Our super volunteers:
Sandra Salmans, editor
Oscar Palma, “Parents, school staff, and residents at 16th and Mission sound the alarm: ‘It’s ugly to live like this.’”Memorable details about life in one of the most beleaguered streets in the Mission, and, particularly, the plight of parents and kids who live there and use daycare. Great photos, too.
Marina Newman, “Bayview’s Alice Griffith housing was built in 2017. It’s already falling apart. Why?” One of several pieces about the squalor of public housing in Bayview.
Yujie Zhou and Junyao Yang, “Her partner is in ICE detention. Can a last-minute marriage save him?”
Sara Miles, newsletter
“ICE pepper-sprays protesters and press” by Margaret Kadifa and Joe Rivano Barros (with special props to Frankie Solinsky Duryea for videos & photos). As the immigration crackdown came to San Francisco, our reporters ran toward the chaos, and stayed right in the thick of events, making sense on the fly. “Video: ICE agents drive SUV through protesters at S.F. immigration court.”
H.R. Smith and Joe Eskenazi, “Exit interview: Aaron Peskin on losing mayor’s race: ‘Absolutely worth the price of admission.’” Yes, Aaron Peskin is a fountain of great quotes. But H.R. Smith, who followed him closely during the mayoral campaign, has an ear for Peskin’s most important points — and his most hilarious asides.
Abigail Vân Neely’s “Women in S.F. jail say they were forced to undress while deputies filmed them.” Mission Local has an impressive track record exposing what’s going on inside the Sheriff’s Department and the jails. Abigail Vân Neely’s horrific story of abuse shocked S.F. politicians and should lead to real changes.
Reporters
Eleni Balakrishnan, reporter
Last month, our team led us through a fascinating saga that was Mayor Daniel Lurie’s effort to appoint a new District 4 supervisor. We went from the discovery of text messages appointee Beya Alcaraz wrote about skimping on taxes and paying workers under the table to the revelation that the mayor’s office received repeated warnings about her, and on to the next potential appointee having “forgotten” to file taxes for his nonprofit.
I also loved Yujie Zhou’s moving story about the couple trying to marry in an ICE detention center after their lives were upended by an arrest.
Yujie Zhou, reporter
Annika Hom’s “ICE arrested him in S.F. after 29 years. He returned to a Mexico he no longer remembers.”
Junyao Yang’s “S.F. has zero electric-wheelchair charging stations. Users are frustrated.”
Joe Eskenazi’s “In texts, new S.F. supervisor wrote she paid workers ‘under the table,’ skimped on taxes”
Kelly Waldron, data reporter
To mark 100 days of the mayor’s enforcement at 16th Street and Mission streets, Executive Editor Lydia Chávez stitched together weeks of reporting that helped me understand what happened over those months.
I wouldn’t have wanted to wait in the incredibly long line for Jimmy Butler’s coffee popup, but I’m so glad my colleagues did, and that they came back with such a sharp and entertaining writeup.
Yujie Zhou’s story about how some Chinese seniors were wrongly accused of election fraud makes me grateful to work alongside multilingual reporters [Ed.: Kelly is also a multilingual reporter!].
Xueer Lu, data reporter
I love all of the illustrations we’ve published this year. They are so fun and engaging to read. One of my favorites is this urban wildlife piece from Ronna Raz, our amazing intern over the summer.
And all the illustrations from the talented Neil Ballard for our outstanding immigration coverage, like this one on the timeline of the immigration crackdown in San Francisco that was published in September, and a follow-up in December.
Junyao Yang, data reporter
Joe Eskenazi’s “Billionaire CEO asked Trump to send troops to S.F., and millionaire mayor helped talk him out of it”
It was an intense couple of days in late October. The Trump administration dispatched federal agents to the Bay Area on Oct. 22 and, a day later, backed down from the deployment after Mayor Daniel Lurie and the president got on a phone call.
Joe Eskenazi put how I was feeling into words: “There are only so many turns of phrase you can employ: This is just a profoundly fucked-up way to lead a country.”
Kelly Waldron’s “This San Francisco bus driver has a goal: 550,000 Muni trips on Tuesday”
I take the 44-O’Shaugnessy bus on a daily basis, and had the privilege of witnessing driver Mc Allen’s signature style of announcing the stops and greeting every passenger. It’s a hard job, but he makes it joyful. It was lovely to read the backstory of this Muni driver and his effort to make sure operators get the commendation they deserve!
