News to Know Archives

The (Belated) Weekend Catch-Up: Thousands March in San Francisco to Support Ceasefire Between Gaza and Israel

8Nov

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

The (Belated) Weekend Catch-Up: Thousands March in San Francisco to Support Ceasefire Between Gaza and Israel

Plus: A coyote was caught straight-up vibing on patio furniture in SF. The Bay Area has its fair share of problems, most centered around affordable livability — an issue by no means unique to the region. But one area the SF Bay Area gets right is having an engaged, active, organized cohort of residents who routinely rally in solidarity with human rights; housing rights; climate-crisis initiatives; bodily autonomy; and any denouncement focused on a Cheeto-dusted, wannabe dictator. On Saturday, November 4th, an estimated 15,000 people converged on the SF Civic Center to rally for a march calling for “Ceasefire now!” in Gaza. As 48hills noted, it was also part of an International Day of Solidarity that saw comparably sized civic demonstrators around the United States; before SF’s ceas...

FYI: The San Francisco Zoo Just Welcomed Two Rare AF Horses

3Nov

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Nature + Climate Crisis, News to Know

FYI: The San Francisco Zoo Just Welcomed Two Rare AF Horses

While there’s only one of Beyoncé's Disco Horse (a.k.a “Reneigh”), there are estimated to be less than 2,000 Przewalski’s horses left in the entire world. San Francisco Zoo is among the most venerable zoological facilities on this side of the Mississippi; it also happens to be incredibly picturesque, located within a stone’s throw of Ocean Beach. Since opening in 1929 — a result of Golden Gate Park’s then-present animal exhibits needing to be relocated elsewhere — the wildlife park remains a touchstone for biophilia. The SF Zoo, too, holds several critically endangered animals, like a flock of Waldrapp Ibis, black rhinoceroses, and, as of recently, a pair of Przewalski’s horses. Also known as the Asiatic wild or Mongolian wild horse, the horse species is listed as critically en...

We Must Keep Our Queer Families in San Francisco Safe From Violence

18Oct

By Juanita MORE!1 Comment

Essays, News to Know, Queerness

We Must Keep Our Queer Families in San Francisco Safe From Violence

And I’ll continue shouting at the top of my lungs until we all feel secure. This past year, multiple verbal, physical, and sexual attacks, vandalism, robberies, and druggings have occurred on members of our LGBTQIA+ community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Even in what’s widely understood as the queer mecca of the world, we do not live in a safe, little queer bubble. It reminds me of when I first came to the city, traveling back and forth from the East Bay to San Francisco on BART and noticing a change in comfort in my young queer self. We are statistically more likely to be victims of hate crimes than non-LGBTQIA+ people. We are all aware of the extreme rise in anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and the record number of bills introduced into state legislative bodies across the country; hate ...

FYI: San Francisco’s Valencia Bikeway Just Got a Little Safer

16Oct

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Hyperlocal News + Stories, News to Know

FYI: San Francisco’s Valencia Bikeway Just Got a Little Safer

With the addition of newly installed flex posts, one of San Francisco's most contentious biking corridors is now a bit less friendly — (in a good way) — toward automobiles. San Francisco remains one of the most walkable and bike-able large metropolitans in the United States… so long as you’re willing to huff and puff going up steep inclines. As of publishing, San Francisco has more than 450 miles of bikeways. But only 42 miles of these are considered protected bike lanes, meaning there’s some sort of physical barrier separating riders from drivers; bike frames from car doors; helmets from airbags. According to the San Francisco Department of Public Health, there were at least 377 bike-related injuries recorded in 2022 — the overwhelming majority of those involving vehicles. At leas...

A Woman Struck by Driverless Car in San Francisco Shows Uniquely a Dystopian Problem With Self-Driving Vehicles

9Oct

By Matt Charnock1 Comment

Editors' Picks, Nature + Climate Crisis, News to Know

A Woman Struck by Driverless Car in San Francisco Shows Uniquely a Dystopian Problem With Self-Driving Vehicles

Last week, a San Francisco woman was run over by a Cruise-operated robotaxi — and the car, itself, didn't alert authorities of the fact a human being was trapped under its nearly 4,000lb heft. After being “launched” by a collision involving a human-driven vehicle, a San Francisco woman sustained significant injuries after being struck by a self-driving car from Cruise last week. According to the San Francisco Police Department, police officers responded to 5th and Market Streets Monday, October 3rd, at 9:31 p.m. and discovered a female pedestrian trapped under a Cruise vehicle; the woman was allegedly in the middle of 5th Street when the traffic light at Market Street turned green, and was subsequently struck by the human driver's car, knocking her on the ground — and right in the path...

