One of the leading art curators in the nation resigned from his job after allegedly stating at a recent staff meeting, “Don&#8217;t worry, we will definitely still continue to collect white artists.&#8221;
Gary Garrels, senior curator of painting and sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), was targeted by a <a href="https://www.change.org/p/xsfm0ma-we-are-calling-for-the-resignation-of-sfmoma-senior-curator-gary-garrels?utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_medium=custom_url&amp;recruited_by_id=ccbfb0e0-c184-11ea-a7b3-1fafb4e4eb7c">petition</a> that stated, &#8220;Gary&#8217;s removal from SFMOMA is non-negotiable. Considering his lengthy tenure at this institution, we ask just how long have his toxic white supremacist beliefs regarding race and equity directed his position curating the content of the museum?&#8221;
“The petitioners cite few examples of anything even approaching bad behavior from Garrels,” wrote Robby Soave at <a href="https://reason.com/2020/07/14/gary-garrels-san-francisco-museum-modern-art-racism/">Reason</a>, adding, “Their sole complaint is that he allegedly concluded a presentation on how to diversify the museum&#8217;s holdings by saying, ‘don&#8217;t worry, we will definitely still continue to collect white artists.’&#8221;
<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/gary-garrels-departure-sfmoma-1893964">Artnet.com</a> reported, “At the meeting, Garrels said that the museum could not avoid collecting the work of white men, which would amount to ‘reverse discrimination.’” Although he ultimately stepped down, Garrels protested, &#8220;I do not believe I have ever said that it is important to collect the art of white men. I have said that it is important that we do not exclude consideration of the art of white men.&#8221;
Garrels also wrote, “I want to offer my personal and sincere apology to every one of you. I realized almost as soon as I used the term ‘reverse discrimination’ that this is an offensive term and was an extremely poor choice of words on my part. I am very sorry at how upsetting these words were to many staff.”
“Garrels recently <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/sfmoma-protest-letter-1202692108/">became the target of criticism</a> after it emerged that he (as well as the museum’s director) had received no-interest home loans from the museum, which some saw as emblematic of its unequal treatment of employees. (Garells’s loan was worth $500,000.),&#8221; Artnet.com noted.
But Garrels also auctioned off a Rothko painting for $50.1 million to fund work by female artists, artists of color, and LGBTQ+ artists.
&#8220;Garrels served as chief curator in the department of drawings and curator in the department of painting and sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Numerous shows he curated for the MOMA include the acclaimed retrospectives of Brice Marden (2006) and Dieter Roth (2004). Moreover, he had tenures as senior curator at the WalkerArtCenter, Minneapolis and as director of programs at the Dia Art Foundation, New York,&#8221; <a href="https://flash---art.com/2008/05/san-francisco-gary-garrels-appointed-at-sfmoma/">FlashArt</a> reported in 2008.
SFMOMA was in the news in early June: “A former employee, Taylor Brandon, has accused the museum of silencing her criticism in a comment on its image of a Glenn Ligon work SFMOMA posted over the weekend. The museum disabled comments on the post after Brandon called it a ‘cop out,’ arguing the institution has not done enough to support black employees internally and naming some of its upper management. The museum has since reopened comments on the post and added its own statement apologizing, but maintains that Brandon’s post violated Instagram’s terms of service by naming individuals,” Artnet <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-industry-news-june-3-2020-1877811">reported.</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A prominent museum curator resigned after he was accused of &quot;white supremacy&quot; for saying that he&#39;d still collect some art from white men. This is what constitutes &quot;white supremacy&quot; in our country of lunatics. <a href="https://t.co/bzcXxE36jk">https://t.co/bzcXxE36jk</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1283101684848365568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Sfmoma

Leading Art Curator Resigns After Allegedly Saying He’d ‘Definitely Still Continue To Collect White Artists’

arts

San Francisco

At least half a dozen children were shot and killed over the holiday weekend as high levels of violence ravaged some of the United States’ largest cities.
The children’s ages ranged from 6 to 14 as they fell victim to violence in cities from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, according to the list compiled by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/06/us/children-killed-holiday-weekend/index.html">CNN</a>. In some cases, the tragedies added to already surging levels of violence from last year to this year.
In Washington, D.C., 11-year-old Davon McNeal was preparing to leave a Fourth of July cookout with his mother when shooting broke out somewhere nearby. A bullet struck the youth football player in the head, killing him, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/davon-mcneal-shot/2020/07/05/16390c1a-bec6-11ea-b178-bb7b05b94af1_story.html">The Washington Post</a>.
“We just had a real genuine kid who wanted to get out of the neighborhood. That’s all he said is, ‘I’m gonna make it,’” McNeal’s football coach Kevin McGill said remembering the boy’s dreams of playing in the pros. “These kids’ lives are being robbed over nothing.”
Just under 90 people have been killed in Washington, D.C., this year, a roughly 17% increase over last year. 2019 ended with the most people killed in the city in a decade.
In Atlanta, 8-year-old Secoriea Turner was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/atlanta-mayor-on-death-of-8-year-old-girl-we-are-doing-each-other-more-harm-than-any-police-officer-on-this-force">killed</a> when a group of armed individuals fired at the vehicle she was riding in near the burned-out shell of a Wendy’s restaurant where Rayshard Brooks was killed last month.
“Secoriea Turner was shot and killed last night, and it was not by the hands of police officers,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said. “It was by the hands of a coward, cowards, who are still out and about in our community. This happened … near the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed a few weeks ago.”
More than 30 people were killed on Saturday and Sunday in the city, continuing a wave of violence that has ravaged Atlanta since protests over the death of George Floyd began. The violence intensified after Brooks’ death. Last week, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp called the violence “outrageous &amp; unacceptable,” according to the <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/atlanta-mayor-bottoms-calls-violence-stop-after-year-old-death/ewb45h1m1KcuIMJFRxpkOI/">Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a>.
In Chicago, 7-year-old Natalia Wallace and a 14-year-old boy whose name has not yet been released were victims in two separate shootings over the weekend. Both children were killed while celebrating the July 4th holiday with friends and family, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/children-ages-14-killed-gun-violence-mars-holiday/story?id=71621109">ABC News</a>
Wallace was playing with other children in her grandmother’s yard when several men pulled up in a car, stepped out, and opened fire in the direction of the house. One bullet struck Wallace in the forehead, killing her. The unidentified boy was one of four shot and killed at a large family gathering in a west-side Chicago neighborhood.
The number of homicides in Chicago has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-blames-guns-coronavirus-for-citys-spike-in-violence">jumped</a> by about 34%. This June, there were 329 homicides, up year over year from 246 in 2019.
In Hoover, Ala., 8-year-old Royta Giles Jr. was killed in a Friday shooting at a food court on the first floor of the Galleria, the largest mall in the state. One man has been charged in Giles’ death and police are looking for others, according to <a href="https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2020/07/riverchase-galleria-shooting-teen-charged-in-death-of-8-year-old-royta-giles-jr-other-gunmen-sought.html">Birmingham News</a>.
“Our community is heartbroken,” Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said. “The officers who were on the scene will forever bear the image of an innocent child who died in their arms.”
In San Francisco, a 6-year-old boy was shot and killed in the city’s Bayview neighborhood on Saturday. Another male victim was also shot and hospitalized but suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/6-year-old-boy-fatally-shot-in-SF-s-Bayview-15387425.php">San Francisco Chronicle</a>.
“Senseless violence like this that could so tragically claim the life of a small child is unacceptable in our City, and the San Francisco Police Department stands with the Bayview Hunter&#8217;s Point community in its determination to bring the perpetrator or perpetrators to justice,” Chief of Police William Scott said in a statement, according to CNN.
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Ambulance

At Least Six Children Killed Amid Wave Of Violence Over Holiday Weekend

Atlanta

Chicago

Washington D.C.

