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Trash Talk
Single-family homeowners in San Francisco will see an anticipated 30% increase over the next three years
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Remaining hurdle: 120 LHH semi-private rooms are still in jeopardy. 2016 regulations limits bathroom sharing to 2 patient beds. The building opened in 2010—and the rooms are spacious and safe.
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I received calls representing they were claiming “We are PG&E.” They told me I was eligible for a 30% discount on my PG&E bill
Check it outHow did shredding urban assistance work out?
In 1980, federal dollars accounted for 22% of big city budgets. By the end of Reagan it was only 6%.
Check it outScaling back scientific Federal employees
Today, the islands are considered off-limits to all but a few scientists; they are considered the Galapagos of California.
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Back in the '60s, you could spend a day visiting the park—all free! Rents were affordable, the neighborhood diverse...
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A San Francisco liberal accepts some MAGA arguments: What’s going on?
This issue is not hypothetical for me. My son has played on a girl’s team, and my daughter has played on a boy’s team
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It should have been Diane Wilsey’s last meeting as President but FAMSF Trustees voted to elect her to a sixth term.
Check it outPlease No Artificial Turf in Crocker Amazon
Microplastics are crossing the blood-brain barrier and accumulating in human brainsNature Medicine
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The Doctor from Madras is the epic story of one family’s collision between old ways and a changing world
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Mayor Dan Lurie, however, has acted twice in a questionable manner insofar as taxpayers are concerned.
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Under Mayor Ed Lee and Mayor London Breed employees grew to 42,584. Wages skyrocketed by 94.8%, from $2.5 billion to $4.9 billion.
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It is not prudent to rely on drinking water from the Sunset Reservoir —quake survivors will need potable water after a major earthquake.
Check it outTwo Sensible Oceanview Library Sites
It’s next door to the existing library and accessible public transportation with safe platforms is nearby.
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About a fifth of California students live in a family with insecure immigration status, many include a mix of authorized and unauthorized. ones.
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When the Bay Bridge opened in 1937, motorists were charged 25¢ per crossing and were assured tolls would end once the bonds sold to fund it.
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It was such blatant advocacy of cars as a solution to the city’s transportation problem.
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Sunset residents may blame Supervisor Engardio but the Pacific Ocean is an invincible foe.
Read More ...Pedestrians enter crosswalks against the red signal as drivers are the midst of a turn.
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Tumlin resigned from his $400,725 annual salary + benefits
SFMTA reports inflation and the end of emergency funding will leave a $260-million to $322-million deficit beginning in 2026...
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For decades, Strybing served as a gathering place for one and all, hosting people from all walks of life and every economic strata. What could possibly go wrong?
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With a sincere sense of regret, I declined the invitation to sit next to Melania at the presidential inauguration.
Read MoreDesigning for Fire & Wind Safety
The common belief is that homes are too close to woodlands, where fires catch on easily. However, one home in Pacific Palisades contradicts that notion..
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People unable to afford rent come to San Francisco and wait until a city-funded outreach worker offers them an unlimited stay in a tourist hotel with a private bathroom. Plus two meals a day.
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Laguna Honda: Finish the Job
—Open the Doors.
Why are ALL types of admissions so slow? As of the end of November, less than 430 of the 769 licensed nursing home beds at LHH were occupied.
Read More”A DUTY TO PROTECT“!
Its policy and directives need to be updated to incorporate climate change, sea level rise, extreme weather events, and chemical and radiological exposures
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The devastation in Maui was a tragic example of how important emergency notifications are, we must be ready when the time comes.s
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We can either continue the downward spiral of government waste, unneeded bureaucracy, and patronage or start running City Hall as a business.
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Do white Christian nationalists, some advocates of liberated ethnic studies, and fascists have anything in common?
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Remember that a New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.
Check it outWest Portal Beat
A man drove through the front wall of the Miraloma Club on Portola Avenue, injuring two and essentially demolishing the bar’s façade.
Check it outWest Portal Beat
The driver accidentally stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake as she pulled into the parking spot.
Check it outBEST OF THE NET
A cadre of west side San Franciscans want to recall District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio for supporting Proposition K
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This is not the first or last time that SFDPH will keep periodically trying to eliminate long-term care at Laguna Honda.
Check it outWest Portal Notebook
The Wave that Wasn't
Emergency Management sent a warning to stay away from Ocean Beach as many people ignored it as took it to heart
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Under Breed’s direction, Redistricting removed progressive Inner Sunset from Preston’s D5. At the same time, the Tenderloin was grafted onto District 5.
Check it outSF Jail Overcrowding
We haven't funded the support systems to divert offenders to other programs programs that make real public safety possible.
Check it outReader Response
Now More Than Ever
In 1979, facing an unprecedented housing crisis, Supervisors enacted rent control for hundreds of thousands of renters.
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Kids Books for Christmas
Truth, kindness, empathy, good choices, equality, and patriotism there's some confusion over what these words mean.
Read MoreBEST OF THE NET
GrowSF/TogetherSF Left in the Dust
When the city’s district boundaries were redrawn, D7 lost its most conservative precincts to D4, and gained more progressive ones from D5.
Check it outWest Portal Notebook
From Deficit to Surplus
We were led to believe City College was in dire financial straits—the fiscal reality was a substantial surplus.
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Does that mean San Franciscans needing skilled nursing carewill continue being dumped out-of-county?
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...by any other name.
No doubt about the cost to ratepayers. SIP is not free, since the lowest bidder may not get the job. That costs ratepayers.
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Voter’s Rejection of Prop 33 Opens the Door
I am not suggesting an elimination of rent control over night... it is too late for many tenants to move and afford another unit. However...
Check it outFollowing SFPUC Over the Cliff?
Yearly, as much as 1.2 billion gallons of combined stormwater runoff and sewage containing feces, bacteria, viruses, chemicals, and trash are dumped into the Bay.
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Focus on Education
Our country’s political divisions are again raising basic questions about the separation of church and state.
