Monthly Archives: July 2016

News

Immigrants Still Look to Anti-Deportation Act for Relief in Uncertain Times

By Elena Shore, New America Media
Leticia Urrutia’s DACA renewal is coming up in October, a month before the presidential elections. “I was like, ‘What am I going to do?’ ” the 23-year-old native of Mexico said at a recent media roundtable in San Francisco. Urrutia is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a renewable, two-year protection from deportation for undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children. 
Read the complete story at New America Media.

News

Homelessness in the Mission District: A Neighborhood View

By Sukey Lewis, KQED News Fix
A man’s weathered face peers out from inside a green-and-gray tent on Treat Avenue in San Francisco’s Mission District. Pop tunes pour out of a portable radio next to him, as I introduce myself and shake his hand. He tells me his name: Willy Colon. He says he’s been living on the street for about 15 years. Colon is tired and recovering from a stroke and a broken hip.

News

California Drought, Marine Heat More Likely With Warming

By John Upton, KQED News Fix/Climate Central
A persistent wash of warm waters off the West Coast, which caused wildlife die-offs and blocked drought-quenching storms from reaching California last year, was caused by the happenstance interplay of natural ocean cycles, research findings published Monday show. The findings also suggested that while the drought and the blob of warm water were the result of the natural whims of the weather, climate change could make such events more likely and intense in the future. To a small extent, it’s already doing so. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix/Climate Central.

News

With Cap and Trade in Doubt, Key Questions Go Unanswered

By Julie Cart, Calmatters
Assemblyman Brian Jones leaned in to the microphone with a tight smile. It was May, and legislators were debating whether to request an audit of the California Air Resources Board. Frustrated that the agency was not more forthcoming about aspects of the cap-and-trade program it runs, Jones fixed his gaze on the embattled regulator assigned to parry lawmakers’ questions. Read the complete story at Calmatters.

News

#PublicPressLive: San Francisco for Democracy Talks Gentrification, Mission Fires

This year, the Public Press is visiting San Francisco neighborhood and community groups to talk about civic issues that are overlooked in the press. Executive Director Michael Stoll spoke with members of San Francisco for Democracy on June 29. Members discussed gentrification, the spate of fires in the Mission District, lost law enforcement weapons and the role of community groups in San Francisco. Member Jeff Whittington wondered about the number of empty investment properties in the city. 
“How many are just things that are being built for people who will never live there, but want to put their money into housing in San Francisco?” 
Hear more from San Francisco for Democracy members below. 

Photography and videography by Hye-Jin Kim. Video edited by Hyunha Kim. 

News

Why Your Signature Is Worth So Much This Election Season

 By Angela Johnston, KALW/Crosscurrents
The California ballot will be crowded this November. Last week, the Secretary of State put out a list of the official initiatives — all 17 of them. We’ll be voting on whether the state should legalize marijuana, lower the cost of pharmaceuticals, repeal the death penalty, require condoms in porn and countless others. And the large number of measures makes the process a lot more expensive. Here’s why.

News

Building Inspection Study: Majority of Housing Code Violations Corrected

By Laura Wenus, Mission Local
The San Francisco Department of Building Inspections released a report this month showing that the majority of housing code violations reported in the Mission District between 2014 and 2015 were corrected. Between July 2014 and June 2015, 215 notices were issued that cited some 1,564 code violations were in the building inspection district that covers the Mission District and parts of Potrero Hill and the Dogpatch. The majority of the violations were in the Mission District, and more than 1,300 — or 82 percent — of them were abated by the landlord. Some 18 percent of the cases where violations were issued remain active. Read the complete story at Mission Local.