Police Chief Bill Scott has ordered the San Francisco Police Department to stop releasing mugshots of suspects in an effort to combat racial bias, according to a statement released on Wednesday.
“This policy emerges from compelling research suggesting that the widespread publication of police booking photos in the news and on social media creates an illusory correlation for viewers that fosters racial bias and vastly overstates the propensity of black and brown men to engage in criminal behavior,” said Scott.
“By implementing this groundbreaking new policy today, SFPD is taking a stand that walks the walk on implicit bias while affirming a core principle of procedural justice — that those booked on suspicion of a crime are nonetheless presumed innocent of it,” continued the police chief.
In a press release, the police department said it will allow exceptions to the mugshot release policy in circumstances where the public is in “imminent danger” or when officials “enlist the public’s assistance in locating individuals, including at-risk persons.”
The police department told employees in a <a href="https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/sites/default/files/2020-07/SFPDDN20.112.20200701.pdf">memo</a> Wednesday that the new booking photo policy could help to “prevent bias in policing” and protect “justice-involved persons who are subsequently not charged or convicted” from the negative consequences associated with having their photo released. 
Any mugshot that is released must first be approved by the San Francisco Police Department Media Relations team. 
The policy change comes as a growing list of newsrooms across the country have also elected to stop printing mugshot galleries for similar reasons, as previously reported by <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/tampa-bay-times-orlando-sentinel-gannett-newspapers-stop-publishing-mugshot-galleries/">The Wrap</a>. The mugshot policy change from news organizations, however, does not affect mugshots posted alongside news stories.
“Mugshot galleries presented without context may feed into negative stereotypes and, in our editorial judgment, are of limited news value,” said Gannet, an organization that owns dozens of newspapers, in a statement announcing the removal of mugshot galleries on the remaining papers that still published them, reports <a href="https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2020/gannett-took-mugshot-galleries-off-former-gatehouse-sites-yesterday/">Poynter</a>. “Instead, we will focus on the best ways to inform our readers by providing relevant information that will keep our communities safe and continuing to cover crime, as well as the public safety system.”
San Francisco’s decision to stop publishing mugshots of suspects comes as the city has promoted additional changes concerning law enforcement activities.
Earlier this month, Mayor London Breed revealed four priorities she would strive for in order to change the nature of policing, including a move to stop sending police officers to respond to non-violent crimes. The police chief, who backed the reforms, called them consistent with the department’s “aspiration” to create a model for a modern era of policing across the country.
“We understand that it’s necessary for law enforcement to listen to the African American community and embrace courageous changes to address disparate policing practices, and we recognize it will take sacrifice on our part to fulfill the promise of reform,” said Scott in a statement at the time.
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California Sees Rise In Infections During Coronavirus Outbreak

San Francisco PD Will Stop Releasing Mugshots To Combat Racial Bias

Police

racial bias

Well over a month into Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA)  temporary housing plan for at-risk homeless people, California has struggled to fill hotel rooms and individual counties are seeing mixed results.  
<a href="https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2020-05-19/newsom-coronavirus-homeless-population-hotel-project-roomkey">The Los Angeles Times</a> reported that the governor’s office has secured over 15,619 hotel rooms across the state as of Monday via the Project Roomkey initiative, which seeks to put homeless people most at-risk of coronavirus complications into hotel rooms. Of these rooms, 7,700 remain empty. 
The Times reported that the program, which operates largely at the county level, has also run into different logistical problems, depending on the region. 
For example, in Los Angeles County, the government hasn’t been able to negotiate room contracts fast enough, prompting activists to call for the county <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/activists-pressure-los-angeles-to-seize-hotels-for-the-homeless">to seize</a> the hotel industry. In the Sacramento area, the project has been slowed due to a lack of providers to help operate the hotels, a problem that could soon reach Los Angeles. 
“Unless we can bring in more human capital to do this work, we’re going to have a hard time continuing to expand capacity,” Heid Marston, interim executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority, told The Times. 
As of Tuesday afternoon, San Francisco has procured 3,178 hotel rooms and RV units through its <a href="https://data.sfgov.org/stories/s/4nah-suat">Alternative Housing Program</a>, of which 2,176 are ready to be occupied, but only 1,347 actually are occupied. 
In addition to providing rehabilitation services for homeless people, the San Francisco Department of Health said it would provide free alcohol and tobacco, obtained through private donations, to some participants in the program to discourage them from leaving, according to <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/editorspicks/article/San-Francisco-homeless-hotels-drugs-alcohol-15253297.php">SFGate.</a> 
“Managed alcohol and tobacco use makes it possible to increase the number of guests who stay in isolation and quarantine and, notably, protects the health of people who might otherwise need hospital care for life-threatening alcohol withdrawal,” said the health department. 
It’s not clear whether the drugs are only available to people who want to participate in treatment, but the department has said substances are distributed by licensed doctors. 
“Many isolation and quarantine guests tell us they use substances daily, and this period in our care has allowed some people to connect for the first time with addiction treatment and harm reduction therapy,” said the department.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) statistics show that the state of California had <a href="https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC_PopSub_State_CA_2019.pdf">approximately 150,000</a> homeless people in 2019, and as recently as 2017, the state was home to one in four of the nation’s homeless people. Approximately 60,000 of those people live in Los Angeles County, and about 8,000 live in San Francisco. 
That said, recent reports suggest that the homeless population in San Francisco has been growing, as people migrate to the city in the hopes of snagging a free hotel room, according to <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Mayor-London-Breed-s-message-to-out-of-town-15237855.php">The San Francisco Chronicle</a>.
“People are showing up in San Francisco from other places and asking where their hotel room is,” said Mayor London Breed in late April. “That’s a real problem for me.”
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USC medical staff stay at hotels

