Since the passage of Proposition 8 in 2008, there has been a substantial divide among gay-rights groups over how soon they should go to voters to try and reverse the ban against same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, a legal effort to reverse the law will return to the courtroom on June 16 for closing arguments.
Category: Social Justice
Posted inPublic Safety, Social Justice
Asians denounce suspected hate crimes
Hundreds of Asian Americans joined city supervisors and Mayor Gavin Newsom at a rally Tuesday to call for safer neighborhoods after a rash of attacks against Asians, with much of the blame being focused on African Americans. Newsom promised a $100,000 reward for finding the youths who assaulted and fatally injured Huan Chen on Jan. 24.
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Posted inCity Hall, Economy & Business, Social Justice
City to carve out more contracts for ‘micro’ businesses
In a bid to make it easier for local businesses to grow in a down economy, San Francisco supervisors want to give more small, city-based firms a competitive edge in city contracts.
Posted inBay Area, Media, Public Safety, Social Justice
In ‘Deep East’ Oakland, youths pegged as criminals say police harassment spurs more violence
For many, the police are here to serve and protect. The men and women in blue are those we call when we’re in trouble. And no part of Oakland is more in need of policing than the streets between the East 70s avenues and the East 100s avenues — stretching from the base of the hills to the bottom of the flatlands — or what residents call the “Deep East.” It is where over one-third of the city’s 124 homicides occurred last year. But many of the youths living on these dangerous streets don’t welcome the police as protectors — they consider them the enemy.
Posted inCity Budget Watchdog, City Hall, Health, Labor, News, Social Justice
San Francisco layoffs disproportionately hit women and minorities, workers assert
As the city shrinks its payroll, sending layoff notices to certified nursing assistants and clerical staff, it is touching off accusations from organized labor that officials are discriminating against women and minority workers.
Posted inCensus, Immigration, News, Social Justice
San Francisco officials concerned about possible Census undercount
As the U.S. Census Bureau gears up for the 2010 count, it has made a significant change in how it engages immigrants — this is causing some city officials concern that San Francisco may lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, which in turn may lead to distorted electoral representation.
Posted inHomelessness, Housing, Social Justice
Shanty towns rise in the Central Valley as poverty levels climb
Fresno, Calif. has the highest levels of concentrated poverty in the nation. In some neighborhoods, nearly half of all residents are living below the federal poverty line. Over the past year, many of those poor residents have slipped out of housing completely. Now shanty towns are springing up along the railroad tracks, an image that recalls shanty towns of a different era: the so-called Hoovervilles of the Great Depression. KALW’s Thea Chroman reports.
Posted inEconomy & Business, Homelessness, Housing, Social Justice
The return of Hooverville: car and tent cities on the rise in San Francisco
San Francisco’s per capita homeless rate has long been the highest in the country. But in the past year, it has shot up 40 percent, by some measures. The increase came as foreclosures put pressure on the rental market, the budget crisis slowed aid, and the job market tightened up.