Civics

ACLU sues federal immigration agency to halt shackling immigrants in court

Brittney Barsotti, New America Media — May 16 2012 - 2:13pm

Detainees file into San Francisco immigration court linked together like a chain gang, bound at their wrists, waists and ankles. A metal chain or seatbelt-style restraint is wrapped around the detainees’ waists and connected to their wrists with a link to the detainee in front of them. The detainees often must  sit four to a bench and remain bound to each other throughout the court proceedings. While sitting bound, they are limited in movements, and the restraints prevent simple tasks, such as taking notes during the proceeding.  

City to tackle shelter waiting game for disabled and older homeless

T.J. Johnston, SF Public Press — May 15 2012 - 2:33pm

The health of homeless people — especially older and disabled ones — is endangered by a time-consuming wait they endure daily when reserving a bed in San Francisco’s public shelter system, advocates and city officials said recently. They told a Board of Supervisors panel that to solve the problem, the city is putting together a group of providers, city officials and clients, led by homeless policy director Bevan Dufty, to seek improvements in shelter access and the health of senior and disabled clients.

Community divided on changing liquor license ban in Mission

Hélène Goupil, Mission Local — May 14 2012 - 4:51pm

At a recent meeting, it became clear that the Mission District is split on possible changes to the neighborhood’s liquor  license moratorium. Supervisor David Campos promised to hold other public meetings before he agrees to any amendments, he said. “The question that I have is are we OK with the way it is?” Campos asked a crowd of approximately 30 people recently gathered to discuss possible changes to an 18-year-old liquor license ban.

Express bus eyed for Caltrain to mid-Market run

Jerold Chinn, SF Public Press — May 14 2012 - 2:23pm

Muni officials want to start an express bus route to speed workers from the downtown San Francisco Caltrain to a revitalized mid-Market jobs hub. The rush-hour service would cater to what the city anticipates will be a growing technology business cluster near the new headquarters of social media giant Twitter.

S.F. mayor signs civil rights ordinance into law

Elliot Owen, New American Media — May 10 2012 - 3:48pm

San Francisco civil rights advocates concerned about what they call domestic spying on the city’s Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian communities are celebrating new legislation signed into law by Mayor Ed Lee. The Safe San Francisco Civil Rights Ordinance requires San Francisco Police Department officers working with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to be bound by local and state laws strictly governing intelligence gathering of First Amendment protected activities like religious worship.

Drivers to pay for Sunday parking; low-income youth will ride Muni free

Jerold Chinn, SF Public Press — Apr 18 2012 - 9:25pm

Drivers who plan to spend a day in the city on Sundays should remember to bring their change to pay the parking meter. San Francisco’s transportation agency approved its two-year budget Tuesday, which included making motorists pay at parking meters on Sundays, handing out free Fast Passes to low-income youth and funding for more maintenance on Muni.

San Francisco pitched as beacon of ‘collaborative consumption’

Michael Stoll, SF Public Press — Apr 4 2012 - 5:22pm

San Francisco’s current crop of leaders ran for office on a platform of deploying city resources to encourage private-sector job growth — which in this famously liberal city is seen as about as conservative as an elected official can get. But last week a task force convened by Mayor Ed Lee and four members of the Board of Supervisors opened an opportunity to expand the meaning of the pro-business moniker to a new crop of startup, do-gooder social enterprises that enable small-scale, peer-to-peer economic activity and resource sharing.

Occupy SF demonstrators take over empty building

KQED News — Apr 2 2012 - 2:45pm

A group of Occupy SF demonstrators took over a vacant  building owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco at 888 Turk St. in San Francisco on Sunday after a rally and march in Union Square. Police began making arrests on Monday afternoon. KQED News is following the story via Storify.

America's Cup may be scaled-down, but transportation challenges are unchanged

Jerold Chinn, SF Public Press — Mar 28 2012 - 5:47pm

City scrambles to invent temporary bus and train lines for legions of yacht race spectators

A version of this story appears in the Spring 2012 print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

The effect of a scaled-down America's Cup plan on an ambitious transit effort is unclear as the city continues to view the expected flood of visitors for America’s Cup pre-events this August and October as a chance to experiment with new transit options. On Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with America's Cup organizers that will put more of the spectator activity along the Marina Green. The transit plan for the game calls for an estimated 300,000 spectators around the waterfront — the equivalent of almost half the average weekday Muni ridership of 637,000 — city planners said they have to get nearly everyone out of cars to prevent transportation chaos.

State says lax rules might let builders use questionable licenses

Les Mahler, SF Public Press — Mar 26 2012 - 9:13am

This story appears in the Spring 2012 print edition of the San Francisco Public Press.

The agency overseeing companies that build houses and office buildings across California has for years trumpeted its ability to sniff out phony contractors, often publishing photos of dramatic undercover police stings of unlicensed builders at work on half-finished suburban cul-de-sacs. But now the agency, the Contractors State License Board, is looking into a problem of the state’s own making — a program that allows contractors to essentially lease out their licenses.

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