Report: California Struggles To Fill Hotel Rooms It Booked For Homeless People

California

homeless

The drug-dealing and feces inundating the streets of one neighborhood in San Francisco have become so ubiquitous that the University of California Hastings College of the Law, joined by local business owners and residents, is suing the city to clean the mess up.
The <a href="https://www.uchastings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/UC-Hastings-et-al.-v.-CCSF-Complaint-FINAL-FILED-05.04.21.pdf">lawsuit</a> states:
<blockquote>Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the de facto policy of the City and County of San Francisco to use the Tenderloin community as a containment zone had resulted in a dramatic decline in the livability and safety of the neighborhood. The deplorable conditions tolerated by the City in the Tenderloin are not permitted in other neighborhoods in San Francisco. This is a matter of fundamental fairness; what is a city-wide problem should not be allowed to weigh disproportionately on a low-income working- class neighborhood. San Francisco should be prohibited from abandoning a single neighborhood, in an apparent effort to spare other neighborhoods the burdens that confront the city at-large.
Open-air drug sales and other criminal activity, plus crowds of drug users and sidewalk-blocking tents, pervade and threaten the health and lives of all of the Tenderloin’s residents. What has long been suffered in the Tenderloin has become insufferable.</blockquote>
UC Hastings Chancellor David Faigman <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2020/05/09/sf-sued-over-nightmare-neighborhood-conditions.cnn">told CNN</a>, “We are suing because our neighborhood has become a pandemic containment zone. Tents are blocking streets, tents are blocking doorways, there are needles in the streets, there’s open-air drug dealing … We need the tents to be removed and we need the drug dealers to be stopped. Leaving them on the streets is no solution.”
“The number of tents and makeshift homeless shelters in the 50-block section that more than 20,000 permanent residents call home has more than doubled from 158 in early March to 391 as of May 1, according to a survey cited in the lawsuit,” <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/05/11/san-francisco-sued-amid-285-percent-jump-in-homeless-camps/?utm_source=maropost&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=nypevening&amp;utm_content=20200511&amp;tpcc=evening_update&amp;mpweb=755-8860539-719690448&amp;fbclid=IwAR3WcFl1i7nBTcIijE">The New York Post</a> reported.
Last week, San Francisco mayor London N. Breed <a href="https://sf.gov/news/san-francisco-releases-tenderloin-neighborhood-safety-assessment-and-plan-covid-19">released the Tenderloin Neighborhood Safety Assessment and Plan</a> for COVID-19, which stated:
<blockquote>The Plan has eight main goals:
<ol>
<li>Address encampments by offering safe sleeping alternatives to unsheltered individuals.</li>
<li>Facilitate social distancing compliance by closing streets and parking.</li>
<li>Ensure that housed residents in the Tenderloin have safe passage and access to their homes and businesses.</li>
<li>Improve access to hygiene station, restrooms and garbage disposal for unhoused individuals.</li>
<li>Address food and water insecurity for housed and unhoused residents alike.</li>
<li>Increase police presence in the neighborhood to focus on public safety concerns.</li>
<li>Increase health services in the neighborhood.</li>
<li>Increased education and outreach to residents and businesses through a ‘care ambassador’ program.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
Faigman said the plan was “entirely inadequate,” adding, “It essentially institutionalizes the status quo. It simply leaves everybody in place. It is a Band-Aid when a bandage is needed and is simply inadequate.”
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&nbsp;

Hastings Law School

San Francisco Sued By UC Law School Over Rampant Drug-Dealing, Feces-Filled Streets

Drugs

Residents of the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco, California &#8212; a neighborhood already under seige by a homeless encampment, drug use, and unsanitary conditions &#8212; are suing the city of San Francisco after the encampment grew by 300% during the city&#8217;s coronavirus outbreak.
&#8220;The number of tents and makeshift structures in the Tenderloin has tripled since January, as homeless shelters are forced to operate at low capacity in order to enforce stringent social distancing requirements,&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/san-francisco-tenderloin-district-300-homeless-sidewalk-tents-coronavirus">according to Fox News</a>.
The Tenderloin is the epicenter of San Francisco&#8217;s homeless problem and, previous to the coronavirus pandemic, was the part of the city hardest hit by what residents termed &#8220;code browns,&#8221; or incidents of human feces littering the sidewalks. At one point, <a href="https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/streets-in-sfs-tenderloin-district-to-be-pressure-washed-everyday-because-of-poop-problem/">local news reports</a>, the problem got so bad that Tenderloin residents enlisted their own &#8220;Community Benefit District,&#8221; to power-wash the sidewalks once a week.
“Everyday — it’s a common occurrence, seeing a feces every single day, especially the Tenderloin. It’s really bad. You can’t go with about two steps without stepping on something,” one resident told a local outlet last December.
San Francisco, of course, is now famous for its &#8220;poop problem,&#8221; which has already cost the city millions of dollars to handle, including hundreds of thousands of dollars for a &#8220;poop patrol&#8221; tasked with doing nothing but addressing incidents of human feces on city sidewalks. The issue even gave rise to several apps, tracking the number and location of 311 calls reporting dirty streets, drug paraphernalia, and unsanitary conditions.
Now, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/san-francisco-tenderloin-district-300-homeless-sidewalk-tents-coronavirus">Fox News reports</a>, residents say the problem has gotten so bad, they&#8217;re suing the city government in Federal court to force them to clean up the mess.
&#8220;The federal lawsuit, filed last week in part by the University of California Hastings College of Law, does not seek financial damages but instead demands the city clean up streets littered with drug needles and human waste. The litigants are also seeking help for people living in sidewalk tents, saying  they are at increased risk of COVID-19,&#8221; the outlet said Monday.
&#8220;We are suing because our neighborhood has become a pandemic containment zone,” the Hastings College of Law dean told media. &#8220;The city has basically cordoned off our area. Tents are blocking the streets. Tents are blocking doorways. There are needles in the streets. There’s open-air drug dealing.&#8221;
The complainants say they fear that the &#8220;virus is raging in the neighborhood,&#8221; putting its residents (both homed and homeless) at heightened risk.
San Francisco&#8217;s mayor, London Breed, rolled out a plan for the neighborhood last week, but the plan largely addresses the needs of the homeless, not more permanent Tenderloin residents. The plan &#8220;involves ushering people experiencing homelessness to sanctioned &#8216;safe-sleeping&#8217; encampments and enforcing rules requiring sidewalk tents to be at least six feet apart,&#8221; erecting temporary showers and restrooms for the homeless, and providing them with healthcare services and food.
&#8220;I think the plan is entirely inadequate. It essentially institutionalizes the status quo. It simply keeps everybody in place. It is a Band-Aid when a bandage is needed,” Hastings&#8217; dean said. “It was thrown together in response because they knew the lawsuit was coming, but it clearly does not provide a real solution.&#8221;
The plan, he added, doesn&#8217;t address the other issues, like rampant drug use.
&#8220;I don’t know of any place in America where health mandates are so flagrantly violated as in the Tenderloin,” one Tenderloin resident told media. “It hasn’t sunk in that we’re in danger.”
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san fran homeless

San Francisco Residents Sue City Over Homeless Encampment That TRIPLED During Coronavirus Outbreak

Coronavirus

On Friday, San Francisco police officers who were sent to patrol a protest against the city’s high price of housing wore masks emblazoned with the “thin blue line flag,” a black-and-white American flag with a blue stripe across the middle. But then San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott sent an email to officers warning that although the “thin blue line” flag was “a meaningful expression to honor fallen officers,” others would find it “divisive and disrespectful.” He stated, “Thin Blue Line masks shall not be worn by our on-duty members.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A row of cops line the house where two unhoused women are living, trying to stay safe during a global pandemic. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/reclaimsf?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#reclaimsf</a> <a href="https://t.co/HGk4Hcz4T7">pic.twitter.com/HGk4Hcz4T7</a>
&mdash; Reclaim SF (@reclaim_sf) <a href="https://twitter.com/reclaim_sf/status/1256333158762479616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Scott said the police should wear neutral face coverings from now on, asserting, “As an affirmation of the principle of safety with respect for all, we will replace the personal protective equipment to which some community members have objected.”
The <a href="https://apnews.com/e6757f9761d5302a2fdb5712fa915c5e?utm_medium=APWestRegion&amp;utm_source=Twitter&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlow">Associated Press</a> noted, “The police union president, Tony Montoya, said the union had shown the masks to Scott’s command staff, and several of them had asked for more than one. The blue line ‘represents law enforcement’s separation of order and chaos,’ he said.”
The <a href="https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/sf-police-officers-respond-to-protest-wearing-controversial-face-masks/">San Francisco Examiner</a> reported that prior to Scott’s statement, “When shown a video of a row of officers wearing the face masks, Supervisor Shamann Walton reserved judgment but said, ‘That looks more like something you see below the Mason Dixon Line.’”
Police Commissioner John Hamasaki emailed Scott that the masks were a “clear policy violation,” adding, “This raises real concerns for me about the battle for the heart and soul of the department. Are we moving forward or being dragged into the pre-reform days of SFPD?” He fired, “Without oversight, it appears that some in the department are openly flouting our policies, with the endorsement of the POA. Let’s not let the bad actors drag us back into the past.”
John Crew, a retired American Civil Liberties Union attorney, snapped that the juxtaposition lawyer of the “thin blue line&#8221; flag with the San Francisco Police Officers Association logo on the masks was “two issues combined. The thin blue line is a political symbol. And it’s a POA-branded mask. It’s like wearing a political button.” He opined that Scott and the police union have been at odds, then surmised, “It makes you wonder if it was some sort of stunt and if they were trying to provoke a controversy,” according to the <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-police-chief-to-replace-thin-blue-line-15242351.php">San Francisco Chronicle</a>.
The Examiner reported that Crew also stated, “The definition of a uniform is that its uniform. There is no option to add your own statements, affiliations, whatever. In addition to the flag, the masks feature an SFPOA logo. The POA is a political organization. They can’t alter their uniforms to say ‘POA’ anymore than they can alter their uniforms to say ‘ACLU’ or ‘Donald Trump.’ … It’s not just the message that it sends to the black community. It’s the message that it sends to San Francisco. The POA is still going to act like they don’t have to adhere of the policies of the department or the values of this city.” He concluded, “Who the heck in the command staff, anybody from sergeant and above who saw these masks, thought that this would be okay?”
The Chronicle continued, “Montoya, the police union president, was incensed by what he saw and Scott’s capitulation to &#8216;The haters who have made a cottage industry out of carping, complaining and stereotyping the police.&#8217;”
The blue line on the &#8220;thin blue line&#8221; flag is intended to represent law enforcement, standing between what is above the line, representing citizenry and order, from what is below the line, representing crime and anarchy.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.  
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San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell And Police Chief Bill Scott To Announce 34 Million Dollar Public Safety Initiative

