Decreased sales and increased costs are threatening the survival of San Francisco’s breweries. On Second Street, 21st Amendment’s recorded message indicates that the brewpub is temporarily closed. On Howard Street, ThirstyBear Organic Brewing’s website states, “ThirstyBear has gone back into Hibernation. Hopefully just a short winter nap!?” Last year, Ferment Drink Repeat closed its doors… Keep Reading
Calculating the number of unlicensed dogs in San Francisco is a bit like estimating how many fish there are in a lake based on an afternoon of fishing. It’s a tricky business, said Virginia Donohue, executive director of San Francisco’s Animal Care and Control (ACC). “Nobody really knows how many there are; there’s not an… Keep Reading
With live entertainment dormant over the past year, theater companies have shifted to offering shows online, a tactic that hasn’t generated significant revenues. As operating losses grow, ongoing uncertainties brought by the pandemic make it difficult to plan for whatever seasons lie ahead. PlayGround pivoted to the web at the start of the public health… Keep Reading
“You got a mortgage without meeting with anyone in person,” my brother-in-law, Harvey, asked, incredulously. “From a bank you’ve never been to?” It was the end of the 20th Century. I was buying my first property, an exhausted two-flat building on Kansas Street. I’d found a low-interest rate mortgage with HSBC by paging through the… Keep Reading
Herrera Sues Last month, City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the San Francisco Unified School District to compel it to reopen public schools as allowed by public health officials. A hearing is set for March 22, 2021. The submission details the harms being visited on children as a result… Keep Reading
After a contentious years-long debate over how best to renovate Esprit Park, the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association, supported by the Potrero Boosters, among others compromised on Plan W, selecting it from six redesign plans offered for the 1.8-acre open space. Plan W calls for two meadows, the south designated “family” – dog-free – the north an… Keep Reading
Struggling San Francisco businesses were allowed to partially reopen in late-January after nearly two months of being largely banned from operating, bringing a cautious optimism to fitness companies and restaurants plagued by more than a year of restrictions and associated lost income. Shortly after the state lifted a regional stay-at-home order implemented in early December, Mayor… Keep Reading
James Colgan was about to open his third James Colgan Hair Salon in Cow Hollow last March when the pandemic struck. A year later, he’s pared his business to just two chairs on 18th Street, a location above which he’s lived for the past 13 years. He was forced to close a 25-chair salon in… Keep Reading
Long-time Potrero Hill resident, Eugene Dickey, opened Third Rail Ebikes on Third and 24th streets last November. He’d first started mulling over the idea of launching a bicycle shop after experiencing firsthand the challenging nature of negotiating San Francisco’s steep slopes and confronting high price tags and poor customer service from existing electric bike vendors.… Keep Reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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