Monthly Archives: June 2014

News

San Francisco Muni, Drivers Agree on Tentative Contract

By Dan Brekke, KQED News Fix
San Francisco transportation officials confirmed Monday that they have reached a tentative agreement in a contract dispute with Muni bus and rail operators that led to the partial shutdown of the city’s transit system in early June. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Director Ed Reiskin said after a closed session of the agency’s board that former Mayor Willie Brown mediated the pact at the request of Mayor Ed Lee. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 
 

News

In Stock: A Thanks to Our Retailers

With your support for our Pedal-Powered News Kickstarter campaign, we plan to double our San Francisco distribution network within six months, sending our newsies-on-wheels far and wide with local, in-depth journalism. In the meantime, we wanted to thank the retailers who are already making a place for our paper on their shelves. These wonderful Bay Area retailers include: 

Aardvark Books  |  227 Church St., San Francisco
Alexander Book Company  |  50 Second St., San Francisco
Alley Cat Books  |  3036 24th St., San Francisco
Andronico’s Community Markets  |  1200 Irving St., San Francisco
Badger Books  |  401 Cortland Ave., San Francisco 
Bibliohead Bookstore  |  334 Gough St., San Francisco 
Bird & Beckett Books and Records  |  653 Chenery St., San Francisco
Book Passage —San Francisco  |  1 Ferry Building, #42, San Francisco
Books Inc. —Opera Plaza  |  601 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
Books Inc. —Castro  |  2275 Market St., San Francisco
Books Inc. —Marina  |  2251 Chestnut St., San Francisco
TheBooksmith  |  1644 Haight St., San Francisco
Borderlands Cafe  |  870 Valencia St., San Francisco
Browser Books  |  2195 Fillmore St., San Francisco
Christopher’s Books  |  1400 18th St., San Francisco
Church Street Groceteria  |  300 Church St., San Francisco
City Lights Books  |  261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco
Compass Books —Terminal 2  |  San Francisco International Airport — Terminal 2
Compass Books —Terminal 3  |  San Francisco International Airport — Terminal 3
De Lauer’s Super Newsstand  |  1310 Broadway, Oakland
De Lauer’s Super Newsstand  |  1412 Park St., Alameda
Diesel, A Book Store  |  5433 College Ave., Oakland
Dog Eared Books  |  900 Valencia St., San Francisco
Farley’s —San Francisco | 1315 18th St., San Francisco
Farley’s —Oakland  | 33 Grand Ave., Oakland
Fog City News  | 455 Market St., Suite 125, San Francisco
Good News  | 3920 24th St., San Francisco
Green Apple Books  |  506 Clemente St., San Francisco
The Green Arcade  |  1680 Market St., San Francisco
Issues  |  20 Glen Ave., Oakland
Juicy News SF  |  2453 Fillmore St., San Francisco
Jump Start Coffee & Whole Foods  |  1192 Guerrero St., San Francisco
Kepler’s Books  |  1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
Lucky 7 Shop  |  1525 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
Mac’s Smoke Shop  |  534 Emerson St., Palo Alto
Modern Times Bookstore  |  2919 24th St., San Francisco
Mollie Stone’s — Pacific Heights  |  2435 California St., San Francisco
Mo’z Cafe  |  36 Fifth St., San Francisco
Nick’s Super Market  |  144 Page St., San Francisco
Nick’s Newsstand  |  1A Sansome St., San Francisco
Parkside Market  |  1600 Hayes St., San Francisco 
Pegasus Books —Rockridge  |  5560 College Ave., Oakland
Pegasus Books —Solano  |  1855 Solano Ave., Berkeley
Pirate Store at 826 Valencia  |  826 Valencia St., San Francisco
San Francisco Public Press  |  44 Page St., Suite 504, San Francisco
Smoke Signals  |  2223 Polk St., San Francisco
West Portal Daily  |  36 West Portal Ave., San Francisco

 
Thank you again to our retailers! Look for our Summer 2014 print edition in stores soon, and if you haven’t already, please support our Pedal-Powered News campaign! 