SF Police Officers Wear ‘Thin Blue Line’ Masks. Police Chief Then Tells Them To Stop It.

While the economy-crushing coronavirus shutdowns are wreaking havoc in just about every industry, the plastic industry is seeing, at least temporarily, one &#8220;win&#8221;: A growing number of liberal cities and states that have imposed bans or fees on single-use plastic bags are reversing their policies amid concerns about the health risks posed by reusable bags.
&#8220;In the latest sign of how dramatically the coronavirus pandemic is altering the social landscape, even the liberal San Francisco Bay Area this week banned reusable grocery bags as a sanitary measure, dismaying recycling advocates who say durable sacks should still be allowed at stores,&#8221; <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/04/01/its-come-to-this-liberal-san-francisco-bay-area-bans-reusable-grocery-bags-1270319">Politico</a> reported earlier this week.
The famously radical-left city&#8217;s Department of Public Health announced the temporary reversal of its 2007 plastic bag ban on Tuesday as part of an update to its coronavirus &#8220;stay-at-home&#8221; order. The new ordinance restricts customers from bringing into stores their own reusable items, like bags and mugs.
As usual, San Francisco is leading the way in terms of severity of  its ban effort, imposing what Politico&#8217;s Debra Kahn describes as &#8220;the most stringent coronavirus-related restriction placed on reusable bags in California.&#8221;
&#8220;[F]aced with the realities of the coronavirus, the city’s leaders have realized that excessive environmentalism isn’t always compatible with the realities of the world we live in today,&#8221; Hot Air&#8217;s <a href="https://hotair.com/archives/jazz-shaw/2020/04/03/plastic-bag-bans-completely-reversed/">Jazz Shaw</a> writes. &#8220;As such, the ban has been not only lifted but reversed. Reusable bags are now banned in the City by the Bay.&#8221;
In other words, the city that once led the nation in reusable bag enforcement is now one of the first to officially ban them.
And, as Shaw notes, San Francisco isn&#8217;t the only progressive city reversing course on the plastic bag ban &#8212; &#8220;Maine, New York and Massachusetts have all either suspended their plastic bag bans or halted enforcement of the regulations,&#8221; he writes.
Meanwhile, as reported by Politico, the plastic industry is pushing hard for their cause across the country, lobbying on the federal level as well as some key states, including New York and New Jersey, &#8220;asserting that often-unwashed reusable bags are hotbeds for the coronavirus, which early research suggests can remain on surfaces.&#8221;
Along with the plastic ban reversal in San Francisco, other &#8220;environmentally-friendly&#8221; efforts have been abandoned by the general populace, with people rushing out to their local grocery stores to buy up all of the bottled water, while companies impose their own bans on reusable items, including Starbucks and Coffee Bean.
Environmentalists are trying to push back, but so far to no avail. Kahn cites Californians Against Waste Executive Director Mark Murray chiding the &#8220;misguided&#8221; anti-reusable bag movement, but also expressing some sympathy. &#8220;This fear of bringing reusable bags into the stores is misguided, but I certainly understand why store employees don&#8217;t want to handle somebody else&#8217;s things,&#8221; said Murray. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t have any expectation that somebody is going to put my groceries into my bag that I brought from home.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fauci-you-cant-rely-on-the-models-too-many-variables">Experts Question WH Coronavirus Projections; Fauci: ‘You Can’t Rely On The Models,’ Too Many Variables</a>

Target Bags

Liberal Cities Reverse Plastic Bag Bans, Ban Reusable Bags; Plastic Industry Lobbies For More

Environmentalism

So far, so good, in San Francisco, where a shelter-in-place order that was implemented has apparently blunted the impact of the coronavirus, as hospital emergency rooms are currently not overwhelmed. Dr. Jahan Fahimi, an emergency physician and medical director at the University of California, San Francisco, told <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/31/us/california-shelter-in-place-effects/index.html?utm_term=link&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twCNN&amp;utm_content=2020-03-31T06%3A11%3A05">CNN</a>, &#8220;The surge we have been anticipating has not yet come. We&#8217;re all kind of together holding our breaths.&#8221;
By Monday, 374 people had been confirmed with coronavirus and six people had died. Dr. Grant Colfax, the city&#8217;s public health director, cautioned, &#8220;We&#8217;re watching the data very carefully.”
Dr. Robert M. Wachter, who works at theUniversity of California, San Francisco Medical Center, wrote in <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/03/31/coronavirus-early-stay-home-order-helping-san-francisco-column/5088664002/">USA Today</a>:
<blockquote>By the first week in March, many of the Bay Area’s information technology giants, including <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2020-03-06/apple-employees-join-twitter-facebook-amazon-in-remote-work-as-coronavirus-spreads">Apple, Google and Facebook</a>, were directing their employees to work from home. The work-from-home orders increased the degree of physical distancing for tens of thousands of people in the region, which lowered the chances of viral spread. Such actions underscored a message that reverberated throughout the region: These companies were taking the threat seriously.er cautioned,</blockquote>
Wachter noted, “While we in San Francisco are allowing ourselves a bit of optimism, it’s entirely possible that our luck won’t hold.”
<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/coronavirus-updates/2020/03/4-things-san-francisco-did-right-to-control-the-coronavirus/">Mother Jones</a> noted:
<blockquote>On March 11, six days after it announced its first two coronavirus cases, San Francisco barred gatherings of more than 1,000 people at a time and told folks not to leave their homes unless they needed to go grocery shopping and visit medical professionals … (San Francisco’s public health director Dr. Grant) Colfax pushed the city to set up the emergency operations center in January. It has relocated to the larger Moscone Center.</blockquote>
Dr. Armand Dorian, the chief medical officer at the University of Southern California Verdugo Hills Hospital in Glendale, warned that while coronavirus cases had not exploded over the weekend, &#8220;We were like, &#8216;maybe there is something there.&#8217; But honestly, I would be very, very cautious because I really think we are at the beginning of the uptick.&#8221; He continued that the problem “is going to be coming in waves or mini waves. The key is just being so staunch, keeping everybody home for the next couple of weeks to make sure we don&#8217;t miss this opportunity. And this is not disappearing; it&#8217;s going to be here for the rest of our lives.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/social-distancing-is-working-to-reduce-coronavirus-cases-data-says">The Daily Wire</a> reported on Tuesday a report saying social distancing was working across the nation:
<blockquote>According to a company that produces thermometers that connect to the internet, thus permitting the company to track fevers across America, the social distancing measures that many areas in the United States have implemented are successfully working to reduce the number of coronavirus transmissions. Kinsa Health, which according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/health/coronavirus-restrictions-fevers.html">The New York Times</a>, has routinely been two to three weeks ahead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in predicting flu data since 2018, when it distributed over 500,000 thermometers, created a map of fever levels nationwide on March 22 and saw by the next day that social distancing measures were working.</blockquote>
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Coronavirus Pandemic Causes Climate Of Anxiety And Changing Routines In America

