More accolades for The Voice of San Francisco!
The Voice of San Francisco garnered nine honors from the California News Publishers Association in this year’s California Journalism Awards, highlighting our newsroom’s excellence across multiple categories for reporting, commentary, photography, and public affairs coverage in 2025. The awards recognize work examining some of San Francisco’s most pressing issues, including city government, housing, homelessness, transportation, education,…
A city married to tech: An interview with Jonathan Weber
The Bay Area’s ties to the tech industry go back a long way. But starting in the early 1990s, high tech began to spawn companies and disruptors and new tech…
Friday night’s New York City-style menacing in Dolores Park
Scott Wiener has attended the San Francisco Trans March every year since it was first organized in 2004. Twenty-two years of showing up. On Friday night, June 26, 2026, he…
Golden Gate Bridge tolls, transit fares increase take effect July 1
Drivers will see a toll increase on the Golden Gate Bridge starting July 1 as part of a multiyear toll increase to fund bridge and maintenance operations. The toll rate for drivers with FastTrak will jump from $9.75 to $10.25, while the carpool toll rate will increase from $7.75 to…
Top of the Mark revives legendary 100 Martini Passport for hotel’s centennial
San Francisco’s InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel is celebrating its centennial this year by reviving a beloved tradition at its iconic sky lounge, Top of the Mark. The historic bar has unveiled a new menu of 100 martinis paired with an immersive Passport program. Guests receive a passport styled like the…
Celebrating the Dead as the club scene evolves
Wandering through a preview of the ornate color blast that is the Forever Grateful exhibition of Grateful Dead memorabilia at the Haight Street Art Center, I couldn’t help but reflect on the Bay Area music scene and the transformations that have shaped it over the years. Obviously, musical styles change…
San Francisco jail bookings for May 2026 reveal persistent crime crisis
The desire for approval can blind one to the truth. — The Emperor’s New Clothes, Hans Christian Andersen,1837 While City Hall continues to tout selective…
This week at City Hall: call-in public comment returns; budget break; and housing deal process continues
This week at Goodlett Place reflects a lull in activity following last week’s major budget talks. That said, components of a crucial policy accord on housing will be on the table, there is an outreach…
Billionaire tax, affordable housing: See the measures on California’s November ballot
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. On Nov. 3, Californians will vote on 14 statewide ballot measures on environment, taxation, election, housing and healthcare. For months, interest groups sponsoring ballot initiatives spent heavily…
Double your impact and support quality journalism
Help us keep The Voice of San Francisco free. Every dollar you donate will be matched—doubling your impact. Support our growth and contribute to quality journalism. Donate now! Your donation is tax-deductible.
by Nomi Kane | @Nomikane
A personal tribute to David Hockney: The artist who taught us how to see
David Hockney died on June 11, 2026, at his home in London. On the morning of June 12, the news broke, and I began reading obituaries and remembrances of his extraordinary life. My sister and I traded a few text messages about the news, and soon after, she called me…
Giants pitchers balk at team’s LGBTQ Pride Night uniform
In baseball terminology, relief pitchers are often called “firemen” — called upon to douse the flames of the opposing team’s late-inning rally. This past week, a quartet of Giants pitchers who share Christian religious beliefs has found themselves at the center of a growing cultural and political firestorm that has…
Two ways to play the gay card
June, as we all know, is Dairy Month. Or maybe you didn’t know that. But you certainly know it is Gay Pride Month, which never occurs in the Bay Area without numerous commemorations and celebrations, some of them outrageous, some of them somber. In recent days, we got examples of…
Don’t take away our Veterans Affairs Commission
As a veteran and a commissioner of the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Commission, I strongly oppose the proposal to change our name to the San Francisco Veterans Council. This is more than a name change. It is about respect, recognition, and preserving the voice of veterans in City Hall. A…
New SFMTA program brightens up daylighted spaces with help from community groups
San Francisco curbs at daylit intersections could soon get a spruce-up as part of a two-year pilot program in which murals or planters are placed…
Out and about June 25–July 1, 2026
It’s a busy, busy weekend out there with Pride celebrations and more from music, magic, and yes, more. Thursday, June 25 As of earlier this…
California leaders yet to reach deal to keep billionaire tax off the ballot. Time is running out
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. State leaders are feverishly negotiating with special interests behind a few high-profile measures ahead of a…
Civil grand jury charges weak oversight of S.F.’s homelessness system
San Francisco’s Civil Grand Jury released a report today saying the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) is failing to use the data…
Toying around with a durable franchise
The release of Toy Story 5 this past weekend is yet another landmark in the saga of Pixar Animation Studios, the Emeryville, Calif.-based company that…
‘The Tramp’ at CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
Artists Justin Caguiat and Rafael Delacruz’s The Tramp brings together a new film, installation, painting, and prints, marking the artists’ first institutional exhibition on the…
Frameline50 fearlessly focuses on the LGBTQ+ experience
A welcome rebuke to divisiveness and intolerance wherever it lurks, the Frameline media-arts organization — renowned bastion and supporter of queer cinema — is presenting…
IdeaSF: Discussions about San Francisco’s future and who gets to decide
Coinciding with the June primary election, IdeaSF took place at Gap headquarters, a brick postmodern building standing at the lip of the bayfront. The stated…
Listen to the Voice
The Voice of San Francisco produces podcasts covering the people and issues of interest to San Francisco. Monday through Friday, John F. Rothmann hosts his Voice podcast featuring his take on the hot issues in the City by the Bay.
Subscribe to these podcasts wherever you get your favorite podcasts, or listen to them on our podcast player below.