Plus: San Francisco is infested with rats, and federal fund freezing could prove disastrous for California’s firefighting force.
This past Saturday and Sunday saw the anthesis to SF’s doom loop narrative descend on downtown. The NBA All-Star Weekend attracted tens of thousands of basketball fans from across the country — and even the planet, for that matter — flooded San Francisco.
For some fans, the weekend, which culminated Sunday’s Oakland and SF events in the All-Star Game at Chase Center, marked a turning point for San Francisco.
“We’re back,” one fan told KRON 4. Thrive City matched the energy inside the nearby arena with thousands of fans playing games, enjoying live entertainment, and getting into general Warriors frivolity. And it’s that infectious energy that fans think could well spark something of a change for San Francisco.
“Honestly, I think this could be the start of something,” another interview fan tells the news outlet. “People say San Francisco is a ghost town because of COVID, but I feel like we’ve been on the come-up, and this will help bring more people back to the city.”
Oh, FYI: People were quick on X to point out that motorcades snaked through much of downtown. No, the president (or anyone in his immediate cabinet with a Secret Service detail) nor any past presidents were in attendance. The same goes for vice presidents, too. The temporary street shuttering and police barricades were reserved for NBA team owners passing to and from events.
What else transpired over the weekend? Let’s take a look.
- Thousands rally in San Francisco’s Civic Center and Bay Area Tesla dealers to denounce Elon Musk on President’s Date. Hundreds gathered outside the steps of City Hall to denounce Musk’s unofficial-official take over of the federal government, many of whom held creatively offensive signage; thousands also gathered in Oakland and a crowd convened outside Fremont’s Tesla factory to protest Musk, as well. More info.
- SF really does have a rat problem. Human-caused climate change and dilapidated infrastructure have given San Francisco’s rat population a massive boom; the city is, quite frankly, floating in an “infinity of rats.” More info.
- Lawmakers are pushing for California to hire 3,000 more year-round firefighters. The push to bolster the state’s firefighting force comes at a time when federal budget cuts (read: the gutting of vital federal departments and agencies) have caused a hiring freeze on new firefighters. More info.
