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.
đ Featured News
As the historian Robert Paxton argues in The Anatomy of Fascism, fascism is less a fixed ideology than a process that adapts to local traditions, forging coalitions with elites when conditions ripen; the forms change, the choreography repeats. Scholar Umberto Eco called it a âfamily resemblanceâ: habits that survive by wearing whatever costume a society will accept. In San Francisco, those habits are stitched from our civic self-image â competence, moderation, order â until efficiency becomes a polemic alibi.
The use of the word fascism to describe tendencies within our local government is a heavy one, and skepticism toward it is healthy. But Eco reminds us that one may name tendencies before uniforms appear. Once you know what to look for, the impulses are legible: Nostalgia for a purified past, obsession with crisis, vilification of dissent, contempt for weakness, and a manipulative moral vocabulary that renders complexity unspeakable. These are not abstractions; they describe how policy is narrated in San Francisco, where designed panic becomes emergency control and that control then becomes law.
- The Phoenix Project
Mariana Garcia
[email protected]
Hilda Gutierrez, Michael Bott, Alex Bozovic
Abigail Vân Neely
Marina Newman
Jay Barmann
đ° Local Headlines
City Hall
SF Elected Officials Get an Earful Over Lurieâs Rezoning Plans, Everyone Uses âMiami Beachâ as a Boogeyman
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
In âbizarreâ midnight move, S.F. nonprofit tied to corruption scandal wins reprieve
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Embroiled San Francisco Nonprofit Gets Green Light to Continue Work With City
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
S.F. supervisor decries Lurieâs move of tiny cabins to Bayview as âdishonestâ
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Day Around the Bay: Scandal-Tainted SF Nonprofit Somehow Wins Court Decision to Keep Getting City Money
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
With more events, cleanup effort near San Francisco's Moscone Center expands
via www.cbsnews.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
What should San Francisco do with the Vaillancourt Fountain? Take our survey
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Politics
CA Redistricting Measure on Track to Be One of the Most Expensive Proposition Fights In State History
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
How the government shutdown could impact the Social Security COLA increase
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Portland is no âwar zone,â as Trump has claimed. Legally, it might not matter
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Should I Still Visit Yosemite? And Other Questions About National Parks During the Shutdown
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Californiaâs first openly gay Supreme Court justice to step down, giving Newsom another pick
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Retired General Slams Trumpâs Troop Deployment
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Pelosi Challenger Saikat Chakrabarti Officially Kicks Off His 2026 Campaign at SFâs The Chapel
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Newsom urged governors to speak out against interstate troop deployments. A key Republican just did
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Newsom enacts LGBTQ youth bills into law
via www.ebar.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Criminal Justice
Attorney asks for delay in preliminary hearing in Eduardo Xol killing
via www.ebar.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
âIâm a bad boyâ: S.F. sheriffâs brother-in-law allegedly grew weed in county jail
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
S.F. man convicted of violent Outer Richmond robbery
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
California Supreme Court reinstates major change to three-strikes law
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
They protested on the Golden Gate for Gaza. The bridge wants $163K.
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Former San Francisco DA Arlo Smith dies at 98
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Public Safety
SF Appeals Court Appears Reluctant to Block Trumpâs National Guard Deployment to Portland
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
New S.F. sheriff chief of staff shoved BLM protester in 2020 video
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Family of four in murder-suicide investigation faced mounting financial struggles
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Friday Morning Constitutional: Freeway Shootout In Oakland Leads to Arrest In Walnut Creek
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Case of 4 found dead in SF home investigated as possible murder-suicide, sources say
via www.nbcbayarea.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
SF Sheriffâs Brother-In-Law Alleged to Have Been Growing Marijuana and Smoking It In County Jail
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Immigration
ICE ordered to release dozens of Bay Area immigrants over due process concerns
via www.nbcbayarea.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Labor
Front-line social workers at UCSF say they are attacked, traumatized, and underpaid
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Business
Can a boycott force Airbnb to pay its taxes?
