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The San Francisco Bay Area has one of the richest histories in the country. It can track its origins to its early news organizations. SFist is a pioneer in news for the Bay Area. A digital-first news site, SFist reaches millions of readers across a following of hundreds of thousands.

First Coronavirus Vaccine From Massachusetts Firm Releases Highly Promising Phase 1 Results

The first coronavirus vaccine we wrote about back on March 17, developed by Massachusetts-based biotech firm Moderna, is already in its second phase of testing and about to enter its third later this month. And a report on the first phase is being called a "triumph" by one Stanford expert.

Humpday Headlines: Berkeley Approves Removing Cops From Traffic Stops

The SF School Board is moving ahead with a distance-learning plan, arsons have been ticking up in the city during the pandemic, and the Berkeley City Council voted last night on a measure to create a new non-police department in charge of traffic stops.

Day Around the Bay: COVID Hospitalizations Hit New Bay Area Peak

An SFPD officer suspected of domestic violence and sexual assault in San Mateo County will not be prosecuted, California may shift its COVID testing strategy, and the Bay Area just hit a new record of hospitalizations with 673.

Facebook Loophole Allows Climate Change Deniers to Have a Misinformation Field Day

By labeling blatant lies as “opinion,” fossil fuel industry pundits have found “a loophole that you can drive a Mack truck through.”

Butte County Suspect In Murder Of East Bay Doctor Also Charged With Robbing a Gold Mine

It may sound like a headline from 1850, but it's indeed a headline today in 2020. The suspect in the July 3 murder of Danville doctor Ari Gershman was just charged with murder, attempted murder, and burglarizing a gold mine.

Trump Administration To Bypass CDC With COVID-19 Data, Raising Alarm Bells About Distortion of Numbers

The Trump administration has issued an order to hospitals to begin reporting their COVID-19 patient data directly to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), bypassing the politically neutral Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Update: Metallic Balloon Causes Swath of North Beach and Russian Hill to Lose Power

Approximately 7,600 PG&E customers lost power Tuesday morning just before 11 a.m., and the company says the cause of the outage remains under investigation.

Tuesday Morning Topline: Oakland Police Release Crime Report Ahead of Defunding Talks

Someone Zoom-bombed a Sonoma organization's meeting with lynching images, Squaw Valley Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe may change its name to Olympic Valley, and the Oakland Police Dept. is being accused of stoking the politics of fear with a new report.

Day Around the Bay: Dominique Crenn Says Restaurant Industry Is 'Kaput'

Sup. Matt Haney's proposal to create a new Department of Street Cleaning moves forward, a new UCSF study finds that young people have a 1 in 3 chance of having a serious COVID case, and the Bay Area is starting to see serious testing delays.

Sean Monterrosa’s Family Demands More Body Cam Footage From Police Shooting

The Vallejo Police Department has now changed its story over the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Sean Monterossa, and famed civil rights attorney John Burris wants answers.

Health Director Predicts Between 900 and 3,000 COVID Deaths In SF By Year's End Without Infection Slowdown

As the city of San Francisco approaches its 5,000th confirmed case of COVID-19, likely sometime this week, Mayor London Breed and Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax issued some grim predictions for the second half of the year, if infections don't slow down.

54-Year-Old Woman Goes Missing On Solo Camping Trip In Sierra National Forest

A woman left behind a "disheveled" campsite and a smashed-up car after being on a solo camping trip near Chiquito Lake in the Sierra National Forest two weeks ago.

Monday Morning Links: Sonoma County Closes Bars, Tasting Rooms, Indoor Dining

Three more San Quentin inmates have died of COVID-19, an unidentified woman who was brought in to SF General Saturday night has been ID'd, and around 500 people took part in a Black Lives Matter march in Martinez on Sunday.

East Bay Cities Push Back Against Outdoor Dining Suspension; Alameda County Now Placed on State’s County Monitoring List

Announced Friday night, the Alameda County Public Health Department suspended outdoor dining in all of its cities — yet another harmful blow to the Bay Area’s already crippled gastronomic scene. But at least four cities in the region are now pushing back on that hiatus.

SF Tech CEO Who Went on Racist Tirade Resigns From Company

Michael Lofthouse, the CEO of the local tech startup Solid8 who was filmed yelling anti-Asian expletives at a dining family in Carmel Valley last weekend, has officially resigned due to growing backlash over his atrocious, racist behavior.

Sunday Links: 55-Acre Brush Fire Contained in South Bay

Dozens of firefighters were busy Saturday battling a 55-acre South Bay blaze, Santa Clara County Executive Officer Dr. Jeff Smith suggests that COVID-19 could soon overwhelm the state, and Oakland’s Fairyland is now in danger of permanently closing.

SF Zoo Will Reopen Monday; Hair and Nail Salons, Museums To Stay Closed

"We can't wait to see you!" reads a tweet published Friday by the SF Zoo in anticipation of Monday’s expected crowds (capped at 50 percent capacity). And, honestly: we've never been more overjoyed at the promise of seeing ring-tailed lemurs fling themselves through a series of aerial acrobatics.

San Francisco Public Library To Reopen With Contact-Free 'SFPL To Go' Service Next Month

All of SF's libraries have remained shut for months now, leaving bibliophiles to live with just SFPL's online services and catalogs. But starting next month, San Franciscans can again start checking out physical books and other tangible media via the newly proposed "SFPL To Go" service.

Saturday Links: Three-Alarm Fire Engulfs Pacific Heights Apartment Building

SF firefighters battled a large residential blaze last night in Pacific Heights that damaged four buildings, a Bay Area dog trainer has been charged with four felony counts of animal abuse, and both Oakland and Berkeley have ceased all outdoor dining amid swelling COVID-19 case numbers.

Day Around The Bay: Head to Marin For Drive-Thru Fair Food

Facebook might ban political ads (but only just before the election), California is looking to release 8,000 inmates from state prisons, and it's going to be HOT around the Bay this weekend.

Zillionth Version of High-Speed Rail Plan Introduced, Funding Totally Uncertain

For just $714 million, riders will be able to get from SF to San Jose in a mere 45 minutes under the umpteenth iteration of the high-speed rail plan.

Nurses At SF Hospitals Should Be Getting Regular COVID Tests. Why Aren't They?

A spike in COVID-19 cases is happening among the staff at Zuckerberg SF General Hospital, and neither there nor at Kaiser Permanente's hospital in San Francisco are nurses who deal with COVID-positive patients getting mandatory, regular tests themselves. Why?

Arts & Entertainment

Crowd Gathers For Annual 'Dolores Hill Bomb,' Smashes Windows Of Vehicle That Drove Into the Fray

Thursday night was chosen as the occasion for the now annual skater community ritual of the Dolores Hill Bomb, in which daredevil skateboarders bomb their way down the hill on Dolores Street between 21st Street and 18th Street — sometimes ending in injury.

Berkeley May Become the First City in the U.S. to Ban Police From Making Traffic Stops

The City of Berkeley, which has often in its history been at the forefront of progressive movements, is considering a proposal that would remove all police from traffic enforcement, and create a new department that would use unarmed personnel to make traffic stops and issue tickets.

San Francisco Sees Post-Holiday Spike With 171 New COVID Cases In One Day

Once Thursday's numbers were in, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) reported a jump in confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city of 171 — a 4-percent uptick and two and a half times higher than the average daily new case count of the last two weeks.