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☆ In San Francisco, a Home Renovation Can Become a Battle Royale
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The project complies with city codes, and the San Francisco Planning Commission gave unanimous approval months ago; in many cities that would have been good enough for the remodel to move forward. But in San Francisco, neighbors wield unusual power over next-door renovations and modest improvements and can appeal even the replacement of rotted front steps. So on Tuesday, 11 members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors will serve as judges in home construction, hearing from Ms. Park and Mr. McDonald, their neighbors, lawyers, Planning Department experts and any members of the public who care to weigh in. The feud between wealthy neighbors is emblematic of the city’s languor when it comes to building anything. San Francisco has already drawn the ire of state housing officials, who have demanded that the city add 82,000 units in the next seven years, a goal that seems out of reach when many projects draw multiple rounds of challenges and years of delays.

Persons: Julie Park, Tom McDonald, McDonald Organizations: San Francisco Planning, San, Supervisors, Planning Department Locations: Francisco’s, San Francisco, San Francisco’s

☆ Progressive Candidate Could Upend the San Francisco Mayor’s Race
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

San Francisco residents have repeatedly told pollsters they don’t support Mayor London Breed. But as those mayoral contenders try to outmaneuver one another from the middle, they may have left an opening for a candidate on the left. Into that void has stepped Aaron Peskin, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Mr. Peskin, 59, confirmed in an interview that he will file papers on Friday to run for mayor. Breed might be ousted by someone to her right, Mr. Peskin could win the race if enough liberals coalesce around him in a city known for its left-wing politics.

Persons: pollsters, Aaron Peskin, Peskin Organizations: London, San Francisco, of Supervisors Locations: Francisco

☆ The Boss Is Calling Late. Should the Law Let You Ignore It?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But a San Francisco lawmaker wants to help curb the constant ringing and pinging that his region helped create. Emails, texts and other work communication could also be put off until workers are back on the clock. Mr. Haney, a Democrat, got the idea from Australia’s new “right to disconnect” law, to be implemented later this year. It will allow workers to reject “unreasonable” professional communication outside of their regular workday. The idea originated in France and has spread in various forms to countries including Canada, Italy, Belgium and the Philippines.

Persons: Slack, Matt Haney, Haney Organizations: Democrat Locations: San Francisco, France, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Philippines, New York

☆ San Francisco’s ‘Twitter Menace’ or True Believer? He Might Be Both.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Under cathedral ceilings and soaring stained glass windows, Garry Tan clutched a microphone as he greeted a crowd of political centrists, including San Francisco’s mayor, local prosecutors and police brass. “Welcome to the church of turning San Francisco around!” said Mr. Tan at a fund-raiser he was hosting for local Asian American female political candidates just days before the Super Tuesday elections this month. For a man evangelizing for change in San Francisco, owning a condo that used to be part of a church comes in handy. Last year, he scooped up the $3.95 million space near the city’s palm-tree-studded Dolores Park to hold events like this one — events he hopes will shift San Francisco from its idealistic progressivism toward nuts-and-bolts centrism. Mr. Tan’s day job is chief executive of Y Combinator, the accelerator for tech start-ups that has helped create household names including Airbnb, DoorDash, Dropbox, Instacart and Reddit.

Persons: Garry Tan clutched, ”, Tan, Y Organizations: Francisco’s Locations: San Francisco, Dolores, Francisco

☆ Has San Francisco Lost Its Liberal Soul?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Have San Francisco voters lost the bleeding hearts they have been known for — or are they just frustrated? City voters resoundingly passed two ballot measures this week that probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day a few years ago. Critics of the measures said that residents had veered to the right and that billionaires had bought the city by throwing money at campaigns for the measures. But Mayor London Breed, who faces a tough race for re-election in November and who placed the two measures on the ballot, brushed off claims that the city had lost its liberal soul. In her annual State of the City address on Thursday, Breed argued that it was progressive to invest in public safety to protect vulnerable older residents and immigrants, and to push for drug treatment for those who need it.

