This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateWhen scores of protesters arrived at the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park the evening of Juneteenth to topple the Father Junipero Serra monument, they quickly took center stage in a worldwide debate about statues.The group, responding to a call to action spread through texts and word of mouth, yanked down Serra, Francis Scott Key and President Ulysses S. Grant and splashed paint on others. Their handiwork cost $20,000 in cleanup costs and overtime for parks staff and prompted the toppled trio to be whisked to an undisclosed...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateWhen scores of protesters arrived at the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park the evening of Juneteenth to topple the Father Junipero Serra monument, they quickly took center stage in a worldwide debate about statues.The group, responding to a call to action spread through texts and word of mouth, yanked down Serra, Francis Scott Key and President Ulysses S. Grant and splashed paint on others. Their handiwork cost $20,000 in cleanup costs and overtime for parks staff and prompted the toppled trio to be whisked to an undisclosed...WW…

Brittany Casciotti could really use the $17,147.94 that belongs to her, but she can’t touch it.That’s the amount employers have contributed on her behalf to two medical reimbursement accounts maintained by the city of San Francisco. Casciotti was laid off as a producer for Viacom CBS two weeks ago. Now, she’s among the .She figured the big chunk of money would be arriving any day considering Mayor London Breed announced six weeks ago held in these accounts to workers and other necessities.“We know that having access to food and housing is a basic need, and by giving people access to the...…Brittany Casciotti could really use the $17,147.94 that belongs to her, but she can’t touch it.That’s the amount employers have contributed on her behalf to two medical reimbursement accounts maintained by the city of San Francisco. Casciotti was laid off as a producer for Viacom CBS two weeks ago. Now, she’s among the .She figured the big chunk of money would be arriving any day considering Mayor London Breed announced six weeks ago held in these accounts to workers and other necessities.“We know that having access to food and housing is a basic need, and by giving people access to the...WW…

We see them all the time, the same lost souls in the same San Francisco neighborhoods caught in the same sad cycles of homelessness, and mental illness.Ian Carrier was a particularly distinctive fixture of the Tenderloin. He used a wheelchair after getting hit by a car. He sported black facial tattoos. He had puffy hands and abscesses on his skin, telltale signs of drug use.That’s what passersby would see. What they didn’t know was he had family who adored their witty, compassionate son and brother and tried for decades to help him get better. That he had longtime, loyal friends who gave...…We see them all the time, the same lost souls in the same San Francisco neighborhoods caught in the same sad cycles of homelessness, and mental illness.Ian Carrier was a particularly distinctive fixture of the Tenderloin. He used a wheelchair after getting hit by a car. He sported black facial tattoos. He had puffy hands and abscesses on his skin, telltale signs of drug use.That’s what passersby would see. What they didn’t know was he had family who adored their witty, compassionate son and brother and tried for decades to help him get better. That he had longtime, loyal friends who gave...WW…

Leave it to City Hall to craft a compromise that makes little sense and makes nobody happy.You’ll recall that the city closed Twin Peaks Boulevard to cars at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent crowding — and that it quickly went from a glass-covered car break-in hot spot to a paradise in the clouds for bicyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders and little kids on scooters., and many families including mine hope it’s permanent.But down the hill, life hasn’t been so idyllic. Neighbors on the Burnett Avenue side of the mountain complained that all the , trash and nighttime parties...…Leave it to City Hall to craft a compromise that makes little sense and makes nobody happy.You’ll recall that the city closed Twin Peaks Boulevard to cars at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to prevent crowding — and that it quickly went from a glass-covered car break-in hot spot to a paradise in the clouds for bicyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders and little kids on scooters., and many families including mine hope it’s permanent.But down the hill, life hasn’t been so idyllic. Neighbors on the Burnett Avenue side of the mountain complained that all the , trash and nighttime parties...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSometimes it takes an emergency to get anything done in San Francisco. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has developed the popular Slow Streets program, created emergency bus-only lanes and found street space for coronavirus test sites and pop-up food pantries.What could have taken months or even years took weeks.And sometimes it takes an emergency to realize the usual way of doing things — or, more often, failing to do them — just doesn’t work. San Francisco’s timeworn tradition of...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateSometimes it takes an emergency to get anything done in San Francisco. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has developed the popular Slow Streets program, created emergency bus-only lanes and found street space for coronavirus test sites and pop-up food pantries.What could have taken months or even years took weeks.And sometimes it takes an emergency to realize the usual way of doing things — or, more often, failing to do them — just doesn’t work. San Francisco’s timeworn tradition of...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateIt’s the rare San Francisco public schoolkid, parent or teacher who thought our emergency experiment with distance learning in the spring went well. While everybody gave it a good old college try because they had no other choice, the overall results deserved a failing grade.While many teachers provided an enriching experience, others didn’t have technology skills or hardly interacted with kids in real time at all. Some kids lacked strong internet connections or family members with the time or know-how to help.Parents lucky enough...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateIt’s the rare San Francisco public schoolkid, parent or teacher who thought our emergency experiment with distance learning in the spring went well. While everybody gave it a good old college try because they had no other choice, the overall results deserved a failing grade.While many teachers provided an enriching experience, others didn’t have technology skills or hardly interacted with kids in real time at all. Some kids lacked strong internet connections or family members with the time or know-how to help.Parents lucky enough...WW…