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Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.—George Jean Nathan’s warning.
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TogetherSF Action’s Project 2024–2028 scheme starts with a Mark Farrell victory. From there it seeks to eliminate district elections.
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Kamala, Trump, and public education
On the campaign trail education policy has taken a back seat to other really important national issues, such as eating dogs and the size of crowds.
Read MoreWest Portal Notebook
Candidates Mark Farrell and Daniel Lurie both spoke at the neighborhood bookshop and attracted considerable audience attendance.
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The $390 million bond allocates just $66 million for our two hospitals. The rest—$324 million—is for other totally unrelated projects.
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Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.—George Jean Nathan’s warning.
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Sunshine Anyone?
The City’s sunshine laws are in need of updating, but most mayoral and supervisorial candidates are mum on how to increase city government transparency.
Read MorePresto Chango!
The Navy’s Parcel F Radiological Impaction map was excluded from the Record of Decision of September 2024. Raw data was also excluded from environmental testing for radionuclides.
Check it outAnother SFPUC Disgrace
With no limits on the number of ride-share cars on the street undercutting fares, taxi drivers cannot make a living.
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It’s a logical, environmentally sound plan for what is already happening to the Great Highway.
Read More ...We now are beginning to see the filth and degradation Breed’s gang has encouraged to infest West Portal.
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SFUSD’s Quandry
An under-enrolled school does not have enough students to offer educational opportunities we want for them in a fiscally responsible way.
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Following the money. Prop D is the billionaire’s attack on citizen oversight.
Check it outD7 Supervisor Candidates
Candidates Melgar, Martin-Pinto & Boschetto all agree on one thing.
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Over-Controlled Housing
Should we double down–on what has so far failed? Do we just need to spend more public money?
Read More ...West Portal Notebook
Over the next two months, each mayoral candidate will have an evening to greet attendees and answer questions in a laid-back “meet the candidate” event.
Check it outWhy is SFF’s Crime Rate Dropping?
Property crimes have plunged the most (42%), led by a steep decline in car break-ins, but violent crimes...
Check it outProp K is wrong for San Francisco
5 supervisors put Prop K on the Ballot, unannounced and at the last minute. No community input, no questions answered, no concerns addressed, no discussion by the Supervisors.
Check it outProp K: a new park for all
Why transform a section of the Great Highway into an oceanside park? It will help the environment, boost local merchants, and bring people joy.
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Escalating power, water & sewer rates
At present, there is no citizen group concerned with rates paid for water, sewer and power. Few attend or comment to the SFPUC Commission.
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The West Portal debacle, Laguna Honda disaster & neghborhood density. She’s out of step.
Check it outShipyard toxics—activists join forces
They originally consisted of fifteen residents and UCSF workers, located within six blocks of the western fence line of the NRDL campus and industrial landfill”
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to tackle antisemitism
District must provide training about the American Jewish experience and antisemitism to ensure that instruction is free of anti-Jewish hate
Read MoreEnvironmental Windfall
This new concrete removes many of the wasteful steps commonly used in producing concrete.
Check it outD7 Supervisor Candidates
Reaction from the candidates for Supervisor in D7 ranged from pleased to dismayed.
Check it outWest Portal Notebook
Ruling that “cruel and unusual punishment” does not apply to fining, ticketing, or even arresting homeless (even when there are no public shelters available),overturning the 9th Circuit Court.
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It’s a Good Idea.
After too many years of ignoring financial crisis, SFUSD is biting the bullet. It’s called resource realignment...
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On the last day the Supervisors could put an initiative on ballot, Engardio and Melgar pounced and forwarded the legislation to the Department of Elections.
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Once just a border of California native plants around the garden’s perimeter, providing habitat and nourishment for local fauna it’s now a beautiful neighborhood gem.
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How I’m voting? I plead guilty in favor of a write-in candidate—me! Therefore, I proceed to the local ballot measures.
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No matter how much my esteemed colleague at the Westside Observer, Quentin Kopp, wants to quibble over Kamala Harris ...
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Class Action Lawsuit Looms Over Laguna Honda
City hase long minimized the root cause of LHH’s dysfunction and decertification. Just look at the self-congratulatory Press Release announcing its re-opening.
Check it outWest Portal Notebook
West Portal merchants, residents, and long-time frequenters have weighed in for months on the City’s plan to institute significant new traffic regulations and barriers primarily at the mouth of the MUNI station.
Check it outTime for the Governor to Do the Right Thing
The Precautionary Principle affirms SF’s leaders duty to prevent harm through anticipatory action. ‘There is a duty to take anticipatory action to prevent harm.”
Check it outOpen Roads
SFMTA claims 10,000 people visit the Great Highway on a weekend. Residents ask for an unbiased study.
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Some good news!
California no longer lurks in the basement of national school funding.
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Visualizing Ms. Harris as president makes me fear for the future of our country. Coupled with convicted felon Donald Trump, we possess little choice.
Check it outD7 Supervisor Candidates
Since the Mental Health Rehabilitation Facility closed, the City began relocating mentally troubled and drug addicted patients to LHH, mixing them with frail senior and disabled populations.
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Our City Our Power Our Pocketbook
No doubt PG&E is quite imperfect. But is the City bureaucracy an improvement? Shall we expand an already oversized City department?
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It’s not only how schools are funded but how important topics are taught. At stake is what our children learn about democracy as well as about their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Read MoreWest Portal MUNI Station Committee
West Portal accounts for 6% of the City’s accidents; after the implementation of Project Zero in 2014, accidents of every kind in the West Portal area have dropped from 20% - 48%.
Check it outWest Portal MUNI Station Committee
Right now, there’s no timeline or budget for this project. The SFMTA admitted it had not conducted a preliminary cost/benefit analysis despite the multi-million-dollar deficit they’re facing this year.
