The City of Oakland signed a development deal for a coal-shipping terminal in 2013, and then backed out over environmental protests. Now that’s coming back to haunt them, as legal rulings against their flip-flop could cost the city hundreds of millions.

The Port of Oakland is the ninth-busiest port in the United States of America, and an important economic lifeline for the City of Oakland. But being in the politically far-left Bay Area, the Port of Oakland is often a proxy backdrop for political battles, like the AB-5 trucker blockade in 2022, or the shipping of military supplies to Israel brouhaha over the last couple of years.

One political battle that appeared to have come and gone is now coming back to haunt the City of Oakland in a big way. The New York Times has an analysis today of a coal-shipping deal that the city had agreed to in 2013 and then backed out of in 2016. But that begat numerous lawsuits, most of which the city has been losing, and the massive legal payouts the city is facing could force Oakland into bankruptcy.

The mess all started in 2013, when the City of Oakland entered a deal with local developer Phil Tagami to build a $250 million shipping terminal on port-adjacent waterfront property that the city owns, which previously was home to the Oakland Army Base. Tagami quickly signed agreements to ship as much as 12 million tons of coal per year out of that port to lucrative Asian markets. This would have made the Port of Oakland the largest coal exporting facility not just in California, but on the entire West Coast.

Cue up the environmentalist drama. A No Coal in Oakland movement quickly sprung up, successfully lobbied the Oakland City Council to back off the deal, and with some help from then-Governor Jerry Brown, got the contract canceled. Activists cited particulate concerns over the coal itself (which would not be burned here), and decried how the deal was supporting the fossil fuel industry and worsening climate change.

The problem was that the City of Oakland had already entered and approved the deal before backing out of it.

“I believe in climate change,” the developer himself Tagami said in a New York Times interview. “This is a fraction of the seaborne coal market. You’re saying this makes the difference in the world? Oakland needs to balance its budget and fill its potholes.”

Tagami of course sued, and he’s been on a winning streak in court. A 2018 court order invalidated the city's concerns that the coal would have adverse effects on Oakland residents, and a state judge ruled in 2023 that the city was indeed obliged to hold up its end of the deal with Tagami. Then in September of this year, the California Supreme Court declined to hear any more of Oakland’s appeals, so that coal-shipping facility is getting built anyway.  

But that’s not the end of the story. One Kentucky coal company claims they went bankrupt because of the loss of coal-shipping revenue that this port would have represented for them. A Kentucky bankruptcy judge sided with them, saying the City of Oakland’s “improper and unjustified conduct significantly disrupted and burdened” that coal company. The judge has indicated in a ruling that this could cost the City of Oakland anywhere between $230 million and $654 million. Those damages have not yet been determined, but the sum is obviously likely to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

And we will remind you that the City of Oakland is facing a $130 million deficit, so that is money that they do not have.

UC College of Law professor David Levine points out that as a municipality, Oakland does have options, like spreading the payments over ten years, issuing bonds, or raising taxes. And their insurance would cover this to some degree. But as Levine ominously said to the Times, “The specter of bankruptcy for Oakland is not off the table.”

And after all of that, the 19-acre new terminal is going to start shipping coal anyway, likely beginning in 2027.

Related: Port of Oakland Lithium Battery Fire Sent Plumes of Black Smoke Over the Bay Sunday [SFist]

Image: OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 01: In an aerial view, a container ship arrives at the Port of Oakland on August 01, 2025 in Oakland, California. U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his August 1 deadline for trade deals will not be extended and sweeping tariffs will be imposed on certain countries beginning today. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sonder, the San Francisco-based rival to Airbnb that had established a lucrative partnership with Marriott last year, has now lost that partnership and is shutting down entirely.

You may be familiar with Sonder only from a local controversy that arose in mid-2019, when it became known that the short-term rental company had taken control of a newly built residential building at Church and Market streets, which had been sold to the neighborhood as new rental housing. (Sonder sued to get out of that deal when the pandemic started.) Or you may have stayed in a Sonder property if you booked a short stay in a major city on one of the major booking apps in recent years.