Eleni Balakrishnan’s “A cafe serving up hope and lattes in San Francisco’s Tenderloin”
I loved reading Eleni’s depiction of the City Hope Cafe, where everyone is treated with “radical hospitality,” regardless if they’re homeless or not. Everyone is greeted by the door, and the server calls them by their names.
Oscar Palma, reporter
Sage Ríos Mace and Annika Hom’s “He lived in the U.S. for 29 years. Now, he’s fighting to return home from Mexico.”
Frankie Solinsky Duryea, Will Jarrett, Molly Oleson, Christine Delianne, David Mamaril Horowitz: “Explore: Every person killed in S.F. police shootings since 2000.”
Joe Eskenazi’s “S.F. Democratic Party: We believe in nothing.”
Abigail Vân Neely, reporter
Jose Alonso Velazquez brought home a national issue in “It was Hunters Point’s only grocery store. Then it lost food stamps.”
Yujie and Junyao gave us an intimate look at a new angle on the federal immigration crackdown: “Her partner is in ICE detention. Can a last-minute marriage save him?”
Marina worked Clippy into a local scoop! Name a more San Francisco story. “San Francisco’s latest answer for RV dwellers? An AI chatbot.”
Io Yeh Gilman, reporter
Abigail Vân Neely’s story about the Gubbio Project, a Mission nonprofit that assists people experiencing homelessness and substance use disorder, is a must-read for anyone who followed Mission Local’s coverage of 16th Street. It gets at one of the main tensions that the city has had to deal with at 16th street this year: How to balance caring for people going through extremely difficult times with the impacts they have on residents in the surrounding area.
Xueer Lu’s reporting on homeless families almost being evicted from shelters was important and timely, and taught me a lot about how the homeless-shelter system works in the city.
Back in July, Jess Blough wrote about a private equity firm acquiring Philz Coffee and employees subsequently losing thousands of dollars when their common stocks were canceled. It’s still mind-boggling to me that this can happen.
Marina Newman, reporter
To put it lightly, it has been quite the intense year! But my colleagues’ ability to continually approach their reporting with so much empathy, while writing beautiful prose AND holding the powerful to account, makes it all worth it.
Ronna Raz’s “What’s it like to enroll in San Francisco Drug Court?” made me (and anyone I could show this story to, including my mom) shed a tear with her poignant and heartbreaking illustrations of addiction and what it takes to navigate San Francisco’s alternative court program.
Kelly Waldron and Frankie Solinsky Duryea’s stellar reporting in “2,123 lives: Inside the stats and stories of those arrested by ICE from the S.F. area” found the humanity behind a statistic, tracking down the lives of those who have been arrested by ICE in the S.F. area, and how their worlds were upturned.
Abigail Vân Neely spent hours walking around Treasure Island interviewing for her story, “S.F. drug users often reject treatment. They say relationships can open the door to recovery,” and the result is beautiful prose and interviewing skills to gawk at that provides an inside look into the lives of San Franciscans navigating recovery.
Mariana Garcia, reporting intern
Jordan Montero’s “Where are the girls and the gays? Suddenly, S.F. is full of lesbian bars.”
Marina Newman’s “S.F. begins towing RVs. Dozens more are at risk.”
Oscar Palma’s “KitKat, liquor store mascot and ‘16th St. ambassador,’ killed — allegedly by Waymo”
Anusha Subramanian, reporting intern
Yujie Zhou and Marina Newman’s “U.S. Navy found elevated plutonium in Bayview. S.F. says it was kept in the dark.: A well written and important neighborhood accountability story.
Abigail Vân Neely’s “Day 156 at the 16th St. Plaza: Pets: Who rescued who?” I remember reading this one when I was starting to cover 16th Street. It’s about something we’ve all seen around us and I’ve always wondered about it; this dove into a question I never dug into and was a great neighborhood vignette.
Emmanuel Fonseca, social media
ICE HQ History: During a time when mass immigration arrests were taking place in San Francisco, Frankie Solinsky Duryea’s story on the history of ICE HQ at 630 Sansome St. brought much-needed context and background on a palace where so much of this chaos was unfolding. Frankie and I collaborated on a video piece that paired well with the story and made it just as informative.