San Francisco Implemented Strong Measures Against Coronavirus. So Far, So Good.

On Monday, San Francisco imposed the strictest shutdown directives in the nation, ordering all residents of the county to &#8220;shelter at their place of residence&#8221; except if needing to leave for &#8220;essential&#8221; purposes. All &#8220;non-essential&#8221; businesses and services have likewise been ordered to shut down. Failure to comply is being treated as a misdemeanor &#8220;punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both.&#8221; Since the order was issued Monday, life in San Francisco has changed dramatically, while many unanswered questions remain.
In a <a href="https://www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/files/HealthOrderC19-07-%20Shelter-in-Place.pdf">health order</a> issued Monday, San Francisco&#8217;s Department of Public Health ordered all residents to shelter in place. All individuals living in the county must &#8220;shelter at their place of residence except that they my leave to provide or receive certain essential services or engage in certain essential activities and work for essential business and government services,&#8221; the order states. The only individuals exempted from the order are the homeless, who are urged to &#8220;find shelter and government agencies to provide it.&#8221;
The order specifies that all businesses and government agencies must &#8220;cease non-essential operations at physical locations in the county.&#8221; The order also bans all &#8220;non-essential gatherings of any number of individuals&#8221; and requires the &#8220;cessation of all non-essential travel.&#8221;
&#8220;Violation of or failure to comply with this Order is a misdemeanor punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both,&#8221; the health order states.
Since the order was issued Monday, life in the city has &#8220;screeched to a halt,&#8221; as The <a href="https://apnews.com/07672ee6aded6e8ac5954c07676eb926">Associated Press</a> reports, while people are struggling to figure out what constitutes &#8220;essential&#8221; and &#8220;non-essential&#8221; activity.
San Francisco Department of Public Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax attempted to offer residents some clarity, at least on the question of exercise and pets.
&#8220;You can still walk your dog or go on a hike with another person, as long as you keep 6 feet between you,&#8221; Dr. Colfax told AP.
So going outside to exercise is considered essential and thus permitted, so long as you keep your 6-feet of distance. But what else is essential? What exactly happens if you do leave home for a &#8220;non-essential&#8221; purpose? Residents remain uncertain. “No one is clear. No one has clarity as to what next steps are,” one Oakland resident told AP.
Under the order, essential businesses and services remain open, which includes gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stories, and banks. Like an increasing number of cities, including Los Angeles, many restaurants remain open to provide takeout but dine-in is forbidden. But like personal activity, what services are truly essential or non-essential is debatable.
The potential impact of the order also remains unclear, but it will likely be significant.
Below is an excerpt from the <a href="https://www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/files/HealthOrderC19-07-%20Shelter-in-Place.pdf">order</a> issued by San Francisco&#8217;s Department of Public Health Monday (formatting adjusted):
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ORDER OF THE HEALTH OFFICER No. C19-07
ORDER OF THE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO DIRECTING ALL INDIVIDUALS LIVING IN THE COUNTY TO SHELTER AT THEIR PLACE OF RESIDENCE EXCEPT THAT THEY MAY LEAVE TO PROVIDE OR RECEIVE CERTAIN ESSENTIAL SERVICES OR ENGAGE IN CERTAIN ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES AND WORK FOR ESSENTIAL BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES; EXEMPTING INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS FROM THE SHELTER IN PLACE ORDER BUT URGING THEM TO FIND SHELTER AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO PROVIDE IT; DIRECTING ALL BUSINESSES AND GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES TO CEASE NON- ESSENTIAL OPERATIONS AT PHYSICAL LOCATIONS IN THE COUNTY; PROHIBITING ALL NON-ESSENTIAL GATHERINGS OF ANY NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS; AND ORDERING CESSATION OF ALL NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL
(SHELTER IN PLACE)
DATE OF ORDER: March 16, 2020
Please read this Order carefully. Violation of or failure to comply with this Order is a misdemeanor punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both. (California Health and Safety Code § 120295, et seq.; California Penal Code §§ 69, 148(a)(1); San Francisco Administrative Code section 7.17(b).)
Summary: The virus that causes Coronavirus 2019 Disease (“COVID-19”) is easily transmitted, especially in group settings, and it is essential that the spread of the virus be slowed to protect the ability of public and private health care providers to handle the influx of new patients and safeguard public health and safety. Because of the risk of the rapid spread of the virus, and the need to protect all members of the community and the Bay Area region, especially including our members most vulnerable to the virus and also health care providers, this Order requires all individuals anywhere in San Francisco to shelter in place—that is, stay at home—except for certain essential activities and work to provide essential business and government services or perform essential public infrastructure construction, including housing. This order begins at 12:01 a.m. on March 17, 2020 and will continue for three weeks through April 7, 2020, subject to the limited exceptions and under the terms and conditions more particularly set forth below.
Gatherings of individuals outside the home are generally prohibited, with certain exceptions for essential activities or essential travel or to perform work for essential businesses and government agencies or perform essential infrastructure work. Consistent with the directive issued by Governor Gavin Newsom on March 15, 2020, all bars and nightclubs are ordered closed. Restaurants and cafes—regardless of their seating capacity—that serve food are ordered closed except solely for takeout and delivery service. Additionally, all gyms and recreation facilities are ordered closed. Homeless individuals are not subject to the shelter in place order but are strongly urged to find shelter and government agencies are urged to take steps needed to provide shelter for those individuals.
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Under any of the limited circumstances in which individuals are allowed to interact in person outside their residence, the Health Officer orders individuals to abide by the following requirements: (i) maintain at least six feet from other individuals, wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds as frequently as possible or using hand sanitizer, cover coughs or sneezes, and not shake hands; (ii) for people with medical conditions, regardless of age, that put them at higher risk of serious complications should they get COVID-19, and other than health care workers and other essential providers, avoid leaving their homes to the extent possible; and (iii) for employers in San Francisco that do not provide essential businesses or government services, take all steps necessary for employees to work remotely from home to the extent possible. These requirements build on the California Department of Public Health and United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines issued March 11, 2020, extended as necessary to address the health emergency affecting the Bay Area region. No individual who is sick may go to the workplace or be outside the home except as necessary to seek or receive medical care in accordance with guidance from public health officials. The Health Officer may revise this Order as the situation evolves, and facilities must stay updated by checking the City Administrator’s website (sfgsa.org) regularly.
This Order revokes and replaces Order Number C19-05b, issued March 13, 2020, and C19-02, issued March 7, 2020. Those orders are no longer in effect as of the effective date and time of this Order. This Order does not revoke Order Numbers C19-01b, C19- 03, C19-04, or C19-06.
UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF CALIFORNIA HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTIONS 101040, 101085, AND 120175, THE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO (“HEALTH OFFICER”) ORDERS:
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<li>The intent of this Order is to ensure that the maximum number of people self-isolate in their places of residence to the maximum extent feasible, while enabling essential services to continue, to slow the spread of COVID-19 to the maximum extent possible. When people need to leave their places of residence, whether to obtain or perform vital services, or to otherwise facilitate authorized activities necessary for continuity of social and commercial life, they should at all times reasonably possible comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in Section 10 below. All provisions of this Order should be interpreted to effectuate this intent. Failure to comply with any of the provisions of this Order constitutes an imminent threat and creates an immediate menace to public health.</li>
<li>All individuals currently living within the City and County of San Francisco (the “County”) are ordered to shelter at their place of residence. To the extent individuals are using shared or outdoor spaces, they must at all times as reasonably possible maintain social distancing of at least six feet from any other person when they are outside their residence. All persons may leave their residences only for Essential Activities, Essential Governmental Functions, or to operate Essential Businesses, all as defined in Section 10. Individuals experiencing homelessness are exempt from this Section, but are strongly urged to obtain shelter, and governmental and other entities are strongly urged to make such shelter available as soon as possible and to the maximum extent practicable (and to use COVID-19 risk mitigation practices in their operation).</li>
<li>All businesses with a facility in the County, except Essential Businesses as defined below in Section 10, are required to cease all activities at facilities located within the County except Minimum Basic Operations, as defined in Section 10. For clarity, businesses may also continue operations consisting exclusively of employees or contractors performing activities at their own residences (i.e., working from home). All Essential Businesses are strongly encouraged to remain open. To the greatest extent feasible, Essential Businesses shall comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in Section 10 below, including by maintaining six-foot social distancing for both employees and members of the public, including, but not limited to, when any customers are standing in line.</li>
<li>All public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit are prohibited, except for the limited purposes as expressly permitted in Section 10. Nothing in this Order prohibits the gathering of members of a household or living unit.</li>
<li>All travel, including, but not limited to, travel on foot, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, automobile, or public transit, except Essential Travel and Essential Activities as defined below in Section 10, is prohibited. People must use public transit only for purposes of performing Essential Activities or to travel to and from work to operate Essential Businesses or maintain Essential Governmental Functions. People riding on public transit must comply with Social Distancing Requirements as defined in Section 10 below, to the greatest extent feasible. This Order allows travel into or out of the County to perform Essential Activities, operate Essential Businesses, or maintain Essential Governmental Functions.</li>
<li>This Order is issued based on evidence of increasing occurrence of COVID-19 within the County and throughout the Bay Area, scientific evidence and best practices regarding the most effective approaches to slow the transmission of communicable diseases generally and COVID-19 specifically, and evidence that the age, condition, and health of a significant portion of the population of the County places it at risk for serious health complications, including death, from COVID-19. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in the general public, which is now a pandemic according to the World Health Organization, there is a public health emergency throughout the County. Making the problem worse, some individuals who contract the COVID-19 virus have no symptoms or have mild symptoms, which means they may not be aware they carry the virus. Because even people without symptoms can transmit the disease, and because evidence shows the disease is easily spread, gatherings can result in preventable transmission of the virus. The scientific evidence shows that at this stage of the emergency, it is essential to slow virus transmission as much as possible to protect the most vulnerable and to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed. One proven way to slow the transmission is to limit interactions among people to the greatest extent practicable. By reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, this Order helps preserve critical and limited healthcare capacity in the County.</li>
<li>This Order also is issued in light of the existence of 37 cases of COVID-19 in the County, as well as at least 258 confirmed cases and at least three deaths in neighboring Bay Area counties, as of 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 16, 2020, including a significant and increasing number of suspected cases of community transmission and likely further significant increases in transmission. Widespread testing for COVID-19 is not yet available but is expected to increase in the coming days. This Order is necessary to slow the rate of spread and the Health Officer will re-evaluate it as further data becomes available.</li>
<li>This Order is issued in accordance with, and incorporates by reference, the 
March 4, 2020 Proclamation of a State of Emergency issued by Governor Gavin Newsom, the February 25, 2020 Proclamation by the Mayor Declaring the Existence of a Local Emergency issued by Mayor London Breed, as supplemented on March 11, 2020, the March 6, 2020 Declaration of Local Health Emergency Regarding Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) issued by the Health Officer, and guidance issued by the California Department of Public Health, as each of them have been and may be supplemented.</li>
<li>This Order is also issued in accordance with, and incorporates by reference the March 12, 2020 Executive Order (Executive Order N-25-20) issued by Governor Gavin Newsom. Executive Order N-25- 20 expressly orders that “[a]ll residents are to heed any orders and guidance of state and local public health officials, including but not limited to the imposition of social distancing measures, to control the spread of COVID-19.” This Order is also based on statements by Governor Newsom during a press conference on March 15, 2020, indicating the guidance of the State of California that all nightclubs, bars, wineries, and brewpubs close and that persons 65 years old and older isolate at home.</li>
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San Francisco Imposes Strictest Shutdown In Nation, Leaves Many Unanswered Questions

