San Francisco Public Press

03/31/2025

Protesters gathered at Airbnb's SF headquarters on 3/28 to denounce the dismantling of government healthcare programs and call on their elected officials to push back against cuts.

Facing looming threats to healthcare programs, the implementation of anti-immigrant policies, and the outsized role of billionaires in Trump’s administration, protesters gathered at Airbnb's headquarters in San Francisco with message for state and local elected officials: “Get a f—ing backbone...

03/31/2025

A complaint filed with the San Francisco Ethics Commission accuses the campaign to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio of failing to properly report its spending and disclose funding sources of campaign materials. The complaint's status is unclear.

A complaint filed with the San Francisco Ethics Commission accuses the group campaigning to recall District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio of failing to properly report its spending and disclose funding sources of campaign materials. The commission has not yet indicated whether it is taking any action o...

03/26/2025

A new coalition of Bay Area environmental justice organizations rallied outside an EPA office Tuesday to protest the Trump administration's sweeping deregulatory actions and funding cuts to the agency. Advocates say communities of color already overburdened with pollution will be hit hardest by recently announced deregulatory actions, which will affect power plants, the oil and gas industry, mercury and air toxics standards and vehicle emissions.

About 150 Bay Area residents and advocates for environmental justice gathered on the steps of an Environmental Protection Agency office in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday to protest the Trump administration’s rollbacks of environmental protections.  Greenaction for Health and Environmental Just...

03/22/2025

Pacifica artist Oscar Lopez has a reputation for building community and using his art to tie contemporary experiences of immigrants and farmworkers to Indigenous history.

Oscar Lopez has a reputation for building community and using his art to tie contemporary experiences to Indigenous history.

03/21/2025

San Francisco sometimes complied with a policy to help unhoused people retain essentials, new records show. Despite logging 126 encampment clearings over 3 months, the city recorded just 11 signed acknowledgements from homeless people.

Recently, San Francisco staff sometimes complied with a years-old policy designed to help people living on the streets retain essential property, new records show. Despite logging 126 encampment clearings over three months, the city recorded just 11 signed acknowledgements from unhoused people.

03/17/2025

San Francisco has a long history of providing refuge to people in marginalized communities.

San Francisco has a long history of providing refuge to people in marginalized communities.

03/15/2025

The Chinese American Democratic Club has withdrawn its support for Supervisor Joel Engardio. Two years ago, the club endorsed him in the race where he narrowlly unseated a Chinese American incumbent. On Thursday, members voted to withdraw their support over the supervisor's position on closing the Great Highway to cars.

“He betrayed us,” said one attendee.

The Chinese American Democratic Club, one of the city’s oldest political associations for Chinese Americans and a vocal opponent of closing the Upper Great Highway to cars, voted on Thursday to withdraw support of Supervisor Joel Engardio. The supervisor faces a recall attempt brought by constitue...

03/13/2025

Last chance to come join us at the Roxie tonight for our benefit screening of Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink! Get your tickets now by scanning QR code or visiting https://sfpr.es/filmeventmarch13

03/12/2025

For four decades, San Francisco has been a refuge and a battleground for immigrants seeking a better life when federal policies threaten its most vulnerable residents. But today, that sanctuary is under threat.
On this episode of Civic from the San Francisco Public Press, we hear from those directly affected by the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts and the fear they face every day:
Jasmine: “My parents are both immigrants, and I'm very scared of one day them getting deported back to Mexico. It makes me really sad because I don't want them to go.”
Ana Garcia: “We don't deserve to live in fear. We don't deserve to be disrespected and dehumanized every time the government opens its mouth.”
We also speak with experts offering historical context and organizers leading resistance movements.
Listen now: [link]

Ever since President Donald Trump’s inauguration this year, thousands of residents and officials across the Bay Area have been showing support for municipal and state policies that protect undocumented immigrants. Communities from San Mateo to Dublin have held protests each week in response to the...

