San Francisco resident Miguel Vargas poses for a picture on Nov. 30 in front of his car along Berry Street after a restaurant shift at Death by Taco. (Photo by David Mamaril Horowitz.)
Drivers paid using SF’s new high-tech parking systems. They were ticketed anyway.
Drivers in San Francisco are paying for parking but still getting ticketed for expired meters.
I find five in an afternoon, chase down Parking Control Officers and uncover why.
Teachers carry signs in front of the San Francisco Unified School District headquarters at 555 Franklin St. minutes before the regular Board of Education meeting on Oct. 11. Photo by David Mamaril Horowitz.
Firm awarded no-bid contract to fix SFUSD payroll has troubling history
The San Francisco Unified School District was paying up to $2.8 million for a consultant management firm to fix its 10-month-long payroll crisis, which left thousands of teachers with botched paychecks or benefits.
Notably, the school district skipped its usual public bidding process when hiring the fixer firm tasked with fixing the crisis.
I dive into the firm’s past.
Downtown San Francisco, ground zero for the local tech scene, is visible from Dolores Park. (Photo by Michael Toren / Mission Local)
Amid news of ‘tech exodus,’ why so many are staying and still arriving
A highly publicized flight of tech companies, executives and workers has painted a one-sided media narrative that virtual work has made San Francisco unappealing for tech.
However, a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, interviews with some two dozen tech workers and executives around San Francisco revealed a host of reasons many are staying, the vast majority expecting the flight to be temporary.
San Francisco senior resident Doug Buckwald cheers on a public commenter protesting class cancellations at City College of San Francisco's Dec. 12, 2019, Board of Trustees meeting at the college's administrative building Conlan Hall. (Photo by David Mamaril Horowitz / Golden Gate Xpress)
Chancellor sabotages class restoration advocacy,
In response to top administrators’ sudden, uninformed removal of 345 classes on Nov. 20, 2019, City College of San Francisco’s teachers and students advocated for emergency city funding with San Francisco’s top officials to restore the classes.
But in a move that would sabotage student and teacher efforts, CCSF’s own chancellor emailed the mayor, Board of Supervisors and “San Francisco City Administrators and Partners” to state that the situation was “not an emergency” and being handled “directly here at the college.”
City College Trustee John Rizzo participates in the board of trustees special meeting on Dec. 6, 2018. (Photo By David Mamaril Horowitz / The Guardsman)
Trustees violate City College of San Francisco transparency policy
Twice in one month, City College of San Francisco’s Board of Trustees violated its own policy intended to improve transparency at special board meetings. The meetings which lacked that transparency concerned class cancellations as well as preparations for pitching an eye-popping facilities bond.
Since 1990, shop owner Floyd Glenn, 85, has brought the refined craftsmanship and consistency that only a veteran in his field could offer to San Francisco’s golf enthusiasts. (Photo by David Mamaril Horowitz / Ingleside-Excelsior Light)
At Ingleside's 'Dogleg,' a lost art of golfing flourishes
Shop owner Floyd Glenn has run the golf club shop Dogleg since 1990. At publication in 2018, it was the only shop in San Francisco that re-gripped, re-shafted, repaired and made golf clubs for customers in-store, on the spot.
Job loss caused by the coronavirus lockdown can make it harder for some domestic violence victims to leave their abusers. (Courtesy photo / S.F. Examiner)
Lockdown making it harder for domestic violence victims to get help
Local and state stay-at-home orders are causing victims and survivors of domestic violence to lose access to places of refuge, in-person support and long-term restraining orders, even as calls for help increase, according to advocates.
Rodney Conway, who lives in a tent in the Mission, has found a silver lining in the compassion from others towards him in his neighborhood. (Photo by David Mamaril Horowitz / Special to S.F. Examiner)
The struggle to get by intensifies for San Francisco’s homeless
San Francisco’s shelter-in-place order closed public libraries, recreational centers, parks, shelters and businesses that many residents, especially those unsheltered, depend upon.
On the streets, residents have less access to water fountains, restrooms, hand-washing stations, protection from the elements, internet access and electrical outlets, which many rely on for news and communication with their loved ones.
City College of San Francisco physics lab manager Tom Dodge leaves Science Building after school closes on November 15, 2018, due to air pollution. (Photo by Peter J. Suter / The Guardsman)
College copes with Camp Fire smoke
When City College of San Francisco stated it would initially remain open despite unhealthful concentrations of air pollution from the Northern California Camp Fire, many questioned the decision.
Community members expressed particular concern for those most vulnerable to the pollution — older residents, children in the daycare and those with asthma or other respiratory illnesses or diseases.
Demonstrators Tina Shauf-Bajar, Alexis David and Valerie Francisco-Menchavez (L-R) rally for Brandon Lee on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Aug. 9, 2019. (Photo by David Mamaril Horowitz / Golden Gate Xpress)
Alumnus, activist in critical condition after shooting in Philippines
San Francisco native Brandon Lee suffered four bullets to his back, spine and jaw on Aug. 6 in the Ifugao Province of the Philippines while living there as an environmental activist.
Responding to the shooting, back in the Bay Area, were his family and friends along with activists primarily from the local Filipino community. They advocated for the U.S. government to protect Lee, investigate the shooting, censure the Philippine government and halt America’s funding toward the Philippine military.
Photo by Mike Koozmin in 2013. (S.F. Examiner.)
CalTrans to pay $2 million for destroying homeless residents’ belongings
Lawyers for homeless residents in California declared victory on Feb. 18, 2020, in a class action lawsuit first filed in 2016 alleging CalTrans destroyed their clients’ belongings.
Teachers and other adults in schools are required to report any potential abuse. (Photo by Jessica Christian / S.F. Examiner)
School closures mean more child abuse is going unreported
Child abuse is going unreported due to campus closures and worsening in frequency and severity as families experience heightened stress and children become less able to leave their homes during the pandemic, child welfare advocates said.
Martha Lucey Olchowy, right, stands beside her husband of over 40 years, George Olchowy. (Photo courtesy of their daughter, Alexandra.)
Marta Lucey, City College of San Francisco’s great publicist, passes at 76
Martha Lucey Olchowy, whose marketing grew City College enrollment to its highest ever, passed away on Aug. 24, 2018. She was 76.
Her shining moment, friends said, was when she adopted a 12-year-old girl, Alexandra, from Ukraine.