News

California Voters to Weigh Reduced Punishments for Nonviolent Crime

By John Myers, KQED News Fix
A debate over the proper punishment for crimes like simple drug possession and petty theft is headed to this fall’s statewide ballot, with backers arguing that reducing the penalty from a felony to a misdemeanor would reap both fiscal and societal benefits. The initiative, authored by San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón and former San Diego Police Chief Bill Lansdowne, officially made the ballot Thursday afternoon — the final day for measures to qualify for the Nov. 4 election. Elections officials in California’s 58 counties reported enough valid voter signatures in a random sampling to place the measure on the ballot. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

News

Pedal-Powered News Campaign Kicks into High Gear

Our Pedal-Powered News campaign is kicking into high gear! While we’ve reached our $10,000 goal, we still need 1,000 backers to receive a $10,000 matching grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. With your support, we’ll have a team of newsies on bikes ready to deliver our summer print edition to destinations throughout San Francisco. Help us get them on the road — every dollar counts!

News

Pre-Hospice Program Offers Alternative End-of-Life Care

By April Dembosky, KQED/The California ReportAfter contentious debate over death panels four years ago, federal lawmakers are again taking up issues around end-of-life care. They’re investing money into programs that care for the nation’s sickest patients in a new way. One of them is based at Sutter Health in Northern California — and it could be a model for the rest of the country. Listen to and read the complete story at KQED/The California Report

News

Funding Nearly Lined Up for Golden Gate Bridge Suicide Barrier

By Dan Brekke, KQED News Fix
A plan to build suicide prevention nets on the Golden Gate Bridge could get the green light this week. The bridge’s board of directors will meet Friday to vote on whether to fund the $76 million “physical suicide deterrent system.” Federal money is anticipated to cover most of the costs, including $22 million via Caltrans and $27 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The project would also get $7 million from the state Mental Health System Oversight and Advisory Commission. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

News

S.F. City Attorney Puts Kibosh on Parking Apps

By Lydia Chávez, Mission Local
City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued an immediate cease-and-desist order Monday to parking apps such as Monkey Parking, a mobile peer-to-peer bidding app that allows drivers to auction off public parking spaces. Today’s decision also impacts other parking apps – including Sweetch, which allows drivers to earn money by selling their spots to nearby drivers for a fee of $5 . Monkey Parking uses a bidding system that allows drivers to take the highest bid for their parking space. CARMAnation, another app, charges up to a $2 fee for renting out a private parking spot and will not be affected by the ban. Drivers using its app can also hand over their spot for free or donate the $2 to charity. 
Read the complete story at Mission Local. 

News

Famous Newsies of Yore

Legend has it that the first newspaper boy was 10-year-old Barney Flaherty, hired in 1833 by the New York Sun in response to an advertisement that read: “To the Unemployed a number of steady men can find employment by vending this paper.” A boy on his bicycle delivering the Toronto Star in 1940. Photo by Marjorie Georgina Ruddy via Wikimedia Commons
Ambitious, enterprising youngsters were soon selling and delivering newspapers throughout the country. The first job for many a successful person, the list of famous folks who got their start as newspaper delivery boys includes:

Walt Disney
H. Ross Perot
Bob Hope
Ed Sullivan
Danny Thomas
John Wayne
Bing Crosby
Jimmy Durante
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Herbert Hoover
Martin Luther King Jr.
Harry S. Truman
Ed Sullivan
Isaac Asimov
Carl Sandburg
Tom Brokaw
Wayne Gretzky
Jackie Robinson
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Source: Newspaper Association of America via Library Spot
Want to know more about what it was like to be a newspaper delivery boy? Coming up later this week, we’ve got an interview with a former newsie who worked right here in San Francisco.