San Francisco Public Press

11/20/2025

City Hall has rejected not one, but two requests for records about Mayor Daniel Lurie’s 25-minute call with President Trump — the call that halted a planned federal immigration surge in San Francisco. Asked for basic facts like who was present, prep notes, follow-up communications — the Mayor’s Office said no records exist.
Critics say the sweeping denial misapplies attorney-client privilege, undermines public trust, and obscures decision-making on a matter involving potential federal immigration enforcement.
🔗 Read the full San Francisco Public Press investigation.
https://www.sfpublicpress.org/critics-say-mayors-secrecy-over-trump-call-undermines-public-trust/

Open-government experts question why Mayor Lurie is withholding records of a call with Trump that reportedly averted a surge of federal forces.

11/17/2025

San Francisco Public Press reporter Zhe Wu has been named Outstanding Emerging Journalist by the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists as part of its 2025 Excellence in Journalism Awards.
Zhe also won a Health Reporting award with Mel Baker for their series on efforts to fight the spread of, treat and cure Hepatitis B. Please join us in congratulating Zhe, Mel and all of this year’s award winners!
https://www.facebook.com/SocietyofProfessionalJournalists/

11/12/2025

EVENT TONIGHT: The Bay Agenda: The Future of San Francisco Housing. See you there?! LINK IN FIRST COMMENT BELOW
San Francisco Public Press Executive Director Lila LaHood and KALW Executive Producer Ben Trefny will lead a town hall conversation bringing together stakeholders with different ideas of how to move forward. Confirmed guests include representatives of the Housing Action Coalition, REP-SF, the Race & Equity in All Planning Coalition, and Yimby Action.

The conversation will be conducted in person at KALW's Studio Events Space at 220 Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco. It will be broadcast soon after on KALW, 91.7FM, and at KALW.org.

11/12/2025

California’s $23 Billion Plan to Save Science
As Washington slashes science budgets, California is taking matters into its own hands.
Lawmakers, labor unions, and researchers have launched Save Science, Save Lives — a 2026 ballot measure that would make California the largest independent funder of scientific research in the country.
Under Senate Bill 607, the state would issue $23 billion in bonds to protect research into cancer, Alzheimer’s, infectious disease, and climate science.
UC President J.B. Milliken warns that current federal freezes — including $584 million in UCLA research grants — could “devastate” the state’s public university system.
Read the full story by Sylvie Sturm at San Francisco Public Press.
https://www.sfpublicpress.org/researchers-back-23-billion-state-science-fund-in-response-to-deep-federal-cuts/

Pushing back against attacks on science, supporters Monday announced plans for a 2026 ballot initiative to spur medicine and public health investments.

11/11/2025

A presidential executive order issued in July focused on homelessness could put increased pressure on San Francisco’s hospitals and jails, which are already over capacity.

A presidential executive order issued in July could lead to funding cuts that spread existing resources for combatting homelessness thinner.

11/10/2025

Ming Kee restaurant is one of the few remaining old-school Cantonese-style barbecue shops in the city. Head chef and co-owner Da Ming Chen has been at it for 27 years.
https://www.sfpublicpress.org/old-school-cantonese-barbecue-lives-on-at-ingleside-restaurant/

https://www.facebook.com/inglesidelight/

Ming Kee restaurant is one of the few remaining old-school Cantonese-style barbecue shops in the city. Co-owner Da Ming Chen has been at it for 27 years.

11/10/2025

With waves of federal officials threatening action and ICE cracking down on Latino communties, experts anticipated that Latino voters would influence the outcome for Proposition 50 in the Nov. 4 special election.

Election results show that they did. San Francisco neighborhoods with high concentrations of Latino voters averaged a 85% yes vote for Proposition 50, ranging from 79% in the Excelsior to 93% in Bernal Heights. Citywide, 84% of voters approved the measure.

During a fraught election cycle with fear of immigration raids, preliminary results show how San Francisco’s Latino-heavy neighborhoods voted.

11/03/2025

For the first time in 60 years, federal SNAP benefits will lapse due to the government shutdown — and Bay Area food programs say they’re already stretched to the limit.
Many community organizations are mobilizing to fill the gap, especially for immigrants fearful of ICE at public food lines.
Read the full report by Audrey Mei Yi Brown:
https://www.sfpublicpress.org/back-to-pandemic-levels-bay-area-food-programs-brace-for-snap-shutdown/

With federal funds cut off, grassroots organizations mobilize to meet surging food insecurity and address immigrants’ fears of ICE crackdowns.

10/31/2025

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie says he made “no deals” in a late-night call with President Trump that reportedly stopped a planned federal immigration enforcement surge.
But when the Public Press requested records of that call, the Mayor’s Office withheld nearly everything — citing attorney-client privilege.
Legal experts say such a claim could violate the city’s Sunshine Ordinance, which requires immediate disclosure of readily available public records unless they contain legal advice.
Read the full story by Sylvie Sturm
https://www.sfpublicpress.org/mayors-office-shields-details-of-call-that-supposedly-defused-conflict-with-trump/

Officials responded to a public records request saying any documents were protected by attorney-client privilege, offering no further details.

10/30/2025

Ying Shan Mei, who began her career helping her father with translations, is now a union representative speaking up for many workers like him. Most janitors cleaning San Francisco’s high-rises are immigrants. For decades, these jobs have offered a stable path for newcomers to build a life in the U.S.
Today, however, this community faces growing challenges, from fewer jobs to increased threats from immigration enforcement, compounded by language and digital barriers.

Cleaning services offered a path for newcomers like Ying Shan Mei to chase their American Dream. Then came COVID and the immigration crackdowns.

10/30/2025

People in Chinatown once thought they were safe from immigration raids, not anymore. The immigrant community, which once though such operations were far from their neighborhood, has been shaken by recent news, including a raid in NYC Chinatown and the later-cancelled “surge” of federal agents and operations in the Bay Area. Now, community organizations and residents are rushing to prepare for the worst.
“Maybe this is a wake-up call,” said Jose Ng, who manages the immigrant rights program at Chinese for Affirmative Action.

For months, Jose Ng visited Chinatown storefronts, handing out information on residents’ rights in interactions with federal agents if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection show up. Suddenly, the threat feels real.

10/27/2025

Proposition 50, a contentious California measure to redraw congressional districts, which experts say could flip five Republican seats, is poised to give Latinos a big say at a time when economic pessimism has spread in this voting bloc.

Proposition 50, California’s effort to redraw congressional districts, could give Latinos a big say at a time of widespread economic pessimism.