Mission Local

Connie Chan's congressional bid faces China-Taiwan controversy

Good afternoon! S.F. Supervisor Connie Chan, who's running for Nancy Pelosi's seat in California's 11th congressional district, needs to win over Chinese-American voters who care deeply about China-Ta

Immigrant kids ask Superintendent Su to protect their programs

Good afternoon! SFUSD Superintendent Maria Su got some belated Valentine's Day cards from immigrant children asking her to stop budget cuts that affect newcomer families, writes Mariana Garcia. Teache

After three years, displaced fire victims still waiting for help

Good afternoon! Nearly three years after a fire forced out tenants of a "beautiful little community" in the Sunset, tenants are still waiting for repairs to begin so they can eventually return. Great

S.F. healthcare workers say safety problems persist at clinics

Good afternoon! What does real security look like? Abigail Vân Neely has a sobering report from veteran healthcare workers around the city, who say their clinics are not safe, two months after a socia

Artists find freedom in the Sunset

Good afternoon! We've got a few rainy-day stories for you. Junyao Yang has a nice piece about all the new art spaces in the Sunset. Read about what draws artists out to the avenues, to live and work i

How SFUSD fumbled the teachers strike

Good afternoon! Well, the 4-day teachers strike is over. Joe Rivano Barros reports that the biggest win for the union's members was fully-funded healthcare, which one teacher described as "life-changi

How much do SFUSD teachers really earn?

Good afternoon! It's Day 4 of the teachers strike, and we'll be posting live updates all day. Wages, healthcare, and special education remain the major issues. To understand the fight over wages, look

Y Combinator's Garry Tan launches new dark-money group

Good afternoon! It's Day 3 of the teachers strike, schools will be closed tomorrow, and tensions are rising. Read our guide to the outstanding issues, and about the students who tried to meet with Sup

School district asks mayor's policy chief to cost-check healthcare offer

Good afternoon! It's Day 2 of the teachers strike, and Mayor Daniel Lurie joined the bargaining teams, as did the mayor's policy chief Kunal Modi, to try to unstick major sticking points. Modi was the

Teachers strike continues: No school on Tuesday

Good afternoon! Well, the strike is on—and public schools will be shut tomorrow as well. Teachers picketed this morning in front of 130 closed schools across San Francisco, and rallied at City Hall. M

Principals, custodians will walk out if teachers strike; schools will close

Good afternoon! Well, Superintendent Maria Su broke down in tears at a press conference this morning, announcing that the district hadn't come to an agreement with the teachers union. San Francisco sc

S.F. teachers call for strike Monday

Good afternoon! The San Francisco’s teachers union has called for a strike to start Monday, writes Joe Eskenazi, after a year of negotiations with the district over pay, healthcare, and special educat

As strike looms, SFUSD backtracks on contract with OpenAI

Good afternoon! There's a lot of news today about a potential San Francisco teachers strike, and we'll continue to follow and update the story. The nonbinding report from a state fact-finding panel ha

S.F. public health to cut $17 million to community organizations

Good afternoon! The S.F. Department of Public Health announced preliminary cuts of $17 million, mostly to training programs for community organizations. DPH's director Daniel Tsai said that his priori

S.F. anti-tax march to support "oft-maligned billionaire class"

Good afternoon! Really? There's a March for Billionaires? Joe Rivano Barros looks into the groups agitating against the "asset seizure" they fear from a proposed state ballot measure that would levy a

SFUSD superintendent says she will "protect" newcomer programs

Good afternoon! Mariana Garcia reports that SFUSD superintendent Maria Su told a crowd of 200 parents and staff last night she had "no intention" of cutting programs for immigrant students—despite the

Parents, staff say SFUSD cuts hurt low-income and immigrant students

Good afternoon! Parents and staff charge that the San Francisco school district has been dismantling programs for immigrant children, writes Joe Eskenazi. Read how the district used "backdoor attempts

S.F. teachers union preparing for strike

Good afternoon! The San Francisco teachers union is preparing for a strike, after negotiations with the district over healthcare, raises, and programs for students stalled. Sarah Hopkins writes that t

