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Westside San Francisco Media
PO Box 170524 | San Francisco, CA 94117
Editor:Doug Comstock 
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The ideas and opinions expressed in these pages are strictly those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff or publisher of this news service. The Westside Observer is a free monthly news service focusing on the entire Westside of San Francisco operated by Westside San Francisco Media, a California non-profit. We are currently transitioning from a widely distributed newspaper to online content.
Mr. Denny has single-handedly held the 2019 Bond hostage with his futile lawsuit to overturn passage despite the will of 143,055 San Franciscans ...
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Could the Controller’s Office be tainted by a conflict of interests?
Although the Board of Supervisors had requested this audit back in July 2019, bureaucratic shuffling and delays almost turned it into a spectral fantasy.
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Exactly one week and 20 minutes later as Aidan slept, a single hot prowl burglar ... made off with $3,500 worth of his electrician’s tools.
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... access to records enables the public and press to uncover “corruption, incompetence, inefficiency, prejudice and favoritism.” The “pay to play” scandal unfolding in San Francisco makes clear the extent of corruption in government...
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Why did the SFPUC sign a contract with its peninsula agency (BAWSCA) ... so that BAWSCA customers would always have their taps filled while San Francisco would not — about 46% of the time?
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What happened at Lowell ... is happening because of our increased awareness of inequitable opportunities for many black and brown children. But ...
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Street Crisis Response Team
There was a time when unsettling public disturbances were addressed by calling the cops. Peace Officers kept communal peace. That formula no longer works."
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...it appears that approximately 2,100,000 signers ... such a recall election permits consolidation of a recall to remove District Attorney Chesa Boudin ..."
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Now that many of San Francisco’s employers are allowing work from home, San Franciscans are leaving in large numbers to live in homes with more space in places — and for half the price.”
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"Mr. Hall: Not only was Governor Newsom handling twice the population of NY dealing with a pandemic, — there were 9,639 wildfires burning over 4 million acres of our state...”
Read More ..."" Dr. Kerr, San Francisco has already tried that. The lack of enforcement of laws against drug dealing and drug use has led to a de facto legalization for several years.”
Read More ..."The Wheel is of little or no benefit to the de Young and I am disappointed that staff are calling in support of a private, for-profit vendor based in St. Louis, MO, with no transparency, and SF Parks Alliance, a private non-profit.”
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The proper course of action for ratepayers is a simple repeal of the 1932 monopoly ordinance and substitution of an ordinance requiring garbage contracts to be competitively bid.
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The Wheel is also a massive 150’ strobe light—strobe lights are sold to protect your pets in the backyard at night. The shadows strobe lights produce are intolerable to birds.
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San Francisco's Drug Crisis
... in 2018, there were 693,000 marijuana arrests – 90% for possession only — exceeding the arrests for all violent crimes combined. Most drug-related arrests are for simple possession.
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In my years of working with him before, during and after our stint together on the Board of Supervisors, he never once demonstrated that he had even the slightest knowledge or understanding of the basic tenets of good government ...
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... something even more odd about Michaela’s account: One of her followers was Chesa Boudin ... his official San Francisco District Attorney Twitter account.
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"Single use plastic bags, plastic straws are banned. Why is it a good idea to put plastic grass in Golden Gate Park? It lasts 8-10 years then becomes toxic waste that can't be recycled."
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I have been assigned to chair the Land Use and Transportation Committee at the Board of Supervisors, as well as representing the Board on the First Five Commission ... We will begin holding regular office hours in the community this month ...
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The Naperville, Illinois school board announced last month it would refund $10,000,000 to taxpayers this year, meaning a typical family will receive $200 to $500 ... Meanwhile, private and Catholic schools are open for learning without demanding extra tuition.
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... the isolated resident, as they withdraw into depression and weakness, is quiet. Others are needy, there is always too much to do ... When they cry out or kick, family should approve sedatives. Comfort is best, isn’t it?
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...the “nuisance neighbor” installed a Ring Motion Sensing floodlight camera ... The high beam floodlight activated within six feet of my patio door ...”