The company provided hotel-like stays in Airbnb-esque, design-forward properties that it managed, and at its peak it was operating in 37 cities worldwide.

In 2021, Sonder went public at a valuation of $2.2 billion, just as larger rival Airbnb was seeing its newly available shares rising in value. And in 2024, Sonder inked a licensing deal with Marriott International that promised to put Sonder's 9,000 apartment-style units on Marriott's booking platform.

However, there seemed to be a major technology issue with that integration, and perhaps other problems as well. And as of Sunday, Marriott ended that agreement due to "default" by Sonder, per Reuters, with Marriott removing all Sonder properties from its channels.

And as the Chronicle reports, following a rocky few years that saw Sonder's stock price drop from $200 in early 2022 to around $50 in mid-2022 to under a dollar last month, the company announced Monday it was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday and would be winding down operations.

"Sonder has faced severe financial constraints arising from, among other things, prolonged challenges in the integration of the Company’s systems and booking arrangements with Marriott International," the company said in an announcement.

"We are devastated to reach a point where a liquidation is the only viable path forward," said Janice Sears, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Sonder, in a statement. "Unfortunately, our integration with Marriott International was substantially delayed due to unexpected challenges in aligning our technology frameworks, resulting in significant, unanticipated integration costs, as well as a sharp decline in revenue arising from Sonder’s participation in Marriott’s Bonvoy reservation system. These issues persisted and contributed to a substantial and material loss in working capital."

Sonder co-founder and CEO Francis Davidson stepped down from his role in June, and the company's CFO resigned earlier this year as well.

"What started as an idea as a first-year university student in Montreal has now become a leading global brand providing our guests with unique technology and design-forward accommodations," Davidson said at the time.

The biggest budget airline in the US, Spirit Airlines, filed for bankruptcy last year, and as part of their restructuring, they’re pulling all service out of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.

Spirit Airlines has the distinction of being the largest budget-priced airline in the US, but they have not been profitable since the pandemic. Quite the opposite, they’ve lost $2.5 billion since the beginning of 2020. That’s why Sport Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past November.  

And they’re still trying to sort through all of that. So now NBC Bay Area reports that Spirit Airlines is cutting all ties with Bay Area airports, and will no longer serve SFO, Oakland International Airport, or San Jose Mineta Airport. Heck, they won’t even have flights in or out of Sacramento International Airport anymore either.

It’s not just us. USA Today reports that Spirit is also pulling out of Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boise, Idaho, Chattanooga, Columbia, Portland (OR), Salt Lake City, and San Diego.

"We apologize to our guests for any inconvenience this may cause and will reach out to those with affected reservations to notify them of their options, including a refund," Spirit Airlines said in a statement. "We are grateful to the airports, business partners and community members in these markets who welcomed and supported us."

Per USA Today, Spirit’s last day at all of these airports will be Thursday, October 2. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that United and Frontier Airlines are adding flights to those same airports in hopes of grabbing some market share.

Related: You Can Stop Taking Off Your Shoes at Airport TSA Checkpoints at SFO and Elsewhere [SFist]

Image: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JUNE 26: A Spirit Airlines Airbus A320 airplane taxis at Baltimore - Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on June 26, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

Yes, Del Monte Foods is based in Walnut Creek, but it may not be for much longer, as the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and it seems like Trump’s steel tariffs had a lot to do with this.

It may come as a surprise that the 138-year-old grocery market canned food staple Del Monte Foods is headquartered right here in the Bay Area community of Walnut Creek. And it was once a dominant San Francisco company, as in 1909, its North Beach cannery was described as “the largest fruit and vegetable cannery in the world.”

