Hello weekly readers:
This was a tough week. San Francisco lost John Crew, one of the city’s most effective advocates for police reform. People matter and as Eleni Balakrishnan writes, Crew’s life illustrates why.
Late this week we also published Part 1 of Annika Hom’s report on four subsidized housing projects on The Hill in Bayview. Hear from the tenants on what life is like there – amazingly some have even retained a sense of humor.
David Mamaril Horowitz dug into the firm that the SFUSD has hired to remedy the payroll fiasco, raising questions as to whether it was the wisest of ideas to offer the firm a no-bid contract.
And Joe Eskenazi reports on the inspector investigating Rodrigo Santos. Does it matter that he had Santos do work on his house?
And, in cheerier news, Yujie takes a ride in a sort of driverless car and Will Jarrett created an animation that lets us go along.
In arts, Precita Eyes celebrates 45 years in the Mission, a John Santos documentary is out and there is a show and documentary on the late Spain Rodriguez.
Scroll down to see all that we have for you this week. Contribute if you can – and thank you if you have already done so.
More soon,
Lydia, Joe, Annika, Eleni, Will and Yujie
Top news of the week
John Crew, SF’s relentless police reform advocate and mentor, dies at 65
By Eleni Balakrishnan
As a young attorney in 1984, John Crew was on assignment at Union Square, observing police officers as they demanded ID.
Part 1: Life on The Hill – where leaks, roaches and rats take months to abate
By Annika Hom
Tenants talk about what it’s like to live in subsidized housing that makes them sick.
Firm awarded no-bid contract to fix SFUSD payroll has troubling history
By David Mamaril Horowitz
Many believe that SF had time to ask for bids.
DBI inspector leading Rodrigo Santos audit had work done on his home by Rodrigo Santos
By Joe Eskenazi
How good will this audit be?
Neighborhood Notes: Legacy biz, Paseo Artistico, a hike
By Annika Hom
Two long-time 24th Street businesses became a legacy business. Guess which!
Precita Eyes Muralists celebrate 45 years of making art in SF and beyond
By Eleni Balakrishnan
Susan Cervantes can still remember a time in the Mission when murals were a foreign concept.
John Santos’ Afro-Caribbean Mission
By Andrew Gilbert
A complex look at a musician with Mission roots.
Sketches of Spain: Cartoonist ‘Spain’ Rodriguez’s Mission retrospective
By Anna-Luisa Brakman
Underground cartoonist Manuel “Spain” Rodriguez was a provocateur by nature.
Gig bits: Gig worker union, Biden to reclassify gig workers, Instacart fined $46.5M
By Yujie Zhou
It was a big week for gig workers: A historic labor union was formed, President Biden may move to make them employees.
A (sort of) driverless car’s journey through San Francisco
By Yujie Zhou and Will Jarrett
Follow our intrepid reporter’s meandering journey through the city in one of Waymo’s newest autonomous vehicles.
Covid-19 Tracker: No change
By Mark Rabine
Recorded infections, positivity rates and hospitalizations remained mostly flat.
Preemptive resignation letters called for at mayor’s sole discretion, board told
By David Mamaril Horowitz
The mayor was in charge of these letters.
SF rents rose 12.7 percent over past year
By Chuqin Jiang
Following a pandemic exodus, realtors have said that more people are returning to San Francisco.
People We Meet
People We Meet: Terrill Vinson, Mission High’s head football coach
By David Mamaril Horowitz
Head Coach Terrill Vinson stands beside the western end zone of Mission High’s football field ready to coach is team on the field and in life.
SNAPS