There is a desperate need to have a banking solution for the cannabis industry, and a public bank might be just the correct fit for the cannabis industry and could be source of capital for a fledging public bank.
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UC proposes a project that would add over 2 million square feet to the currently over-built campus — the equivalent of a Sales Force Tower and the TransAmerica Pyramid combined.
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... basically the ‘burbs get the first water, the city the leftovers ... The system runs short, the burbs get first dibs, the City gets the dribbles.
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Only in San Francisco do you get a judge who looked at the entire trajectory ... Two strong-arm robberies, followed by a burglary, then an auto burglary, a loaded firearm charge, a third armed robbery, and finally graduating to attempted murder.
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With charges of elitism and racism, the school board made a major blunder in voting to change Lowell High School’s merit based admission policies to a lottery ... not looking at all the facts.
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Now Rec and Park has backpedaled on the one-year commitment and asked ... for four more years. If one year is not enough, will four years be enough ... or is this the beginning of a permanent midway in the midst of our premiere landscape park?
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In late January MUNI restored the T-Third light rail line, as well as the 27-Bryant, 33 Ashbury and the 15-Bayview. But no services have been restored on the west side of the City.
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Notorious Crooks of San Francisco
When not engaged in larceny, Long worked as a salesman. His persuasive skills made him a top salesperson ... but the lure of the dishonest dollar proved too strong for him.
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Herrera's Curious Union-Busting Law Firm
Recent lawsuits alleging discrimination against Black employees are startling in egalitarian San Francisco. Doubling the consternation is the City Attorney’s paying a Union-busting law firm to fight these claims.
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All of these reductions in value for her personal benefit were arranged while appeals for reductions before the Assessment Appeals Board from regular mom and pop homeowners were vehemently opposed by the Assessor’s Office.
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Others stand by, keep these links and don't get discouraged yet!. There are A LOT of vaccine appointments... If you get a text notification, try to get an appointment right away as they may be exhausted later in the day.
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Broken Promises Pique Tempers
"Now a pedestrian or a car cannot cross Taraval for three blocks ... Chow said. "How are residents and merchants going to conduct business or even get in and out of their driveways?”
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Board Decisions Only
Muddy the Water
"The city has a high school for the arts, and another for students interested in the trades. There is a bi-lingual Chinese-American high school. Why shouldn't there be a school for those interested in academics?
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"The Wheel has been totally shut down, partially opened, and then totally shut down again ... the glaring, flashing lights are still turned on every day and into the night, and the noisy diesel generator that powers the Wheel runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Note from Doc Palmer: appointments: Keep checking for updates and ability to self-schedule an appointment online if you are in an eligible group.
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"... Berkeley-UCSF Agreement that included UC paying money every year to Berkeley for fire and emergency services ... a precedent for the City to require UCSF to offset our currently unreimbursed City costs...
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... when he came into the room, his coworkers turned and left — only the other black workers remained. Baraka was called names such as “faggot” and “sissy” as well as “Sambo.”
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Internet computer records show that Ali Hudson was booked at 1:46am that night into Sacramento County Jail for both murder charges and for a still outstanding warrant...
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Notorious Crooks of SF Returns to WSO!
the Examiner took a strong prosecutorial view in the trials. The San Francisco Chronicle took the defense’s part...
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Hooray for SF Supes — It's a Good Start ... a Delaware-sized iceberg ... is threatening the island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean.
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The Revenue Bond Oversight Committee issued another MOU with the Controller ...this illegal union is an important aspect of the swamp that City Hall has become.
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Even though school is closed, students continue to produce and perform high quality work.
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Whether or not another impeachment of the lying, cheating, draft-dodging Donald Trump is inarguably warranted ... It’s no surprise that Trump aspired to pardoning himself; that would constitute his ultimate historical achievement.
