“The 800 Market property now counts as Fountainhead’s second deeply discounted acquisition in San Francisco. The company also purchased 795 Folsom St. last year for $48.5 million”

No way!

I get hopeful knowing we have smaller, independent media outlets taking off where the legacy ones have disappeared or cored out.

“But most of the people waiting — who ran the gamut from Gen-Zers to to new parents with strollers to seniors — were shocked to learn of the nonconsensual nature of Baggu’s BART merch. When they did, they were not pleased.”

Disappointing, but shows the risk in doing the right thing for a lot of elected officials. “The recall was successful in part because Engardio had alienated his base by championing Prop. K to close the Great Highway, and that created an angry and energized electorate — a movement.”

That was a wake up call

“The vision is: how do we create the conditions necessary to make the Tenderloin truly into a place where the children can walk outside and enjoy the basic luxuries that everyone, every other child in the city, gets to enjoy,” said Supervisor Bilal Mahmood

This is wholesome “Erika Guadalupe Ramos Hernández was full of emotions when she became a United State citizens this week during a special ceremony held at Yosemite National Park.”

Not surprised at all, even downtown most don’t know it exists. “The Oaklandside recently visited four busy commercial districts — Grand Lake, Lakeshore, Fruitvale, and Dimond — to see how many businesses know about MACRO and have called on its team for help.”

“The first schematic designs were released in June, and designers from Field Operations — the landscape design firm behind the Tunnel Tops park and New York's High Line”

"Back in 1970, there were 90,000 kids in SF's public school system. Now, it's 50,046 as of the 2024-25 school year. [...] in the last ten years, Oakland's percentage of kids under 18 fell from 21% to 18%, a fairly steep decline. Similarly, San Jose's percentage dropped from 23% to 19%."

"The registrar expects a “nice handoff” and doesn’t anticipate any problems with the June 2026 primary elections. As for the county registrar’s IT functions, Dupuis said the 230-person team is “solid,” noting that they recently received an award for their performance by a good-government group."

I know I’m naive but it is pretty wild that the president of the United States just publicly declares he and the military killed some guys on a boat, multiple times, and the entirety of Congress doesn’t immediately hit a giant red IMPEACH button

“The San Francisco public already knew about the not-all-above-board spending practices of disgraced former Human Rights Commission chief and Dream Keeper program head Sheryl Davis, but a new city audit puts an eye-popping pricetag on it: $4.6 million.”

BREAKING: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a team of independent experts commissioned by the U.N.’s Human Rights Council concludes.

This part also doesn’t speak highly of Union Square, oddly enough. “In contrast, nearby Union Square has been attracting new stores, including Nintendo and, on Monday, the opening of Labubu toy maker Pop Mart. A new Ross store also opened downacross the street from the mall at 901 Market St.”

I’m always a sucker for this at GG Park

explaining that it occurred as contract workers were working at Montgomery Station in San Francisco. The workers physically moved fiber optic cables from some old train-control equipment to new equipment, and this caused a malfunction.”

“Councilmembers Charlene Wang, Janani Ramachandran, Ken Houston, and Rowena Brown didn’t respond to our requests for an interview. The Oaklandside followed up with these council members one week later to verify whether they’d ever discussed OPD radio encryption. None replied.”

✨🌙 Save the Date, Oakland! 🌙✨ The Oakland Chinatown Night Market is set for: 📅 Sat, Sept 13 | ⏰ 5–10 PM | 📍 8th & Webster to Broadway Food, culture, music & community vibes under the city lights — don’t miss it! 💚✨ See flyer for more details 🤓!

“awful people don’t deserve to be killed, but they don’t deserve to be praised, either” is apparently a thought too complex for the pundit mind

Yesterday and today’s reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death … from people with influence and power have left me in a stupor of confusion. This is how @semafor.com chose to summarize and elevate. This is how American public figures and politicians are choosing to describe and view this moment.

Jeffrey Epstein’s estate has given Congress a copy of the 2003 birthday book, including the letter with Trump’s signature that he has said doesn’t exist. Read more: 🔗 on.wsj.com/4nGGdnJ

“The senators have been working to put a regional funding ballot measure before voters during the November 2026 election. But even if approved, that funding would not begin until 2027 — the state loan was meant to help bridge that gap.”