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City’s Granny Dumping Spike
The hospitals shed their Skilled Nursing bed capacity in the City’s private sector hospitals en masse. It Was adversely affecting profits
Check it outWest Portal Notebook
Police patrolling up and down the block, speaking to residents, shop owners significantly prevents possible crime.
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...before artists were forced out by rising rents and landlord policies, artists made up about 7% of the City’s population, around 50,000 people.
Check it outCity’s Decline is SFMTA Designed
San Francisco is designed by SFMTA planners who have more design clout than any other agency in the City, except perhaps the State.
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The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.” Thus spoke H. L. Mencken
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An Open Letter to City Hall
There is a dire shortage of nursing home beds in SF—especially for those on Medi-Cal—which pays for chronic long-term care when a resident cannot afford $15,000 a month.
Read MoreD7 Supervisor Candidates
Mayor Breed has proposed an unprecedented rollback of San Francisco’s height and density limitations that would allow six story buildings in areas previously zoned for one and two-story construction
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The slow pace of climate action has never been about lack of science or even lack of solutions; it has always been about lack of political will.
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Newly recertified
—same old problems
How long will the Health Commission delay the “LHH sustainability plan” that will shape its management in the future?
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Hope it's not your last.
Many of the basic rights we value are under attack. There are even those who think Jan. 6th should be celebrated instead of July 4.
Read MoreCity for Sale
The format made it difficult for candidates to evade tough questions—all four seasoned politicians are skilled in. Even non-politician Lurie was not exempt.
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A confluence of major legal actions has moved forward to pretrial deposition testimony in BVHP Residents v Tetra Tech brought by SFPD and whistleblowers under the False Claims Act.
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Trees in McClaren Park
Removal of the weedy species is necessary. All plants have natural predators in their native ranges, but landscape plants imported from, say, across the ocean, left their predators there.
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While gasoline tax-paying automobile owners finance the streets of San Francisco San Francisco’s Budget finances the SF Bicycle Coalition, a private entity?
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Nightmare Plan from Melgar, Breed, and Tumlin
SFMTA still has no quantifiable road safety data other than right turns are bad, left turns are bad, fast-moving cars are dangerous, slow-moving cars are dangerous, cars are bad, and bikes are good.
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Local school board elections used to be sleepy affairs. No more. Political activists now pay close attention to these local contests — for good reasons.
Read MoreDesigning for Drought
Despite a surplus of water in our reservoirs sufficient to withstand a drought for four years, the SFPUC has imposed a drought surcharge on San Francisco ratepayers.
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A perfect illustration of the magic that independent bookstores can create—It was a day filled with joy, connection, and a shared love of books!
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The previous City Administrator was a protégé of Willie Brown—resigned due to corruption. The current City administrator is a protégé of a protégé of Willie Brown.
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What happened to The City that Knows how? What happened to the City that Everybody Loves?
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So What’s the Damage?
Sadly, LHH has not been recertified, patient admissions have not restarted. So patients needing skilled nursing care are displaced out-of-county.
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Addressing the West Portal Tragedy
The winning projects will be most closely align to the criteria and can be successfully completed with the funding allocated as a one-time grant.
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City’s Clear Cut
According to the SF RPD’s plan at least 809 trees were planned to be cut down in McLaren Park
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With housing and commercial vacancies like Park Merced and businesses still closing downtown, on Market Street, and in most neighborhoods, it’s dogging the Mayor’s election.
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California’s PTA got started in San Francisco way back in 1897 with the California Home and School Child Study Association.
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Battling lethal drug combinations
The devastating effect of drug addiction is evident from the human wreckage ...Yes, it’s a nationwide plague. But SF overdose rates are twice the national average.
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Thumbs Down
“It is a significant reconfiguration of the street. A two-way bikeway would replace existing parking. Bus stops would relocate from the curb to new transit boarding islands in traffic lanes.
Check it outHomeless seek respite at Ocean Beach
If you do get into a shelter — they’ll take away your belongings, you can’t have a pet, you can’t have visitors and after a few days or a week, you’ll likely be turned out on the street again with nothing.
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Two surprises. Republican Steve Garvey, and Democrat Adam Schiff were the top two finishers. Schiff concentrated on making Garvey his opponent rather than Barbara Lee and Katie Porter.
Check it outRemoving density controls in western and central SF?
Demolitions, speculations, and displacement are in store if the city moves forward with Breed’s approach.
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Herrera’s team has settled in. The disruptions from the FBI probe and COVID had abated. Employee satisfaction should have improved. It didn’t.
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“As it is right now...there is no plan to manage and care for Twin Peaks
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No one wants to close schools. Not the communities. Not the school boards. Not administrators and school district personnel..
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Will Rec and Park be satisfied when every square foot of Golden Gate Park is concrete and artificial turf?
Check it outIs Hydrogen in our future?
Unfortunately,it also has many disadvantages. The gas is explosive. It needs to be compressed or converted into other chemicals, such as liquid ammonia...
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African-American Shakespeare’s stunning production at Taube Atrium Theater
Check it outEvery five years, the EPA determines the success of superfund cleanups
Take-home message: Cleanup efforts in 15 parcels and sites do not protect residents from hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants emanating from the dirty base
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The problem is Harris replacing him — she’s the D.A. who defeated incumbent Hallinan by lying under oath in that 2023 campaign
Check it outHow Safe is SF’s Aquifer Water?
Unlike Flint, we don’t use salt to deice roads. However, if we over-tax our ground aquifers, we could draw salt from the Pacific into our drinking water.
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Re: David Romano’s recent commentary — is simply bad journalism.
Read More ...When the tower comes down what will replade it?.
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More Trouble for DPH
Just when Laguna Honda seemed to be turning the corner on its struggle toward reform, three law firms have teamed up to expand their Class Action lawsuit.
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It reminds me of when my kids did something that I thought was not well thought through. I tried to bring them back to reality.
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“Tamales are such a delicate process... things like the balance of masa to filling, or how long you steam them for, or how tightly they’re wrapped in their husks And time... timing is crucial to ensure they do not become dry and tough.
