Community Calendar: March 2021
VIRTUAL3/4 ThursdayHistory: Celeste-Marie Bernier, Judith Butler, and Isaac Julien in ConversationMcEvoy Foundation for the Arts and the San Francisco Public Library present a conversation between Celeste-Marie Bernier, Judith Butler, and artist Isaac Julien about the legacy of the influential women in the life of Frederick Douglass, 1818 to 1895. 12 to 1:30 p.m. Free. For more… Keep Reading
Schools May, or May Not, Open for In-Person Learning this Month
Last December, the San Francisco Unified School District notified families that it was preparing a phased reopening of in-person learning, starting on January 25th. Different schools and groups would be invited back to in-person learning in tiers, reflecting specific schools and grades, such as younger and Special Education students, with tier assignments subject to change.… Keep Reading
Animal Love and Death
Since the public health crisis began last year demand for furry friends has exploded. Thousands of people have signed up to foster an animal at the San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SF SPCA). Muttville Senior Dog Rescue and other animal rehoming agencies have been deluged with applicants. This outpouring of pet love… Keep Reading
Rape Reports Down, Burglaries Up in 2020
Dogpatch, Mission Bay and Potrero Hill are served by two San Francisco Police Department districts. The Southern and Bayview districts are located east of Highway 101 and south of Mission Street, an area that experienced a 45 percent decline in reported rapes, and a 40 percent decrease in claims of human trafficking last year. Larceny… Keep Reading
Publisher’s View: San Francisco
The virus-fog that’s enveloped the world will slowly dissipate, cleared away by its inability to reach masked, sheltered, and increasingly inoculated or already-infected recruits. As we emerge from our seclusion, like so many gophers looking for our shadows, what will we see? What do we want to see? Many of us will surface from near… Keep Reading
Short Cuts
Walton Board President District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton was installed as San Francisco Board of Supervisors president last month, becoming City Hall’s second most powerful politician. Walton was elected to the Board in 2018 to represent Bayview-Hunters Point, Dogpatch and Potrero Hill after serving eight years as the executive director of Young Community Developers, a… Keep Reading
Op-Ed: Git ‘R Done, Mr. President
While helping a friend build a retaining wall in his backyard to prevent water from seeping into the basement, Donald J. Trump’s slogans began to make sense. “Build the Wall!” Yes, I want that wall built. “Drain the Swamp!” Exactly, that’s what we’re doing. These common affairs of humankind, necessary behaviors to ensure survival throughout… Keep Reading
Three Teams Compete for Potrero Yard Modernization Project
In December, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) identified three possible developers to rebuild the Potrero Bus Yard: Potrero Mission Community Partners, Potrero Neighborhood Collective, and Potrero Yard Community Partners. The three competitors will submit their final proposals in July, with a winner chosen by the end of summer. The selected developer will construct… Keep Reading
Fourth Generation Potrero Hill Resident Delivers the Meat
Before COVID-19 hit, Alex Pavloff, a fourth generation Potrero Hill resident, threw large cookouts with his family on Connecticut Street, hosting upwards of 100 people. That stopped due to the pandemic, but Pavloff continued to feel the urge to feed his friends and family. Pavloff’s Farm to City Meat Service was born from that impulse.… Keep Reading
Jackson Park on Slow-Track for a Facelift
Proposition A, a bond measure passed by voters in November, includes $10 million to renovate Jackson Park. It’ll be the first time since 1947 that the commons will receive bond monies from the City, according to Friends of Jackson Park Executive Director Jude Deckenbach. According to Deckenbach, to remake one of the City’s oldest parks… Keep Reading
Television: Teacher! Mother! Secret Lover!
