Arts & Culture
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S.F. Board Watch: City to Consider Expanding ‘Green Zone’ for Marijuana Dispensaries

11.07.2013
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The Board of Supervisors this week approved a limit to the number of marijuana dispensaries allowed to open on the southern end of Mission Street in the Excelsior commercial district. Medical cannabis dispensaries would need a special permit to open within 500 feet of an existing dispensary. Supervisor John Avalos said he may later propose expanding that distance to 1,000 feet. Plus: Marsh Theater’s Unwanted Neighbors | City Parks Closure | New Policy on Video Productions

Arts & Culture
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Despite Lowered Expectations, Officials Still Say America’s Cup Will Bring Jobs to S.F.

06.10.2013
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The America’s Cup may not turn out to be the benefit to San Francisco that city leaders and private boosters once promised. But the city’s economic development officials still say taxpayers can break even by hosting a scaled-back version of the boat race this summer. Buried deep in Mayor Ed Lee’s proposed city budget released on May 31 was $22 million directed toward planning, permitting, emergency, security and transit measures for the America’s Cup.

Arts & Culture

‘Homeless Bill of Rights’ Seeks Legal Protections for Those on the Streets

12.12.2012
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A new push for a statewide “Homeless Bill of Rights” could lead to free legal representation for anyone citied under laws such as San Francisco’s sit-lie law or anti-panhandling ordinance. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, introduced Assembly Bill 5, as a response to what he said was a national trend of enforcing laws on public behaviors related to homelessness. If it becomes law, California’s homeless residents would have the same anti-discrimination protections for their housing status as others do for race, sexual orientation and other personal characteristics. “We need to stop criminalizing the behavior of people who have nowhere else to turn,” Ammiano said. “People who are in need of mental health services or who have lost jobs and their homes are being told, ‘Move along or go to jail.’”
The bill would bar discriminating against homeless people while they seek or maintain tax-funded benefits.

Arts & Culture
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Most Haight merchants say nothing changed on street after ‘sit-lie’ prohibition

07.16.2012
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A majority of retailers surveyed last November in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood said the enactment of San Francisco’s sit-lie law hasn’t worked as expected: Homeless people still hang out in front of their businesses.  An independent research report commissioned by the city found that 58 percent of the merchants in the district — the focus of a political battle that led to voter approval of the ban in 2010 — say the same number of people or more continue to park themselves on sidewalks. Sixty-one percent said they encountered sidewalk sitters at least three times per week.

Arts & Culture

Comic: Obedience is the best weapon

07.11.2012
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One woman’s true tale of human trafficking and rescue
Human trafficking is largely seen as a problem overseas, but its rise in the U.S. has gone largely underreported. For its Spring 2012 edition, the San Francisco Public Press published a special report on human trafficking in the Bay Area. The report examined the financial and political challenges facing agencies that aid trafficking victims and prosecute perpetrators. As a follow-up to this report, renowned cartoon artist Dan Archer illustrated one woman’s story with a full-page cartoon in the Summer 2012 edition.

Arts & Culture
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America’s Cup may be scaled-down, but transportation challenges are unchanged

03.28.2012
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City scrambles to invent temporary bus and train lines for legions of yacht race spectators
A version of this story appears in the Spring 2012 print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.
The effect of a scaled-down America’s Cup plan on an ambitious transit effort is unclear as the city continues to view the expected flood of visitors for America’s Cup pre-events this August and October as a chance to experiment with new transit options. On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with America’s Cup organizers that will put more of the spectator activity along the Marina Green. The transit plan for the game calls for an estimated 300,000 spectators around the waterfront — the equivalent of almost half the average weekday Muni ridership of 637,000 — city planners said they have to get nearly everyone out of cars to prevent transportation chaos.

Arts & Culture
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Ins and outs of standing in line in the Mission

11.10.2011
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Living in a popular neighborhood, in the middle of a popular city, is a lifestyle choice that can make a person sneaky. For those who don’t like to wait, it is possible to live in a shadow Mission, getting an It’s-It from the freezer of a convenience store instead of standing for half an hour in line at the Bi-Rite Creamery, and visiting certain spots only during the brief hours when they’re not busy — Tartine before 8 a.m., bars on Sunday through Wednesday, Papalote only at 2 in the afternoon, Valencia Pizza & Pasta when you need a table for six on a Friday night. Brunch never ever ever. Or only if you make sure to eat brunch first.