Archive for January, 2011

Supervisor David Campos has introduced legislation that would allow low-income kids a free ride on Muni through the end of the school year.  All aboard!

The Chronicle takes a look at the unusually high number of homicides in San Francisco and Oakland this year (seriously, people, it’s only January!) and what folks at City Hall and the Hall of Justice are planning to do about it.

Want to know what Mayor Lee is up to this weekend?  It’s not a secret, thanks to a public calendar that is proving to be more detailed and readily available than either of his predecessors.  The media and staunch Sunshine Ordinance advocates seem to agree: happy happy, joy joy.

The SF Weekly reports on the local impact of stimulus funding and where all that green is going.

The party has officially begun as Burning Man festival organizers agree to move their headquarters to Sixth and Market.

Corporations may no longer be able to rent leases for their employees who are here for the short term. BoS President David Chiu is proposing legislation that would stop the aforementioned act. Although, I liked the rotating cast of friendly faces next door, at least there won’t be any more German sports cars parked on my lawn.

Today, we learn about the Chinatown Community Development Center and how it has helped some of our Supes get into office, and how it will continue to help local residents through two new development projects coming to a street near you.

The SF Business Times reports on all that is the SF Planning Department and what Planning Director John Rahaim predicts for the future of development in our little town.

Yesterday, the Planning Commission and PUC voted to approve renovations to the Calaveras Dam so we can have a little extra water stored up for a non-rainy day.

Word on the street is that San Francisco’s own Roberta Achtenberg is headed to Washington to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the first openly gay person to be appointed.  Our best wishes are with Ms. Achtenberg as she tackles this next challenge in her long and illustrious career in public service.  Just don’t forget us little people back at home!

In case you weren’t aware (because I sure wasn’t), eating and drinking are currently not allowed on BART.  But now that the agency is planning to transform its stations into retail hubs, we might see more food and drink items being carried on trains.  So what does this mean for the existing eating and drinking ban?  Not much, at least according to SF Weekly.

San Francisco Assessor-Recorder (and mayoral candidate) Phil Ting has a few things to say about the City’s tax rate.  And they aren’t related to anything happening next November, promise.

After a year of prodigious fundraising efforts, the Lyon-Martin clinic is still open and providing services to its patients.

In this week’s cover story, the SF Weekly takes a look at the City’s payroll.  What they find might surprise you, unless you’re a City worker who has been spending a lot of time recently underwater or at an elevation greater than thirty feet, in which case you know exactly how much money can be made in government work.

Attention J-Church passengers: good news (well, sort of)!  The SFMTA has listened to citizens’ complaints and is seriously looking into improving the on-time performance of the trains.  Now, wouldn’t that be nice!

According to the number crunchers over at the San Francisco Unified School District, they could be facing a budget shortfall of up to $20 million this year.  That’s a lot of number two pencils (333,333,333 to be exact, if you’re buying them on Amazon, and yes I did the math) so let’s hope that the nice folks in Sacramento find it in their hearts to help us out a little bit.

…the Examiner reminds us why it’s wonderful to be a San Franciscan, especially when the thermometer is inching ever closer to 70 degrees in January.  Ladies, get out those bikinis and gentlemen, I want to see some short shorts, because this Thursday is gonna be a scorcher!  (Well, at least in San Francisco terms.)

The Chronicle defends Supervisor Jane Kim’s firm stance against reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and discusses how she fought for her values before stepping foot in Room 250.

With all this rain, water must really be on the mind because it sure is in the news! The Chron reports that the SF Public Utilities Commission is looking for new and innovative ways to actually use the land atop neighborhood reservoirs. No, you aren’t having a senior moment, this is not a new idea, but one on which the PUC is hoping for more cooperation from neighbors and water officials this go around. Cue the kumbaya!

Always waiting - boo/Dependency is a bitch/Bus, where is the love?

City Hall rolled out the welcome mat, inviting a delegation of Chinese commerce, trade officials and business leaders to San Francisco, in an effort to further spur investment in San Francisco industries.

Dueling Chronicle columnists offer their perspectives on Supervisor David Chiu’s proposal to regulate handbills in San Francisco.

Chronicle columnist Phil Bronstein takes a look at how the current roles at City Hall came to be filled and the man (or woman, as the case may be) behind the scenes.

The Examiner gives us the inside scoop on a new federal program being implemented here in San Francisco that is adversely impacting domestic abuse victims who are also undocumented immigrants.

The SFBT Editorial Board takes a look at what our Board of Supervisors has been able to accomplish in contrast to years past and what that means for the future of our great city.