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She is out of step with the majority of San Franciscans who are calling for an immediate cease-fire and a halt to military aid to Israel
Check it outCould SF be the next Lahaina?
Hetch Hetchy water supply comes from 167 miles away, crosses 3 major faults, goes under the bay and then up the San Andreas Fault for 25 miles.
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Today’s students alarming lack of knowledge
This is an education emergency made worse by a divided America where many believe it is ok to make up your own facts.
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Confronting taxpayers and other voters are six ballot measures, one state measure, and presidential, Congressional and legislative primaries.
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The complaints ranged from as many as ten squatters living rent-free, theft, casinos, dog kennels, brothels and drug laboratories at Parkmerced.
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Big money ‘neighborhood’ groups step up their campaign of take-over tactics in 2024 elections.
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Rec and Park’s plan expands access for the privileged few bupkis for the rest of us.
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Few were surprised when Supervisor Safai learned the library was not to be built in the Greenbelt — he feared the worst. No library at all.Since 2023, the Library Commission has been considering 466 Randolph Street, where the I.T. Bookman Community Center and the Pilgrim Community Church are located.
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When the runways for the Alameda Naval Air Station were extended out into the bay—using dredged bay fill, the same way Treasure Island was created — they crossed over the city line. The federal government apparently didn't know or care.
Read More ...
San Franciscans need nursing home care
The survey attests to a quality of care that is higher than in for-profit private nursing homes. But there are ongoing problems.
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Your ballot will be in the mailbox in a few weeks
The March 5 election is fast approaching. The San Francisco Department of Elections will start mailing all registered voters automatic vote-by-mail ballots in early February.
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Your local self-appointed sage hopes Trump is barred from his presidential candidacy by high courts such as the Supremes. (And I don't mean the singing group!).
Check it outPARKING CONTROL
A four-hour parking limit is going to make things even more difficult for RV residents.
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Does this look like wildlife habitat?
“GG Park provides not only habitat for wildlife but also a haven for San Franciscans who find refuge in nature in our parks.”
Check it outUCSF proposes settlement for Joseph Miranda and his radioactive truck
Two UCSF workers with respiratory disease, cancer and lung disease were not evacuated during shipyard landfill fire that erupted in “green, yellow, and orange” flames.
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Chris Duderstadt’s Mission
“A Bench helps promote a sense of community,it encourages neighbors and passersby to stop and visit and enjoy some sunshine.”
Check it outPeripheral Canal Redux?
Delta Conveyance Project is back on the drawing board, attempting to move clean water to the Los Angeles Southern Basin.
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Fortunately for Mendez, he appeared in ultra-liberal Judge Michael Begert’s court. Despite Mendez’s failure to comply with diversion, Begert nevertheless granted Mendez “mental health diversion’ (again).
Read More ...
Remembering the Heroine We Lost in 2023
Newsom, Breed, and SF’s Supervisors may all have taken a hands-off waiting game approach I knew Nancy and her good government advocacy for years, sometimes crossing her path when we both attended meetings at City Hall.
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The unreliability of American and San Francisco media today is not new to our country. Neither is the people's right to discard biased, unsound judges.
Check it outSFMTA’s Grinch Strategy
To families parked along Winston Drive the dreaded December 19 date is less than a month away. Four-hour parking restrictions approved by SFMTA will certainly upend their lives and dampen their holiday spirits.
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Neighbors apprehend a thief in the act, but will he be back on the street?
Aware that his escape was implausible, or perhaps it was the ear-splitting sound of approaching police cars, the thief turned and ran back into the Walgreens
Check it outSF’s Enlightened Pretrial Diversion Programs
The Judge denied a motion to detain an alleged drug dealer despite the defendant had over half a kilo of drugs, including 170.8 grams of fentanyl, enough to kill 85,400 people.
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Delayed Inspections Mean Dumping More Seniors Out-of-County
Newsom, Breed, and SF’s Supervisors may all have taken a hands-off waiting game approach to LHH’s Medicare recertification inspection process that will take four months to complete.
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Falling advertisements, digital transitions and major lay-offs plague journalists
Emilio Garcia-Ruiz worried about the New York Times becoming a “huge competitor” in the Bay Area by “undercutting the market on subscription costs to $1/week.
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SFUSD needs to take responsibility
At last! SFUSD has identified why students aren’t learning. Ready? The real cause is White Supremacy. That’s right. White Supremacy Culture is preventing our students from learning.
Read MoreOur Transit-First Policy is Long Gone.
Today, ridership is entirely different — a problem. And the money Congress spent to save transit dries up next year.
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Behind Peskin’s Dark Maneuver
It effectively punishes hundreds, if not thousands, who want to participate in our local government. Even worse, it will force those who have disabilities to disclose their special needs. Or face the burden of traveling to City Hall.
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Rec and Park’s plot to build a new boat harbor will close the Bay views and access from Marina Green.
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It cost Star of India nearly $5,000 to replace the glass doors and to put new bars up.
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Construction of new housing? I’ve concluded from present vacancies and dispirited new home construction the matter is extravagantly exaggerated by City Hall politicians and local media.
Check it outStreets, sidewalks and roofs of cities all absorb heat during the day
Unlike the temperature in the atmosphere — ground temperatures become increasingly warmer over time a recent study found
Check it outNeighbor Power
It is alleged that on the afternoon of September 27th, Janda was sitting on the bench in front of her ice cream shop.
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The city fought PG&E for 20 years over Marina harbor’s toxic waste. And when they finally secure a settlement of $190 million?
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When so much wealth is concentrated in the hands of so few people without money and power lose out.
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Owner Diana Zogaric has little time to bemoan setbacks. She notes that the original owner, Douglas Shaw, opened the business during the Great Depression in 1931.
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Phony ‘neighborhood’ groups exploit a loophole in campaign laws — evading the $500 limit on campaign contributions.
