SF Dispatch 1/16/26

Welcome to the SF Dispatch, a daily newsletter round-up to save you some time catching up on the latest headlines from billionaire funded to independent news.

🌁 Featured News

So what if the billionaires leave California? - 48 hills

A member of Patriotic Millionaires says the rich probably won’t flee a new wealth tax—but we might be better off if some of them did

48 hillsTim Redmond

In the Dark: Who’s Really to Blame for the Great SF Blackout?

‘The fish rots from the head,’ says one expert — and the smell is coming from the governor’s mansion.

COYOTEIda Mojadad

SFPD data shows racial disparity in traffic stops fell with new policy

After a lengthy and contentious process to restrict police “pretext” stops, early data shows improvements.

Mission LocalEleni Balakrishnan

The SF Immigration Court death spiral accelerates

The DOJ announced that it will close down San Francisco’s immigration court at 100 Montgomery Street, shuttering more than half of what was until recently one of the busiest courts in the nation.

The San Francisco Standard[email protected]

📰 Local Headlines

City Hall

Daniel Lurie was the public safety mayor. Now he’s trying to be the affordability guy
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Mayor Lurie on San Francisco: ‘We Are On Our Way Back. But We Still Have Work To Do.’
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

‘Like Being A Mayor’: Residents Outline Hopes For Rec and Park’s Next Leader
via www.inglesidelight.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

LGBTQ reaction mixed to SF mayor’s 1st State of the City 
via www.ebar.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

New Modular Bathroom Just Dropped in Precita Park, at Tiny Fraction of the Cost of $1.7 Million Noe Valley Toilet
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Street That Runs In Front of Academy of Sciences to Be Renamed for Claude the Alligator
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Claude, beloved albino alligator, to be memorialized with street name in San Francisco
via www.cbsnews.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Ocean Avenue Transit-Only Lanes Put On Hold To Find A Compromise
via www.inglesidelight.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

🟧 Red Lanes On Hold For Now // Rec And Park Boss Search Talk
via www.inglesidelight.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Watch live: Newsom, Lurie to discuss homelessness and mental health crisis in SF
via www.nbcbayarea.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Politics

Daniel Lurie’s state of the city: one part tough love, one part affordability
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Who Will Labor Support in the Race for California Governor?
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Wiener pitches $23B ‘science bond’ to backfill Trump research cuts
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Criminal Justice

Actor Timothy Busfield Investigated In 2001 Sexual Misconduct Incident at Sacramento Theater
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Verdict reached in 'Grandpa Vicha' pushing death trial
via www.ktvu.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Ashley St. Clair, mother of one of Elon Musk's children, sues xAI over Grok sexual images
via www.nbcbayarea.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

‘Grandpa Vicha’ Murder Suspect Found Not Guilty of Murder, Convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Public Safety

PG&E Told Firefighters They ‘Did Not Need Assistance’ Before Gas Explosion Near Hayward
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

SFPD data shows falling racial disparity in traffic stops after adoption of new policy
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Berkeley police hear concerns as they consider expanding Flock Safety cameras, adding drones
via www.ktvu.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

As Federal Surveillance Grows, Santa Cruz Axes Powerful License Plate Readers
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Slow down: Oakland kicks off speed camera program
via www.ktvu.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Person fatally shot in SF's Mission District
via www.nbcbayarea.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Immigration

The SF immigration court death spiral continues
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

California Prosecutors Push Back on ICE Immunity Claims
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Labor

Proposal to Tax Billionaires Ignites a Political Fight in California
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Business

California Forever Eyes New Trump Initiative to Bring Its Shipbuilding Plans to Life
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Day Around the Bay: PG&E Will Be Cutting Many SF Residents’ Power on Monday and Tuesday
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Mysterious LLC wants to turn Mission’s old Social Security building into restaurant, bookstore and events space 
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

One of downtown’s most glamorous martini bars is opening a penthouse restaurant
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Preventative PG&E power outage planned in San Francisco to complete repairs
via www.nbcbayarea.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Culture

Good Taste: A new Girl Scout cookie—and some classic hacks
via 48hills.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

A Tribute to Bob Weir (1947–2026)
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Talk of the Tenderloin
via sf.gazetteer.co | Push to Kindle | Source Link

The Choral Is a Flat Drama With Queer Undertones
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

The newsletter of good living
via sf.gazetteer.co | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Housing

Displaced by fire, then robbed: Tenderloin tenants say landlord left them vulnerable
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Over 100 unhoused people died in S.F. last year. A memorial service tries to remember all of them.
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Environment

Bay Area's Spare the Air alert to be in effect through at least Saturday
via www.cbsnews.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Trump Administration Sues California to Allow Oil Wells Near Schools and Hospitals
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Weather Forecast Haze Air Quality
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Human Rights

Frederick Gotthold Enslin: ‘Dismiss’d [From] the Service With Infamy’
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Health

Deadly Bacterial Infection Breaks Out at Berkeley Homeless Encampment, Kills Two Dogs
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

California Lawmakers Defend Doctor as States Clash Over Abortion
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

San Francisco Airport’s Fear of Flying Clinic Welcomes Nervous Passengers Aboard
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Education

‘No clue, no heads up’: Newsom shocked by CCA’s abrupt closure after $20M state grant
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Opinion

So what if the billionaires leave California?
via 48hills.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Crime is no longer the defining political issue in cities
via newsletters.48hills.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Sister Dana sez, “So, the new year is here…”
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

After a Year of Bad Films, Finally There’s a Movie Worth Seeing: Song Sung Blue
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

As Trump threatens Cuba, a solidarity visit shows the impact of US sanctions
via 48hills.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

The pragmatist and the socialist: How Lurie’s State of the City speech one-upped Mamdani
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

The ugly truth about the firing of Hazie’s hot bartender
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

In the Dark: Who’s Really to Blame for the Great SF Blackout?
via www.coyotemedia.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Prelude
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

So what if the billionaires leave California?
via newsletters.48hills.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Arts and Events

Mosswood Meltdown’s full lineup drops: Dead Milkmen, Iggy Pop, Bikini Kill aboard
via 48hills.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link

SuperFriends NYC Trip to Philly for the Mummers Parade
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus 2025 Holiday Concerts and a Preview of Upcoming Events
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Smuin’s 2025 Christmas Ballet LGBTQ+ Night
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Rumor Swirls That Taylor Swift Will Be In San Francisco for the Super Bowl
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Mosswood Meltdown Announces 2026 Lineup, Iggy Pop and Bikini Kill Are Headliners
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Rock the boat
via sf.gazetteer.co | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Oakland’s Piedmont Piano Company to Feature Music by Women and Nonbinary Composers on January 25
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Dr. Tim Seelig Birthday Fundraiser for the Portland Sage Singers: Q+ Elders and Allies
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Blue Angels pay quick visit to the Bay Area in preparation for annual Fleet Week show
via www.nbcbayarea.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link

Miscellaneous

Bayview Buzz: 24-hour sandwich shops and coffee with a side of injera. 
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link