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Scooters Are the Mess That San Francisco Made for Itself

By Joe Eskenazi, Mission Local
When the barbarians arrived at the gates of besieged cities of yore, they weren’t riding venture capital-backed scooters — though, in a way, underwriting a band of for-profit marauders was the medieval precursor to venture capitalism. But, lo, that’s San Francisco circa right now, a city that has allowed itself to be pillaged by a succession of barbarians to the point where you can now scoot right down Market Street and plant your flag where you see fit. Read the complete story at Mission Local.

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Public Press Weekly: S.F. Still on Shaky Ground

Hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, floods and all-around bad weather hammer the country, but not here (usually). But then again, there are those earthquakes, and at this time of year close to the anniversary of the 1906 quake that pulverized this great city, we’re reminded of the risk of another Big One. » Read more

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Homeschool Supporters Crush Plans for Greater Oversight

By Vanessa Rancaño, KQED News/The California Report
Two legislative proposals aimed at providing greater oversight of California’s estimated 15,000 homeschools died this week after a massive lobbying effort waged by parents and homeschool supporters. Homeschools are private schools under California law. Neither the state, county or local district has any legal responsibility to monitor conditions, or oversee academics. Kids don’t have to meet standards or take standardized tests. Read the complete story at KQED News/The California Report.

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A Push for Mental Health Care at Colleges: Depression and Anxiety ‘Really Eat Up Our Kids’

By Felicia Mello, CALmatters
When student leaders from 23 California State University campuses came together last fall to set priorities for the academic year, improving campus mental health services received more nominations than any other issue. It beat out even that perennial concern, tuition costs. Cal State Student Association president Maggie White said she’s not surprised. Read the complete story at CALmatters.

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Child Poverty Drops in California, but Is Still the Nation’s Highest

By Carolyn Jones, EdSource
California’s booming economy has led to a slight drop in the child poverty rate, but the state still has the highest rate in the country when the cost of living is taken into account, according to new data released by Kidsdata and the Public Policy Institute of California. An average of 22.8 percent — or 2 million — of California’s children lived below the poverty threshold in 2013-15, which is $30,000 a year for a family of four, according to the data released this month. The number is down from 24.4 percent in 2011-13. Read the complete story at EdSource.

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Mission Education Center Vs. S.F. School District on Charter School

By Michael Toren and Julian Mark, Mission Local
Parents, teachers, school board candidates and labor union representatives said Thursday afternoon at a protest at the Mission Education Center that they would not mind sharing space with some charter schools, but opposed the district’s decision to place the nonprofit KIPP in six of its 13 classrooms at 1670 Noe St. “There are some great charter schools out there,” said Alida Fisher, a member of the San Francisco Unified School District’s Community Advisory Committee for Special Education, who is a candidate for the Board of Education. Read the complete story at  Mission Local.

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How California Water Suppliers Are Getting Earthquake Ready

By Alastair Bland, KQED/Water Deeply
As is often said, it’s not a matter of if, but of when, a large earthquake strikes the heart of one of California’s most densely populated regions. State officials and local agencies know the clock is ticking, and mile by mile, pipe by pipe, work crews are replacing or retrofitting water lines throughout much of the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas. Upgrades have also been made in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the state’s water distribution system, where potential levee ruptures have made water officials uneasy for decades. The San Andreas Fault, which generated the 1906 (7.9 magnitude) and the 1989 (6.9 magnitude) Bay Area earthquakes, could potentially produce a quake greater than 8.0. However, the Hayward Fault is widely considered the greater threat at this moment in geologic time.

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Small Businesses Feel the Squeeze on Mission Street

By Abraham Rodriguez, Mission Local
Take a stroll along Mission Street and you’ll see two sides of the ever-changing city: the family-owned, brick-and-mortar stores that go back decades and the new-school minimalist design of the more recently opened shops. No matter their tenure, nearly all of the 59 active businesses along the two blocks between 21st and 23rd streets on Mission Street are trying to bring in the young tech crowd that has moved into the neighborhood during the past decade. And that crowd seems to favor experiences over commodities. Read the complete story at Mission Local. 

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State’s Controversial Housing Bill Died. Here’s What to Take Away From That

By Matt Levin, CALmatters
The most controversial state housing bill in recent memory died with a pretty resounding thud. Senate Bill 827, which would have forced cities to allow taller, denser development around public transit, got only four votes on the 13-member Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing. Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers voted against the bill. Read the complete story at CALmatters. 

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Public Press Weekly: Perfect Storms

Climate change, global warming and the justifiable jitters that come with a fear of an environmental apocalypse are scoffed at by many in the current administration in Washington. (Deutsche Welle). Soft-pedaling such threats can take the form of the National Park Service denying the human role in climate change by aggressively editing out all references to that role in its report on sea level rise and storm surge. » Read more