Tenants displaced by fire may have their belongings auctioned off

Good afternoon! Hey, we have great news! Mission Local won a $1.5 million grant from the American Journalism Project, which backs nonprofit news organizations across the country. Read about how we're

Mission Local receives $1.5M from American Journalism Project

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One more vote likely on the Great Highway

Good afternoon! Yes, reports Joe Eskenazi, it looks like San Franciscans will have to vote once again on the fate of the Great Highway/Sunset Dunes Park. And yes, we do tend to endure repeated ballot

Lurie creates city position to raise private money for city programs

Good afternoon! It's a public-private loop: Mayor Daniel Lurie has created a new government position, the Director of Strategic Partnerships, and hired SPUR treasurer Cynthia Wong to oversee raising p

Mayor's allies oppose him on "Overpaid CEO" initiative

Good afternoon! San Francisco's "Overpaid CEO" initiative would tax businesses to raise over $200 million a year for the city. Mayor Lurie came out strongly against it—but Io Yeh Gilman reports that m

Muni magic from the archives

Good afternoon! Hey, you should definitely go see 'Moving San Francisco', an exhibit of photographs from the Muni archives. It's at City Hall, with some fabulous never-before-seen historical images. C

Keeping the fire of poetry alive

Good afternoon! Just a couple quick things: A new documentary about the poet Alejandro Murguia, 'Keeper of the Fire,' is a history of Mission activism and culture, writes Liliana Michelana. Archival f

Is the city's point-in-time homeless count pointless?

Good afternoon! How many homeless people really live in San Francisco? Well, read what Joe Eskenazi has to say about the anachronism of the city's point-in-time count, which results in a number nobody

Homeless outreach team remembers lives lost on the streets

Good afternoon! Over 100 unhoused people died in San Francisco last year, and Abigail Vân Neely went to a memorial service for them, where she discovered that she knew a man who was being remembered.

SFPD data shows new policy reduced racial disparity in traffic stops

Good afternoon! Last year, after a lengthy struggle with the police union, San Francisco's civilian police commission passed a policy to reduce "pretext" police traffic stops, saying they disproportio

Librarians, cosmologies, and cemitas

Good afternoon! Librarians are just so great. And Lucy Chiem, who works at the Bayview Branch, is especially terrific: Read Sophie Rerucha's profile and learn what middle school and high-school kids l

Mayor Lurie's year of feeling better

Good afternoon! Joe Eskenazi analyzes the first year in office of the "positive, optimistic, and ever-present" Mayor Daniel Lurie. See what the mayor's accomplished in reality, what major challenges h

SFUSD resubmits same budget after school board, principals reject it

Presented by Good afternoon! Last month, the S.F. Board of Education unanimously rejected a proposed SFUSD budget with a dire $102 million in cuts, but Superintendent Maria Su just re-submitted the sa

Alleged killer of hospital social worker pleads not guilty

Presented by Good afternoon! Yay, Ronna Raz is back! The illustrator has a terrific comic explaining how San Francisco's antiquated sewers work (and don't.) Read all about storm flooding, disappearing

S.F. immigration court to close by end of year

Presented by Good afternoon! Nearly 500 San Franciscans are living in RVs they bought as an affordable alternative to the most expensive rental market in the nation. Mayor Daniel Lurie's ban on RVs me

Is BigMoneySF back? Meet the charter-reform working group

Presented by Good afternoon! Xueer Lu has a detailed report on the 28 people Mayor Daniel Lurie and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman have tapped to work on a 2026 charter-reform ballot measure, and it's qu

Resolutions for the new year

Presented by Good afternoon! Got New Year's resolutions? Io Yeh Gilman talks with San Franciscans about their goals. Mission Local is full of History Worth Knowing. Here's an especially lovely piece f

Federal judge says ICE can't delay order to improve conditions in S.F. holding cells

Presented by Good afternoon! And hope you're enjoying a rainy New Year's Day. A federal judge in San Francisco ruled against the Trump administration's decision to end Temporary Protected Status for 9