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office began filing motions last week seeking the immediate release of all inmates being held pretrial in county jails who are considered more susceptible to catching coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
“We are taking action to protect older adults and those with compromised immune systems who are extremely vulnerable right now,” <a href="https://sfpublicdefender.org/news/2020/03/public-defender-seeks-immediate-release-for-people-in-jail-with-short-sentences-and-heightened-risk-of-coronavirus/">said</a> S.F. Public Defender Mano Raju. “People who are incarcerated in jail are already exposed to an unsafe environment. The cramped and unsanitary conditions in jail put the older or immunocompromised population at a much greater risk of contracting and spreading coronavirus.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Public Defender Seeks Immediate Release for People in Jail at Heightened Risk of Coronavirus <a href="https://t.co/B7r2gza5wJ">https://t.co/B7r2gza5wJ</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/sfdefender?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sfdefender</a>
&mdash; Mano Raju (@ManoRajuPD) <a href="https://twitter.com/ManoRajuPD/status/1237466513348558848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Raju has <a href="https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/coronavirus-fears-prompt-call-for-sf-police-to-stop-issuing-citations-making-arrests-in-non-violent-cases/">asked</a> police to stop issuing citations for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies “unless there is a clear and present danger of imminent harm.” He <a href="https://sfpublicdefender.org/news/2020/03/public-defender-seeks-immediate-release-for-people-in-jail-with-short-sentences-and-heightened-risk-of-coronavirus/">said</a> he is committed to working with S.F. District Attorney Chesa Boudin and law enforcement “to identify safe alternatives for pretrial detention.”
“We are asking that the Sheriff, and others with the power to release people, act with similar urgency.”
In addition, Raju called for the early release of incarcerated persons who have less than six months left to serve.
“These are cases where the court has already decided that it’s safe to release someone into the community, and will be doing so in the very near future,” he <a href="https://sfpublicdefender.org/news/2020/03/public-defender-seeks-immediate-release-for-people-in-jail-with-short-sentences-and-heightened-risk-of-coronavirus/">said</a>. “This will help reduce the population on the inside, allowing for recommended distance between individuals during this public health crisis.”
There have been no confirmed cases within S.F. County’s jail system, which houses more than 1200 inmates.
<a href="https://www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/coronavirus.asp">According</a> to the S.F. Department of Public Health, 40 individuals in the county have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Monday morning. Officials <a href="https://www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/files/DPHRecommendationsRegardingSocialDistancing-03132020.pdf">warn</a> that people 60 years old and older, pregnant women, along with folks who have certain chronic severe medical conditions, are at a higher risk of serious illness. Those with heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, and weakened immune systems due to afflictions such as HIV or cancer are the most vulnerable, health officials say. COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person, between people in close contact with one another through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person sneezes or coughs, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/transmission.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fabout%2Ftransmission.html">according</a> to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some healthcare officials have <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/13/815002735/prisons-and-jails-worry-about-becoming-coronavirus-incubators">voiced concern</a> that jails and prisons could become “incubators” for the virus to spread.
In a letter to several public officials that included D.A. Boudin, Raju <a href="https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/public-defender-calls-for-measures-to-prevent-a-coronavirus-outbreak-in-jail/">wrote</a>: “The constant flow of both staff and detainees in and out of the jails – where large numbers of people are housed in close proximity – means that a powerful virus like COVID-19 can take over quickly and easily.”
Last week, “The Appeal” <a href="https://theappeal.org/coronavirus-san-francisco-reduce-jail-population/#.XmkpDG-FNvw.twitter">reported</a> that “Boudin directed his prosecutors not to oppose motions to release pretrial detainees facing misdemeanor charges or drug-related felony charges if the person is deemed to pose no threat to public safety.”
<a href="https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/public-defender-calls-for-measures-to-prevent-a-coronavirus-outbreak-in-jail/">According</a> to the San Francisco Examiner, “Boudin said his office is considering new policies to help expedite release for some people and reduce the need for others to come to court in light of the outbreak.” COVID-19 could be a factor prosecutors consider when determining whether a person is recommended for release at their arraignment, The Examiner reported.
S.F. Sheriff Paul Miyamoto <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanSernoffsky/status/1237516117679079425">assured</a> Raju that the jails have a partnership with the county health department, and both agencies are monitoring the most vulnerable detainees to ensure their safety. Late last week, he <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/coronavirus/sf-county-jails-suspend-visits-due-to-coronavirus-concerns/2254351/">suspended</a> all visits to county jails to protect inmates and staff. Incarcerated individuals will have non-contact access to legal counsel.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
In abundance of caution, <a href="https://twitter.com/SheriffSF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SheriffSF</a> suspends jail visiting. No known cases of coronavirus in SF jails per <a href="https://twitter.com/SF_DPH?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SF_DPH</a>. Decision mirrors community public health measures. Sheriff will review operations and make adjustments for future visiting. <a href="https://t.co/PXEUrYL2M4">https://t.co/PXEUrYL2M4</a>
&mdash; SF Sheriff&#39;s Office (@SheriffSF) <a href="https://twitter.com/SheriffSF/status/1238567717814206465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Meanwhile, two jail inmates in nearby Santa Clara County have been placed in medical isolation after they <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/13/coronavirus-inmates-quarantined-at-santa-clara-county-jail-after-defense-attorney-tests-positive/">reportedly</a> met with a defense attorney who has since tested positive for the virus. Sheriff Laurie Smith confirmed the quarantine on Friday, adding that the exposed detainees had shown “absolutely no symptoms” of infection.
Also on Friday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) <a href="https://www.bop.gov/resources/news/20200313_covid-19.jsp">announced</a> a 30-day suspension of most legal visits and all social visits to mitigate COVID-19 transmission. The agency will allow for additional inmate telephone conversations to maintain social ties. BOP officials said they have been planning for coronavirus since January.
Follow Jeffrey Cawood on Twitter<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffreycawood">@JeffreyCawood</a>.