In the modern era, Del Monte cans are still a common sight on grocery store shelves, and the company also owns the brands S&W Foods, Contadina tomato products, Joyba boba teas, and soup brands College Inn and Kitchen Basics. But those brands are now likely to be sold off for parts, as ABC News reports that Del Monte is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

"While we have faced challenges intensified by a dynamic macroeconomic environment, Del Monte Foods has nourished families for nearly 140 years, and we remain committed to our mission of expanding access to nutritious, great-tasting food for all," Del Monte Foods President and CEO Greg Longstreet said in a press release shared with ABC News. "I am deeply grateful to our employees, growers, customers and vendors, as well as our lenders for their support in helping us achieve our long-term goals."

The New York Times has an analysis of how Del Monte ended up in bankruptcy. The company did very well during the pandemic and bolstered production, only to find itself with too much stock once demand dwindled. Del Monte is also now largely undercut by cheaper discount brands, and the company that acquired it in 2014, Del Monte Pacific Limited, never got out from the debt it took on to finance the original purchase.

But Donald Trump's steel tariffs may have been the nail in the coffin. Del Monte cans are made from steel, and last month steel tariffs doubled from 25% to 50%.

According to KTVU, Del Monte Foods plans to stay open as they hope to find a buyer or buyers for its parts, and they’ve secured more than $900 million from creditors to do so.

Still, 2025 has been a staggering year for bankruptcies among well-known national brands, with other names declaring Chapter 11 including Big Lots, Forever 21, Joann fabric stores, Party City, and TGI Friday’s.

Related: Lefty O'Doul's Files For Bankruptcy Amid Owner's Legal Troubles [SFist]

Image: Close-up of logo at regional headquarters of Del Monte foods company in Walnut Creek, California, September 14, 2018. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Scooter startup Bird already left San Francisco in February blaming “onerous regulations,” but ten months later they’re declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy as their stock is down 97%, so you have to wonder about their business acumen.

The biggest success story of the 2018 San Francisco scooter craze was the company called Bird, which was valued at $2 billion just months after being founded. But the company came and went in San Francisco. Once we started regulating which companies could do business here, Bird was left out of the mix.

They managed to return by switching to a monthly rental model in 2019. But in February of this year, Bird left the SF market entirely, feeding this news as an exclusive to then-Chronicle columnist Heather Knight, who they seemingly played like a banjo at the Bluegrass Festival, with a top Bird executive complaining that “San Francisco has the most onerous regulations and is the most difficult to operate in of the hundreds of markets we operate in globally.”

Or maybe Bird was just terrible at doing business? At the time the above article was written, Bird had already been busted for overstating their revenue, and was in the process of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange as their stock plummeted by 97%. And today TechCrunch is reporting that Bird has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

This comes in the wake of that New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) delisting, which happened in September. CNBC explained at the time that even though they raised a half-billion in venture capital, Bird was delisted from the NYSE and was forced to trade on a penny-stock exchange.

Bloomberg adds that Bird “has a tentative deal to sell itself to a Canadian firm,” though that firm is not named in the report.

Well, maybe the regulations were too tough in San Francisco. But we never banned Bird outright here, whereas Bloomberg points out that app-rental scooters have banned in Barcelona, Paris, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Sydney. That outlet adds that “More than one-third of the top 100 cities (worldwide) have banned scooters."

Related: Scooter Company Bird May Go Bankrupt, or Even Out of Business, After an ‘Overstatement’ of Revenue [SFist]

Image: Kevin J. via Yelp

Facing over 500 child sex abuse lawsuits, the Archdiocese of San Francisco is on the brink of bankruptcy, a move aimed at addressing its mounting legal challenges.

In an announcement Friday, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone revealed that the Archdiocese is seriously considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as the Chronicle reported.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy is the "reorganization" one, so it would reportedly allow the corporate legal entity, the "Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco," to freeze litigation, reorganize finances, and settle the lawsuits collectively, rather than individually. The archdiocese said the decision wouldn’t affect its parishes and schools in the city.

Other nearby Catholic dioceses have already filed for bankruptcy protection — the Diocese of Oakland, facing 330 child sex abuse cases, filed for bankruptcy in May, and the Diocese of Santa Rosa, facing a backlog of legal cases, filed in March, according to the Examiner.

