• A former employee of Bayview homeless services nonprofit, United Council of Human Services (UCHS), filed a lawsuit this week alleging that its chief executive, Gwendolyn Westbrook, used the organization’s funds to buy Teslas and offer relatives gifts and kickbacks, all while turning a blind eye to drug dealing and sex work in its housing programs. This lawsuit comes after concerns that UCHS is still receiving city funding, but has lost its state nonprofit status, and has actually been referred to the FBI for possible criminal investigation. [Chronicle]

Related: Exposé Finds San Francisco Doled Out $90M Last Year to Nonprofits That Are Not In Good Standing With the State [SFist]

  • The Washington Post’s data team published an interactive feature on the “collegiest college town in every state,” and found that Davis is the Golden State’s “collegiest college” town with 40% of its population as UC Davis students. Additionally, California’s most common animal-related place name is “bear” (shocker). [Washington Post]
  • The city of Oakland’s internal systems were apparently the target of an ongoing ransomware attack, a spokesperson said. The attack apparently began Wednesday night, and the full extent of the threat is still unclear, although the spokesperson added that “911, financial data, and fire and emergency resources are not impacted.” [SFGate]
Oakland City Hall. Image courtesy of Jorge Aguilar.
  • A North Bay man, Jason Anglero-Wyrick, has settled a case against Sonoma County for $1.35 million after a Sonoma County sheriff ordered a K-9 to attack him after suspecting he might have a gun in 2020, although firearm charges were ultimately never filed. The dog tore into Anglero-Wyrick's leg and calf, leaving him on medical disability since then. [KTVU]
  • Following Oakland bakery owner and activist Jen Angel’s tragic death in a brutal robbery gone awry this week, her friends and family are publicly calling for police to follow Angel’s abolitionist beliefs and not jail the perpetrators. [Chronicle]
  • In the latest back-and-forth in the city of Oakland’s efforts to build apartment buildings at the Wood Street homeless encampment, a federal judge ruled Friday the city did not have enough shelter beds for the encampment’s former residents, despite claiming it did earlier this week, and could not go ahead with clearing it. [Chronicle]
  • The official death toll from the 7.8-magnitude Turkey-Syria earthquake that struck Monday has officially, tragically topped 25,000. [NPR]

Image of United Council of Human Services (UCHS) headquarters via Google Street View.