Open door to prison cell

San Francisco Public Defender Seeks ‘Immediate Release’ Of Some Jail Inmates Due To Coronavirus

Six counties in the Bay Area are expected to announce a &#8220;shelter in place&#8221; order, effective until mid-April, &#8220;directing everyone to stay inside their homes and away from others as much as possible for the next three weeks as public health officials desperately try to curb the rapid spread of coronavirus across the region,&#8221; <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/Bay-Area-must-shelter-in-place-Only-15135014.php#">per the San Francisco Chronicle</a>.
But San Francisco&#8217;s thousands upon thousands of homeless individuals are, of course, exempt from the order, leaving residents questioning how the city plans to curb the spread of communicable disease in temporary &#8220;communities&#8221; and tent cities where illness is rampant and basic hygiene is almost non-existent.
&#8220;The directive begins at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and involves San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties — a combined population of more than 6.7 million,&#8221; the Chronicle reported Monday. &#8220;It is to stay in place until at least April 7. Three other Bay Area counties — Sonoma, Solano and Napa — were not immediately included.&#8221;
The order is not techically a &#8220;lockdown,&#8221; but it does allow for police and sheriffs department officials to &#8220;ensure compliance.&#8221;
“The scientific evidence shows that at this stage of the (coronavirus) emergency, it is essential to slow virus transmission as much as possible to protect the most vulnerable and to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed,” the order reads, per the Chronicle. “One proven way to slow the transmission is to limit interactions among people to the greatest extent practicable.”
The order covers a host of issues: it prevents gatherings &#8220;of any size&#8221; and prohibits individuals from leaving their homes except to seek emergency medical care, purchase necessary supplies and food, or provide friends and family with &#8220;necessary assitance.&#8221; People are allowed to go for walks but cannot come within six feet of any other people, and cannot go to work unless they are able to work from home or they provide an &#8220;essential service.&#8221;
There is one caveat, however: &#8220;People who are homeless are exempt from the order but encouraged to find shelter.&#8221;
San Francisco&#8217;s homeless population has already played host to a number of outbreaks, including an outbreak of typhus. At one point, late last year, officials were concerned that some members of San Francsico&#8217;s thousands-strong homeless community were even suffering from bubonic plague.
The city is also suffering from something of a &#8220;hygiene crisis&#8221; stemming from its homeless, spending millions upon millions in city funds to clean up streets littered with human feces and drug paraphernalia. In 2019, San Francisco actually established a &#8220;Poop Patrol&#8221; whose only job it is to clean feces off sidewalks and whose members make more than $150,000 per year.
Instead of quarantining the city&#8217;s homeless, San Francisco will, reportedly, spend an additional $5 million to keep areas where homeless individuals congregate clean and sanitized, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-coronavirus-outbreak-homeless-population-2020-3">per Business Insider</a>.
&#8220;San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Monday that dozens of workers will be hired to be part of a cleaning crew that will regularly deep-clean the shelters, supportive housing buildings, and the SRO&#8217;s, which are funded by the city. The money will also be used to keep shelters, including Navigation Centers, open 24/7,&#8221; the outlet reported.

