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What It’s Like to Lead the San Francisco Rent Board

04.30.2014
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By Ben Trefny, KALW Crosscurrents
With rental housing being such a contentious topic in San Francisco, we thought it could be helpful to talk with the person who might know more about rent laws than anybody else in the city, the Executive Director of the San Francisco Rent Board. Delene Wolf oversees a staff of 30 who find themselves at the center of the city’s housing debate. KALW’s Ben Trefny went to their offices, and asked her about what she deals with on a daily basis. Listen to the complete interview at KALW Crosscurrents.

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San Francisco to Explore Boosting Late-Night Transit Options

04.29.2014
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By Bryan Goebel, KQED News Fix
Getting home on public transit in the wee hours after work or a night out on the town can be a challenge in San Francisco, especially if you live outside the city. Bay Area residents have long complained about the lack of 24-hour BART service, and the Muni Owl buses that are available are not frequent enough, sometimes leaving riders waiting up to an hour in the middle of the night. As a regular Muni rider, Supervisor Scott Wiener has been frustrated by the dearth of late-night transit options and is hoping to finally address the concerns. Last week, he introduced a resolution that calls for the formation of a working group made up of business owners, nightlife advocates, unions, workers and transit agencies. The goal: a “Late-Night Integrated Transportation Plan.”
Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

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Yea or Nay? Push to Unionize Visiting Faculty at Bay Area Art Schools

04.28.2014
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By Christian L. Frock, KQED News Fix/KQED Arts
Last week, San Francisco Art Institute President Charles Desmarais sent an email to part-time and temporary faculty about a forthcoming vote over joining the Service Employees International Union. The union is most widely known for organizing labor unions for healthcare workers, facilities workers and public services workers; but in recent months, the organization has also been working with visiting faculty at Bay Area art schools to create a union for part-time college educators. According to Desmarais’ email, the union filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking an election to determine if part-time and visiting faculty at the Institute want to be represented. (Disclosure: Having taught as visiting faculty at SFAI last semester, I am among those eligible to vote.) Ballots are scheduled to be mailed out on May 12. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

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Drought May Threaten Research at Farallon Islands

04.24.2014
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By Alison Hawkes, Bay Nature 
As you might imagine, life out on Southeast Farallon Island is pretty rustic for the half dozen or so research scientists who live out there. “We only shower every four days. There’s a schedule,” said Russ Bradley, the Farallon program manager and a senior scientist at Point Blue Conservation Science. Situated 27 miles offshore, the research station has to be largely self-sufficient. More than 90 percent of the power comes from solar panels.

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Insurance Rules May Get Tougher for Ride Services Like Lyft and UberX

04.23.2014
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By Jon Brooks, KQED News Fix
In the past two weeks, a lot has happened on the increasingly volatile ride-service front. The California Public Utilities Commission will revisit the issue of insurance coverage for drivers who use their cars to carry paying passengers through companies like Lyft and UberX. As a result, these two firms are opposing the changes the commission is proposing. On April 10, the commission granted a rehearing on the insurance requirements it issued last year. At that time, as part of a decision that laid out rules and regulations for what the commission formally calls transportation network companies,  the commission required the companies to provide at least $1 million in commercial liability insurance.

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S.F. Drug Users Bring Harm Reduction to the Streets

04.22.2014
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By Charlie Mintz, KALW Crosscurrents
There is a plan circulating in San Francisco to make using crack cocaine safer: give away free crack pipes. It might sound farfetched, but it is supported by science. Many cities offer  health services that target people who use drugs. For example, there are methadone clinics and substance abuse recovery programs. One of the programs that came with the most controversy is needle exchange, which came to San Francisco back in 1992. Needle exchanges typically involve city health departments teaming up with nonprofits.

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Drift Gillnet Fishing — Photos Tell Grisly Tale

04.21.2014
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By Alison Hawkes, Bay Nature 
Drift gillnets are a fairly ineffective method for capturing swordfish and thresher shark. The nets are suspended like underwater curtains, a mile long and more than 600 feet wide, and anything that swims into them can get entangled. In the deep sea waters off the California coast, that has meant everything from sea turtles to gray whales, as well as dozens of other species. Environmental groups call California’s drift gillnet fishing industry one of the nation’s deadliest catches, since more than 60 percent of what’s caught in the nets gets tossed away. They now have the images to lend drama to their statistics.

From the Newsroom

Public Press Receives INNovation Fund Grant from Knight Foundation and Investigative News Network

04.21.2014
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The San Francisco Public Press was awarded a $35,000 grant through the INNovation Fund, a partnership between the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Investigative News Network, to launch a street mobilization program that will increase community engagement and generate income to support the Public Press in reporting and publishing in-depth, local public-interest news. The Investigative News Network administers the INNovation Fund program, which is distributing $1 million from the Knight Foundation to nonprofit newsrooms for innovative sustainability projects in several rounds over the next two years. The Public Press is one of eight recipients selected from 118 applicants in the first round. The Public Press will use the INNovation grant to launch a street mobilization pilot program that will employ newspaper hawkers and canvassers as part of a larger initiative to improve the visibility of the organization, expand its audience and increase membership donations. This grassroots marketing effort will leverage San Francisco’s vibrant street life and outdoor events to connect with large numbers of Bay Area residents and raise awareness about the Public Press and its partner public media organizations.

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A Call for San Francisco to Boost Eviction Defense Funding

04.17.2014
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By Bryan Goebel, KQED News Fix 
Many tenants facing eviction often fight a losing battle because they can rarely afford attorneys, and there is a scarcity of city funding available to the network of nonprofits offering legal assistance, according to tenants rights activists. At City Hall Wednesday, activists were joined by the city’s public defender and Supervisor David Campos at a rally calling on the city to ramp up funding for eviction defense. “The sad fact is that many people being evicted should not be evicted and would not be evicted if they had an attorney,” said Ted Gullickson of the San Francisco Tenants Union. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix.  

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S.F. Supervisor’s Airbnb Proposal Would Legalize Some Short-Term Rentals

04.16.2014
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By Jon Brooks and Lisa Pickoff-White, KQED News Fix
San Francisco is considering regulating home rental vacation services like Airbnb in hopes of reducing illegal short-term rentals. Supervisor David Chiu proposes to let residents rent their dwellings for a period shorter than 30 days, currently illegal for owners and tenants alike. But those who want to legally rent their residences short-term will have to comply with some stiff requirements, and landlords could still prohibit the rentals through language in a lease. Under Chiu’s proposal, tenants or landlords who want to become Airbnb “hosts” would need to register with the city, prove they occupy the unit 75 percent of the year and pay the same taxes as hotels. Airbnb has already agreed to pay San Francisco’s 14 percent hotel tax.