Housing First, Morgue Second, Part 3: the top 99 sites for SF overdose deaths
In part two of our series Housing First, Morgue Second, we revealed that 4,090 people have died from accidental drug overdose in San Francisco between 2020 and 2025, and that nearly one in four of those deaths occurred inside Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). For part three we broke down the 99 locations where the…
Out and about May 21–26, 2026
It’s a full three-day weekend ahead to enjoy from a Memorial Day commemoration to night markets, street fairs, free community days, and more. Read on for some ideas. Thursday, May…
San Francisco smoking ban proposal for bar patios delayed as debate heats up
Proposed legislation to ban smoking in the outdoor patios of bars and taverns could likely see changes when it returns next month to the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and…
Melgar, Lurie push restart button on affordable housing ‘grand bargain’ with new ballot measure
San Francisco leaders have unveiled a new affordable housing proposal they plan to place before voters this November, seeking to expand the city’s Housing Trust Fund to over $3 billion over the next three decades while simultaneously easing some development requirements that officials say have stalled new housing construction. The…
City Hall cut Jennifer Friendebach out of the homelessness conversation, so why does the media continue to give her airtime?
A year ago, I wrote a column titled, “Time for Mayor Lurie to remove Jennifer Friedenbach from the conversation.” For over a decade, I have been a vocal critic of her lobbying group, The Coalition on Homelessness (COH), and in particular, CEO Friedenbach, arguing she should be removed from the…
Politico behind S.F.’s controversial sanctuary city amendment is back in business
Say hello to Sheila Chung Hagen. Or rather, hello again. During her tenure at City Hall, Chung Hagen worked as a legislative aide to two progressive supervisors: David Campos (nearly six years) and Hillary Ronen (roughly four to five months). While she was with Campos, she was instrumental in writing…
Andy Goldsworthy ‘For Olle’ at Haines Gallery
Haines Gallery presents For Olle, an Andy Goldsworthy exhibition and tribute to his friend and collaborator Olle Lundberg, who recently passed away. For Olle is…
San Francisco ninth graders will now be measured by a controversial ‘Wheel of Power’ — so how would the city’s leaders fare? We put them to the test.
The Voice was first to alert the public to controversial new ethnic studies programming with the San Francisco Unified School District’s (SFUSD) adoption of the “Voices: An Ethnic Studies Survey” curriculum. Friends of Lowell Foundation…
Jack Davis, San Francisco’s ‘Election Knight,’ 1949-2026
Jack Davis, a controversial bare-knuckle political campaigner whose work was instrumental in the election of three San Francisco mayors —Frank Jordan, Willie Brown, and Gavin Newsom, and helped define an era in local politics, passed…
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by Nomi Kane | @Nomikane
Legal challenge to SFUSD ‘Voices’ hits Mayor Lurie
Friends of Lowell Foundation (FOLF) formally requested a meeting with Mayor Daniel Lurie and senior City Hall officials, citing alleged violations of the California Brown Act in the San Francisco Unified School District’s (SFUSD) adoption of the controversial “Voices: An Ethnic Studies Survey” curriculum. The legal letter, which included 53…
The shot that gave me seven days
There is a clinic in San Francisco called the Maria X. Martinez Health Resource Center. You might walk past it and not think much of it. But for me, it was the first place I had ever walked into where nobody looked at me like I was a problem to…
Why justice keeps failing Asian hate victims
History repeats itself. As Garry Tan concluded in his most recent op-ed about why Asian hate so often goes unpunished, it is a cumulative effect of the loudest voices that influence a courtroom, from policy briefs and op-eds to grant-funded studies and legacy media. That voice has been dominated by…
What it means to have a dog when you’re homeless, and what San Francisco’s potential new law gets right (and wrong)
This Thursday, April 9, the public safety committee (made up of supervisors Matt Dorsey, Alan Wong, and Bilal Mahmood) will hear a proposed ordinance amending the Health Code to require that every dog in San Francisco, with certain exceptions, be sterilized (along with licensed, vaccinated, microchipped, and leashed in public areas).…
An audacious TV takedown of the tech sector
Depending on your perspective, the rise of computers, smartphones, and digital media can be seen as a boon or a threat, especially as AI becomes…
Dr. Su goes to Washington
Much like a student being sent to the principal’s office, San Francisco Schools Superintendent Maria Su has been summoned to Washington, D.C. next month to…
Doubts about OpenGov, bar-adjacent smoking, threats to Free City College, and Dog Court hit City Hall this week
This week is super busy at City Hall, with business ranging from the future of Free City College to a hearing on a dormant animal-safety…
Political stars shone at Salvation Army’s ‘Lighting the Way’ Gala packed room for The Way Out fundraiser
On Thursday, May 14, a benefit for the Salvation Army’s The Way Out program drew a who’s who of San Francisco’s political leaders and key…
SFMOMA’s ‘Matisse’s Femme au chapeau: A Modern Scandal’ revisits an old controversy
A return to 1905 and the birth of the Fauves SFMOMA shines a light on a now iconic painting that changed the direction of art…
What happened to the heart of the Rose Garden?
May is the peak month for the Rose Garden blooms in Golden Gate Park. For more than 20 years, I have gone there to enjoy…
Sheepish crime-solvers in a woolly yarn
It’s almost a cheat to point out that the various wooly creatures sharing the screen with some familiar and well-regarded live actors in the whimsical…
Enjoy Off the Grid on Treasure Island and more
There is something for everyone on Treasure Island, whether you are a history buff, managing little ones, or seeking craft cocktails and live music. Cityside…
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