The Good Place or The Bad Place?

S.F. looks to expand sanctioned tent sites as homelessness surges Photo of Trisha Thadani Trisha Thadani Oct. 20, 2020 Updated: Oct. 20, 2020 7:08 p.m. Comments 5 One of San Francisco’s sanctioned safe sleeping sites is across the street from City Hall next to the Main Library and the Asian Art Museum. 1 of 5One of San Francisco’s sanctioned safe sleeping sites is across the street from City Hall next to the Main Library and the Asian Art Museum.Photo: Noah Berger / Special to The Chronicle District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman spoke at a press conference at Dolores Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Sept. 4, 2020. The City parterned with the Sisters of Perpetual indulgence to distribute 1000 masks to prevent the spread of Covid 19 over Labor Day Weekend. 2 of 5District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman spoke at a press conference at Dolores Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Sept. 4, 2020. The City parterned with the Sisters of Perpetual indulgence to distribute 1000 masks to prevent the spr...

Facing deep racial disparities, California unveils equity road map counties must follow to reopen Tatiana Sanchez , Erin Allday and Catherine Ho Sep. 30, 2020 Updated: Sep. 30, 2020 9:54 p.m. Comments Patricia Gomez gets an antibody test at La Clinica in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood, which has a significantly higher positive test rate for coronavirus than the rest of Alameda County. Patricia Gomez gets an antibody test at La Clinica in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood, which has a significantly higher positive test rate for coronavirus than the rest of Alameda County. Photo: Courtesy Jason Johnson California public health officials Wednesday evening revealed the final metric that counties must meet before they can further reopen their economies. It’s a complicated marker meant to ensure that communities of color no longer bear the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic.

Facing deep racial disparities, California unveils equity road map counties must follow to reopen Tatiana Sanchez , Erin Allday and Catherine Ho Sep. 30, 2020 Updated: Sep. 30, 2020 9:54 p.m. Comments Patricia Gomez gets an antibody test at La Clinica in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood, which has a significantly higher positive test rate for coronavirus than the rest of Alameda County. Patricia Gomez gets an antibody test at La Clinica in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood, which has a significantly higher positive test rate for coronavirus than the rest of Alameda County. Photo: Courtesy Jason Johnson California public health officials Wednesday evening revealed the final metric that counties must meet before they can further reopen their economies. It’s a complicated marker meant to ensure that communities of color no longer bear the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic. SFC-logoALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LOG IN Thank you for your interest in The Chronicle. Subscribe now to keep reading. Can...

California can fix its wildfire crisis — if politics don’t get in the way Photo of J.D. Morris J.D. Morris Oct. 2, 2020 Updated: Oct. 2, 2020 4 a.m. Comments 4 Firefighters backburn east of Palisades Road in an attempt to keep the Glass Fire off of Highway 29 in Calistoga on Tuesday. 1 of 4Firefighters backburn east of Palisades Road in an attempt to keep the Glass Fire off of Highway 29 in Calistoga on Tuesday.Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle The remains of fire retardant on a burned hill seen along Highway 162 on Saturday in Glenn County, part of the landscape scorched by the record-breaking August Complex. 2 of 4The remains of fire retardant on a burned hill seen along Highway 162 on Saturday in Glenn County, part of the landscape scorched by the record-breaking August Complex.Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle The Rattlesnake Firefighter Trailhead on Sept. 26 in Elk Creek (Glenn County). The area was destroyed by an August Complex fire. The commemorative trail travels the r...

  S.F. to begin moving homeless out of hotels soon. Some might get housing, others ‘safe’ tent sites Trisha Thadani   Sep. 26, 2020  Updated: Sep. 26, 2020 8:04 a.m. Comments 2 1 of 2 Signs remind visitors of meal times, curfew and mask requirements at an undisclosed hotel housing the homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Bay Area, Calif. Thursday, August 6, 2020. The race is on to get in on the first round of applications for $100 million in Project Homekey funding to covert hotels in the Bay Area into permanent  Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2 of 2 Several hotels in San Francisco are providing housing for homeless people during the pandemic at a cost to the city much higher than a typical shelter. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle San Francisco’s program to house the homeless in hotels is stretching its already strapped budget, with monthly costs topping $18 million, although the federal government is expected to pay for 75% of it. On ...

