Blinds on Mission Street by Esther Reyes

It’s 7 a.m, 59° and headed to 70°. Details for today and the next ten days are here.

Some days are just lousy and Monday became one of them with the death and apparent suicide of Robin Williams. I think everyone in San Francisco has a family member who has spotted the comedian and actor somewhere in the city. It was a testament to Williams that his fan base spanned the ages of any family. My daughter Geraldine saw him in the Haight when she was in middle school and he was shopping with his son. She was thrilled. They exchanged words about a shirt. More thrills.

Geral’s sister, Lola, announced the news of his death at dinner last night. I had somehow managed to stay off of social media for most of the afternoon and had missed it. Silence. Everyone at the table just sat there taking it in.

He must have been in terrible pain and he will be missed by many, many people.

Other news:

KQED reports that California voters will not get to weigh in on money in political campaigns as a court removed Prop 49 from the November ballot. 

SF Streets blog has bike-share data in beautiful constellations.

The SF Food Fest is gearing up and SF Eater has the news on a Aperol Spritz Brunch. 

Here’s hoping that the day is better than Monday.

Follow Us

I’ve been a Mission resident since 1998 and a professor emeritus at Berkeley’s J-school since 2019. I got my start in newspapers at the Albuquerque Tribune in the city where I was born and raised. Like many local news outlets, The Tribune no longer exists. I left daily newspapers after working at The New York Times for the business, foreign and city desks. Lucky for all of us, it is still here.

As an old friend once pointed out, local has long been in my bones. My Master’s Project at Columbia, later published in New York Magazine, was on New York City’s experiment in community boards.

As founder and an editor at ML, I've been trying to figure out how to make my interest in local news sustainable. If Mission Local is a model, the answer might be that you - the readers - reward steady and smart content. As a thank you for that support we work every day to make our content even better.

Leave a comment

Please keep your comments short and civil. Do not leave multiple comments under multiple names on one article. We will zap comments that fail to adhere to these short and easy-to-follow rules.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *