Police knock woman off scooter, update in eviction case, and stuff to do

Good afternoon! We’re in the season of holy days: today is Good Friday, Ramadan and Passover are underway, and the annual Selena lowrider cruise takes place on Sunday.

• First, some breaking news: Near 18th and Valencia Street, San Francisco police officers shoved a Black woman riding a motor scooter to the ground, and kept her in handcuffs for 20 minutes. Video by Mission Local shows the woman complaining of “burning” pain while handcuffed, before an ambulance arrived to take her to the hospital. According to a sergeant on the scene, the woman had committed an as-yet-unknown traffic violation, and been told to pull over by the police. “I was trying to pull over on the sidewalk,” she cried. “I was trying to pull over on the sidewalk, not run from you guys.” Calls to the police information office have not been returned; we’ll update the story as we learn more.

• And a special notice: Read this story if you have Medi-Cal or know someone who does. Annika Hom thoroughly explains the process for re-enrollment– don’t miss the deadline to keep your health coverage!

• To follow up on an earlier story: The case of Alicia Flores, the 87-year old Mission resident threatened with eviction for rent debt, has been tossed out on a technicality. Flores, a monolingual Spanish speaker with mobility and vision issues, risked losing her long-term home when her landlords sent an eviction notice for $1900.86 in back rent. The notice said she had to pay the debt in person–but in fact it’s legal to send rent by mail. “This case shouldn’t have been brought to the court in the first place,” said Claire LaVaute, an attorney for the Eviction Defense Collaborative and Flores’ representative.”Ms. Flores wanted and tried to pay her rent, but was delayed due to the disabilities that come with age.”

• Coming up this weekend, there’s plenty of stuff to do, including a rally to support the digital future of libraries and a lowrider tribute to Selena. There’s also the chance to honor Nicolas Torres, a cobbler who’s worked in the Mission for three decades and is reluctantly closing up shop. Torres will hold a “bye-bye party” for his friends, customers, and neighbors at Alexander’s Shoe Repair, 3191 Mission Street, on Saturday from 1:30-3p.m.

More soon,

Sara