San Francisco Public Press

08/01/2025

Northern California food banks expect lines to grow even longer, after Congress approved a $186 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in early July, the largest cut in the food stamp program’s history.

FYI: River City Food Bank Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Francisco-Marin Food Bank

https://www.sfpublicpress.org/already-struggling-area-food-banks-brace-for-higher-demand-brought-on-by-snap-cuts/

07/30/2025

👏 Big congrats to our Environmental Health Equity Reporter, Audrey Mei-Yi Brown, a finalist for the Institute for Nonprofit News Insight Award for Explanatory Journalism!

The Insight Award for Explanatory Journalism honors a single story or a series of explanatory reporting that provides insight and understanding of a significant and complex subject.

Audrey Mei-Yi Brown's story on how toxic waste cleanups take longer in marginalized SF Bay communities was recognized for shining a light on environmental injustice and deepening public understanding of how policy and neglect disproportionately impact vulnerable communities.

Read more: https://news.inn.org/2025-nonprofit-news-awards-finalists-reflect-the-power-of-civic-journalism/

The most powerful reporting from nonprofit news outlets over the past year went beyond compelling storytelling to have real impact.

07/29/2025

As federal EV tax credits phase out, California is weighing a new strategy to keep its electric vehicle push alive — without spending new public money.

The proposal: feebates — fees on new gas-powered cars and trucks that would directly fund rebates for electric vehicles. The policy could help close the widening gap in zero-emission vehicle subsidies, but it faces political hurdles and logistical questions.

Economists say the approach could be both effective and equitable — but it’s been tried before and failed. Will this time be different?

📍 Read the full story: California Weighs New EV Incentives Backed by Fee on Gas Cars and Trucks
🔗 www.sfpublicpress.org/california-weighs-new-ev-incentives-backed-by-fee-on-gas-cars-and-trucks/



FYI: .org

07/25/2025

Two San Francisco attorneys tasked with investigating and reporting police misconduct cases were told weeks ago they’d be laid off. But even after the Board of Supervisors restored funding in the final budget, the city still hasn’t clarified their fate.
The union representing the attorneys says the lack of transparency raises serious concerns — and could lead to a formal complaint with California’s Public Employment Relations Board.
Read the full story from Sylvie Sturm at the San Francisco Public Press: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/union-left-in-the-dark-over-possible-sf-police-accountability-attorney-layoffs/

07/25/2025

Plans for a new Mandarin immersion school have garnered significant public attention. Meanwhile, a Public Press review of district data shows that half of SFUSD's programs designed for students who speak Cantonese at home have been cut or scheduled to close in the past four years.

https://www.sfpublicpress.org/san-francisco-schools-to-add-language-classes-while-scaling-back-programs-for-english-learners/

07/22/2025

Older LGBTQ adults are especially vulnerable to the effects of Medicaid cuts because they are disproportionately affected by poverty and might not have a traditional family structure to turn to for care, said Denny Chan, managing director for equity advocacy at Justice in Aging, a national organization fighting poverty among seniors.

The Trump administration is attacking LGBTQ+ rights nationwide, and San Francisco has declared itself sanctuary city for transgender people. But even as the city anticipates an influx of newcomers, older trans adults already living here face discrimination and threats to their health as the federal....

07/22/2025

Uber’s use of secretive fare pricing algorithms driven by artificial intelligence lowers drivers’ wages, causes them confusion and uncertainty, and could undermine public safety — all while boosting company profits to record levels.
https://www.sfpublicpress.org/drivers-protest-ubers-black-box-fare-system/

FYI: PowerSwitch Action, Gig Workers Rising, TechEquity

07/16/2025

Toxic waste cleanups typically dig up polluted soil and haul it to a specialized landfill. There might be a cheaper, safer way. A new project plans to test bioremediation, a process in which plants and fungi break down contaminants in soil, on a former auto-wrecking yard in West Oakland. The experiment’s creators hope it will break trail for more widespread bioremediation of the thousands of contaminated sites across the Bay Area, which disproportionately burden marginalized communities of color.
https://www.sfpublicpress.org/oakland-bioremediation-experiment-could-offer-cheaper-safer-toxic-cleanup/

07/15/2025

San Francisco is gutting its police watchdogs while giving law enforcement a raise

Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed budget cuts deeply into the Department of Police Accountability — the agency tasked with investigating police misconduct — while boosting police and sheriff budgets by $22M each.

Critics across the political spectrum say this could undermine transparency, violate voter mandates, and even break the law.

Read Sylvie Sturm’s in-depth report for the San Francisco Public Press:
👉 https://www.sfpublicpress.org/mayors-budget-proposal-sparks-outcry-over-cuts-to-police-oversight-amid-law-enforcement-spending-boost/

07/11/2025

TOMORROW: Journalist Chris Roberts, who revealed misconduct and contamination at Hunters Point in the Exposed series, speaks at the Shipyard. Hear what decades of cleanup efforts left behind—and why it still matters.

Saturday, July 12 · 2–4 PM | Doors at 1 PM
Learn more about the Exposed series: sfpr.es/Exposed

Reserve your free spot here > https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chris-roberts-investigates-radiation-fraud-the-shipyard-registration-1451316870829?aff=web