News
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S.F. Street Trees in Bad Shape as City Shifts Upkeep to Residents

10.30.2014
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By Daphne Matziaraki, Bay Nature
San Francisco is planning to shift more street trees into the hands of private property owners, despite evidence that the city’s tree canopy has suffered since the transfer policy began three years ago. San Francisco’s Department of Public Works explained its controversial plans on Monday at a packed room in San Francisco’s City Hall at a hearing of the Land Use and Economic Development Committee. The department  “is unable to take care of all the trees,” said Carla Short, an urban forester at Public Works. Read the complete story at Bay Nature.

News
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Here’s What Would Be Taxed — or Not — in S.F., Berkeley Soda Tax Measures

10.29.2014
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By Lisa Aliferis, State of Health/KQED News Fix
Both San Francisco and Berkeley have measures on their November ballots that would institute a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. With less than a week to go until Election Day, we’re getting down to the nitty-gritty. People want to know exactly what will be taxed — and what won’t. First things first: The tax is on sugar-sweetened beverages, so diet sodas would not be taxed. After all, they do not have sugar or any other sweetener that has calories.

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What Proposition 1 Means for California’s Water

10.27.2014
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By Audrey Dilling, KALW Crosscurrents
When you go to vote next Tuesday, the first thing you’ll see in the list of state measures is Proposition 1. It’s also being called “the water bond.” And let’s get one thing straight right now — this bond won’t resolve the current drought. We can’t vote to make it rain. But Proposition 1 can make it rain in the form of $7.5 billion worth of funding for water projects around the state. These could include projects that recycle, conserve and store more of the water we already have.

City Hall
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Housing Solution: Increase Density in Western Neighborhoods and Fix Transit

10.27.2014
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Part of a special report on solutions for housing affordability in San Francisco, launched in the summer 2014 print edition. A version of this story appeared in the fall 2014 edition.
For nearly four decades, residents of the western half of San Francisco have succeeded in blocking any local zoning changes, saying that adding higher-density and affordable housing options would harm the neighborhoods’ residential character. » Read more

News
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New S.F. Buyout Law Helps Tenants Learn About Their Rights

10.23.2014
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By J.B. Evans, El Tecolote
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation this week establishing ground rules for a practice known as a buyout, whereby landlords offer tenants money to vacate their units. Proposed by District 9 Supervisor David Campos, the buyout law is seen as a step toward protecting San Francisco’s more vulnerable tenants. “None of the limitations that apply to a formal eviction currently apply to a buyout,” said Campos. “This law will regulate buyouts so that there will be a level playing field.”
Read the complete story at El Tecolote. 

News
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Risky Business — Major Political Parties Ignoring Asian American Voters, Says Survey

10.22.2014
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By Andrew Lam, New America Media
In Orange County,  home to Little Saigon and the largest Vietnamese American population outside of Vietnam, a whopping 19 Vietnamese American candidates are vying for 20 open seats in November. For the community, ethnic loyalties are helping to galvanize an electorate largely ignored by Republicans and Democrats alike. It is a pattern playing out in Asian American communities across the country. Read the complete story at New America Media. 
 

Back Issues
Issue 15: Fall 2014

Issue 15: Fall 2014

10.22.2014
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Attempts to alleviate homelessness with subsidized supportive housing are not keeping pace with growing demand. Reforms could give those waiting for a room an idea of when they might get off the streets or out of a shelter.

View Online » Read more

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S.F. Arts Town Hall: Few Supervisors, Empty Chairs Onstage

10.21.2014
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By Christian L. Frock, KQED News Fix/KQED Arts
If attendance at last night’s Arts Town Hall is any indicator of San Francisco policy makers’ interest and investment, the arts are in trouble. Of the 11 city supervisor incumbents and candidates who committed to attending, only three were present for the full discussion, which was about an hour long; four never showed at all, while others were late or left early. Meanwhile hundreds from the arts community gathered to hear incumbents and candidates give their views on supporting the arts in these challenging times. Over the course of the evening, the empty chairs on the stage came to signify the gravity of the challenges ahead. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix/KQED Arts. 
 

News
A child buys tickets at the Halloween-Día de los Muertos fundraiser for Junipero Serra Elementary in Bernal Heights. The event netted $3,000 for the PTA. Photo by Tearsa Joy Hammock / San Francisco Public Press

Public School Inequality Report Wins SPJ Award

10.21.2014
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The San Francisco Public Press is pleased to accept a 2014 Excellence in Journalism award for “Public Schools, Private Money,” an in-depth look at inequality in fundraising among schools in the San Francisco Unified School District. The Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California chapter recognized the special reporting project in the Winter 2014 edition for the best explanatory journalism in the small print publication category. Lead writer Jeremy Adam Smith and colleagues scoured hundreds of pages of tax and school district records. They found that after years of deep local and state education budget cuts, a few were weathering the storm with the help of private donations to parent-teacher associations. Just 10 out of 71 elementary schools earned half the total dollars raised, all at schools where the wealthiest families in the district were concentrated.