called 311 to complain about encampments five times more than in the previous year. What’s confusing is — the population of homeless people in the city has  stayed relatively flat. So, if the numbers aren’t changing, what is? Three reasons. Read the […]

EdSource California schools are bracing for the impact of the Trump administration’s decision to kick out thousands of Salvadoran immigrants. “It’s a calamity for families who’ve built their lives here, own homes, own their own businesses, pay taxes, are part of the community,” said Juan Rivera of Carecen SF, a nonprofit that helps Central American […]

KQED News Fix For many San Franciscans, S.F. Unified School District’s student assignment system — the so-called lottery — can be overwhelming, stressful and baffling. In many places around the United States, where a child lives determines where he or she attends school. San Francisco does not use this model  because of segregated housing patterns. […]

KQED News Fix/CALmatters Lead, a neurotoxin, causes developmental disorders and brain damage. No amount of lead in humans is considered safe. A new law requires public schools to get their drinking water sampled for lead and notify parents if they find traces of it. Districts  have until July 2019 to test all campuses, including charter […]

By JoeBill Muñoz, Mission Local On an already gloomy and rainy day in San Francisco, Salvadorans with temporary protected status in the city learned that they may be forced to leave the country by Sept. 2019, Trump’s administration announced Monday. The Temporary Protected Status  program allowed Salvadorans to live and work in the United States […]

EdSource The University of California System, the California State University System, community colleges and private colleges are sticking with their prohibition against marijuana  on university grounds or in campus buildings, even though pot is now legal in California for adults. Dispensaries began selling cannabis to recreational users last week, but students and employees caught with marijuana […]

EdSource As housing costs keep rising in California and elsewhere, more young people are now homeless, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Among those homeless, one group has it especially tough: young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Read the story at EdSource. 

By Kim Todd, Bay Nature One night a little more than a year ago coyote 02M took off into the dark. He had been born in the Presidio, San Francisco, likely a year and a half before, in an earth den dug under a log and hidden by English ivy or in the pit left […]

KQED News Fix/The California Report Some local health professionals are saying that the effect of police violence should be studied and dealt with as a public health issue. Advocates say people of color are the most at risk, yet the responsibility for providing healing resources has fallen on community members to take care of their […]

KQED News Fix Perhaps as many as 15,000 or 20,000 times every weekday, BART riders skip paying fares, and these scofflaws cost BART, according to its estimates,  $15 million to $25 million a year. In the wake of such losses, the agency has decided to try to do a better job of persuading riders that […]