MLNow

MLNow, 10 hours ago to random

After devastating fire, dogwalker and his family pick up the pieces

On Wednesday, Terry Williams was walking around the Alamo Square neighborhood as he does every day — even though just yesterday, his house went up in flames, displacing his family and hospitalizing his two elderly parents, who were both home. “I’m just devastated, I look up at my house and — I lost everything,” said Williams, who was born and raised in Alamo Square and runs a dogwalking business there.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/devastating-fire-dogwalker-alamo-square/

MLNow, 1 day ago to random

Fire chars home of Black dog walker earlier targeted by racist threats

Just weeks after he began receiving racist threats at his family home, both of Terry Williams’ parents had to be rescued from their home after a sudden fire set their building in flames. Williams’ mother, who is nearly 80, had to be carried out of the building, and his father was rescued as he was trying to escape the building, according to Lieutenant Jonathan Baxter.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/fire-chars-home-of-black-dog-walker-earlier-targeted-by-racist-threats/

MLNow, 2 days ago to random

Management company tight-lipped on alleged housing scams on Potrero Hill

Following Mission Local reporting about under-the-table rent payments purportedly solicited by a rogue middle manager at a Potrero Hill public housing complex, Supervisor Shamann Walton today blasted both the management company overseeing the site and the San Francisco Housing Authority. “It has come to our attention that Eugene Burger staff illegally leased vacant units to members of community and charged them rent,” said Walton at a Board of Supervisors hearing today.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/sf-management-tight-lipped-housing-scams-potrero-hill/

MLNow, 5 days ago to random

Randy Dudley, Black queer man found dead on Bernal, remembered as ‘shining star’

An unapologetic “force of nature,” a “reflection of a disco ball in the sunlight,” a man who lit up any room he walked into: Randy Dudley lived multitudes. He helped direct television shows and created iconic fashion statements; he worked in radio and bars and in the theater; he taught, he learned, he advocated. Friends and family knew Dudley as their personal cheerleader.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/randy-dudley-black-queer-man-sf-bernal-remembered-shining-star/

MLNow, 5 days ago to random

Jackie Fielder misses Bernal Heights club endorsement — by a single vote

When you read or hear “every vote counts,” you better believe it: District 9 supervisorial hopeful Jackie Fielder came just one vote short of securing the endorsement of the Bernal Heights Democratic Club on Thursday night, leaving no candidate with the club’s official backing. Fielder received a supermajority of 82 out of 138 votes, followed by Trevor Chandler with 33 votes.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/jackie-fielder-misses-bernal-heights-club-endorsement-by-a-single-vote/

MLNow, 5 days ago to random

How do the District 1 candidates move around the city?

Welcome back to our weekly “Meet the Candidates” series, where District 1 supervisorial candidates who have filed to run respond to a question in 100 words or fewer. Answers are published each week, but we are also archiving each answer on this page for District 1, to make it easier for voters to browse. On May 23 at 10 a.m., I will be at Simple Pleasures Cafe at 3434 Balboa St.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/how-do-the-district-1-candidates-move-around-the-city/

MLNow, 8 days ago to random

KQED to lay off up to 25 employees amid budget shortfall

KQED, the Bay Area's biggest public broadcasting station, is expecting to lay off 18 to 25 employees this month, according to an internal email sent out to KQED staff from the station's president Michael Isip on Tuesday morning and obtained by Mission Local. In April, KQED offered buyout programs to workers, as a first step to address a budget shortfall. The NPR- and PBS-affiliated radio and TV station had a total revenue of $90.4 million and a total expenses of $100.9 million for fiscal year ending Sept.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/kqed-to-lay-off-up-to-25-employees-amid-budget-shortfall/

MLNow, 11 days ago to random

Alamo Square neighbors rally to support Black dog walker after racist packages

Over 100 people gathered at Alamo Square Saturday morning to support Terry Williams, a Black dog walker and Alamo Square resident who over the past few weeks received two racist, threatening packages. “We’re here because we love Terry, and we will not tolerate racism or crimes here in our district,” said moderator Jack Song. “We see in District 5 time and time again, when neighbors come together, things happen.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/alamo-square-neighbors-rally-to-support-black-dog-walker-after-racist-packages/

MLNow, 12 days ago to random

Meet the District 1 candidates: How will you reach Asian communities in D1?