The new lawsuits have emerged as a result of the newish state law that extended the statute of limitations for reporting childhood sexual abuse. The Archdiocese of San Francisco said in an open letter that the vast majority of the cases occurred in the “1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and involved priests who are deceased or no longer in ministry,” although KNTV reported that the lawsuits also include newer accusations against multiple San Francisco priests still in the ministry.

Dan McNevin, who represents the nonprofit, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told the Chronicle that the decision would "stiff-arm survivors who have the courage to tell their stories" and allow the San Francisco archdiocese to "keep their secrets and ... more of their wealth."

Image of Archdiocese of San Francisco via Google Street View.

The scooter startup Bird, which also does business in San Francisco as Scoot, is getting its wings clipped after reportedly overstating revenue for two years, and is now mulling bankruptcy, or discontinuing business altogether.

You’d be forgiven for confusing the names of the three app-powered scooter companies permitted to do business in San Francisco (I know I do). They are Lime, Spin, and Scoot. To make things all the more confusing, Scoot is actually owned by a larger scooter company called Bird, after Bird acquired Scoot in 2019. But there may be fewer of these scooter companies' names to remember in light of a report  this afternoon from TechCrunch that Bird may be declaring bankruptcy, or even discontinuing operations altogether.

The big trouble started Friday, or at least it was reported to the SEC on Friday. (And is it weird for a company to submit SEC filings on the Veterans Day holiday? Is that the equivalent of a bad news dump?) Either way, that SEC filing submitted on Veterans Day noted an accounting error of which Bird said “the error resulted in an overstatement of revenue” for both 2020 and 2021. Whether intentional or not, the bad news did not surface in the media until Monday.

“The company was improperly counting preloaded ‘wallet’ balances as revenue after the completion of certain scooter trips,” as The Verge explains. “Now it says its financial reports for 2020 and 2021 can ‘no longer be relied upon.’”

And Bird’s situation sounds incredibly grim. In a separate filing obtained by TechCrunch, Bird said it might “need to scale back or discontinue certain or all of its operations in order to reduce costs or seek bankruptcy protection.”

TechCruch additionally lays out how not-good things look for the scooter company. “Bird has been battling since going public via special purpose acquisition merger in 2021,” TechCrunch explains. “The young company’s dramas have only heightened over the past few months. Since May, Bird has dismantled its retail business, laid off 23% of staff, received a warning from the New York Stock Exchange for trading too low and exited Germany, Sweden, Norway and 'several dozen' markets in the U.S."

Bird may have been on the outs in San Francisco, anyway. A recent Board of Supervisors demand that they install geofencing technology to keep the scooters from running on sidewalks has the company contemplating ending SF operations, according to the Examiner.

But now Bird’s precarious financial predicament might force them to fly the coop anyway, not just in San Francisco, but in every city with Bird and Scoot scooters.  

Related: Guess What! Bird Bought Scoot [SFist]

Image: Joe Kukura, SFist

The bankrupt utility needs $57.6 billion to pull itself out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Investors would probably hook them up, but exasperated state regulators may put the kibosh on it.

Despite the constant drumbeat of public takeover plans, mayors trying to buy up their electrical grids, and rejections of their bankruptcy at the highest level of state government, bankrupt and widely reviled utility PG&E would prefer to business-as-usual their way out their current Chapter 11 predicament. We saw more evidence of this yesterday, when the Sacramento Bee reported the company still wants to pay $453 million in bonuses while still tens of billions in the red, a story we’ve heard from them before. And now we have a pretty good sense of just how in the red they are, with a report today from the Chronicle that PG&E will need $57.6 billion to exit bankruptcy under the terms of their own plan (which state regulators might still reject).

That number is higher than the previous $52 billion estimate, but what’s another $5 billion when you’re PG&E? This also begs the question of who would be foolish enough to invest in PG&E given the atrocious public relations streak the utility is on; but many investors would, say analysts who pay attention to what investors do.