“Palestinian activist detained at SFO reportedly killed in West Bank:” When I read this particular piece about how it ended it was heart-wrenching. Kudos to Eleni Balakrishnan for following up on the story.
Gaza flotilla captain from S.F. to be released from Israeli prison:” This story was a great example of bridging local and national news. The day the flotilla was intercepted, I remember reading all about it throughout the day on multiple national news sites and when I saw Mission Local did a story about it too I was pleasantly surprised. Not to mention shocked to find out that one of the captains of the ships was an S.F. resident. It would not have come so well together without the stellar reporting from Xueer Lu. This story brought a unique story about a local man who was captured and tied it so well together with the bigger issue going on.
Editors
Beth Winegarner, copy editor
There’s no question: 2025 was a difficult year, politically and emotionally. As I look back over Mission Local’s coverage, I find myself drawn to the stories that focus on beauty and hope.
For example, Junyao Yang’s profile of two women who became unlikely friends, and who gather flowers every day to decorate the public restrooms at Ocean Beach. Or Eleni Balakrishnan’s feature on City Hope Cafe in the Tenderloin, where the coffee is free and the company is warm.
I also love a good historical origin story, so Balakrishnan’s story on the only single-family home in the Tenderloin hit the spot. This is an example of how homes can find their perfect people and vice versa.
H.R. Smith, editor
My go-to, jokey answer to “Why did you become a journalist?” is a dramatic “To write the first draft of history!” (insert sweeping arm gesture here, preferably with drink in hand.)
Ha, ha, joke’s on me, because literally, that’s what Mission Local’s staff, interns, volunteers, freelancers, and collaborators have been grinding out during this, the longest year (since the last longest year, which I think was not that long ago?)
Dig, if you will, this timeline of immigration actions in S.F. This is our sweaty diary (it was a very hot summer) of long days and nights spent in and out of Mission Local’s tiny office, trying to craft the overwhelming messiness of reality into a useful thing that could help people understand what was going on around us. Often, in the middle of asking a reporter to explain some new legal pivot to me for the umpteenth time, I would feel overwhelmed at how much we were covering something seismic and dangerous and entirely new — and that it was really, really important for me, as the editorial half of this equation, to get it right.
Functionally overwhelmed, obviously. This was the year I learned to recognize a particular sound emanating from fellow editors. It was deep, yet contained (like I said, it’s a small office). It always happened at the moment in a draft when the full weight of the consequences of some new bureaucracy became clear. Sigh, but keep on moving. Deadlines loomed.
I am already past my word limit, so here is my first recommendation, from the brilliant Margaret Kadifa, about the earliest use of habeas corpus petitions to get asylum-seekers out of ICE detention. It documents so much, including the nail-biting story of one asylum-seeker whose habeas petition is granted while she’s mid-air en route to a federal prison in Hawaii.
My second: This summation that Joe Eskenazi somehow metabolized right after we all learned that Mayor Daniel Lurie sweet-talked President Donald Trump out of establishing a military beachhead in San Francisco.
There’s so much more: Abi Neely’s warm, humane, and often very funny coverage of the city’s criminal justice system. Eleni Balakrishnan’s story on the risks (and possible benefits) of 7OH with expert opinion from scientists and addicts.
Marina Newman’s ability to discover some of the most bonkers challenges facing the city’s low-income residents just by listening to people.
Also: to bring down your heart rate (and mine): my favorite photo this year from Gustavo Hernandez, of this bucolic scene at reptile camp.
Meg Shutzer, senior editor
In my first six months at Mission Local, Abi Vân Neely captured my favorite story to edit, about the mass strip search of women in the S.F. jail, and my favorite story to read about the dog quinceañera in the Castro.
I actually read that story aloud to a rapt audience at a friendsgiving and I’m sure it would have their votes as well. We love Sophie! When it comes to government accountability, I have to hand it to Maggie Kadifa, who uncovered that Lurie was taking credit for providing immigrant legal aid when, in fact, he did not.
Lydia Chávez, executive editor
Marina Newman’s “S.F. begins towing RVs. Dozens more are at risk.” Newman followed two outreach workers, putting me right with the RV owners.
Jordan Montero’s “‘Jerry Day’ is a blast from S.F.’s past,” because everyone else was focused on Golden Gate Park, and Montero discovered the McLaren Park celebration that has been going on for years. It told me something I did not know.