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(Analysts) obtained 10 years-worth of records related to the PUC’s Community Benefits Program, grants and contracts. Then…nothing. The PUC audit evaporated as City Hall, DPW and the PUC were rocked by corruption investigations
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"There's not even been one meeting on the underlying project. The plan itself has never been reviewed by any public body or by any group of advisors ..."
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Whether or not another impeachment of the lying, cheating, draft-dodging Donald Trump is inarguably warranted ... It’s no surprise that Trump aspired to pardoning himself; that would constitute his ultimate historical achievement.
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Since Proposition 19 passed, estate-planning attorneys are scarcer than toilet paper during the pandemic. Thanks to Governor Newsom’s misleading Proposition 19, we are seeing panicked strategizing ...
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...the Atomic Energy Commission allowed NRDL researchers ... radioactive waste into laboratory drains at the shipyard, radiation contaminated materials into the industrial landfill on the shoreline and radioactive fuel ships hauled back following atomic explosions ...
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DPH decided to present data only on the number of COVID cases among residents of the 19 Skilled Nursing Facilities in the City, eliminating reporting cumulative case reporting for healthcare workers (staff) at the 19 facilities.”
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When the war ended they were free to leave. But they had to find their own way back. To escape the harsh weather they made their way to Kazakhstan via river raft. To return to Poland was dangerous because as Michalski noted, “nobody wanted the Jews.
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D7 Neighborhood News Sources Westside Observer, Ingleside Light, and West Portal Monthly pose tough questions
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Openness applies to wrongdoing as well. When taxes pay for investigations ... taxpayers deserve to know which City agencies break rules ..."
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Breed and her allies asserted that placing housing on public parcels would save massive amounts of time two years later—still no publicly revealed plans...
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General Manager, who has been charged with corruption. That’s the bad news. A new report about expected capital costs is out, and costs are up 42%. That’s even worse.
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For almost two decades, “pay-to-play” has pervaded our “City Family” with bribes to obtain millions of dollars in public contracts. Presently, criminal charges have been filed only against powerful non-elected officials.
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It has taken a pandemic to help all of us process just how critical schools are to our children and our communities.
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Preston accused the Marina Times of being “an entity that has proven time and again that they are a mouthpiece for disinformation ... on par with the likes of Breitbart News and Tucker Carlson ..."
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...even if he and his wife did donate $75 million ... his net worth is $101.2 billion as of November 2020 ... that’s no reason for Zuckerberg’s name to despoil the good name of SF General Hospital."
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"Seven acres of artificial turf that is so toxic nothing can live in it... Toxins from tire crumb can enter the body through inhalation of particulates, fibers, and volatile organic compounds."
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While I was repeating over and over “wear a mask...wash my hands... he was creating spaced learning for the alternative universe. Don’t wear a mask... And I am not even going to touch whether he washed his tiny hands
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Since people tend to like money, to varying degrees, I was surprised by the lack of websites about “How much your neighbors or countrymen give to charity.“
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The Dept. of Public Health Lacks Transparency. Deaths surged 76% and the media went quiet. Why the lack of stories?.
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Water, Fish, and You.
...In super dry years, no way there’s enough water. You will be forced to ration fifty percent, that is, you get half rations of water.
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In District 7, despite Joel Engardio accruing the most first place votes for supervisor, the third place candidate, Myrna Melgar, employed ranked choice voting to win.
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"SFPUC Watchdog or Lickspittle? From the first meeting of the RBOC, SFPUC operatives and aligned city-family loyalists injected themselves into the business and governance of the RBOC."
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Once a “benefit” district is formed and the assessments pour in, private firms are hired ... The disgraced former head of DPW, Mohammed Nuru, was personally involved ...
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... to allow restaurants to increase indoor dining capacity from 25% to 50% ... cases stood at 11,275 confirmed cases ... Another 3,048 COVID cases occurred ..."
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... public officials would not steer the ship of modern electricity. Public officials were corrupt, or corruptible. ... here the state Public Utilities Commission, would review, and ensure fair treatment.
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His approach bears the fingerprints of first-lady-elect Dr. Jill Biden ... President-elect Biden: “You’re going to have one of your own in the White House.”
