News
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Bay Area to Get Second-Largest Bike-Share System in US

05.27.2015
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By Patricia Yollin and Bryan Goebel, KQED News Fix
Bay Area transportation officials have approved a contract to expand Bay Area Bike Share from a pilot of 700 bikes to a permanent program of 7,000 bikes, which will make it the second-largest bike-share system in the United States. “In just an incredible blink of an eye, I don’t think you’ll be able to remember the days when bike share wasn’t a part of the urban fabric of all of these cities,” said Jay Walder, the CEO of Motivate and former head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

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New California Teaching Credentials Decline for 10th Year in a Row

05.26.2015
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By Katherine Ellison and Louis Freedberg, EdSource
Fueling concerns about a teacher shortage that many educators have been worrying about for years, the number of credentials issued to new teachers trained in California has decreased for the 10th consecutive year, according to the latest figures from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. In the 2013-14 school year, the commission issued 11,497 new credentials to teachers trained in California, down from 16,401 in 2009-10. Boosting these numbers were 3,313 teachers who had been trained as teachers in other states or countries and applied for and received credentials in California. Read the complete story at EdSource.

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Legislature Considering Stack of Cop-Accountability Bills

05.21.2015
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By Alex Emslie, The California Report
Increasing national attention on issues of use of force, transparency and inequity in the criminal justice system has not been lost on California state legislators, who are pushing dozens of bills aimed at enhancing law enforcement accountability. The California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is following and advocating for many of them. Read the complete story at The California Report.  

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Caltrain, Local Authorities Work to Stop Suicide on Tracks

05.20.2015
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By Rachael Myrow, KQED News Fix
Caltrain, the commuter rail service that runs between Santa Clara County and San Francisco, does not lead the nation or even the state for suicides on its tracks, but the numbers are troubling enough. There have been 10 suicides already this year. The average for an entire year is typically 10. Here is a statistic that is just as startling: Last year, Caltrain stopped 40 people from killing themselves on the tracks. For every suicide that does happen, there are four that do not.

From the Newsroom

How a Small Nonprofit Newsroom Leads Education Coverage in San Francisco

05.20.2015
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We were encouraged this week to see the San Francisco Chronicle take a deep look at racial segregation in local public schools. As our readers know, the San Francisco Public Press produced a major investigative report in January on this subject: “Choice Is Resegregating Public Schools.”
Our goal at the Public Press is to lead in improving community coverage and in setting the local news agenda. As a community-supported nonprofit news organization, we focus on under-reported public policy issues, and we are heartened to see other Bay Area news outlets following our lead. To produce significant, in-depth investigative reporting, we rely on donations from readers. We can continue this important work with your help.

News
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Public Press Reporting on School Segregation Inspires Broad Media Coverage

05.20.2015
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Editor’s note: Over the past several months, we have been gathering reporting that follows up on our coverage of segregation in San Francisco’s public schools. The latest pickup was a three-part series in the San Francisco Chronicle starting Sunday. Read more about it here.  
San Francisco Public Press’ reporting package on school re-segregation has sparked conversation about race and education. A March 27 article in the Washington Post’s Wonkblog draws heavily from the Public Press to discuss the national implications of school choice.

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Homeless Man Helps Shelters Provide a Basic Need: Wi-Fi

05.19.2015
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By Sam Harnett, KQED News Fix
One night Darcel Jackson was lying in bed at a homeless shelter, wondering what local tech companies could do for the poor. How could they help people like him get jobs and find housing? Then it hit him — an idea so simple and cheap you probably assumed someone had already done it years ago. Darcel thought tech companies could get Wi-Fi for people in homeless shelters. Jackson was staying at Next Door, a shelter in the middle of San Francisco.

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Driving Home the Butterfly

05.18.2015
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By Eric Simons, Bay Nature
The Mission blue butterfly takes its name from San Francisco — the original population was discovered on Twin Peaks, at the time considered part of the Mission — and is the city’s only endangered butterfly. It probably never was widespread, but in the modern era it is incredibly rare. When the Endangered Species Act became law in 1974, there were a lot of creatures that everyone already knew were endangered, and the Mission blue was one of them. It went onto the list in the first big batch of insect listing in 1976. It has declined since then.

Bay Area
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Cities ponder tighter rent controls

05.15.2015
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A city councilmember in San Jose has said he may propose strengthening his city’s loose rent controls in an effort to keep at least some housing there affordable for moderate-income residents.
But rents in Oakland continued to soar after it made the same move last summer, tightening its limits on rent increases and on the share of the cost of improvements that landlords can pass along to tenants in controlled housing. » Read more

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Airbnb Cuts Into S.F. Housing, Should Share Data, Says Report

05.14.2015
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By Daniel Hirsch, Mission Local
A new report by the Budget and Legislative Analyst Office states what many have long been arguing about Airbnb and other short-term rental sites. They are decreasing the amount of available permanent housing in San Francisco. The independent agency’s report also recommends several policy options to restrict short-term rental companies’ impact. For one, companies like Airbnb should turn over address and booking information of their many hosts so that the city can enforce restrictions. Read the complete story at Mission Local.