Check it outSF’s Armenian Community
Tragedies in Azerbaijan were overshadowed at local Armenian Food Festival at St. Gregory’s.
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SFMTA’s capital deficit is projected to grow at an average rate of $1.1 billion a year to create a total gap of $20 billion by FY2040.
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Laguna Honda Wake Up Call
SF has lost 1,381 Skilled Nursing Facility beds. If LHH loses 120 more beds it will leave only 2,161 meanwhile 4,186 patients were discharged to other counties in 2022.
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Instead of 100,000 votes to elect Supervisors, now with ranked-choice voting a paltry 8,237 votes, elected Supervisor Matt Dorsey.
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Does SF needs more housing? Downtown is 31% vacant and Parkmerced has a 25% vacancy.
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SFUSD High School Task Force:
How familiar are the Task Force members with the research and how well are they equipped to make data driven recommendations?
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Over 100 crowded the room to address Westside disorder, homelessness and street crime.
Check it outStop Crime SF seeks to inform voters about our judges...
California law entrusts its citizens to retain or reject sitting judges. We need more light, not less.
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Scientists who analyzed Earth’s safety boundaries found humans are currently transgressing six.
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After neighborhood protests at Rec & Parks residents got more, not less concerts.
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How familiar are the Task Force members with the research and how well are they equipped to make data driven recommendations?
Read MoreFive of the state”s dirtiest beaches are in the Bay Area
Want your taxes & utility fees to pay to pollute our beaches? SF taxpayers and ratepayers are footing the bill to fight for that privilege.
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Oh no! You don't want Nancy Wuerfel on your case! That woman does her homework, which means that you're going to have to do yours as well!.
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LHH’s bedrooms exceed the minimum square-foot restrictions. They have sliding doors between each bedroom — essentially making them all private, single-person rooms.
Check it outSFDPH enables contaminated development
The Health Department’s Article 31 needs to prevent housing on radioactive sites.
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Budgets are built on predictions. Will Californians actually earn income and pay taxes at the levels predicted? No one knows for certain.
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Our critic of all things civil tackles the City, State and the rest of the world.
Check it outBeyond the tangle of red tape
Mired in Dull-as-Dishwater Details, It's an Amazing Accomplishment — But Will Oakland Beat Us To It?
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Schools scramble to comply with Supreme Court’s admission decision AND still create diverse college communities
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Should all the ice in Greenland melt, we could expect the sea level rise an additional 23 feet.
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Before Prop 47 eliminated California Penal Code section 666, a police officer could charge a thief with a criminal history with “felony theft with-priors” and take him to county jail.
Read More ...
... E.T. versus City
Pretend you're an alien (E.T.) come to earth in human form to live and learn and even to rationally guide humans who have lost their way. You land in San Francisco.
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Have any such housing units been built? Of course not! Why? Probably because there’s no market for them. Why not? Because the population has declined
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Managers disregarded the risks to patients
Known costs climbing to $65 Million but City Attorney conceals ($5 million?) in legal fees.
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I’m reminded again and again that there are really great things the world of San Francisco.
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SF has 60,000 market-rate apartments standing empty. They’re unlikely to be filled any time soon since about 70,000 left in the last three years.
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Recertification accomplished - so what’s this for?
On top of the $64.9 M already spent — including $30.5 M on consultant contracts, $22.3 M lost Medi-Cal reimbursement, and $12 M misc.
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... & The Family Enterprise
Some say a little bit of corruption greases the wheels. Just don't kid yourself ... each of these words, Social Impact Partnering, are buzzwords. There's a reason for that.
Read More ...
The neighborhood was much different then. Yellow and white margaritas were everywhere in wild areas on the south and north side of Alemany Blvd. There was no Highway 280.
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City Family’s coziness with contractors sustains a “Homeless-Industrial-Complex." Politically-connected entrepreneurs are awarded City contracts and return the favor.
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Moss Adams’ contract increased by by $5.9 million to $9,987,293 — just $12,707 shy of requiring Board of Supervisors approval.
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One small problem. Although we called it a computer match, we did not have a computer. Yup, that long ago.
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Giving a complaint to the “Ethics” Commission is like giving a complaint to a black hole. Your complaint goes in and the chance that anything comes out is slim.
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Neighbors were not adequately notified — the few who showed up were ignored.
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Long-time Westside activist commended
The Supervisors celebrated her preservation and conservation efforts and recognized her significant contributions.
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Bored? Libraries to the rescue
The good news: it's available to every child though our public libraries in every corner of San Francisco. And it's free!
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Observations and criticisms with a bit of the usual snark.
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We will lose Laguna Honda Hospital if immediate jeopardy citations continue.
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Budget Problem? City Hall's Reliable Cash Cow to the Rescue! Stop the exploitation.
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After 20 years without a licensed Nursing Home Administrator at the helm, that will change. At last someone knowledgeable about Federal nursing home regulations will be in charge.
Check it outThe Greatest Story Never Told
The Health Department burned down a village of Chinese fishermen dependent on the lucrative shrimping industry when the Navy purchased the 934-acre property using eminent domain for the Naval Shipyard.
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&lequo; You guys had a bunch of secret planning meetings ... no Brown Act notice ... now you want to permit an additional 60,000-person event ...”
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Ratepayers may need to rely on the courts
1985 to 2022, the nominal SFPUC rates have increased annually by an average of 10.1%.
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Inside the Sunshine Task Force’s “Compliance and Amendments Committee.”
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The day before evictions of all residents — a final last-minute reprieve
CMS extended federal funding while the facility continues without resident evictions until September 19, 2023
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LHH “disregarded” the risk of transfer trauma to elderly dementia patients
3 families filed suit, alleging LHH culpability in the deaths of patients transferred to outside facilities last year.
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It's Game On!
The selected projects will be up for public voting beginning June 12.
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Julie Pitta’s most recent commentary misrepresents what I said in a TMZ interview — “to stoke fears about public safety.” This is false.