“Most companies that go into bankruptcy don’t borrow this much money on the way out,” UC Hastings law professor Jared Ellias told the Chronicle. “You just have a lot of money going into this company at once. And the fact that [PG&E] is able to do it is also something that’s unique and speaks to how enthusiastic Wall Street is about this company.”

Much of that money, obviously, would go to the $13.5 billion wildfire settlement for their neglected equipment’s role in the fires. But the Chron estimates the company would have to raise $28.5 million in new debt, which would generally come from big investors.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) would have to approve the deal, and they’ve been none too friendly toward PG&E in recent months. PG&E Corp. CFO Jason Wells tried making the utility’s case to the CPUC last month, promising them this “will be the largest capital raise in the utility industry and one of the largest in corporate history.”

This would not be the largest bankruptcy case in U.S. corporate history, though, not even close. We thought to check the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcies ever, and certainly Lehman Brothers’ 2008 $691 billion bankruptcy was far larger. But one interesting side note from that list of biggest bankruptcies ever is who comes in at No. 11. That would be PG&E, again, from their $36.5 billion 2001 bankruptcy.

Related: PG&E Is Still Operating a 'Rickety' Power Line With Rusted Parts Near the One That Sparked the Camp Fire [SFist]

Image: Image: By LPS.1 via Wikimedia Commons

Last week Governor Gavin Newsom said that PG&E “no longer exists” and threatened a state takeover. Today, state Senator Scott Wiener introduced a bill that would do just that.

There is no direct relation between state senator introducing a bill creating a public takeover of PG&E today, as reported by KPIX, and the fact that PG&E stock is having a significant rally, according to Yahoo Finance (It’s up 12 percent in the last two business days.) But these things are happening for the same reason ⁠— the PG&E bankruptcy. Investors are confident that the bankrupt and beleaguered utility can get out of bankruptcy with the wrist-slap move of adding a few safety experts to its board of directors. By the Los Angeles Times reports that Sen. Wiener has prepared the nuclear option with a bill for the state to take over PG&E, revoking the 115-year-old company’s authority to do business here in California.

“PG&E is a failed utility with a track record of prioritizing profits over safety. The ham-handed, damaging mass blackouts it levied last year only serve to underscore how broken PG&E is,” Wiener said in a release. “Public ownership of PG&E will allow California to hit the refresh button and create a utility focused on the public interest.”

Here in San Francisco, where Mayor Breed and City Attorney Dennis Herrera offered PG&E $2.5 billion in a friendly takeover offer but were rebuffed, the mayor chimed in too. “We are continuing our work to acquire PG&E assets so we can deliver clean, renewable energy for all of our residents,” Breed said in that same release. “We need aggressive action if we are going for meet our climate goals and change how we safely deliver power in our state.”

Wiener’s bill would allow for certain municipalities buy up PG&E’s lines and assets within their jurisdiction, and effectively to secede from the new state-owned PG&E, should the state-owned PG&E ever become a reality.

The nitty-gritties of Wiener’s bill show that it is not an immediate takeover. The transition from investor ownership to California Public Utility Commission Control would be spread over five years, so who knows how many wildfires PG&E would cause during that period.

PG&E could avoid all of this unpleasantness by submitting a bankruptcy exit plan that fully satisfies Newsom and state regulators, if that is possible at this point. Newsom has not commented on PG&E’s latest small-bore proposal to just put some public safety experts on its board of directors, nor has he remarked on Wiener’s proposal that was just unveiled today. But he has spoken in favor of a state takeover multiple times in the past.

Related: PG&E Tower 'Malfunctioned' Right Near Where Kincade Fire Started [SFist]

Image: By LPS.1 via Wikimedia Commons

San Francisco craft beer pioneers Magnolia Brewing grew quickly from a Haight Street basement operation into a two-pronged ale empire with the addition of $3 million, 10,000-square-foot Dogpatch brewpub Smokestack, but despite busy restaurants and happy customers, costs have been adding up faster than sales. The Business Times reports that last week owner and local beard icon Dave McLean voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in what that publication describes as a potentially "cautionary tale for growing food and beverage businesses in the Bay Area."

