As you submit your ballots today, there are three existential political issues that loom ahead. Daniel Lurie has strong approval ratings, but can he weather the Prop D storm? Who does Scott Wiener *really* want to face off against in November? And why is Phil Kim so divisive? Read on:

Dropping tomorrow 👀

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie just released his $16.9 billion budget. It confirmed the worst fears of advocates for workers, immigrants and the city’s most vulnerable residents.

The Bay Area may soon be getting a 'Real Housewives' franchise of its own. Naturally, it would be based in the wealthiest ZIP code in the Bay.

An hour before she was scheduled to appear in court, Wynd Kaufmyn and other Stop AI activists held a press conference on the steps of City Hall, where they discussed the trial, Guido Reichstadter's aborted hunger strike, and the disappearance of former Stop AI member Sam Kirchner.

Brace yourself for a new Manic Monday. This week: Peter Thiel's retreat to Argentina, the existential crisis of 3,000 Meta layoffs in the Bay Area, and the joys of an AI "actress" that is, according to one journalist, "kind of a bitch"!

Is the surging Korean food trend in San Francisco a flash in the pan, or a sign of more to come? Find out at Chat Room: Food, where Gazetteer SF city reporter Eddie Kim will discuss with Thomas Etheve (San Ho Won), Hwanghah Jeong (Jilli), and Ina Jungin Lee (Matko).

Chutney serves food fit for a champion. Last year, decorated Russian fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, considered one of the GOATs of MMA, named the Jones St. hole-in-the-wall as his all-time favorite: “That’s our number one spot."

Four months after it opened downtown, the 24-hour Corgi Cafe has become a hot spot for AI founders, Y Combinator alums, and Corgi employees, several of whom live in the office space upstairs.

Real estate agents say listings asking for pre-IPO shares as payment are dubiously legal and "definitely a marketing ploy."

An arrest warrant issued for the man who San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie confronted in the Tenderloin reveals the city’s deeply troubled criminal justice system.

We're fed up with double-parked Waymos... and we have a sneaking suspicion that the behavior of ignorant human drivers is what's fueling it. A new rant from @eddiekimx.bsky.social:

The lawyer representing Tony Phillips, the man accused of assaulting Mayor Daniel Lurie’s bodyguard, wants the mayor to take the stand.

A Facebook reviewer called out Picaro in the Mission for its high cost and service fees, sharing a receipt as proof. Turns out the review — and the receipt — are AI-generated, and it's caused some real headaches for the very real restaurant.

Suddenly, bafflingly, Loonen water is everywhere: sf.gazetteer.co/your-social-...

Some rationalists, Grimes included, are hosting an AI doom hype house in Berkeley this summer called Plz Don't Kill Us. The application is...unusual... but our tech reporter applied anyway. Will they let Cydney embed with them?

City reporter @eddiekimx.bsky.social sat down with Saikat Chakrabarti one-on-one to discuss how SF radicalized his politics, the Nancy Pelosi-AOC fight, and why "publicly owned" AI makes sense. Read our Face Time: subtxt.to/KZQEmE4

What if the school year was extended and no one showed up for class? That’s the curious situation San Francisco’s school district faces next week:

Chat Room: Food is going down June 18th at Swedish American Hall. We’re lining up speakers from some of the city’s best restaurants and food from the hottest popups. This open bar event is 21+ and free for all Gazetteer SF subscribers. More details here: sf.gazetteer.co/chat-room-fo...

A new proposal brought forth by D7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar to ban smoking on outdoor bar patios has sparked heated discussions among public health advocates, bar owners, and the supervisors who will be voting on the ordinance. It’s also created a cloud of confusion around smoking laws.

At Chat Room: Food, hear Oakland-based chef and recipe creator Anna Voloshyna on how Ukrainian cuisine is thriving during wartime.

Boots Riley’s gloriously big hats have become an essential part of the "I Love Boosters" press run. We take you on a brief (and incomplete) history of his now-iconic Uptown Yardie hats: sf.gazetteer.co/an-incomplet...

San Francisco has so far arrested 300 people for drug use and taken them to RESET, the city’s new sobriety center. The mayor calls that a big success, even as many of the center’s treatment chairs remain empty and unused:

Good morning San Francisco ⛅️ Grab some coffee and tune into BFF.fm to hear our CEO Byron Perry talk newspaper biz with the boys on @rollovereasy.org ☕️

San Francisco! We’re back on the radio, tomorrow morning! 📻 ☕️ Coffee chat on the Embarcadero ☕️ 🗞️ We’ve got paper chat with Byron and Steven of @sf.gazetteer.co 📰 🌁 We talking boating with one of SF’s oldest businesses, the Bar Pilots 🚢 Join us, only on BFF.fm!

A brand-new federal filing today reveals that Google co-founder Sergey Brin has spent half a million dollars to defeat the city's proposed Prop D, aka the Overpaid CEO Act. Why the heck does he care after having fled California to live in Nevada, anyway?