Persons: resoundingly, London Breed, Breed Organizations: San Francisco, City, London

☆ ‘I’m Matt.’ For Some Politicians, Addiction Battles Drive Policymaking.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Around a long wooden table at San Francisco City Hall, nine people battling drug addiction swapped news on a recent Friday. One woman got a new job for a tax preparation firm and said she hoped staying busy would distract her from her alcohol cravings. A man said his mother was dying and he was glad he could be there for her, cleareyed. “I work in the building.”He was Matt Dorsey, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and a regular participant in the weekly recovery meetings held on the second floor. Mr. Dorsey, 59, has battled an addiction to crystal meth over a quarter of a century and has been sober for more than three years now.

Persons: “ I’m Matt, ”, “, Matt Dorsey, Dorsey Organizations: San Francisco City Hall, San Francisco, Supervisors

☆ To Save San Francisco, a Democrat Wants to Scrap Environmental Reviews
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Not long ago, it would have sounded preposterous: A San Francisco Democrat asking to peel back California’s treasured environmental protections in the heart of the city. It would have been like painting the Golden Gate Bridge gray or cheering on the Los Angeles Dodgers. It just would not have flown. But as California grows more desperate for housing and San Francisco struggles to revive its city core, State Senator Scott Wiener says one thing must go: environmental review. Mr. Wiener on Friday will propose one of the broadest rollbacks of the once-vaunted California Environmental Quality Act by asking the state legislature to allow most projects in downtown San Francisco to bypass the law for the next decade.

Persons: Scott Wiener, Wiener Organizations: San Francisco Democrat, Los Angeles Dodgers Locations: California, San Francisco

☆ Will Voters in San Francisco Go for a Different Kind of Mayor?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Famously liberal San Francisco is irritable these days. But what’s not so clear is what kind of mayor they want to fix what’s broken. He’ll test his platform — which he calls common sense and his detractors will surely label too conservative for San Francisco — on the November ballot. Mr. Farrell, the city’s 44th mayor, plans to announce on Tuesday that he wants to be its 46th one too. “I’ve watched San Francisco crumble over the last five years,” Mr. Farrell, 49, said recently over coffee at a downtown cafe.

Persons: San, what’s, Mark Farrell, San Francisco —, Farrell, “ I’ve, ” Mr, we’ve Organizations: Mayor London Breed, San Francisco Locations: San Francisco, Francisco

☆ Where Has Tracy Chapman Been?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Ben Sisario | Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Despite some scattered performances on television and at awards shows, Chapman, 59, has remained almost entirely absent from the music world in recent years, having released her last studio album in 2008 and done her last tour in 2009. Since she first emerged in the late 1980s, she has always been known as a reclusive and private figure. But I am bit shy.”The acclaim for her Grammys performance — Taylor Swift could be seen singing along in the crowd — was a sign of how beloved Chapman remains. Combs’s note-for-note cover of “Fast Car” went to No. 2 on Billboard’s pop singles chart last year, and after the Grammys, Chapman’s original began shooting up iTunes’s download chart.

Persons: Tracy Chapman’s, Luke Combs —, Chapman, “, ”, — Taylor Swift, Chapman’s Organizations: Irish Times

☆ Rare Roman funerary bed discovered in London
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Zara Khan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Archaeologists working in central London have discovered a burial site containing a wooden bed used in a Roman funeral. A team from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) made the find near Holborn Viaduct, in the heart of central London, six meters (20 feet) below modern street level. However, the bed found at this site, preserved by the damp mud of the underground River Fleet, is the first complete example ever discovered in Britain. Alongside skeletal remains, the archaeologists also dug up personal objects in the Roman site, such as beads, a glass vial and a decorated lamp. The latest finds follow the discovery last year of an “incredibly rare” Roman mausoleum beneath a construction site in south London, close to the Thames River’s south bank.