Joe Eskenazi’s “Marc Benioff exposed himself as craven and hollow. He has company.”
Yet another smart column, right on the news and straight to the point.
December brought two late gifts: Oscar Palma’s “Wishing for a Christmas miracle at 16th and Mission,” and Liliana Michelena’s “Carrying the fire home: Mission honors Ricardo ‘El Tigre’ Pena” Both are testaments to what a creative reporter with a good ear for dialogue can turn out.
Joe Eskenazi, Managing Editor and Columnist
Another year, another masterful Naomi Beth Marcus profile of elderly Russian Jewish emigres who’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. This year, getting in under the gun, was her Dec. 28 story about Yury Budylova and Liya Klets, the couple who arrived from the former Soviet Union in 1989 with “ZERO ENGLISH.”
Now, Budylova runs Yuri’s Lights & Beyond on Divisadero and, despite medical emergencies, persecution and time in Siberia, has eked out a version of the American dream.
Marcus specializes in granular profiles of the people in your neighborhood — the people who make your neighborhood your neighborhood. There is underappreciated value in focusing on one piece of the puzzle at a time and getting to know — to really know — the people of the community. There is grandeur in this view of life.
Abi Vân Neely broke a lot of stories this year in the criminal justice beat, but she’s got great range and a light touch. One of my favorite articles this year was about the 79-year-old collector of ephemera hoping someone will rescue his basement trove of odds and ends.
Finally, I think Neely, Marina Newman and Eleni Balakrishnan all did stellar work tracking down sources and covering the aftermath of the tragic stabbing of social worker Alberto Rangel in the San Francisco General Hospital HIV/AIDS clinic, Ward 86.
Joe Rivano Barros, senior editor
I am always the last one to do these so my top-of-mind stories have already been chosen by others: The data project on the 2,123 arrested by ICE across Northern California, the profile of the only single-family home in the Tenderloin, the video of ICE ramming through protesters in an SUV and an agent pointing a rifle at the crowd and the unearthing of Beya Alcaraz texts that had Mayor Lurie, that same day, asking for her resignation — but it’s Mission Local so, there’s lots to choose from.
I loved Junyao’s story on the Sunset engineer who’s spent years building public benches — 210! as of Feb. 1, when we wrote it — which was one of our most-read of the year. Chris Duderstadt is an interesting guy and it’s an interesting attempt to skirt red tape in a city infamous for its bureaucracy. And, this being Mission Local, we added a neat map showing every bench he’s built; a perfect local news piece.
Abi’s story on the “drug carnival” that is the alleyways near the 16th Street BART Station was rightly recognized in awards we received this year for our 16th Street coverage. It’s a well-written piece on a thorny issue that is vexing local supervisors, mayors, police chiefs, beat cops, journalists and others. It’s the kind of story I think Mission Local does well: Diving deep into sometimes just a single block to complicate the narrative.
Finally, Ricardo Peña was in the Mission Local offices often. He was there, in fact, only days before his fatal heart attack, helping us furnish our offices as we grow. I didn’t know him long, but I’d see him around the Mission and he was friendly. His death was unexpected and, through Oscar Palma’s obituary, I got to know more about a man who meant a good deal to this neighborhood and was remembered, fondly, by hundreds of people — for which I can’t recommend Liliana Michelena’s write-up enough. He’ll be missed at Mission Local and elsewhere.
Interested in taking a trip through the past?
2024: Mission Local staffers pick their favorite stories of 2024
2023: Staff picks: Mission Local’s favorite Mission Local stories of 2023
2022: Staff picks on best stories of 2022 – Mission Local
2021: Happy New Year! Mission Local picks our favorite stories of 2021
2020: Staff favorites for 2020 — Mission Local
2019 : Staff picks: Mission Local’s favorite Mission Local stories of 2019
Thank you for doing a great job.
Congratulations to all but especially, my favorite: Joe Eskenazi. His name– and outstanding work as an investigative journalist– have even worked their way into the vernacular of my wife and I, as in, “Don’t make me call Joe Eskenazi! when considering having someone’s less-than-kosher actions, in our case, landlords, “property managers,” being possibly called into question.
L’chaim, Joe! Keep up the good work!
Merci!
JE