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Deficit Battles Hurt National Parklands in Bay Area

03.28.2013
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By Alison Hawkes, Bay Nature
Head out to one of the Bay Area’s national parks this summer and, whether you notice it or not, those parks will be suffering from the Washington deficit debacle. The $85.4 billion sequester, as it’s called, erased 5.1 percent off the top of park budgets, which translates into fewer staff, reduced hours, less maintenance, and delayed projects this summer, said parks officials in the Bay Area. So don’t expect pristine bathrooms, or a visitor’s center to necessarily be open, or a ranger to be on hand to answer your wildlife questions. “You can best characterize it as a reduced level of programs, service and maintenance in the park,” said Howard Levitt, director of communications for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. “It’s going to be a war of attrition rather than a big, dramatic overnight effect.

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Mission Firm Protects Online Profiles From Personal Data Stalkers

03.27.2013
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By Christy Khoshaba, Mission Local
Your Democratic Party affiliation, $43,000 annual income and ’96 Honda Civic — they’re all public information. And your mug shots? Yes, those are public, too. Whether you’re convicted or not, sites can archive those photos – forever. Personal information can come from voter registration files, real estate records and DMV archives — even phone books.

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Prop. 8 at the Supreme Court: What’s at Stake

03.25.2013
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By Scott Shafer, KQED News Fix
On Valentine’s Day last month, about a dozen gay and lesbian couples showed up at San Francisco City Hall. They wanted something they knew they couldn’t have: a marriage license. The protest, organized by Marriage Equality USA, happens every year. And every year the couples are turned away. Thom Watson from Daly City came with his partner.

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S.F. Tries New Model for Resettling Homeless

03.21.2013
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By Mary Rees, KALW Crosscurrents
Last fall, I went to Fifth and King streets in San Francisco, just under the on-ramp to Interstate 280. A group of tents inhabited the space then. The ground around the tents was swept, and bicycles stood in neat lines. Residents, such as Jessica Prater, knew one another and felt safe there. “I can trust pretty much everyone down here,” Prater said.

City Hall
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Tenants Say Earthquake Retrofit Law Could Circumvent Rent Control

03.20.2013
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A proposed San Francisco law designed to save rent-controlled housing stock from the next big earthquake could actually displace low-income tenants, say tenant rights advocates.
Building owners could pass through the cost of the retrofits to tenants in the form of monthly rent increases. » Read more

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Q&A: Supervisor Scott Wiener on Crosswalks, Cocktails and Character

03.20.2013
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By Tay Wiles, Mission Local
Mission Local sat down recently with District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener to talk about issues affecting San Franciscans and Mission residents. 
Mission Local: You recently introduced legislation on pedestrian safety. Why is walkability important to the average citizen? Scott Wiener: Having walkable neighborhoods, people get to know their neighbors. It increases public safety if people are out on the streets. It’s good for the environment and you get exercise.

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Adobe Books Pulls Off Funding Feat to Survive as Co-op

03.18.2013
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By Erica Hellerstein, Mission Local
On March 14, after weeks of uncertainty, Adobe Books pulled off a last-minute feat of survival. One day before the deadline of midnight on March 15, the secondhand bookshop hit $60,000 in its all-or-nothing Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign to save the store, which has been struggling due to substantial rent hikes and other financial difficulties. Members of the Adobe community had braced themselves for the deadline, a time stamp that would likely define the store’s fate. The money would help pay for a pending rent increase that, based on market rates, would bump the rate up to between $6,000 and $8,000 a month — thousands more than the the current $4,500 per month. Community members launched the campaign as part of a larger project to change the store’s business model from a sole proprietorship to a cooperative.

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International Students Risk Losing Visas If City College Shuts Its Doors

03.14.2013
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 By Peter Schurmann, New America Media
Antonino Musco never planned on settling in San Francisco. The native of Sicily, who studies digital media at City College of San Francisco, says he just “stumbled into the city.”
Now, with the college facing possible closure, he and the other 1,100 or so international students there may have to find an alternative school. Or leave the country. “Rumors among the students range from the apocalyptic and above,” says Musco, who is now in his third year at CCSF. “ ‘The school is gonna close, we’re gonna lose accreditation, all those years of study’  .

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24th Street Merchants Consider Restaurant Moratorium

03.13.2013
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By Rigoberto Hernandez, Mission Local
The Mission restaurant boom that has transformed Valencia Street in recent years will continue to spread east on 24th Street and push out established businesses, many of which are owned by Latinos, a neighborhood merchants’ group fears. Members of the Lower 24th Street Merchants and Neighbors Association are analyzing a range of options for preserving the current culture of the neighborhood. Among the possibilities under consideration are establishing a cultural district and imposing a moratorium on new restaurants. “Talking about preserving the Latino culture, sometimes it’s a bad word,” said Erick Arguello, president of the merchants’ group. “People look at you like you are already on your way out.”
Talk of a moratorium on restaurants in order to slow gentrification is not new to the Mission.