  California young voters far more likely to have mail ballots rejected, study finds John Wildermuth   Sep. 23, 2020  Updated: Sep. 23, 2020 7 p.m. Comments 4 1 of 4 Young voters make up the smallest number of California mail voters but had the highest number of rejections in 2018. Photo: Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle 2018 2 of 4 Nancy Fulton, a clerk, sorts vote by mail ballots in preparation for a vote tally at the Los Angeles County Registrar's office in Norwalk, California, on November 4, 2010. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS) Photo: Allen J. Schaben / TNS 3 of 4 Election staff member Chris Try (left) and Alice Law work to sort out vote-by-mail ballots ahead of the March 3rd election at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco, Calif. Friday, February 28, 2020. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle California’s youngest voters are three times more likely to have their mail ballots rejected than voters as a whole, a new study has found, highl...

  ‘Big blowup’ in Catholic Church as Trump attorney general is honored despite approving executions Jason Fagone   Sep. 21, 2020  Updated: Sep. 21, 2020 7:47 p.m. Comments (FILES) In this file photo taken on June 15, 2020, US Attorney General Bill Barr speaks during a roundtable meeting at the White House in Washington, DC. - Barr faced criticism on September 17, 2020, after saying coronavirus lockdown measures were the "greatest intrusion" on American civil liberties "other than slavery." Barr, one of President Donald Trump's staunchest allies, made the comment September 16, as he hit out at tough lockdown measures instituted in some states, many led by Democratic governors. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Photo: Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images At the direction of U.S. Attorney General William Barr, the federal government is expected to approve the lethal injection of a condemned prisoner on Tuesday, the sixth federal execu...

  Ginsburg’s death sets up titanic battle over abortion rights Nanette Asimov   Sep. 20, 2020  Updated: Sep. 20, 2020 7:23 a.m. Comments Pro-life activists try to block the signs of pro-choice activists in front of the the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2018 March for Life, an annual event that marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade ruling. A huge battle is brewing over abortion following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images 2018 In a political year dominated by a deadly pandemic and a fight for racial equality, the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg may rocket the abortion question back to the center of American consciousness, with the future of that constitutional right hanging in the balance in the selection of her successor. “I think there is hope,” Alexandra Snyder, executive director of Life Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-abortion law firm based in Napa, said Saturday.

  Federal judge orders Census Bureau to keep surveys going — halting Trump administration’s shutdown Bob Egelko   Sep. 5, 2020  Updated: Sep. 5, 2020 8:55 p.m. Comments As Census Bureau operations begin to shut down, rights groups asked a Bay Area federal judge Friday for an order to continue the population count. Photo: Paul Sancya / Associated Press A federal judge ordered the Census Bureau on Saturday to stop shutting down operations and resume its full-scale nationwide population count through Sept. 17, when the judge will consider the Trump administration’s plan to end the census survey a month ahead of schedule. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of San Jose issued a temporary restraining order at the request of civil rights organizations and local governments, including San Jose and Los Angeles, that fear a curtailed census will deprive them of congressional representation and federal funding based on population counts.

  SF Supervisors OK Tenderloin settlement over homeless tents but worry it will inspire more lawsuits Trisha Thadani   Aug. 19, 2020  Updated: Aug. 19, 2020 7:25 p.m. Comments Tents are lined on Willow Street in the Tenderloin on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 in San Francisco, Calif. Much of the neighborhood has since been cleaned up. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle The San Francisco Board of Supervisors hesitantly approved a settlement Tuesday with UC Hastings that compelled the city to clear the Tenderloin’s “dangerously crowded sidewalks” of tents — but does not require a payout. Still, some supervisors feared their approval would inspire copycat litigation and send a message to the public that lawsuits are the only way to get San Francisco to address its homeless crisis with urgency. Since the Tenderloin lawsuit, at least three other groups of neighbors or businesses have sued the city over tent encampments