City Hall
S.F. City Hall flags lowered to honor Bay Area family lost in Texas floods
San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco, California Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Flags here were lowered to honor Kentfield residents Mark and Sara Walker and their son Johnny who died in the Texas floods.
via www.sfchronicle.com
Politics
Eleni Kounalakis won’t run for California governor
California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis announced Friday she is dropping out of the 2026 gubernatorial race and will instead seek the state treasurer position, reshuffling a crowded Democratic field and reflecting larger state and national shifts.
via sfstandard.com
Tech’s Democratic donors have gone dormant — while conservatives double down
The Silicon Valley billionaires who brought Democrats to historic fundraising highs in 2024 have officially stepped off their white horses. Many major Bay Area donors — tech executives and VCs who each poured millions into last year’s presidential election — have so far appeared to donate nothing to national politics in 2025, while their Republican counterparts have kept the money flowing.
via sfstandard.com
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis drops bid for California governor, will run for treasurer
Eleni Kounalakis, speaks at the gubernatorial candidate salon in Sacramento on May 12, 2025. Kounalakis announced early Friday she's dropping her bid for governor and will run for state treasurer in 2026.
via www.sfchronicle.com
Israel says it will retake Gaza City, escalating war with Hamas
Israel says it will take over Gaza City, escalating its war with Hamas even as it faces growing international calls to end the 22-month conflict.
via www.nbcbayarea.com
What US consumers can expect from new tariffs on imported goods
American businesses and consumers soon will have a better idea of how President Donald Trump’s foreign trade agenda might affect them now that the United States has imposed higher tariffs on products from dozens of countries.
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Pelosi defends VA workforce after Trump announces possible changes
To mark Purple Heart Day on Thursday, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi visited San Francisco's Veterans Affairs hospital.
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Satellite images show Israel preparing for possible ground invasion of Gaza, sources say
Commercial satellite images show the Israeli military building up troops and equipment near the border with Gaza that would support a possible new ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave, according to three U.S. officials and a former official who viewed the imagery.
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Human Rights
Displaced Russell City Residents Set to Receive Reparations
In the 1960s, Alameda County and the city of Hayward forcibly displaced more than 1,000 mostly Black and Latino residents living in a 12-block unincorporated area called Russell City to make way for an industrial park. Now, the city and county have approved reparations for former residents whose homes were seized by the government.
via ww2.kqed.org
Immigration
The state Legislature just made it easier for Trump to deport immigrants
Plus: Chasing SF ghosts in 'Night Driver,' Sun Ra Arkestra in orbit
via newsletters.48hills.org
ICE is holding people in its S.F. office for days. Advocates say there are no beds, private toilets
A view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's field offices at 630 Sansome St in San Francisco is seen on Thursday. ICE is holding immigrants at its field offices for days due to overcrowding at detention centers. Lawyers have raised concerns about the lack of beds, privacy, access to medical care and other services.
via www.sfchronicle.com
At least two people detained in S.F. by ICE today. How many more?
At approximately 7:50 a.m. Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested a 41-year-old Salvadoran father in the parking lot of his Napa apartment building.
via missionlocal.org
The state Legislature just made it easier for Trump to deport immigrants
The California Legislature is having brain tumors for breakfast again.
via 48hills.org
Housing
How An Unhoused San Francisco Resident Navigates a New Era of Street Enforcement
When Armando Herrera got out of drug treatment last year, he returned to the streets of San Francisco — still unhoused, but in a better place than he’d been in years.
via ww2.kqed.org
Arts and Events
Art galleries are proliferating all over the Tenderloin. Just look at the Art Walk.
