Author Archives: Public Press staff

By Peter Schurmann, New America Media “Choice” and “control” aren’t exactly the first things that come to mind when the utility bill arrives, especially for low-income households. If anything, it’s the contrary. But Allen Fernandez Smith, manager of Low-Income Programs and Strategies for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., is working to change that. “I see […]

By Dan Brekke, KQED News Fix It’s been awhile — weeks, at least — since San Francisco has seen a dust-up over gentrification and the rise of techies, hipsters, bros, post-hipsters, steam punks and nouveau grungesters who are remaking the city in their own image. Or images. The wait for the next contretemps is over. […]

By Andrea Kissack, KQED News Fix/KQED Science What region leads the nation in electric car sales? Here’s a hint, one of the city mayors drives a plug-in hybrid and Tesla Motors is located there. Well, that was kind of a big hint. Yes, the No. 1 market for electric vehicle adoption is the San Francisco […]

By Kristen Lepore, KQED News Fix/The California Report It’s no secret that California has low voter turnout. What will it take to bring people to the polls? KPCC and KQED came together in San Francisco Tuesday night to chat with community members and political analysts about what’s holding Californians back in the weeks leading up […]

By Rachael Myrow, KQED News Fix/KQED Arts “Cheers,” said one partygoer to another. “To the beginning of the end.” The party — a warehouse rave for about 2,000 people — was called Terminus. It was a farewell party — a Baby Burning Man to mark the end of something special at Building 180 on Treasure […]

By Jane Meredith Adams, EdSource As schools across the nation work, often for the first time, to ensure a welcoming environment for students who are transgender, California has lessons to share, according to educators, advocates and students. The first is, in the words of Eric Guthertz, principal of Mission High School in San Francisco, “there […]

By Viji Sundaram, New America Media Kicking off his statewide tour to promote California’s Health for All Kids program, the new law’s author, State Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens (Los Angeles County), said undocumented parents should set their fears aside and enroll their children in the program. The legislation would expand the state’s health insurance […]

By Lucas Waldron, KQED News Fix Ronnie Johnson, 49, doesn’t know what she will do if she is evicted from her rent-controlled loft in San Francisco’s Mid-Market neighborhood. She’s thinking about moving in with her parents in Washington state or trying to start over in a new city. In February, Johnson, along with the 22 […]

By Don Clyde, Tara Siler and Alex Helmick, KQED News Fix San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim today called on Mayor Ed Lee and the San Francisco Police Commission to launch a comprehensive search for a new police chief. Supervisors John Avalos and David Campos said they backed the search. Supervisor Eric Mar also supported the […]

By Jane Meredith Adams, EdSource/KQED News Fix Let the courts decide. That appears to be the stance of the California Department of Education as state regulators have so far declined to answer pleas from school districts to clarify what California’s new vaccination law means for the 700,000 students who receive special education services. Read the […]