Public bank debate heats up as San Francisco Voters head toward November vote
Supporters and opponents of the plan to create a San Francisco public bank held dueling rallies Sunday, Aug. 30, at Mission Playground Park. Opponents gathered at 10 a.m. and supporters at 11 a.m. Proposition B, which will appear on the November ballot, will give San Francisco voters a say on whether to accept or…
Our missing homeownership ladder
The American Dream is at risk of being extinguished by a lack of housing, strangled by costs and delays and lawsuits and overregulation. That’s the headline news from a group…
U.C.’s SAT debate isn’t about testing. It’s about two different definitions of equity.
The argument over reinstating the SAT/ACT as one of the 13 or more dimensions of U.C. holistic admissions requires a broader and, clearer understanding of our equity goals as a…
Sisterhood is powerful … and sometimes problematic
Since television first captured the public’s fancy in the 1950s, shows about detectives and spies have predominantly featured men in the main roles. There have been distaff outliers, from Anne Francis as the title character of the 1965 ABC private-eye series Honey West to Jennifer Garner as agent Sydney Bristow…
Lurie’s red tape elimination agenda under the City Hall microscope this week
San Francisco lawmakers return from summer recess on Tuesday to consider multiple thorny issues, including Mayor Daniel Lurie’s permit streamlining agenda, corporate pressure on behavioral health workers, and how to keep Fleet Week from becoming a goat rodeo. They will likely also approve what may be the largest employment-related payout…
San Francisco Has Many Good Public Schools. We Should Have Many More.
At one San Francisco public elementary school, just two of 41 tested third-, fourth- and fifth-graders met or exceeded California’s English language arts standard in 2024–25. In math, one did. Not one tested third- or fifth-grader met the state standard in either subject. The children, families and educators at this…
Reducing drug penalties likely increased homelessness in California, new report says
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The report, released Thursday by the Public Policy Institute of California, set out to measure the…
Governance, housing, and transit at stake on local initiative ballot
San Francisco voters are once again being handed a small novella disguised as a ballot, with 10 local measures and a regional transit measure awaiting them Nov. 3. The pile is hardly unprecedented — voters…
San Francisco plans $9 million accessibility improvements for Hallidie Plaza
As one of San Francisco’s important access points for residents and visitors to shopping destinations and transit, plans are underway to improve access to Hallidie Plaza, especially for individuals who are unable to use the…
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by Nomi Kane | @Nomikane
No on Proposition 40 claims the wealth tax hurts ordinary Californians
Breaking news: Billionaires are opposed to the wealth tax because it will hurt the ordinary taxpayer! After you pull yourself off the floor from laughing at this incredible news, take a few moments to read this. They really are arguing this unbelievable story on the No on Proposition 40 website.…
Absence of measurement isn’t equity; it’s the illusion of equity
I am, reportedly, a menace to joyful and equitable achievement, though I demand deep thought and genuine effort from ordinary teenagers who are capable of extraordinary things. I have been overheard objecting to circular reasoning. I once drew a comic strip showing step by step how to solve a complex,…
Treasure Island has had 537 power outages. The city will not call it an emergency because the city is the problem.
Treasure Island has had 537 power outages. That is not bad luck. It is a long-running, city-owned failure that the city refuses to name because naming it would force action. I write this as a resident who has lived with the outages, and as a member of the only citizen…
Learning to cooperate with reality
Picture a 10th grader sitting in her math class. Her phone is “hidden” in her hoodie pouch, but she surreptitiously checks notifications every few minutes, knowing that I have too many students and too much teaching to do to pester her. She was late three out of four classes this…
Out and about Aug. 27–Sept. 2, 2026
The universe has you covered from sunset to sunrise in the coming days, plus there are concerts, a cultural celebration, some comedy, performances, and more.…
California College of the Arts show ‘Closer Reading: Three Bay Area Book Artists’ spotlights the Bay’s vibrant book arts scene
California College of the Arts (CCA) Campus Gallery presents Closer Reading: Three Bay Area Book Artists, a group exhibition curated by Anthea Black, associate professor…
Legacy small business, The Cove on Castro, suffers another act of vandalism
On Thursday, Aug. 20, shortly after closing, The Cove on Castro, an official San Francisco Legacy Business, was again vandalized. At 9:30 p.m., owner Maurice…
Congressman Mullin introduces bill to combat closure of National Archives
Vowing to “use any lever at our disposal to keep the National Archives here,” South San Francisco Congressman Kevin Mullin announced legislation Monday to combat…
Family-friendly films for fun and fantasy
Summer is almost over, and kids are returning to school. So why not get the whole brood together for a night out at the multiplex…
SFMOMA presents landmark Jacob Hashimoto installation ‘Giant Arc’
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) launches Jacob Hashimoto: Giant Arc, the largest installation of the multimedia artist’s career. Bamboo and Japanese paper,…
IF BLUE (a poem)
If blue Is a hue You aspire to The beaches of San Francisco are calling to you And your crew or retinue “Yoo-hoo!” We have…
Heroes are not so hard to find … on TV
If it feels like real-world heroes are in short supply these days, the fictional variety can be easily found on television. They may not conform…
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