Business & Tech Bed Bath & Beyond’s Trumper CEO Says the Company Will Refuse to Reopen Any Stores in California The executive chair of the bankrupt Bed Bath & Beyond claims the company will start reopening its shuttered stores, but will refuse to open any California stores, because he says it’s impossible to do business in the world’s fourth-largest economy.
SF News SF Rec and Parks Officially Requests Removal of Embarcadero’s Vaillancourt Fountain In the most decisive move yet to remove the ungodly but marginally beloved Vaillancourt Fountain in Sue Bierman Plaza, the SF Rec and Parks Department has come right out and asked the city to tear that fugly fountain down.
SF News Black Bear Commandeers Tahoe Ice Cream Shop, Woofs Down Strawberry Ice Cream An ice cream bear jamboree was broken up by El Dorado County Sheriff’s deputies in South Lake Tahoe early Sunday morning, but not before that bear put a serious dent in the strawberry ice cream supply.
SF Restaurants, Food & Drink China Live Loses Lawsuit Over Millions In Unpaid Back Rent, Likely to Declare Bankruptcy The messy and complicated drama between Chinatown restaurant China Live and its landlord seems to be resolved in favor of the landlord, but the restaurant might stay put with a bankruptcy restructure, and could even still win in the end.
SF News Day Around the Bay: ESPN Cancels Colin Kaepernick Documentary, Likely to Placate Trump A missing week-old SF baby has been found safe; we’re getting video of Diana Ross complaining about the sound at Stern Grove; and ESPN just pulled the plug on a Spike Lee docuseries about Colin Kaepernick.
Arts & Entertainment Spearhead Frontman Michael Franti Hit With Sexual Misconduct Allegations, Splits With His Management A whirlwind week in a bad way for Bay Area musician Michael Franti, as he faces allegations that he sexually groomed a woman when she was 19, had a music event he was headlining canceled, and has suddenly parted with his management agency.
SF News Oaksterdam Founder Richard Lee, Known as ‘the Johnny Appleseed of Pot,' Has Died Cannabis activist Richard Lee opened two highly successful (and highly illegal) medical marijuana dispensaries in Oakland, founded Oaksterdam University, and bankrolled the recreational cannabis measure, but just died at 62.
SF Politics Former Santa Clara City Manager Sues City, Claiming Harassment Allegedly Orchestrated by 49ers Officials The fired former City Manager of Santa Clara had long raised eyebrows for her salary and benefits package, but now says some of that criticism was stage-managed by 49ers team brass, who did not appreciate her scrutiny of Levi’s Stadium.
SF Restaurants, Food & Drink Tenderloin’s Edinburgh Castle Pub Has Closed Permanently Tenderloin dive bar Edinburgh Castle Pub has been on the selling block for more than five years, with no apparent takers, and now a bank has reportedly foreclosed on the building and forced the bar’s closure.
SF Politics Gavin Newsom Demands Answers on Why ICE Agents Crashed His Press Conference Masked and armed US Customs and Border Patrol agents showed up to menace a Gavin Newsom event last week, and now Newsom is demanding records explaining why, and whether Fox News somehow had a hand in this.
SF News Monday Morning Headlines: School Is Back in Session at San Francisco Unified School District Diana Ross electrified Stern Grove but complained about her sound; Taylor Swift fans have a theory she’s playing the Super Bowl in Santa Clara this year; and 50,000 SF schoolkids return to the classroom today as the 2025-26 school year is underway.
SF News Man Found Guilty of Tackling, Punching, Trying to Steal the Firearm of SFPD Officer at UN Plaza A pretty brazen 1 am attack on an on-duty SFPD officer has drawn the exact response you’d expect, and a 31-year-old man is looking at likely serious jail time after being found guilty of three counts of threatening and battering an officer.
Arts & Entertainment SF’s Own Albino Alligator Claude Is Turning 30 Years Old, Celebrations Are Scaling Up The California Academy of Sciences is chomping at the bit to throw multiple parties for Claude the albino alligator’s 30th birthday, lining up celebrity chefs, cocktail parties, and cakes made of fish guts.
SF Restaurants, Food & Drink Beleaguered Former Westfield Mall Gets More Beleaguered, Loses Six More Restaurants If you even realize that the former Westfield Mall is now called the San Francisco Centre, be aware that its dwindling number of tenants no longer includes Jamba Juice, Blondie’s Pizza, or four other restaurants that just deserted.
SF News Friday Morning Constitutional: Big Annual Dahlia Show Coming to Golden Gate Park This Weekend Our old friend Dr. Grant Colfax has landed on his feet in Contra Costa County; more SF city workers are being forced to return to the office; and the always lovely Dahlia Society of California Flower Show is this weekend in Golden Gate Park.
SF News Day Around the Bay: This Weekend is SF’s Last 8 pm Sunset of 2025 BART will stop charging you $6.40 for entering and leaving the same station; a South SF cop who shot a heavy metal guitarist will not face charges; and Saturday is the last time the sun will set at 8 pm for about the next seven months.
SF Politics Sheng Thao’s Lawyer May Try to Move Bribery Trial Out of Oakland, Which Would Further Delay the Trial Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s lawyer is considering a bid to move her bribery trial out of Oakland, and in other news, it seems Sheng Thao may have broken up with the boyfriend whose $95k no-show job is at the heart of this scandal.
SF Politics Newsom Rallies for Redistricting, But Border Patrol Agents Show Up to Harass Crowd Governor Gavin Newsom gave a fiery speech Thursday to launch his campaign for a November ballot measure to redistrict the state, just like Texas is doing for Trump. But US Border Patrol agents showed up outside the rally to bully people.
SF News Santa Rosa Police Officers Shoot and Kill Domestic Violence Suspect After Hours-Long Standoff A seven-hour standoff in Santa Rosa ended when police shot and killed an allegedly armed suspect around 5 am Thursday morning, in what is believed to have been a domestic violence incident started by an angry ex-lover.
SF Politics Trump Administration on Spree of Firing Immigration Judges, Even While They’re Trying to Hire More More than 50 immigration judges, including a number in the Bay Area, have been fired nationwide since Trump took office in January, even while the government is simultaneously hiring more immigration judges, just probably Trumpier ones.
SF News Man Dies by Drowning While Attending Reggae on the River Festival in Mendocino County A 66-year-old man was found dead on the bottom of the South Fork Eel River right next to the annual Reggae on the River festival in Mendocino County, and authorities say the man was attending the festival and died by drowning.
SF News BART Will Finally Let You Tap to Enter With a Credit Card or Debit Card, Starting Wednesday It took two years to become a reality, but you can finally ditch the superfluous Clipper Card and tap your credit or debit card directly to ride BART, starting this coming Wednesday, August 20.
SF News Ella Hill Hutch Community Center Facing Closure, as City Cuts Off Funding After Nonprofit Spending Scandal The more than 30-year-old Ella Hill Hutch Community Center in the Western Addition may close permanently, as City Attorney David Chiu is vowing to cut off its parent nonprofit from receiving any more city grants after an alleged bribery scandal.
SF News Contra Costa County Residents Give Sheriff an Earful Over Fears That He’s Cooperating With ICE Contra Costa County is not a "sanctuary county,” but plenty of residents want to make it one, and they railed against Sheriff David Livingston for honoring ICE requests on dozens of detained immigrants since Trump took office.
SF News Day Around the Bay: 78-Year-Old Pedestrian Hit and Killed by Driver in SoMa A wrong-way and alleged DUI crash took one life near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge; legendary SF sketch comedy group Killing My Lobster is suspending operations; and a two-block radius in SoMa is seeing a lot of pedestrian fatalities.