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... we are down 37% in vehicle burglaries, 27% in assaults, and 36% in robberies. We are currently up 24% in vehicle thefts and 8% in home and commercial burglaries.
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...a patronage network ... including former Willie Brown special assistants” - In return, these former City employees provide access to City department managers.”
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After being hired in 1998 as a deputy district attorney , she rewarded her benefactor by running against him ... she raised $563,000 for her campaign ... signed under penalty of perjury a Department of Election form agreeing to a $211,000 campaign expenditure limit.
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...the largest job, almost a billion dollars, has not gone well. The so-called biosolids digesters are tanks half in the ground, half above, that digest solids in sewage — the heart of the operation. Since the contractor has begun, his pre-construction services have increased in cost by a factor of 18 times.
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Since March 2000 voters passed three parks bonds totaling $800.5 million in principal and interest. If this new bond passes, the $239 million parks portion will cost approximately $470 million in principal and interest, pushing park bonds to approximately $1.3 billion
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... the new regime under Interim Chancellor Gonzalez abruptly ... returned to the previous agenda structure, with very limited public comment — and only near the beginning of the meeting — reservation is now required in advance as well.
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Déjà vu: Controlling Pay-to-Play Donations
In October 2009, former Supervisor Chris Daly proposed an Ordinance that prohibited department heads and employees from steering donations to “Friends of…” non-profits that raised funds for their departments ...
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"Our beloved Golden Gate Park ... natural environment is being replaced by concrete and artificial turf. Two and half million dollars are being spent so dogs can run around?"
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"There is an obvious power grab designed to attack Lowell’s long-term academic status, that provides a unique service to a unique student population, just as School of the Arts does.”
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I agree that we should not celebrate those who represent the worst in our society. But there is true historical value to recognizing leaders who have made our world better—and recognizing them warts and all.”
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Inside City Hall’s Web of Corruption
DPW’s subaccounts at the Parks Alliance amassed $990,000... donated by 8 contractors who received $572 million from DPW plus 7 companies that obtained 218 building permits from the Department of Building Inspection (DBI)
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If LHH was too small for 160 units, how is it now suddenly big enough for up to 375 units?”
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" ... the cleanup reports need to be available to the public. Skipping these steps will result in future lawsuits and the city will be ultimately held accountable, making the taxpayers liable”
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Prop. A's — $960 Million Oversite?
Problem is, the Bond Oversight Committee has held only one meeting in 2020 ... Then COVID detonated. Unfortunately, CGOBOC never figured out holding remote meetings accessible to the public.”
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The developer is proposing a six-unit condo development on the site of a former auto repair shop contaminated with benzene and other pollutants at levels 900 times above residential standards ...
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Audit's Unanswered Questions:
The audit fails to mention that no retaliation claims have ever been sustained by the Ethics Commission. That startling fact has been hidden by reporting only that cases are “dismissed” or “closed.”
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Taraval Crime Report
Police officers from the Tactical Unit, Specialist Team, and Taraval Neighborhood Team (TNT) served a search warrant on the 1500 block of 48th Ave.”
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Any time someone mentions a good book, I literally just go to my phone and reserve it on the App. That says a lot...”
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The federal subpoena demanded the resumes, job descriptions, and performance evaluations for “any PUC employee who earned at least $100,000” since 2010 ... Evidently, the feds are probing cronyism as well as self-dealing
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Six contenders respond to the questions that will guide the next 4 years in the district.
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The arts touch our emotional core, whether it is song or dance or drama or drawing. The arts can connect the mind and the spirit and help guide children from crisis to confidence.
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"The giveaway, linked to corrupt leadership, sacrifices precious public land for private profit ... leaves City College more vulnerable and is a significant reversal in our goal of income equality"
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That’s not a balanced budget; it’s a gaping hole she plans to solve by kicking pay-raises bargained for in good faith down the road.”
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"Assuming teachers agree to these and additional detailed conditions, school begins August 17th."