Persons: MOLA, Heather Knight, “, of London Archaeology Michael Marshall, Hogan Lovells, Marshall, Roman Organizations: London CNN —, Museum of London, of London Archaeology, CNN Locations: London, Holborn, Britain

Nearly half of all flash flood deaths are vehicle-related, experts say, which is why you should never drive into a flooded street. Here’s what to do in advance — and in the moment — to get through a flash flood safely. A “flash flood warning” means a flash flood is imminent or already occurring, and you should immediately move to higher ground if you’re outside or in a basement apartment. The most dire alert is a “flash flood emergency,” which indicates that not only is flooding occurring, but it’s posing a severe threat to human life. “People need to realize that most people who lose their footing in a flash flood don’t get out,” she said.

Persons: there’s, ”, Bonnie Schneider, Schneider, it’s, Hurricane Ida, You’ll, Ready.gov, David Markenson, ‘ It’s, Sabine Marx, I’m, Julie Munger, Munger, “, Dr, Markenson, you’re, don’t, they’re, Ms, Lynn Burttschell, Burttschell, Eugene Resnick, ’, ” Susan Shain Organizations: National Weather Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Cross Training Services, Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Sierra Rescue, FEMA, Wimberley, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York Times Locations: United States, New York City, New York, Madison, Wis

That has been a sticking point for the United States in months of discussions with Beijing on climate change. The United States and China have an outsize role to play there as nations debate whether to phase out fossil fuel. That is significant because the current Chinese climate goal addresses only carbon dioxide, leaving out methane, nitrous oxide and other gases that are acting as a blanket around the planet. Then, early this year, an American fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had floated over the continental United States. When it comes to climate change, no relationship is as important as the one between the United States and China.

Persons: Biden, Xi Jinping, ”, David Sandalow, Clinton, Obama, Sandalow, they’re, Mr, John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, “, Xi, Manish Bapna, ” Mr, Bapna, Kerry, Xie, Valerie Volcovici, Nancy Pelosi, Kerry’s, optimistically, . Biden, Donald Trump, Keith Bradsher Organizations: Hamas, Columbia University’s Center, Global Energy, International Energy Agency, U.S ., Cooperation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Beijing, Republican Locations: Bohai, Weifang, China, United States, Taiwan, Ukraine, Israel, Beijing, Dubai, United Nations, United Kingdom, U.S, California, ”, Europe, American, America

☆ A Czech Reporter Saw San Francisco’s Highlights. Then He Was Robbed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Bohumil Vostal, a correspondent for a Czech public television station, spent Sunday reporting on the best parts of San Francisco. He toured an art gallery, visited Chinatown and even hired a guide with a vintage Volkswagen bus to drive him to the Golden Gate Bridge. But that’s when San Francisco’s dark side came into full view. Suddenly, Mr. Vostal found himself victimized in the exact high-profile way that city leaders had hoped to avoid during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference this week that is drawing President Biden, other world leaders and legions of international journalists. Image Bohumil Vostal, right, talked with a guide he hired to tour the city in a Volkswagen van.

Persons: Bohumil, Vostal, Biden, Bohumil Vostal, Milan Nosek Organizations: Volkswagen, Economic Cooperation Locations: Czech, San Francisco, Chinatown, Asia

☆ Before World Leaders Arrive, San Francisco Races to Clean Up
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Heather Knight | More About Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The conference comes at a pivotal moment for San Francisco, which has struggled to rebound from the pandemic closures that scrambled downtowns across the country. Local leaders hope the APEC conference will be just the catalyst that San Francisco needs to shake off its pandemic doldrums. At the very least, the past few weeks have shown that the city can clean up well. “This is a huge opportunity, and we’ve been planning this down to the gnat’s eyebrow,” said Aaron Peskin, the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Mr. Peskin turned to history for hope that the APEC conference could reverse the city’s beleaguered image, one that many residents say has been unfairly overblown.