As dusk fell on the Tenderloin Thursday night, crowds of thirtysomethings in flat-billed caps and flannel shirts spilled out onto the sidewalks, sipping plastic cups of orange wine or tall boys bought from corner stores. They strolled the streets between galleries, popping into modest storefronts converted into art spaces. Some were shopping, others were there to support their friends and absorb the work of the artists among them: abstract landscapes, erotic Polaroids, rugs tufted in the shape of men’s underwear, cityscapes in pastels.
via missionlocal.org
What's new to eat — and what's still tasty — at Outside Lands
State
via www.sfexaminer.com
The bring-your-own-book book club at the Richmond Library
In an attention economy driven by algorithms, there exists a bimonthly escape in the Richmond.
via missionlocal.org
Criminal Justice
The unstoppable San Francisco shoplifter courts can’t contain
Over seven months, Neil Peck became infamous among workers at Target at San Francisco’s Metreon mall.
via sfstandard.com
He's one of SF's most prolific shoplifters. He's never been to prison
Over seven months, Neil Peck became infamous among workers at Target at San Francisco’s Metreon mall.
via sfstandard.com
Surveillance and Sex Work on Shotwell
Recent complaints about sex work in the Mission made the news this August. But the issue is more nuanced than previously reported.
via brokeassstuart.com
Manager of Bay Area horse riding company charged with animal cruelty
An employee at a horseback riding company that was the subject of a May 2024 Standard investigation has been charged with animal cruelty, the Santa Clara County district attorney announced Thursday.
via sfstandard.com
Education
California Teams With Google, Microsoft, IBM, Adobe to Prepare Students for AI Era
At Google’s San Francisco offices Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a joint effort with four top tech companies to better prepare California’s students for the future of work.
via ww2.kqed.org
San Jose Unified prohibits student phone use during school day
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Environment
Thrust fault at Diablo power plant concerns seismic expert
As PG&E’s aging Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is up for a 20-year federal license renewal, one scientist cites new GPS data to suggest there’s a looming seismic threat from an active thrust fault that extends under the plant. But other experts say he is overstating the risk.
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Health
Day Around the Bay: Yolo County Casino Suffers Tuberculosis Exposure
Image: Joe Kukura, SFist
via sfist.com
Public Safety
Richmond Officer Who Killed Armed Man Monday Has a Record of Police Misconduct, Lawsuits Allege
An officer who fatally shot a man in Richmond Monday was also involved in a February police shooting, and is named in multiple lawsuits alleging police misconduct since 2024.
via ww2.kqed.org
Friday Morning Constitutional: Man Rescued From Bay Near Pier 1 1/2
via sfist.com
Burglars break into Los Angeles store, steal Labubus
More than $30,000 in merchandise, including popular plush toys, were stolen from an East Los Angeles shop in La Puente, California, that specializes in the collectible items.
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Crime trending down in Oakland, new numbers show
Good news about safety in The Town.
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Sports
Kawakami: ‘How was Bosa?’ And other key 49ers questions on a major camp day
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via sfstandard.com
Baseball’s Hall of Fame acknowledges Barry Bonds. Will Cooperstown ever honor him?
Want the latest Bay Area sports news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here to receive regular email newsletters, including “The Dime.”
via sfstandard.com
Levi's Stadium unveils $200M improvements, 4K video boards
The 49ers say Levi's Stadium is ready to take the national and international spotlight next year, now that its $200 million renovation project is complete. The improvements to the stadium have been going on the past two years and notably include two new 4K video boards.
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Valkyries Put Giant Purple Egg Outside Chase Center, In Apparent Marketing Ploy
A four-foot-tall, Valkyries-purple egg appeared in front of the Chase Center Thursday morning, and the team is playing coy about what is obviously some marketing stunt.
via sfist.com
Miscellaneous
San Francisco sends aid to massive Central California wildfire
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Royal Caribbean passenger injured after water slide shatters on Icon of the Seas
via www.nbcbayarea.com
Image captures speeding comet visiting from another solar system
via www.nbcbayarea.com
BART and AC Transit’s New Schedules and Changes Start This Week. Check If Your Route’s Affected
Bay Area commuters: big changes are coming your way.
via ww2.kqed.org
Front page trivia: Play our S.F. history quiz
via www.sfchronicle.com
This will be S.F.’s nicest weekend of weather so far this year
San Francisco’s microclimates will be on full display this weekend with high temperatures in the 60s at Ocean Beach but well into the 70s along the bay shoreline.
via www.sfchronicle.com
Instagram's new map feature receives mixed reviews
A debate is brewing over a new feature on Instagram.
via www.nbcbayarea.com