Welcome back to our weekly “Meet the Candidates” series, where District 1 supervisorial candidates who have filed to run respond to a question in 100 words or fewer. Answers are published each week, but we are also archiving each answer on this page for District 1, to make it easier for voters to browse. On May 23 at 10 a.m., I will be at Simple Pleasures Cafe at 3434 Balboa St.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/meet-the-district-1-candidates-reach-asian-communities/

MLNow, 12 days ago to random

‘No one comes’: Mission street vendors struggle at city-run shops

On a typical day selling speakers and electronics on Mission Street, Franco Gonzalez used to see dozens of clients and perhaps $200 in sales — a healthy haul for the street vendor. Months later, at La Placita, a market the city opened to support permitted vendors who were pushed off the street by the Mission vending ban in November, customers were rare.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/no-one-comes-mission-street-vendors-struggle-at-city-run-shops/

MLNow, 12 days ago to random

Sutro tower

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/sutro-tower/

MLNow, 16 days ago to random

Dogwalker receives another racist, threatening package in Alamo Square

A Black dog walker and Alamo Square resident Terry Williams, who last month received a threatening package on his doorstep featuring racial slurs and a doll with a noose around its neck, received another package this weekend featuring racist cartoons and Ku Klux Klan images. “Pure race whites rules the globe against uppidy & ignornat Sambo n—s! ,” wrote the sender in a package addressed to Williams.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/sf-dogwalker-receives-another-racist-threatening-package/

MLNow, 18 days ago to random

Longtime Mission resident Gerald Gleeson is dead but not forgotten

Maria Costelloe’s tone changed as she recalled what her friend Gerald Gleeson wanted to do with the money he had started receiving from Social Security. Gleeson, an unhoused member of the Mission district community, asked the friend who signed him up for the benefits to give some of it away. “As soon as he started to have money he would say to her ‘I want you to take some of that money and when you go to the store buy what you need for the streets.’ He was always wanting her to use his money to buy stuff for people on the street, not for him,” said Costelloe.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/longtime-mission-resident-gerald-gleeson-is-dead-but-not-forgotten/

MLNow, 20 days ago to random

New play brings a unique perspective on migration and colonialism

When Liliana Herrera was a little girl growing up in Calexico, California — just minutes from the border crossing into Mexico — her mother used to call her “golondrina,” the Spanish word for swallow. That’s because she was flighty like the bird: She wouldn’t stay put. Decades later, the word carries multiple layers of meaning for Herrera, a San Francisco artist and performer who will premiere her show “¡Golondrina!” at the Brava Theater this weekend.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/new-play-brings-a-unique-perspective-on-migration-and-colonialism/

MLNow, 21 days ago to random

Meet the District 3 candidates: ‘How can District 3 help the city hit its housing goals?’

Between now and the November election, Mission Local is asking each District 3 candidate one question per week, and candidates will get 100 words to respond. We will compile all responses to the 40-odd questions on a “Meet the candidates” page, so that voters can get a full picture of their stances. Because Supervisor Aaron Peskin terms out next January, …

https://missionlocal.org/2024/05/meet-the-district-3-candidates-how-can-district-3-help-the-city-hit-its-housing-goals/

MLNow, 25 days ago to random

Meet the District 7 Candidates: ‘What do you think of the road safety proposal in West Portal?’

Welcome to “Meet the Candidates,” where Mission Local asks supervisor hopefuls questions in the lead-up to the November election. In District 7 — which includes the Inner Sunset, Parkmerced and West Portal — Matt Boschetto and Stephen Martin-Pinto are running against incumbent Myrna Melgar. Between now and the November election, Mission Local will ask each candidate one question per week, and candidates will get 100 words to respond.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/meet-the-district-7-candidates-what-do-you-think-of-the-road-safety-proposal-in-west-portal/

MLNow, 25 days ago to random

Pop-up to brick-and-mortar: New cookie bakery, Christine’s, opens today

While most people’s work-from-home setup might include big monitors, ergonomic chairs and standing desks, Christine Liu’s consist of a wooden working bench, buckets of flour and industrial mixer that holds 50 pounds of dough. Liu’s workspace, the microbakery Christine’s, is soon to be open to the public on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tucked in an alleyway connecting Florida and Bryant Streets near 18th Street, Christine’s is serving homemade cookies, and half of her menu is vegan: The classic chocolate chip, salted peanut butter, or more creative vegan flavors like black sesame oreo, lemon earl gray and a new addition, the matcha shortbread.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/christines-cookies-opens/

MLNow, 28 days ago to random

Shallow graves, missing skulls: SF’S long history of mistreating unclaimed dead

This is part two in a series on San Francisco's unclaimed dead. You can read part one here. One evening in October 2014, a group visiting Lake Merced made an upsetting discovery: A dead body in an encampment in a ravine by the lake. They called the police, and the medical examiner’s office took custody of the body.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/shallow-graves-missing-skulls-sfs-long-history-of-mistreating-unclaimed-dead/

MLNow, 28 days ago to random

Could the guerilla action at the Wiggle permanently slow autos?

