News
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After Fatal Fires, San Francisco Looks at Sprinkler Systems for Older Buildings

04.21.2015
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By Ted Goldberg, KQED News Fix
A series of fatal fires in San Francisco  prompted a Board of Supervisors committee hearing, aimed at finding ways to install sprinklers in more of the city’s older apartment buildings. Both property owners and city officials acknowledge retrofitting older structures with sprinklers is likely to be difficult and costly, setting up a political battle over housing at a moment when the city is in the midst of a real estate crunch and increasingly focused on fire safety. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

Housing
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Affordable Housing Requirements in Question at California Supreme Court

04.21.2015
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It soon may be even harder for city officials across California to get builders to produce affordable housing or even ask them to contribute to its production.
The state Supreme Court is deliberating whether the City of San Jose’s so-called inclusionary zoning legally forces developers to build or help pay for new affordable homes whenever they also build large market-rate projects. » Read more

News
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Ellis Act Evictions Fall, Illegal Use Evictions Jump

04.20.2015
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By J. J. Barrow, Mission Local
A handful of activists and tenants stood on the blustery corner of Mission and Cesar Chavez streets Monday afternoon, calling for residents to fight the city’s escalating eviction environment with the Mission District at its epicenter. Although Ellis Act evictions have declined by 48 percent over the previous year, illegal use evictions were 117 percent higher than the previous year, according to the San Francisco Rent Board. The San Francisco Anti-Displacement Coalition released a report  Monday based on notices filed with the board. Over the last five years, citywide eviction notices have increased 54.7 percent, according to the report. Read the complete story at Mission Local.

Economy & Business
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Lacking Rent Protection, Artist Community Faces Displacement

04.16.2015
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San Francisco’s affordability crisis rears its head almost daily in narratives that typically feature the same basic characters: long-time residents losing their rent-controlled homes to unscrupulous or, occasionally, misunderstood building owners.
But soaring real estate values are threatening many other renters because city controls protect only residential tenants whose homes are in older buildings. » Read more

News
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As Gig Workers, Uber and Lyft Drivers Struggle With Taxes

04.15.2015
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By Sam Harnett, The California Report
Taxes have always been pretty easy for Enrique. He received W-2s, did the calculations himself and usually got a nice return. Then last year, all that changed after he signed up to drive for Lyft and Uber. The income Enrique earns from driving for these ride-service companies makes him a sort of independent contractor, which raises a lot more tax questions than working as an employee does. Now Enrique has to keep track of his income and deductions, maintain records and save receipts.

News
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BART Takes Action as Suicides on System Increase

04.14.2015
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By Alex Emslie, KQED News Fix
BART announced a new campaign Tuesday aimed at reducing the number of deaths and injuries on the system’s tracks. The effort includes short-term steps to begin immediately — including signs with the National Suicide Prevention phone number and training for BART staff most often on station platforms in how to recognize someone who could be in crisis. There are also longer-term goals like “platform screen doors” that would create a barrier between passengers and the tracks. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 
 

News
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Changing Management Gives Public Housing Tenants New Hope

04.13.2015
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By J. J. Barrow, Mission Local
Public housing in the city as we know it is coming to an end — that is, it will become largely nonprofit owned and operated within the next two years as part of a national rehabilitation effort. Tenants at the Mission Dolores Senior Apartments are tentatively optimistic about the change. “Anybody would be better than the housing authority,” said Walker Dukes, a resident of the 15th Street apartment building for more than two decades. Read the complete story at Mission Local.  

News
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Muni to Discontinue 33-Stanyan Service to S.F. General Hospital

04.09.2015
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By Elisabetta Silvestro, El Tecolote
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is planning to alter the 33-Stanyan bus line’s current route to San Francisco General Hospital and the 22-Filmore’s route to Third Street. The 33 will now turn at Guerrero Street instead of Mission Street. Instead of traveling along Potrero Avenue to the hospital, the new route will continue down 16th Street to the Dogpatch neighborhood, taking over the end of the 22-Fillmore route, which will now terminate in Mission Bay. This means that direct bus service to the hospital via the 33 will be discontinued. Riders who use the 33 to frequent the hospital will now have to get off at 16th Street and Potrero Avenue and transfer to the 9-San Bruno line.

Food Systems
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Bay Area Food Stamp Recipients Can Soon Shop Online

04.09.2015
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Bay Area residents who rely on food stamps will soon be able to use them to buy groceries that they order online.
The United States Department of Agriculture in March approved a request by online grocer Good Eggs for permission to accept the subsidized payments, though it still cannot take them online. » Read more