via newsletters.48hills.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
âUrgent Needâ: Benicia Braces for Economic Future Without Valero
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
A Health-Conscious Goop Kitchen Is Coming to SoMa In December, Two More Locations Coming to South Bay
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
San Francisco hotels expect big boost from Fleet Week, Dreamforce conference
via www.cbsnews.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Nordstrom opens small service hub in San Francisco's Upper Fillmore District
via www.cbsnews.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Elon Musk is quietly expanding in the Bay Area again, starting with Neuralink
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Finding Diwali Outfits in a Suburban Garage; Making Whiskey on Mare Island
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Elon Musk Comes Crawling Back to the Bay Area, Seeking New Office Space for Neuralink and xAI
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Culture
The Power of the Hand
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Interview With Kiss of the Spider Woman Writer/ Director Bill Condon and Actor Tonatiuh
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
âThen and Nowâ: Sunset Boulevard and Judah Street
via richmondsunsetnews.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Westside Creative Marc Hayashi Spends His Life Weaving Stories
via richmondsunsetnews.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Dedicated Volunteer, John Fong, Dubbed âMayor of Geary and Clementâ
via richmondsunsetnews.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Nite Yunâs new cookbook, âMy Cambodia,â is an instant classic
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Housing
California just made fridges and stoves mandatory in every rental home
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Berkeleyâs city planning âcancel cultureâ
via 48hills.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
California Landlord Accused of Evicting Child Care Provider Settles Discrimination Complaint
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Newsom signs major housing bill allowing for dense construction near transit
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
SFâs Jazzieâs Place LGBTQ shelter triples in size
via www.ebar.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Environment
Storm system to bring seasonâs first heavy rains to the Bay Area
via www.ktvu.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Storm Forecasted to Hit the Bay Area Early Next Week as Typhoon Halong Hits Japan
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Human Rights
With social isolation tied to extremism, California convenings aim to bring communities together
via www.ebar.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Outer Sunset Nazi Store Demolished By Neighbors in 1977
via richmondsunsetnews.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Health
Sam Altman-Backed SF Company Making âLegal Ecstasyâ Wins Approval to Conduct Clinical Trials
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Newsom Expands CARE Court Mental Health Law to Reach More Californians
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Education
Alameda County to Oakland Schools: Reduce Costs, or Lose Financial Independence, Again
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
The UC Berkeley Lecturer Who Went on a 38-Day Hunger Strike for Gaza
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Opinion
Sister Dana sez, âHappy NATIONAL COMING OUT DAYâŚâ
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
As Lurie weighs Sunset appointment, history offers guidance: Pick a woman
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Arts and Events
Turning Point USA to host rival Super Bowl halftime show after Bad Bunny backlash
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
25th Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Soprano Breanna SinclairĂŠ Presents World Premiere of Trans Requiem in New York
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Petaluma Pride 2025 to Take Place on National Coming Out Day, October 11
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Engulf and Devour: How a Hedge Fund Has Been Plundering Americaâs Newspapers
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Kiss of the Spider Woman Is at Times Spellbinding
via sfbaytimes.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
A musical homecoming for Samuel Adams at Brava in Other Minds 29
via missionlocal.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Sports
49ers vs. Bucs: The Standardâs 5 fast predictions
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Breaking down Steve Kerrâs starting lineup options for the Warriors
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
The Warriorsâ âStrength in Numbersâ mantra might be more important than ever
via sfstandard.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Miscellaneous
Former Housekeeper Arrested for Sonoma Home Invasion Robbery Involving Her Stepson, Former Clients
via sfist.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
These Bay Area cities just made high profile list of top 10 best cities to visit
via www.ktvu.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
S.F. family found dead in Westwood Highlands home identified as new details emerge
via www.sfchronicle.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
Family found dead in San Francisco home: What we know
via www.ktvu.com | Push to Kindle | Source Link
The West Coastâs First Naval Base Is Now A Whiskey Distillery
via ww2.kqed.org | Push to Kindle | Source Link