During this elongated shut-in season, advice on good television shows has become as valuable as stock tips, or insights into the best public elementary schools to send a rising kindergartener. Recycling past favorites is one strategy. Re-watching decades-old The Simpsons episodes – the title of this article comes from “Treehouse of Horror V” –… Keep Reading
Community Calendar: February 2021
VirtualTuesday 2/2 – History: 3.9 Collective’s Art of Research3.9 Art Collective members discuss research’s role in their creative practices. Archives, libraries, museums and dynamic contemporary communities are resources and sources of knowledge. Panelists will talk about moving from engaged study and learning to interpretation and making. The 3.9 Art Collective is an association of African American artists,… Keep Reading
The Portfolio: Youth Creative Contest Winners! February 2021
Food Bank Emerges as Key Service During Pandemic
Even before emergence of the novel coronavirus, San Francisco faced a hunger crisis, with one out of five residents at risk of being unable to afford a nutritious meal. Since March 16th, 2020—when shelter-in-place orders were first issued – that risk became a reality for many families. According to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank’s Keely… Keep Reading
Obituary: Ronald Clark Gempel
Ronald Clark GempelNovember 26th, 1942-December 27th, 2020 Ron’s celebrity was cemented with the 1977 opening of the iconic, DAILY SCOOP restaurant, in the Potrero Hill neighborhood, of San Francisco, and he later opened CITY SALAD. Ron ran “The Scoop,” Ice Cream Parlour, for over 20 years. After caring for his Mother in Florida, Ron moved… Keep Reading
Alliance Collaborates to Support Bayview-Hunters Point Residents
Every two months, an informal group of individuals, public servants, and community-based organization (CBO) representatives gather to discuss issues that impact Bayview-Hunters Point residents. The relationships developed through Bayview Alliance meetings helps participants address such challenges as fostering art, educational disparities, housing and food insecurity, economic and employment inequities, access to parks, environmental education, and… Keep Reading
Six Renovation Plans Floated for Esprit Park
Esprit Park will be renovated in the “second half of 2022,” closed to the public for “about a year” during construction, said San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department’s (Rec-Park) Alexis Ward at a December online community meeting, which drew 84 participants. The Department wants public input on which of six design options – ‘U’, ‘V’,… Keep Reading
Publisher’s View: New Year 2040
Twenty years in the future, 2040. “So, Grandpa, what was it like during the pandemonium?” “That’s pandemic, sweetie.” Robert squinted into the iAir; his eight-year old granddaughter’s face pixilated into a rectangle, then a triangle, until finally settling back into being recognizably Mona. “How’re things on Mars?” “Good! Wanna see?” the view into the… Keep Reading
Short Cuts
Mission Bay School Designed San Francisco Unified School District staff presented design details for the Mission Bay elementary school and Linked Learning Hub planned for Block 14 to the Mission Bay Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC) at a virtual meeting in December. The design was enthusiastically received by CAC members, and prompted remarks that school construction… Keep Reading
Supportive Housing for Formerly Homeless Being Constructed at China Basin
Community Housing Partnerships (CHP) and Bridge Housing Corporation broke ground last fall at Mission Bay South Block 9, also known as 410 China Basin. The 92,000 square foot, four-story structure featuring 141 modular affordable rental studios for formerly homeless individuals, along with on-site supportive services, is expected to welcome inhabitants as early as January 2022.… Keep Reading
Fourth Street Bridge to Close to Northbound Traffic
As the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) prepares for the return of T-Third Street Muni Metro service, the agency plans to implement temporary emergency transit lanes in both directions over the Fourth Street Bridge this month. The idea, which drew a barrage of public comment from an estimated 60 attendees of a virtual community… Keep Reading
Manwaring Letters Erased, But Not Forgotten
The excavator’s articulated yellow boom-arm rose slowly, hoisting the six-foot tall letter ‘n’ off the flatbed trailer into the air, a thick strap shackled to a threaded steel eyelet. The hole had been bored into the top of the concrete letter more than 40 years ago; it could no longer bear its own weight for… Keep Reading
The de Young Revisited
The M.H. de Young Museum is likely to open to the public later this month, with a limited number of visitors able to tour the institution by purchasing tickets in advance for timed entry. In addition to the permanent collection, three special exhibitions are on view. Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving, originally slated for… Keep Reading
Community Calendar – January 2021
Virtual / AnytimeTravel: Train Rides Around the WorldJourney by train virtually on scenic rides through Asia, Europe, Peru, and the United States https://bit.ly/2WH45Ng Virtual / AnytimeGames: Online Jigsaw PuzzlesFinished all the puzzles in the house? Visit jigsawplanet.com to choose puzzles with from four to 300 pieces. Explore the site for the most played or most… Keep Reading