Watching Elon Musk clench his jaw on the stand earlier this month, courtroom artist Lance Jackson couldn't help but think about cadavers. “There’s this bank of muscles there around the lips that I found I could pull back,” Jackson said of capturing the tension in Musk’s face. "I think I got it."

With San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s additional budget cuts looming, Anya Worley-Ziegmann is leaning on a source inside the mayor’s office, and hustling, to spare community organizations from getting chopped:

We mulled the masterful timing of Nancy Pelosi endorsing Connie Chan, and how Saikat Chakrabarti's own endorsement from Rashida Tlaib shows his political teeth. Plus, some exclusive details on when Pelosi came calling...

"Everlane getting bought out by Shein, a company completely at odds with its original vision, signals the demise of the 2010s direct-to-consumer fashion world," writes Gazetteer associate editor @joshuabote.com.

We're getting a few days of almost-summer weather this Manic Monday ☀️ Right now it's a gorgeous 77 degrees. This week, the Musk v. Altman jury returns, the SF Standard is doing "Hinge for news," and a second commencement speaker gets booed. Read the rundown, then go enjoy the sunshine.

When it comes to AI agents and the corporations that are selling them, there's a fine line between "help" and "hell" — literally.

“All the cool kids are earnestly pursuing deep personal fulfillment amid a harsh and unstable world." Meet Emily Carter, aka Ms. Direction, who quit her tech job to make a name for herself in San Francisco's magic scene.

Elon Musk and Morgan Chu make for an odd pair. As the jury deliberates on Musk v. Altman this week, we're thinking about the strange ideological mismatch between the MAGA hothead and his civil rights-minded attorney, who served as lead counsel when the case began in 2024.

The effort to save Market Match comes at a tense time for those working in food security: CalFresh is facing the largest funding cut in the program’s history, impacting 665,000 Californians beginning in June alone.

Scoop: A sea change in campaign finance law is now fueling Scott Wiener's ground game in ways that would have been illegal just two years ago. Here's what you need to know: subtxt.to/klUwWGv

What’s for dinner? What’s for lunch? What’s for breakfast? How did it get there? Who made it? How much were they paid? Where were the ingredients sourced? Food inspires so many questions. Let's get them answered at Chat Room: Food (Part Deux) on June 18.

This weekend’s estate sale at Cafe Jacqueline is your chance to own a small piece of the legendary North Beach soufflé destination: sf.gazetteer.co/own-a-piece-...

Adrian Spinelli took a swing at The Natural, a batting cage and DIY concert venue: sf.gazetteer.co/the-natural-...

Philz Coffee United, the union representing some workers at Philz, announced that they’re now affiliating with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5, the region’s largest private sector union. More coffee shop workers are eyeing unions amid cost-of-living concerns and a tough job market.

Gazetteer SF's very own @joshuabote.com is on Pop Culture Jeopardy!, streaming on Netflix. To celebrate, we're throwing a little watch party at Mad Oak Bar N Yard on May 20 to watch his team compete. Stop by and say hello!

Time is growing short for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie to pull back any budget cuts or layoffs. “He has a chance to join us,” said protest organizer Anya Worley-Ziegmann, “before things get harder.”

As BTS descends into the Bay Area this weekend, expect to see the mayor try to co-opt K-pop fandom in the next few weeks and months: sf.gazetteer.co/san-francisc...

It's 67 degrees and sunny this Manic Monday ☀️ This week, designers and marketers are getting inspired by the newly declassified UFO files, a commencement speaker gets booed by a crowd of new grads when she mentions AI, and OpenAI employees cash in.

This past weekend, Jane the Bakery began selling vegan cherry scones made with Savor butter, an animal-free vegan alternative made with carbon dioxide. Olivia, a scone fanatic, had to try it.

With $20 in his pocket, Richard Allen had a wild week of movies, comic books, and hot dogs in 1940s San Francisco. But the tale belies a harsher home life that he wanted to escape, his daughter says. Read the story of the runaway who spent a week at the cinema and made national headlines.

Club tryouts play out across San Francisco’s soccer fields over a single weekend in May, and come heavy with anticipation by the young players and their parents. For would-be junior soccer stars, this is the premier local league — but joining one can come at a steep financial and emotional price.

On April 29, Swedish American Hall was all about the Benjamins. On that night, Gazetteer SF hosted Chat Room: Money, a series of lively, informative conversations about all things finance featuring SF's chief economist Ted Egan, and many more. sf.gazetteer.co/a-night-of-p...

Olivia here -- trying to remain optimistic, but I fear that we’re sucking the magic out of life 4.9 stars at a time.

Tony Phillips, charged with assaulting San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s bodyguard, again won release from jail. A judge strongly urged Phillips to avoid the street corner where it all went down.