Saturday, September 23

Weekend Catch-Up: Blue Check Marks, Rainy Weather, SF Election Anxiety — Oh My!

Elon Musk also took the weekend to suspend comedian Kathy Griffin and internet personality Ethan Klein from Twitter for trolling/impersonating him… using his exact guidelines on how to do so within new guidelines. 

There’s no rest for the wicked (read: Elon Musk). On Saturday, the contentious billionaire, who appears to be as empathetic as a venus fly trap bought from Home Depot, began offering his $7.99-a-month subscription for blue check mark verification… only to later delay its rollout.

After announcing the product update that would give “power to the people,” the company announced Sunday it would delay the feature rollout until the midterm elections were over. There was also no official release of the subscription; it was included in an update on the iOS App Store; it used pull phrases like subscribers could have a blue check mark by their handles “just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow.” 

Per Musk, this feature, among other niceties the company intends to roll out soon — the ability to post longer videos; subscribers will see half the ads they normally would; increased priority to have tweets shown in timelines — will help cut down on spamming. And, in some round-about way, this would be accomplished, despite cyber security of content moderation teams being gutted this past Friday.

With an egomaniacal billionaire behind one of the world’s foremost social media websites, what could possibly go wrong?

Oh! The Bay Area got some much-needed rain this weekend. Sunday’s rain totals measured less than a quarter of an inch for most of the Bay Area, though areas in Sonoma County and other parts of the North Bay saw totals over a half-inch.

More rain is expected to wet this slice of NorCal this evening and into Tuesday, helping — albeit slightly — to pull the region out of severe drought conditions.

We’re all biting our nails and stress-eating ahead of the midterms Tuesday. Locally, tomorrow’s election will determine the fate of the JFK Promenade, the capacity for the City to meet its 2025/2030 housing goals, and who will join the SF Board of Supervisors representing District 6.

The race is hella tight between Mahogany and interim Supervisor Matt Dorsey, becoming effectively a two-person race since early October. Fingers crossed that SF will elect the country’s first-ever trans-BIPOC individual appointed to a City supervisor role.

Here are some more notable events/facts to surface over the weekend.

  • A fatal car crash in Redwood City left two children parentless. The crash occurred just before the weekend at 8 p.m. on Friday; apparently, the two-vehicle crash involved a car driving down the wrong side of the road well above the speed limit. More info.  
  • We’re getting a new v good sandwich joint, y’all! The owners of sandwich company Sandy’s, Peterson Harter and Moni Frailing, are expected to open their first physical restaurant in the new year after hosting several successful pop-ups. More info. 
  • San Francisco is filled with rodents, redux. A new report from the 2021 American Housing Survey shows that each San Franciscan shares the city with about nine rodents — making it the sixth-most rattiest/mousiest city in the country and the most rodent-filled in California. More info.
  • ICYMI: San Francisco’s Original Joe’s is expanding to the East Bay. The beloved Italian cuisine institution is expected to open a Walnut Creek Restaurant sometime in 2024. More info.

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