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While the FBI is investigating city bigwigs, SFPUC personnel included ... Everyone in power is complicit in forcing the rate payer to “donate”
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A photographer goes in search of life on the Avenue ... dining and browsing are available on sidewalks, parking spaces and in some stores inside within strict limitations.
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"The authors of the San Francisco Plan Bay Area 2050 are asking for public feedback on their 9-county plan to provide solutions ... "
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Our city is in big trouble. And it is not just because of Covid-19 It is because of a continued string of bad policies and decisions by City Hall over the past 10 years.
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Whether it’s protests about police violence and racism or defiance of government orders to wear a mask, the most fundamental issues of our democracy are being played out every day in front of millions of people.
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Dennis Herrera's retaliatory sewer-gate debacle, alongside the FBI's recent arrest of DPW chief ... jab at the City's anti-graft capabilities.
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City College Stakeholders File CEQA Appeal"This is NOT the time for any Project to go forward that will all but destroy the access for 70,000 college students, most of them from working class, immigrant, black or brown communities."
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"Teachers, who are already using their own money to buy school supplies are now also purchasing masks and materials in order to be prepared ..."
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"SFPUC Failed to Protect Clean Water The Beach Chalet Soccer Fields (BCSF) in Golden Gate Park used to have a permeable surface; it's called grass."
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"... your water, wastewater, and garbage rates are special taxes attached to property. ... Your great-grandchildren should not fear that they will be paying for a service provided in 2020."
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Morale was sagging. Capt. Rainsford addressed the officers and apparently referenced how the police had handled previous protests.
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...whether the discrepancy is due to President Trump wanting CMS to “slow down” the testing and positive test results...
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...the attitude of professional sports team-owning billionaires that local taxpayers must provide stadiums for their professional sport businesses ...
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a $1.7 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years which could reach over $2.5 billion per Controller Ben Rosenfield...
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Development is in trouble. If Parkmerced, which is the largest multifamily property in San Francisco is an example of the future of development in San Francisco, it is in very real trouble.
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Board of Supervisors seek solutions ... raising concerns among the public about the possibility of long-term use of parkland to address social and economic problems ...
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The SF PUC will sell over 17 acres, for approximately $11.2 million — about $640,000 per acre for prime SF real estate to a privateer for more than 90% below market rate ...
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Hopes were that recovering from COVID-19 would generate antibodies, thus conferring immunity and peace of mind. Plus, survivors could help treat newly-infected COVID-19 patients by donating their convalescent plasma. It's not that simple.
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While water and sewer bills are not taxes, they are worse. They hit ordinary people harder ... and rates are determined by cost. When costs rise, so do rates.
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There are several problems with Boudin’s boasted success with reducing the jail population...
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Life returns slowly to West Portal People are beginning to return to West Portal — and other Westside businesses are ready to make sales...
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My Mom is Not Disposable...universal testing in all group care facilities, where asymptomatic staff can begin a deadly outbreak, is now being publicly recognized. But it is slow to happen.
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Tommy refused to social distance...... Upon arrival, the two officers immediately observed Tommy was bleeding from his mouth ...
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Planning to 'streamline' CEQA? ... projects that formerly might have needed extensive review under CEQA would be approved unilaterally by Planning staff if the projects met specific requirements ...
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Where Are Our Priorities? Nursing homes are like cruise ships, and the outbreak at Central Gardens is illustrative...
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8th Grader's Petition Sparks Controversy The school district needs to take student's mental health seriously. It should discourage teachers from assigning excessive work and scheduling extra meetings.
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Nuru was not the FBI’s main target of the investigation—he was the bait to lure someone bigger.
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...suspending access to public records — even temporarily, is clearly dangerous to open government.
Check it outTaxpayer costs will exceed $5 million since the City has been paying the Keker & Van Nest law firm $850/hour to defend Herrera. They already billed the City $2,267,75, in September 2016...
Read More ...Don’t be fooled: you’re being sold insurance. Do you have a choice? Yes you do…
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