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SFUSD: Failing Math and Literacy for Kids
The evidence is in time for SFUSD to change.
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Newsy bits and quips Quentin’s monthly criticisms, and encouragements.
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District 7 residents grill officials
Grassroots anti-crime and pro-accountability organizing could imperil elected officials who can’t get a handle on the disorder.
Check it outThe Truth about SF's Crime Spree
San Francisco has experienced a spike in property crime, no surprise in a city of wealth disparity.
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While consultants released three follow-up reports ... details of the complete picture are still dripping out, like a leaky faucet.
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Anti-crime group to test its political strength
Judges can undermine the good work of the police and the DA ... Judges are elected, but the public doesn't know about their decisions
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It Could lead to more arrests of protestors, minorities, or anyone the State considers a threat if artificial intelligence is designed and executed improperly.
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It's Teacher Appreciation Week
Flowers and cards are great, but teachers deserve a fair wage for their valuable work.
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When I made a simple request for documents what I got left me confused — should I laugh or cry?
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The lawsuit cites seven Causes of Action
It took courage for the Public Guardian to file suit. Hopefully, the public will learn the full extent of the scandal. The timing couldn’t be worse for LHHs struggle to survive.
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April 14th is the anniversary of Laguna Honda's decertification
LHH mostly serves low-income, medically indigent patients, likely to face discharges, exile, and displacement to out-of-county facilities, away from their families, and support networks.
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The City's vacant downtown businesses and escalating housing rents are a San Francisco disaster. Roadkill: San Francisco's artist communities.
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Fentanyl overdoses have killed more San Franciscans than COVID. Yet, SF fails to prosecute dealers; no convictions for fentanyl sales in 2021. Most dealers are granted diversion.
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I am plain worn out listening to all the things that have gone wrong in our City and our Country.
The arts are more than alive and well in San Francisco public schools. In many cases, they are spectacular. A little hyperbole? Nope.
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The history of liberty is the history of the limitations on the power of government. And the provenance of government usually expands on federal, state and local levels
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Fentanyl has a new rival
Xylazine is infiltrating North American fentanyl and heroin supplies. It is causing more fatal overdoses, zombie-like intoxication— addictions that are harder to treat than simple fentanyl dependency.
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April 14th is the anniversary of Laguna Honda's decertification
Inept managers from SF General and SF Health Network are principally responsible for the current mess at LHH, not LHH's caring and dedicated staff.
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Controller's estimated $290 million deficit — $90.1 million more than projected in January. For the next two fiscal years, the shortfall is projected at $779.8 million.
Check it outLet the Bay Lights go dark
Our resources are precious, and we shouldn't be using them for displays of lighting that serve no practical purpose.
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When the City Attorney and the Ethics Commission demur — the SOTF needs to police itself.
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The project cost for the non-high speed rail portion in the Central Valley increased last month to $35.3 billion from $25.2 billion. It obtains money from a cap-and-trade program which adds 23 cents to every gasoline gallon besides the state’s 53.9 cents tax per gallon
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Facing the under-reported facts
For decades, the City has allowed weaker standards for buildings shorter than 240 feet — no signs of seriously considering these structural deficiencies.
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... & Housing Dreams
Our Board of Supervisors is keen for the City to acquire the PG&E infrastructure.An offer of $2.5 billion has been rejected.
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This mural is currently on loan from City College to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) —The agreement includes the return of the mural to City College which has been its owner and guardian since 1940.
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In third grade...nearly 60% of students are not yet proficient in reading — students can't “read to learn” until they have successfully learned to read.
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Concerns that trouble Quentin but may only annoy most folks.
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Westside Neighbors to Protest Climate-Hostile Banks
West Portal's Chase Bank protest highlights banks’ dominant funding of fossil fuels.
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Dreams Come True
The winning projects will be most closely align to the criteria and can be successfully completed with the funding allocated as a one-time grant.
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The Oxalis Obsession
The herbicides don’t kill the bulbs. You can kill the top growth and other plants, but you won’t kill the oxalis.
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No wonder the City finds itself in scandals — when the Ethics Commission and the City Attorney doesn't enforce misconduct.
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DPH kept the report secret for months
The report finally gives us a complete picture of LHH's problems and the path to recover.
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Oxalis is rampant in the Bay Area
Its a tragedy for all the foragers who depend on native plants: myriads of insects, the birds and others that feed on them ...
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Roadmap or Pipedream?
Well-resourced Neighborhoods are guilty of plenty, explains the new Element. Racism, greed, selfishness– ... it's time to reform
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Ignoring document requests, misinforming Supes and Boards — are Feds feed up yet?
The showdown at LHH. Now the Feds are demanding SF hire qualified Nursing Home Administrators!
Check it outWhat could possibly go wrong?
It had major consequences for SF's economy, and millions in lost tax revenue City taxpayers spent an additional $2 million for police patrols.
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Did 20 years of mismanagement prompt the Feds to intervene?
Kanaley had no experience running a skilled nursing facility whatsoever and certainly no experience or training to run a 1,200-bed nursing home with approximately 1,500 employees
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An easier way to pass local taxes for schools
Can regulating taxation by local governments (two-thirds vote for a parcel tax) override a majority vote in a citizens initiative? Nope.
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According to TogetherSF, District elections is the problem
The proposed fix is to return to at-large board seats to get more done for the whole City.
Check it outProblems looming at the Shipyard
Newsom violated ethics laws by signing into law Shipyard redevelopment measures he sponsored before the Board of Supervisors and accepted the transfer of Parcel A at the cost of one dollar
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Oversight for Patients Rights
A group of friends formed to rescind her hospice disposition and return her home to live or die among her treasured surroundings...
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Culpability extends to the feds as well as LHH
So far, twelve patients are dead. 11 patients were severely disabled and had profound cognitive impairment.