When Hal Wilkes first pledged to at sunset as long as San Franciscans were instructed to stay home, he didn’t know what he was getting himself into.He figured our strange shelter-in-place reality would last a month. Thirty performances? No problem.But as our weird purgatory between staying almost entirely at home and re-entering semi-normal life drags on, Wilkes had to call it quits. He’d run out of new songs to play. And any good performer knows when it’s time to leave the stage — especially when you’re playing the bagpipes.On Sunday, Wilkes donned a red plaid kilt, and due to his rooftop...…When Hal Wilkes first pledged to at sunset as long as San Franciscans were instructed to stay home, he didn’t know what he was getting himself into.He figured our strange shelter-in-place reality would last a month. Thirty performances? No problem.But as our weird purgatory between staying almost entirely at home and re-entering semi-normal life drags on, Wilkes had to call it quits. He’d run out of new songs to play. And any good performer knows when it’s time to leave the stage — especially when you’re playing the bagpipes.On Sunday, Wilkes donned a red plaid kilt, and due to his rooftop...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateNormally, spreading a picnic blanket on busy Page Street to sip wine, munch on cheese and crackers, and listen to live cello music would be a really, really bad idea. You’d probably get flattened like one of those crackers, or at least earn ire and loud honking from drivers.And you’d certainly be considered, well, eccentric. Even for the Haight.But nothing’s normal these days — and Page Street near Clayton Street has become an unlikely oasis for sporadic classical music concerts with the audience plopped in the middle of the...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateNormally, spreading a picnic blanket on busy Page Street to sip wine, munch on cheese and crackers, and listen to live cello music would be a really, really bad idea. You’d probably get flattened like one of those crackers, or at least earn ire and loud honking from drivers.And you’d certainly be considered, well, eccentric. Even for the Haight.But nothing’s normal these days — and Page Street near Clayton Street has become an unlikely oasis for sporadic classical music concerts with the audience plopped in the middle of the...WW…

Usually, the goods handed out by food banks are pretty basic: canned corn, apples, rice, potatoes. But thousands of people lining up for help this week in San Francisco will find an unlikely surprise in their sacks: 10 oz. American Wagyu steaks worth nearly $60 each.The prized meat was trucked from in Idaho last week to a warehouse in Fremont and is currently being cut and packaged. The family-owned farm, which focuses on raising its animals humanely, usually sells its Wagyu steak to high-end restaurants, but with those shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, the farm is donating their...…Usually, the goods handed out by food banks are pretty basic: canned corn, apples, rice, potatoes. But thousands of people lining up for help this week in San Francisco will find an unlikely surprise in their sacks: 10 oz. American Wagyu steaks worth nearly $60 each.The prized meat was trucked from in Idaho last week to a warehouse in Fremont and is currently being cut and packaged. The family-owned farm, which focuses on raising its animals humanely, usually sells its Wagyu steak to high-end restaurants, but with those shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, the farm is donating their...WW…

Soon after Karan Mathur arrived in Brooklyn for a new job last year, New Yorkers couldn’t wait to congratulate him for fleeing San Francisco. He heard over and over about the abandoned downtown in his former city. The shuttered Nordstrom store that once anchored the retail core, but now symbolizes its decay. The people who stumble along the city’s sidewalks in a drug-fueled haze. The rampant car break-ins leaving puddles of shattered glass. But that’s only part of San Francisco’s story, Mr. Mathur has been quick to respond. While the city faces disarray in parts of its grim core, he said...…Soon after Karan Mathur arrived in Brooklyn for a new job last year, New Yorkers couldn’t wait to congratulate him for fleeing San Francisco. He heard over and over about the abandoned downtown in his former city. The shuttered Nordstrom store that once anchored the retail core, but now symbolizes its decay. The people who stumble along the city’s sidewalks in a drug-fueled haze. The rampant car break-ins leaving puddles of shattered glass. But that’s only part of San Francisco’s story, Mr. Mathur has been quick to respond. While the city faces disarray in parts of its grim core, he said...WW…