After more than a year of online learning, certain groups of students and staff at some San Francisco schools began meeting in person in mid-April. For tens of thousands of students, distance learning continues. The school board and district intend to give every student the option of coming back full time in the fall. But […]
Category: Series
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Back to School, Coronavirus, Education
SF School District Charts Paths to Reopening
Some students in the San Francisco Unified School District are back in classrooms — as of April 26, a district statement indicated more than 19,000 children had returned to campuses. But there are tens of thousands more students in the district. The Board of Education has resolved to give all students the option to return […]
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Coronavirus, Essential Workers, Labor, Social Services
Yes, Mail-Order Boxes Are a Pain for Sanitation Workers
Some customers had their boxes broken down and neatly bundled, which Recology recycling driver Gareth Willey said helps, Willey but too often, he would open a door to a basement and find the boxes piled high, and would have to figure out a way to get all the material out onto the street and into the truck.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Community, Coronavirus, Health, Social Services, Vaccine Distribution
Campaign Phone Bankers Pivot to Vaccine Outreach
Former state senate candidate and public bank advocate Jackie Fielder recently launched a political action committee, Daybreak PAC, and has shifted some campaign organizing infrastructure toward a vaccine access effort. Some phone bank volunteers now make calls to seniors living in neighborhoods like the Bayview, to ask if they would like to get vaccinated and if they face any barriers to doing so.
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Government & Politics, Housing, Public Housing in Private Hands
HUD Denies Request to Demolish Plaza East
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development denied an application to raze and rebuild Plaza East Apartments, a 20-year-old public housing complex in the Western Addition, the agency confirmed.
The determination was made on March 30 but not publicly disclosed until Tuesday, when HUD officials were questioned by the Public Press. The move comes three months after the San Francisco Housing Authority submitted a demolition application, with Mayor London Breed’s endorsement.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Coronavirus, Essential Workers, Labor, Transportation
Muni Operators Face Threats From Coronavirus, Hostile Passengers
Hundreds of Muni workers have fallen ill with the coronavirus and two have died, said Roger Marenco, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 250A. For others, he said, the pressures of the job have only been worsened by the additional dangers posed by a global pandemic.
Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Housing, Public Housing in Private Hands
With Mayor’s Backing, Developer Asks to Demolish, Rebuild 20-Year-Old Public Housing
Federal officials are considering a proposal to allow a developer to tear down and rebuild a 20-year-old public housing complex in the Western Addition — a plan that does not address residents’ demands for repairs to health and safety issues in the current structures.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Back to School, Coronavirus, Education, Labor
Preventing Community Spread of COVID-19 Crucial in Return to Schools, Union Leader Says
“We had to look at community spread,” said Susan Solomon, president of the United Educators of San Francisco. “That was very important to us, that we not just protect ourselves, but protect our communities as well.”
Posted inFrom the Newsroom, Ride-Hailing’s Dark Data
Seth Rosenfeld Wins Local Freedom of Information Award for Report on Ride-Hailing Safety
A regional journalism organization recognized freelance investigative reporter Seth Rosenfeld with a freedom-of-information award this week for his Public Press series exposing secrecy and lax state regulation of the burgeoning ride-hailing industry. Rosenfeld spent five months in late 2019 and early 2020 digging into the cozy relationship between the California Public Utilities Commission and the companies it purportedly regulated, Uber and Lyft. In “Ride-Hailing’s Dark Data,” launched online in January 2020 and as a print edition cover story, Rosenfeld found that for six years the commission withheld from public view annual safety reports detailing the industry’s troubling record of crashes and injuries, with sometimes deadly consequences.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Back to School, Coronavirus, Education, Social Services
Teachers Brace for Hybrid School Reopening, Flag Equity Concerns
Three educators — school social worker Yajaira Cuapio, special education teacher Megan Coluza and kindergarten teacher Cathy Sullivan — weighed in on the new school schedule and talked with “Civic” about the impacts of school closures on them and the families they work with.