“[…] allowing it to keep its nine stores open after filing for bankruptcy earlier this year.” “Books Inc., which has been a staple brick-and-morter bookstore in the Bay Area for more than 150 years”

Yup “Now, I’ve spent a lot of money and weeks putting the data for this article together, processing tens of terabytes of data in some cases. So I hope you appreciate how utterly uninspiring and flat these charts are across every major sector of software development.”

Ouch, Edith’s Pie shares news of coming closure. It’s not the first or last of many beloved small businesses in these weird times. The uptown Oakland shop is adorable and seeing it move from pop-ups and festivals to where it is today has been a delicious journey.

This is a bummer to hear - "21st Amendment was among the early wave of craft brewers on the SF scene, way back during the dot-com boom, and the closure news comes barely a month after the brewery's 25th anniversary."

Who rides transit in the Bay Area? 2023-2024 data is available at public.tableau.com/app/profile/... Except for ferries, the typical transit rider makes less money than the average Bay Area resident - this is even true for Caltrain, which has the highest average rider income other than the ferries.

“4 of the Albany businesses that were hit are clustered at Cornell and Solano avenues. In addition to Bua Luang and Tay Tah, they included the frozen yogurt and coffee shops across the street: As You Wish and Hal's Office. Bonnee Elterman owns both. All 4 of the shops are neighborhood institutions.”

This “explicit” is a weird editorial choice. The constitution gives the president no power over this at all. It’s not ambiguous.

Very thoughtful memorial, seemed like a dedicated public servant worthy of inspiring us all. “Peeples said he became interested in joining AC Transit’s board in the 1980s, because he had always enjoyed taking public transit as a kid who grew up riding San Francisco’s Muni system.”

If the board does nothing, OUSD would become insolvent. “There is no way to avoid making reductions somewhere if you’re going to be solvent,” Grant-Dawson said. “There is no additional funding coming in that is going to allow us to balance the support that’s needed for all schools.”

“BART had historically received an outsized portion of its revenue from ridership but has relied on emergency assistance to manage its budget in recent years,” [...]

So the sandwich guy ... beat the wrap

“This week, workers removed the prominent fencing around the park to reveal new flagstones on the upper plaza, a restored Peace Wall, an ADA pathway and updated irrigation, as well as extensive new landscaping”

“The massive 1.5 million square foot retail and office property at 865 Market St. remains in limbo. The auction had originally been scheduled for late 2024, following prior owners Westfield and […]. But the date has been repeatedly pushed back for unclear reasons.”

What are we even doing here everyone. “Drivers currently get a 15-minute break between routes, but they say that usually gets cut short.“

The day is finally here! “A new day for riders arrives Wednesday, August 20, as BART becomes the Bay Area’s first Tap and Ride system.”

Weird coincidence, no? “Congress’ website for the U.S. Constitution was changed to delete the last two sections of Article I, which include provisions such as habeas corpus, forbidding the naming of titles of nobility, and forbidding foreign emoluments for U.S. officials”

Not shocked given the changes last 5 years, but…wow. “Those who hold common stock — like employees who bought stock during or after their years at the company — will see their stock canceled under the terms of the agreement, making those investments effectively worthless.”

“It shocks the conscience. In dry bureaucratic language, the memo outlines a plan to revoke citizenship from the children of both immigrants who lack permanent legal status and many lawful residents”

“[…] as proposed will have three separate buildings, varying between nine and 16 stories tall. But that separation into three addresses made the parcel subject to the state’s Subdivision Map Act, which has a loophole allowing people to appeal projects at newly created addresses.” Interesting

Hunger and disease continue to stalk Palestinians in Gaza, and aid organizations are warning that children are at greatest risk of starvation. A U.N. worker has described people as "walking corpses."

During questioning, Walton handed Ogilvie a balance sheet that indicated that the Park Alliance currently owes San Francisco community groups $5.4 million. Ogilvie confirmed that the number is “at least that.”

“a 39-year-old mother of two was arrested at her check-in with ICE and, within 36 hours, flown to an Arizona detention center and separated from her husband and children.”

The entire Latino population in the U.S. is 65 million. She means all of us.

“The DOJ memo says that the federal government will pursue denaturalization cases via civil litigation” Civil litigation has different requirements, not entitled to legal representation and overall the burden of proof for conclusions is lower.

“[student] Visa applicants must have all social media profiles set to “public” so that U.S. consular officials can review their “online presence.”

“Sunday, I woke up a different guy.” If nothing else, being subjected to the full force of the federal government can be liberating, just as seeing troops in the street can be clarifying. The events of the past few days go to “the very essence of why the fuck I am even here,” he said.