It’s been over a day and the five “Yield to Peds & Bikes” signs on the Wiggle remain. No government official or motorist has taken them down. Instead, they are doing their job. The speeding motorists who often overtake bicyclists, now slowly and calmly follow behind, just as the signs instruct. It’s a win for Safe Street Rebel, a San Francisco “anti-car dominance” and pro-cycling, walking and transit advocacy group that installed the signs.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/could-the-guerilla-action-at-the-wiggle-permanently-slow-autos/

MLNow, 29 days ago to random

350+ dead go unclaimed in SF each year. Here’s what happens to them.

Dino Smith made his home in San Francisco for more than 30 years, living in apartments and single-room occupancy hotels in the Tenderloin and South of Market. When he died of sepsis in November 2020, he became one of the city’s unclaimed dead. Each year, hundreds of people die in San Francisco whose next of kin either can’t be located, or can’t afford the cost of funeral services.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/350-dead-go-unclaimed-in-sf-each-year-heres-what-happens-to-them/

MLNow, 1 month ago to random

Joan Holden, SF Mime Troupe lead playwright, dies at 85

Her daughter Sophie Chumley remembers a burly man trying to steal her mother’s purse at 24th and Bryant when she and her little sister were children The man dragged her mother, still clutching her purse, across the street — but Joan Holden defied him. “We were freaking out but she was really mad and she was calling the guy every name in the book and kicking him with her big heavy clogs until some dudes came and helped her,” Sophie Chumley recalled.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/joan-holden-and-san-francisco-mime-troupe-and-obituary/

MLNow, 1 month ago to random

Meet the District 1 candidates: How can D1 help the city hit its housing goals?

Welcome back to our “Meet the Candidates” series, where District 1 supervisorial candidates who have filed to run respond to a question in 100 words or fewer. Answers are published each week, but we are also archiving each answer on this page for District 1, to make it easier for voters to browse. Next Thursday, April 25 at 10 a.m., I will be at La Promenade Cafe at 3643 Balboa St.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/meet-the-district-1-candidates-housing/

MLNow, 1 month ago to random

Jon Jacobo newly accused of rape, assault, resigns from his job

Jon Jacobo, a Mission District community leader who faced a series of allegations Tuesday of rape and abusive behavior towards multiple women, has resigned from his executive position at affordable housing developer TODCO. Supervisor Hillary Ronen has since called for a hearing on the handling of sexual assault cases by the police department; Jacobo was first publicly accused of rape in August 2021.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/jon-jacobo-newly-accused-rape-sexual-assault-resigns-todco/

MLNow, 1 month ago to random

Home Bargain discount store opens at old Falla’s space

Home Bargain, exactly as the name suggests, is selling home bargains on Mission Street and after only a little more than a week, it’s already full of shoppers. The new discount store opened on April 7, filling the vacant space at 2664 Mission St. last occupied by Falla’s, a similar warehouse-like store that closed in July 2022. Now, Home Bargain is taking over the empty space, with a different owner but with deals galore: Most items like food containers, air fresheners and working gloves, sell at $1.50 a piece.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/home-bargain-mission-street-opens/

MLNow, 1 month ago to random

Meet the District 5 candidates: What will be your first housing move?

Here's the latest in our "Meet the Candidates" series for District 5, where we ask each candidate to answer one question per week leading up to the election. All the responses are compiled onto a single page, where readers can peruse the potential District 5 supervisors' stances on upwards of 40 topics before it's time to vote in November. Three candidates are challenging Supervisor Dean Preston in District 5, which spans from the east end of Golden Gate Park through Haight-Ashbury, Japantown and the Western Addition, the Lower Haight and Hayes Valley, and most of the Tenderloin.

https://missionlocal.org/2024/04/meet-district-5-candidates-week11-first-housing-move/