No, Most People Experiencing Homelessness in SF Didn’t Come Here to Live on City Streets

29Sep

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Feature Pieces, Hyperlocal News + Stories, News to Know

No, Most People Experiencing Homelessness in SF Didn’t Come Here to Live on City Streets

Social media platforms, particularly Elon Musk-owned X, have become cesspools for dialog that falsely represent homelessness in the United States. Nowhere is that more true than the online discourse around San Francisco's sheltering crisis. Opening the social media formerly known as Twitter these days is akin to unlocking Pandora’s Box. It’s rife with misinformation, delusional outrage, and profiles with blue checkmarks intentionally stirring digital pots — because now you can actually make decent money on the platform by doing so. Among the site’s many out-of-touch rabbit holes, one you can descend is organized around San Francisco’s population of unhoused residents. Internet scum — the kind of online filth that uses vulnerable people as objects to echo their own internalized hyst...

Garry Tan Isn’t San Francisco’s ‘Preeminent Political Pitbull.’ He’s a Pigeon-Hearted Nematode.

29Sep

By Matt Charnock3 Comments

Feature Pieces, Hyperlocal News + Stories, News to Know

Garry Tan Isn’t San Francisco’s ‘Preeminent Political Pitbull.’ He’s a Pigeon-Hearted Nematode.

A recent profile by The San Francisco Standard painted the contentious CEO of Y Combinator as a righteous deity, who yearns to see a "common sense" renaissance in SF. But his actions and overall persona lack any semblance of grace. With eyes white and brightened by a collection of studio lights, Garry Tan appears to sit mere inches in front of a forward-facing lens. The 42-year-old father of two and Noe Valley resident speaks softly, his tonality malleable to interpretation. Tan seems composed; materialized as spun sugar bound around a pastel paper cone. Benevolence isn’t expressed, however; his delivery is too calculated, contains too many bizarre inflections, and carries with it a feeling of shrewdness. Something is off. You can’t quite put words to it. But a part of you — the s...

That San Francisco Sinkhole Was Our ‘War of the Worlds’ Moment

15Sep

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Hyperlocal News + Stories, News to Know

That San Francisco Sinkhole Was Our ‘War of the Worlds’ Moment

On Monday, September 11th, passersby and drivers in SF’s Pacific Heights neighborhood were presented with an ominous, downright dangerous sight: a massive sinkhole. Between Fillmore and Green streets in San Francisco this week, a 74-year-old water main broke causing the earth around it to balloon with water. Eventually, the pressure and unmoored land around the pipes caused the area to “pop,” leaving nothing but a truly massive sinkhole in the absence of solid ground. Nearby homes in the neighborhood were affected; not surprisingly, Muni lines were redirected and traffic came to a near standstill until it was rerouted. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a gas line was also impacted; the flooding caused major damage to the Cameron James Salon — a basement-level beauty shop...

FYI: San Francisco Is Definitely Having a COVID-19 ‘Mini-Surge’

8Sep

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Hyperlocal News + Stories, News to Know

FYI: San Francisco Is Definitely Having a COVID-19 ‘Mini-Surge’

Cases of COVID-19 have continued rising in San Francisco over this summer — though it's by no means as severe as what the city saw in 2021. Consider this a "mini-surge." Contrary to what some out-of-touch, incredulous PAC co-founders believe: COVID-19 is not over. Yes, the public health emergency organized around the global health emergency is, in fact, over. Of course, COVID-19 vaccines and antiviral medications are now commonplace (thank G*d). Semblances of normalcy are returning to San Francisco; it’s astounding how much character Swedish meatballs and ready-to-assemble furniture can bring to a city. We’re far better at coping with the disease than we were three years ago. But, alas, COVID-19 is here to stay — an endemic, everyone. With endemic diseases, there will be times w...

Out of More Than 700 BART Train Cars, Only One Is Like This

23Aug

By Matt CharnockNo Comments

Editors' Picks, Hyperlocal News + Stories, News to Know

Out of More Than 700 BART Train Cars, Only One Is Like This

BART's hundreds of train cars collectively have the single-highest train system capacity of any running transit line in the nation — and this hella spacious one is a reason why. BART is responsible for shuffling around 150,000 Bay Area riders to and from locations around the region every single weekday. Though this number is far down from its pre-2020 peak — BART regularly recorded weekday ridership of about 400,000 at that time— the rapid transit agency remains a lifeblood for the SF Bay Area. And its existence still remains on the fringe with state transit funding and regional toll increase integrations paused, all of which would help fund BART. Nevertheless, BART’s 700-plus train cars are an integral part of Bay Area life — a priceless norm of transportation. Among those hundred...