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Weeks After Forced Discharge, Patients Began Dying
LHH wants to avoid culpability when patients die, but actions have consequences, sometimes grave
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and even stranger things
A look at the City's lawsuit against PG&E, at at SFPUC's mismanagement of flooding, AI's artificial idiocy, and aging in SF!
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The issue is heating up AGAIN. the SFUSD high school task force will present recommendations on admission policies
Read MoreSay No to Bay Lights; Stop polluting the night sky
Our resources are precious, and we shouldn't be using them in displays of lighting that serve no practical purpose.
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A book review of San Fran-sicko
Poor people seldom end up on the street.But, addicted and mentally ill people become “disaffiliated” from supporters – a key determinant of street homelessness
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Immediate Jeopardy Violation Further Risks Laguna Honda
Unanswered questions: will they continue admitting behaviorally disturbed patients ... will forced discharges resume on February 2?
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30% of Parkmerced's 3,221 units are vacant. If the Prop M Vacant Unit Tax does not encourage lower rents, the City might purchase them at a bargain, making thousands of new units available...
Check it outCalifornia Deserves Better
Feinstein has been an enthusiastic supporter of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. How have those wars benefited the families of California?
Check it outMadam Mayor parties down as City is deluged in “atmospheric river”
Adorned in a feather boa and accompanied by City Attorney David Chiu, Breed's City Officials were oblivious to the massive flooding NASA satellite images predicted December 16, 2022.
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A huge number of students who enter high school are not proficient in English and math — almost 45 percent of SFUSD 8th graders are not proficient in English. More than half are not proficient in math
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Mayor Breed’s backroom manipulations brought the defeat of Mar and the election of Dorsey — more targets in 2024?
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Root Cause Analysis: Key Report Missing?
... it tells us that they are maintaining secrecy to cover up the loss of greatly needed skilled nursing services in SF
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Banning children’s books from schools and libraries is a threat not only to freedom of speech but also to our commitment to teach our children well.
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...the mission of a nursing home is to promote resident autonomy. This is not compatible with the treatment of persons with unstable behavioral issues, which requires structure and agreement to "house rules." If LHH continues admitting persons with active substance use or unstable mental illness, we will lose Laguna Honda.
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Willie Brown predicted the Central Subway would reduce (can you imagine?) Muni’s operating costs by $23.9 million annually. Muni’s operating costs will now increase by more than $25 million per year.
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Renne's Gambit Goes Belly Up
Renne sought to take credit for the Tobacco Settlement Revenue lawsuit. It was used, in part, to pay for the LHH rebuild project. Renne had done no such thing.
Check it outUNs’ COP27 / Healing Starts at Hunters Point
Climate reparations dominated Egypt's UN Climate Change Summit this month — overburdened communities demand help cutting emissions, adapting to climate change…and compensation for damages!
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The expectation is that children attend school. The latest data from SFUSD severely challenges these expectations.
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Too many questions remain unanswered
Has LHH been skirting its Admissions Policy — by accepting patients who endanger themselves and others by using and distributing drugs?
Check it outRELATED: Settlement Locks-in Re-certification
Read MoreLetter: Questions to ask about the Settlement
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Residents of single-family homes will be watching this variance ... if this could happen to my property, neighbors could easily be the next victim.
Read MoreNobody Home?
We’re not building at the price points where the demand actually is, so we’re overproducing what folks can’t afford.
Check it outWhat could possibly go wrong?
3 meetings held so far —will Westside feedback be considered?
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… the statistics remain grim. In 2018, DPH found that Bayview is significantly more at risk than other neighborhoods.
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In case you missed the memo, this election day Nov. 8 is a choice between two opposing visions for our nation..
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City Attorney’s Legal Case Was Strong
Why did Chiu do an about-face and drop both his lawsuits merely to delay re-certification?
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School districts with the more low-income students, English learners, foster youth and homeless students get a lot more money.
Read MoreReassesing DA Boudin's Recall
We are reaping what was sown in 2004. Newsom and Mark Buell, a real estate developer, had big plans for the City
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His required learning curve and that of his associates is just the opposite of what theory teaches is a management requirement.
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Did our City Attorneys ask for evidence that decertifying LHH was well-founded before conceding to a Settlement?
Read More ...The Board of Supervisors and the Health Commission need to be bold enough to speak out and stop this nonsense.
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Ongoing Issues Threaten Re-Certification
The first survey completed in July found Laguna Honda would not pass a CMS certification.
Check it outReassesing DA Boudin's Recall
Within months, single-handedly, this incredibly powerful man was causing misery and making people feel unsafe throughout San Francisco.
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Since its inception, the SOTF has been a thorn in City Hall’s backside. Why? ... Engaged citizens and journalists seek more information than officialdom likes to share.
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Post-Pandemic Light rail and buses are running empty. SF’s mass transit was designed to take people to a deserted downtown ... a ghost town.
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Audit non-profit agencies and City contracts to ensure that services are provided ... especially those providing homeless services. ...revenue-generating departments need to ensure all revenue sources are addressed
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A 21,000-gallon diesel fuel deficit ...despite spending $230,000 on a fuel monitoring system...and the struggle to track $4.7 million tool inventory.
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But Don't Hold Your Breath
Housing and crime are driving residents out of the city, so too does the rising cost of utilities!
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What Me Worry? Owning DPH’s Mistakes
Laguna Honda followed the wrong rulebook and failed to follow training guidelines
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Reducing access to advanced mathematics — elevating trendy but shallow courses could cause lasting damage
Read MoreSeptember is the best month for skywatching
You won't see from downtown what you can see from Mt. Tam. Out here at Ocean Beach the nighttime fog makes viewing an occasional event. Happy skywatching!
Check it outTravel: Sergio is back!
Florence, where the Renaissance blossomed and its endless treasures are still here for all of us to enjoy.
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Step-by-step
& Where are we now?
LHH has always been a nursing home facility, has no locked beds and no licensing to take care of behavioral, substance abuse or mental illness.
