Joe Dworetzky

Building consensus: SF supervisors spar with advocacy groups on how to house homeless

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday listened to city homelessness officials explain why they could not eliminate unsheltered homelessness in the city even if they had $1.45 billion and three years to work with. The occasion was a…

Board Of Supervisors Considers Plan To End Unsheltered Homelessness

Bay City News The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday listened to city homelessness officials explain why they could not eliminate unsheltered homelessness in the city even if they had $1.45 billion and three years to work with. The…

SF citizen coalition says city can save $1 billion with alternative approach to unsheltered homelessness

The city is taking the wrong approach to getting unsheltered people off San Francisco streets, according to a citizen group that believes an alternative approach would shave $1 billion from the projected price tag. The group filed detailed comments…

Unplanned vagrancy: SF’s ordinance to fix homelessness stalls over choice of words

IN THE DRY and colorless world of municipal ordinances, San Francisco Ordinance 92-22 stands out like it was written in purple. Passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors on June 14, 2022, and signed by Mayor London Breed 10 days later, the…

Coming Hearing May Show If Supes Serious About Ending Unsheltered Homelessness

Bay City News In the dry and colorless world of municipal ordinances, San Francisco ordinance 92-22 stands out like it was written in purple. Passed unanimously by the Board of Supervisors on June 14, 2022, and signed by Mayor London Breed ten days…

Firm calling itself world’s first ‘robot lawyer’ sued in court over authority to practice law

A SAN FRANCISCO-BASED company that fights parking tickets by using artificial intelligence and automated processes has been sued for the unauthorized practice of law. In a lawsuit filed against DoNotPay Inc. in San Francisco Superior Court on…

A date in court: Lawsuit says dating website discriminates against users by age, gender

A class action transferred to federal court in San Francisco alleges that the Plenty of Fish dating site unfairly discriminates against its users based on age and gender. POF is a dating site for adults, founded in Vancouver in 2003, and, according…

Bay City Sketchbook: So many choices

One feels that we stand on the edge of colossal changes in the way we interact with the world. Advances in AI are changing the idea of “search” from a hunt for sources that can provide the answer to our question, to a bot that simply tells us the…

Judge dissolves order that barred Oakland from clearing Wood Street homeless camp

When U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 6, 2023, forbidding the city of Oakland from closing a homeless encampment at 1707 Wood St., he told the parties he suspected the order would be “brief.” On…

Napa Man Sentenced For Conspiracy To Destroy Democratic Headquarters In Sacramento

Bay City News In the wake of the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a Napa auto repair mechanic and a friend from Vallejo plotted to blow up the headquarters of the Democratic Party in Sacramento. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer…

Judge: Oakland can close Wood Street encampment

OAKLAND, Calif. - When U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 6 forbidding the city of Oakland from closing a homeless encampment at 1707 Wood St., he told the parties he suspected the order would be…

Environmental group fights to block permit for diesel generators at vehicle triage center

A community organization has challenged the issuance of a permit that would allow installation of two large portable diesel generators at the Bayview Vehicle Triage Center, a “safe parking” site created by the city of San Francisco for people living…

The high cost of free speech: Cotati will pay $80,000 to settle suit over public comments

IN THE LONG-WINDED world of city council meetings, the time for a speaker to read a 3-minute statement would seem trivial, but the city of Cotati will have to pay $80,000 to settle the civil rights claims that resulted from refusing to allow a…

Exhibition of evidence: Adult film maker files thousands of copyright infringement cases

ON VALENTINE’S DAY, a bevy of new cases — 15 in all — were filed in federal court in San Francisco. They all involved pornography. The cases, all brought Tuesday by Strike 3 Holdings LLC, were another’s day work in the cottage industry of federal…

SF Vehicle Triage Center Exposes the Challenge of Alternative Shelter Approaches

In January 2022, when San Francisco announced a new program in the Bayview with the opaque title "vehicle triage center" (VTC), it seemed a rare win-win in the world of big city homelessness strategy. The Bayview VTC would offer a "safe parking" area…

Bayview Vehicle Triage Center Exposes The Challenge Of Alternative Shelter Approaches

Bay City News Foundation In January of 2022, when San Francisco announced a new program in the Bayview with the opaque title "vehicle triage center," it seemed a rare win-win in the world of big city homelessness strategy. The Bayview VTC would offer…

A Valentine’S Day Gift: 15 More Copyright Cases Over Allegedly Illegal Downloads Of Pornography

Bay City News Foundation On Valentine's Day, a bevy of new cases -- 15 in all -- were filed in federal court in San Francisco. They all involved pornography. The cases, all brought Tuesday by Strike 3 Holdings LLC, were another's day work in the…

Bayview Vehicle Triage Center woes expose challenge of alternative shelter approaches

IN JANUARY 2022, when the city announced a new program in Bayview with the opaque title “vehicle triage center,” it seemed a rare win-win in the world of big city homelessness strategy. The Bayview VTC would offer a “safe parking” area where people…

Giving Shelter: San Francisco’s Quest To House the Homeless

Local News Matters brings community coverage to the SF Bay Area so that the people, places and topics that deserve more attention get it. Our nonprofit newsroom is supported by the generosity of readers like you via tax-deductible donations to Bay…

Taking on water: Environmental groups sue EPA over failure to regulate ship discharges

Two environmental groups have sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in federal court in San Francisco for failing to do what Congress told them to do with respect to “ballast water.” The Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the…