"Our two restaurants are busy, sales are strong, and we're seeing really great growth in our beer distribution. We feel like this is the best course for all of our stakeholders and expect to emerge from this stronger than ever," said McLean. "From an operational perspective, we don't expect anything to change as we continue to brew, serve and distribute our beer, cook the food that we love as much as our guests seem to, and deliver the same experiences that we've always strived to do."

At the time of expansion, 1997-founded Magnolia was worth $3.7 million. Seemingly poised for success in a booming beer market, many others of its ilk — some with admittedly flashier offerings than Magnolia's faithful but milder renderings of British-style bitters — have appeared to crowd the market. Craft brewers, however, are loathe to cite competition with one another, instead insisting on a David v. Goliath narrative pitting them against larger breweries and distributors. That could be changing. "I will say, hands down, that the biggest challenge going forward is going to be a more competitive marketplace," said executive director of the California Craft Brewers Association Tom McCormick.

Magnolia doesn't bottle or can its brews, instead selling growlers at its operations and to select retailers like Bi-Rite and Whole Foods. For now, as it always has been, the brewpub is reliant on its restaurants. But as beer week approaches, boosting sales and visibility, don't expect any immediate changes from McLean and Magnolia. They'll be pouring draughts as usual.

Related: SF Beer Week Schedule Is Here, Just Black Out Your Calendar Now

A judge has authorized the city of Stockton's bankruptcy filing, making it the largest city in U.S. history to go bankrupt, second only to Vallejo, which filed for bankruptcy back in 2008. After nearly a year of waiting since filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, Stockton will now begin to restructure its massive outstanding debts, which include a $26 million deficit and $900 million in pension debt.

The city has been plagued by rising crime rates but cut its police force by 25 percent in an effort to curb spending, as well as chopping the fire department by 30 percent and overall city staff by 43 percent. The judge presiding over the case noted that law enforcement is stretched so thin that police can respond only to crimes in progress, which paints a post-apocalyptic scenario for our neighbors to the east.

City manager Bob Deis told the Chronicle that despite having very little left to cut, the restructuring will hit Stockton's already depleted workforce, services and retiree benefits. It's unclear how the decision will affect the city's astronomical pension debt owed to CALpers, but bond creditors who may only receive 17 cents on the dollar are agitating that the pension debt, traditionally protected from bankruptcy fallout, be laid open.

[SF Gate]
[NPR]

Citadel Broadcasting Corporation, noted as "the third-largest radio broadcaster in the U.S." and owner of San Francisco's KGO-AM 810 and KSFO 560, will file for bankruptcy by the end of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Peninsula Press Club notes that "[t]he corporation is discussing with its creditors a "pre-arranged" Chapter 11 filing that would reduce the company's debts from $2 billion to $760 million."

A company that provides a service we never even heard of called the Clear Registered Traveler Program has abruptly gone out of business, KCBS reports. Clear operated special security lanes at 20 airports around the country, including all 3 Bay Area airports, purporting to provide (for a $200 annual membership fee) a pre-screening service for frequent travelers that would allow them to scoot through security as if they were trusted government dignitaries. But as the WSJ puts it, "TSA never was comfortable with the notion of 'trusting' any travelers, so the security benefits of a Clear card boiled down to getting a special lane and some staff to help carry plastic tubs for you." Yeah, no wonder it flopped.

The state and our fair city have their share of budget woes, but Oakland is now considering pulling a Vallejo and filing for bankruptcy in the face of $100 million budget deficit in the coming year. Council member Ignacio De La Fuente told Chip Johnson that yes, shit has actually gotten that bad and they're taking into consideration. Oakland's troubles probably largely stem from property tax reassessments (with home value changes a bit more dramatic than in San Francisco County) and a lot of bad budgeting that occurred while the markets were still high. Just last month we heard of Mayor Dellums' proposal to lay off 140 of Oakland's 803 police officers in order to meet the budget shortfall -- which must not have gone over so well. Still no word on that federal grant...