Check it outOutside Lands Outrage
It's clear Outside Lands damaged Golden Gate Park but has not honored its agreement to repair any damage to the Park
Check it outDigging Into the PG&E Buyout
Is there any company easier to despise than PG&E? Explosions, fires, outages: PG&E is constantly in the “ain’t it awful” column.
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At about $17,000 per student, California funding no longer lurks in the national basement.
Check it outTravel: Sergio is back!
I would think that a small island like Mallorca would have a simple, antiquated airport, but that was quite the opposite.”
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Despite these commitments to ensure safe and minimally-stressful transfers ... it did not fully grasp the number and complexity of LHH patients. So, LHH was “pigeon-holed into rules applying to standard nursing homes.
Check it outWestside Fire Response
Mayor Breed remains blissfully silent on the need to extend adequate fire protection to approximately half the City, even though she has knowledge of Fire Department needs having been a fire commissioner in 2010.
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Supervisor Myrna Melgar rallied Supervisors, passing two urgent Resolutions — before the Board went out on summer recess. She achieved this victory!
Check it outDead Trees of LaPlaya
D5 gets $50,000 for tree planting. D8, $246,000 for sidewalk gardens and street trees. And that's it for the entire City. If there is a climate emergency you wouldn't know it from San Francisco.”
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There is a need for a routine and consistent review of this facility. Programs that exist here are rarely audited, and when they are, the list of improvements required is long and important.
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Children living in poverty are two to three times more likely to be chronically absent—and face the most harm because their community lacks the resources to make up for the lost learning in school.
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As of July 11, just 623 patients remain at LHH, compared to 681 in May. Most have been transferred to San Mateo nursing homes. Three went to homeless shelters.
Check it outWill District 7 Join the Progressives?
Banished D7's western precincts voted 76% in favor of the recall. Acquired Inner Sunset voted 61% against the recall, the future is in flux.
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Carving Up LHH Patient Towers into Two Uses, “Cohorting” Different Patient Populations in Each Tower? A Disaster for SF's Health Needs
Check it outWest Virginia v EPA
Power plant emissions formed black soot on windows and doorways in their homes and triggered asthma attacks, headaches and nosebleeds in their children. Residents led the successful fight that ultimately closed the PG&E Hunters Point power plant in 2006
Check it outTrouble in Outer Sunset
...the farmers market gets: 2000-6000 visitors per weekend. Whereas if the area were ceded back for Saint Ignatius’s parking needs they would serve about 60 cars...
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LHH was given 6 months to correct its deficiencies. A follow-up inspection found persistent - and seemingly worse - drug and contraband use, despite LHH’s Plan of Correction.
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Both consultants provided “preliminary assessment reports” of their initial recommendations. Only HMA’s “preliminary assessment report” has been made public.
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A cheap shot at the academic-based school that highlights SFUSD failures does not solve the problem.
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in the near-term, methane is 80 times more potent than CO2 as a contributing factor to global warming.
Check it outCulture of Silence" and Cover-up Plagues LHH Management
Crises like COVID-19 and the one at LHH have “unmasked a society that does not value the aged and disabled.” Dr. Palmer noted
Check it outDPH's “Flow Project” Comes Home to Roost
Everybody involved knew that adding “unstable” adults brought disarray and danger to Laguna Honda's seniors. Most folks just went along. Now they’re surprised?
Check it outSea Level Rise and Toxic Groundwater
The report concludes groundwater “may” become contaminated as sea level rises. In fact, Shipyard groundwater was documented as“contaminated” where thousands of homes are being constructed.
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“It seems preposterous to put a library on a congested thoroughfare when there are better places that are safer for pedestrians to use,” one community member said.
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People are frustrated and spurt out the word “segregated” That's because SFUSD has failed to prepare all ethnicities for a rigorous academic high school.
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41% of companies allow employees to relocate permanently to any state freely, while companies that do not allow the employees to relocate elsewhere represent only 5%.
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The moderates only need to flip one district from the progressive side of the aisle to preclude the veto power of the Board of Supervisors, since the mayor appointed moderate Supervisor Matt Dorsey ... the Redistricting Task Force handed moderates a perfect set up to do just that.
Check it outCalifornians Asked to cut water by 5%
If a mandatory reduction is ordered, there will be a “floor” or minimum allocation per person so that those who have conserved, and now conserve, will not be penalized.
Read More ...Graft, deception, double-dealing, fraud
...competence erodes as conscientious employees get marginalized and lackeys are promoted. This consolidation promotes impunity. Betraying the public trust is normalized.
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Boudin's famed "puppy killer" strikes again
Boudin and the judge circumvented diversion rules because violent criminals are “not eligible” for diversion programs. Why did Boudin send someone to drug diversion if they weren’t arrested for drugs?”
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Despite the fact that discharge is not legally required (yet) at Laguna Honda, all patients and their families are being interviewed for discharge and this is causing a lot of stress.
Too bad no one saw this coming......oh, a group of doctors from Laguna Honda did.
Read More ...Addicts Housed with Frail Elderly—What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
State Health inspectors diagnosed “Substandard Quality of Care.” Records showed the disarray was more dire than LHH publicly disclosed.
Check it outBreed's Policing Numbers Don't Add Up
You can flood the Tenderloin with officers, but if you do not have the officers to sustain the effort, you will not see sustained results.
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If you don't take academic success into account, what would happen to those students who do not meet basic proficient levels
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HP Biomonitoring was awarded a $50,000 grant from CalEPA to create a live and virtual “Community Window on Environmental Exposures””
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Over time, those special interests have proven adept at using the same “peoples protections” to further their own interests. Recalls are expensive, and a few of San Francisco’s bitterest billionaires buy low-turnout elections when they disagree with the voters...
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41% of companies allow employees to relocate permanently to any state freely, while companies that do not allow the employees to relocate elsewhere represent only 5%.
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Knowing that either way he rules, an appeal is likely, Alameda Court Judge Frank Roesch weighs the evidence.
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