03/10/2025

Don't miss our film screening this Thursday!
https://sfpr.es/filmeventmarch13

03/10/2025

Toxic cleanups take longer in marginalized communities, shows a Public Press analysis of more than 20,000 Bay Area sites. Many factors, including the type of contamination and the complexity of the cleanup, could affect how long a remediation takes and explain some of the differences. But disparities in cleanup times only deepened in an analysis of a subset of comparable sites. People who live near toxic sites worry for their health, and experts warn that prolonged exposure to contamination as a result of slow cleanups can increase the risk of illness for nearby residents. Why do cleanups take longer in marginalized communities? Here’s what we found.

Toxic site cleanups take longer in marginalized communities, according to a new Public Press analysis of more than 20,000 sites of varying size across the nine-county Bay Area. In areas that scored high on a national index of socioeconomic vulnerability, the median cleanup took more than 450 days lo...

03/09/2025

Check out this trailer https://vimeo.com/923029964
and get your tickets today for Thursday 6 p.m. at the Roxie theater in San Francisco sfpr.es/filmeventMarch13
(2 blocks from 16th St. BART)

03/08/2025

Advocates for domestic violence survivors say Fremont's tough new anti-encampment law criminalizes being unhoused — and advocates themselves are concerned they could be punished for helping to those living in cars or encampments.

Enforcement, which was set to begin March 13, might be delayed because of a lawsuit filed this week by several advocacy organizations and church groups, accusing the city of criminalizing homelessness and compassion.

With Fremont passing an ordinance that many say is one of the nation’s most stringent on homelessness, advocates for domestic violence survivors say the tough law criminalizes vulnerable community members — and advocates are concerned that they themselves could be punished for helping to those l...

03/07/2025

San Francisco's largest landlord has withdrawn a rent reduction offer and moved to evict striking tenants in Tenderloin building, organizers say. The tenants have been on rent strike for over a year over habitability complaints dating back to when the building was owned by a different owner.

San Francisco's largest residential landlord has withdrawn an offer of rent reductions for tenants of a Tenderloin building who have been on rent strike and negotiating with the property owner for more than a year, tenant organizers say. The landlord is moving to evict six of the seven remaining str...

03/07/2025

Don't miss our benefit film screening next Thursday, March 13, at The Roxie. Get tickets here: https://sfpr.es/filmeventmarch13
We are screening Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink at 6 PM, doors at 5:30. As the first in a series of events launched to spark conversation about the state of our democracy and the role of local independent media, we hope to see you there!

03/05/2025

After months of pushback, Chinatown leaders reached a compromise with San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency on proposed bus cuts. The revised plan keeps the 30S bus running slightly south of Market Street, maintaining the Chinatown-SOMA connection with the same cost savings the agency first proposed.

After months of pushback from Chinatown community leaders, a compromise has been reached on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's proposed bus service cuts. The revised plan will allow the 30S bus route to run slightly south of Market Street.

03/03/2025

This week marks three years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the conflict shows no signs of ending as the U.S. votes against a UN resolution for Russia's withdrawal. In this episode of Civic from April 7, 2022, we hear from San Francisco residents with deep ties to Ukraine who were fearing for loved ones and desperately trying to help by sending vital medical supplies and welcoming refugees into the Bay Area. Their reactions remain as powerful and urgent as ever.

This week marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the conflict shows no signs of ending. On the eve of this grim anniversary, Russia launched its largest drone attack yet, causing widespread destruction and civilian casualties. Days later, the U.S. voted against a U.N. resolution...

02/25/2025

The city plans to roll back a mandate requiring that front doors in public-facing buildings meet a local accessibility requirement.

Despite six enforcement delays, over 7,000 buildings still haven’t complied or reported back.

Now, the Board of Supervisors wants to scrap the never-enforced rule, saying compliance would burden small businesses and take up city staffers' time and resources.

Disability advocates worry this is an overcorrection and call for changing the rule instead of scrapping it entirely.

“Accessibility is an issue that’s not going away,” said Walter Park, a disability advocate.

The Board of Supervisors is set to vote on eliminating a local requirement for accessible business entrances after having postponed enforcement six times. Around 7,000 businesses citywide are noncompliant or have not reported their status, despite some going to great lengths to comply before the cit...