Persons: San, we’ve, ”, Aaron Peskin, Peskin Organizations: APEC, San Francisco, of Supervisors, Pacific Locations: San Francisco, Francisco, Panama, New York

☆ California Slams San Francisco for ‘Egregious’ Barriers to Housing Construction
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Heather Knight | More About Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A scathing new report has found that it takes longer and costs more to build housing in San Francisco than anywhere else in California, exacerbating the state’s homelessness crisis and preventing many workers from being able to live in the city. But some local governments still give housing opponents generous leeway to slow or block projects. Governor Newsom’s housing division has determined that no city has put up more housing roadblocks than San Francisco, according to an investigation released on Wednesday. The report is the first of its kind, trying to compel San Francisco to do better, as well as show other municipalities what is necessary to create a thriving, equitable city. “It is egregious, the enormous amount of constraints and barriers they impose on new housing development,” said Gustavo Velasquez, director of the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

Persons: Gavin Newsom, Newsom’s, ”, Gustavo Velasquez Organizations: Gov, state’s Department of Housing, Community Locations: San Francisco, California, “

☆ San Francisco’s Brand Is in Trouble. Can a New Ad Campaign Fix It?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Heather Knight | More About Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

San Franciscans don’t like outsiders bashing their city, but they’re also cleareyed about its biggest problems: homelessness, rampant drug use and leaders who can’t seem to fix those issues. So how does San Francisco turn its lackluster image around? Some wealthy locals say the way forward is a brand refresh, and they are throwing their support behind a new $4 million ad campaign that will promote San Francisco as a hub of innovation and creativity. The slogan? “It All Starts Here.”It’s meant to remind San Franciscans — and everyone else — that the city of cable cars, Levi’s jeans, the Summer of Love, Gap Inc., Uber, Harvey Milk and the Golden State Warriors still has an exciting future ahead of it.

Persons: they’re, ”, Harvey Milk Organizations: Franciscans, San Francisco, Inc, Golden State Warriors Locations: San Francisco, San

☆ Levi Strauss Heir to Challenge Mayor London Breed of San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Heather Knight | More About Heather Knight | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Daniel Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss clothing fortune, announced on Tuesday that he would run against Mayor London Breed of San Francisco next year, at a time when the city is struggling to overcome a number of crises in its downtown core. Mr. Lurie, 46, planned to launch his campaign Tuesday at a community center in the city’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, a longtime working-class area now dotted with multimillion-dollar homes and upscale shops. Breed may be vulnerable in her bid for re-election and may have lost the support of some moderate allies. Mr. Lurie said in an interview that he intended to campaign on solving the city’s quality-of-life problems, and that he blames Ms. He said that he decided to run for mayor when he was walking his 9-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter to school, and they saw a man stumbling down the street, naked and screaming.

Persons: Daniel Lurie, Levi Strauss, Lurie, Breed Organizations: Mayor London Breed, San Locations: San Francisco, Potrero Hill

☆ Racism, sexism and class-based discrimination ‘widespread’ in English cricket, independent report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Matt Foster | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —An independent report into the culture of cricket in England and Wales has found racism, class-based discrimination, elitism and sexism to be “widespread” and “deep rooted” in the sport. The “Holding a Mirror Up to Cricket” report was written by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) and received more than 4,400 responses to its call for evidence between oral and written submissions. … The decline in Black cricket in England and Wales has been well documented and subject to much public debate for many years. Regarding sexism, the report said: “Women are still seen as an ‘add on’ to the men’s game. “The apology should acknowledge that racism, sexism, elitism and class-based discrimination have existed, and still exist, in the game, and recognise the impact on victims of discrimination.

Persons: George Floyd, ”, Cindy Butts, Azeem Rafiq, Butts, Rafiq, Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Heather Knight, …, Richard Thompson Organizations: CNN, Cricket, Independent Commission, Equity, Wales Cricket Board, Culture, Media, Sport Committee, England men’s, ECB, ”, England Women, England Locations: England, Wales, “

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