San Francisco homeless

San Francisco Expected To Order Residents To Shelter In Place But Homeless Are Exempt

Is there no bottom to the dumpster fire that is San Francisco, California?
The good news for San Franciscans is that their mayor, London Breed, has been transparent. The bad news is that she had a 20-year friendship that included some romance with a former city worker who is being investigated by the FBI for public corruption.
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/san-francisco-mayor-admits-past-romance-5g-car-repair-loan-from-subject-of-fbi-corruption-probe.amp">reported</a> that Breed admitted to the relationship with former city worker Mohammed Nuru on Friday with a post on Medium.
“I write this in the spirit of transparency because in the wake of a scandal at <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/politics/state-and-local">City Hall</a>, I think San Franciscans are entitled to hear directly from their Mayor,” she wrote. She also discussed the affair at a news conference where she explained there had been “a number of rumors” floating around and she wanted to set the record straight.
“To be clear,” she wrote on Medium. “I never asked Mohammed Nuru to do anything improper, and he never asked me to do anything improper.”
Breed did, however, admit to accepting $5,600 from Nuru in 2019 for a car repair. Fox reported she had not paid back the money yet.
&#8220;Mayor Breed&#8217;s admission of thousands of dollars in unreported gifts from a subordinate is likely illegal, certainly unethical, and part of a culture of casual corruption that is eroding the faith of the public,” said San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar. “Given the seriousness of this admission, the direct connection to the central figure in the FBI&#8217;s investigation into public corruption, I believe we need to put the people of San Francisco first. I believe Mayor Breed should do the right thing and temporarily step back from her duties until a full, independent investigation can be completed.&#8221;
Breed’s political opponent, Supervisor Hillary Ronen suggested the mayor should resign, saying, &#8220;I do think she should resign. What I am sick of in this city is the culture of corruption.”
Fellow supervisor Dean Preston said Breed should face questions from the Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Aaron Peskin also said he wanted to question Breed before demanding she resign.
&#8220;She&#8217;s calling one of her staff to fix and pick up her car and get a rental car,&#8221; Peskin said. &#8220;Was he doing that instead of running the department of public works?&#8221;
Breed added that although she was being transparent, she was not remorseful for her relationship with Nuru.
&#8220;I will not apologize for dating someone two decades ago. I will not apologize for remaining close friends with him and his family for 20 more years. But neither will I make excuses for any misdeeds,&#8221; Breed said.
As Fox reported, “Nuru and restaurant owner Nick Bovis were arrested late last month and charged with corruption and lying to the FBI.”
KTVU <a href="https://www.ktvu.com/news/mayor-breeds-revelations-raise-questions-san-francisco-politicians-react">reported</a> San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s office will investigate potential ethical violations regarding Breed’s relationship with Nuru. Boudin added that he takes “public corruption very seriously.”
KTVU also reported that Nuru and Nick Bovis, a restaurant owner, were arrested by FBI agents in late January “among five ‘schemes’ that involved trying to bribe an airport commissioner to vote in favor of a Bovis-owned business at the airport and Nuru accepting travel and gifts from a Chinese developer doing business in town.”

San Francisco Mayor London Breed

San Francisco Mayor Just Admitted To Having Relationship, Accepting Money From City Worker Under FBI Investigation For Public Corruption

The leader of a union representing San Francisco police officers recently blasted the newly-elected, progressive district attorney, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/SF-police-union-calls-on-feds-to-prosecute-man-15008195.php">claiming</a> the city and county’s top prosecutor has given criminals a “green light” to attack cops.
The accusation came after D.A. Chesa Boudin, who was sworn in earlier this month, decided to withdraw criminal charges against a man who allegedly physically assaulted law enforcement in December, pending further investigation. The suspect, 24-year-old Jamaica Hampton, was shot three times by police officers during the altercation, sustaining critical injuries. He recently had his leg amputated as a result and <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Sfpoa-Calls-Launches-Website-Amid-Da-s-Decision-15008052.php">remains</a> hospitalized.
“Mr. Boudin has made it clear to criminals everywhere that you can violently attack a police officer and he’ll look the other way,” <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Sfpoa-Calls-Launches-Website-Amid-Da-s-Decision-15008052.php">said</a> Tony Montoya, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association (SFPOA).
On Monday, Montoya called on federal prosecutors to intervene, adding that one of the officers was attacked with a glass bottle and “received sutures to the face.” <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco/newly-elected-sf-da-boudin-withdraws-charges-against-cop-attack-suspect/2220998/">According</a> to NBC Bay Area, Montoya said: “Mr. Boudin has made it very clear that it’s open season on police officers.”
Montoya also announced that the SFPOA had launched a new website, <a href="https://www.boudinblunders.com/">BoudinBlunders.com</a>, where community members can submit information about crimes that the D.A.’s office fails to prosecute.
Boudin <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Sfpoa-Calls-Launches-Website-Amid-Da-s-Decision-15008052.php">called</a> the union’s claims “plainly false” and said the two cops involved in the incident are currently under investigation for their use-of-force, possibly creating a conflict if they were to testify in the criminal case against their alleged attacker. The San Francisco Chronicle <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/SF-police-union-calls-on-feds-to-prosecute-man-15008195.php">reports</a> that the D.A.’s office has three years to refile the charges.
“The health of any criminal case depends on internal clarity around the charges being filed, which becomes more complicated when you are dealing with an instance where there is potentially competing criminal liability,” Boudin said.
S.F. Mayor London Breed and Police Chief Bill Scott <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/SF-police-union-calls-on-feds-to-prosecute-man-15008195.php">reportedly</a> sent letters to every police officer in the department expressing their support.
“The D.A. indicated that this withdrawal is not a dismissal of the case,” wrote Scott. “This unprovoked attack was a violent, criminal act. I want you to know that we remain committed to working with the D.A. to see that justice is done in this case for our officers.”
Montoya <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/Police-union-boss-2-goals-Chastise-chief-and-15011856.php">criticized</a> Chief Scott for inadequately standing up for rank-and-file officers.
<iframe title="Bodycam Shows San Francisco Police Shooting Man After Glass Bottle Attack" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l1jYP0VEbAU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
As the San Francisco Chronicle <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/SF-police-union-calls-on-feds-to-prosecute-man-15008195.php">reported</a>:
<blockquote>Video of the encounter showed Hampton dodging two San Francisco police officers he had allegedly attacked with a bottle near the intersection of 23rdand Mission streets.
During the foot chase, Hampton appeared to run toward Officer Sterling Hayes, while still carrying the bottle, moments before the officer opened fire. Hampton attempted to get up when Officer Christopher Flores fired one shot.
Police said Hampton matched the description of an intruder who had broken into a woman’s home that morning…
Hampton was originally booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, assault upon a police officer and threats to an officer. The case was charged by interim District Attorney Suzy Loftus but never proceeded to arraignment while Hampton remained hospitalized.</blockquote>
The Chronicle recently <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/SF-Police-Officers-Association-is-at-a-15001827.php">reported</a> that Montoya is currently in a runoff election for his next term to lead the SFPOA. The union spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat Boudin last November over concerns that he would not support law enforcement. At Boudin’s victory party on election night, S.F. Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer <a href="https://www.kqed.org/news/11785144/its-between-suzy-loftus-and-chesa-boudin-for-sf-district-attorney">led chants</a> of “F*** the POA.” After Boudin announced last week that his office ended cash bail as a condition for pretrial release, Montoya <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/San-Francisco-DA-Chesa-Boudin-ends-cash-bail-for-14996400.php">warned</a> that the new D.A. “is in the process of building the largest criminal justice revolving door imaginable,” adding, “San Franciscans will pay a heavy price for it.”
 Follow Jeffrey Cawood on Twitter<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffreycawood">@JeffreyCawood</a>.

Six San Francisco Police Officers Indicted Multiple Corruption Charges

S.F. Police Union Slams New Progressive D.A., Says ‘It’s Open Season’ On Cops

On Monday, the head of San Francisco Public Works (SFPW), who refers to himself as “Mr. Clean” on Twitter, and whose department is charged with cleaning up the drug needles, feces and urine on the city’s streets, was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of public corruption.
Mohammed Nuru, the head of SFPW, was arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes for airport concession contracts, NBC Bay Area reported, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/san-francisco-public-works-official-arrested">Fox News</a>. The <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-Public-Works-Director-Mohammed-Nuru-arrested-15010510.php">San Francisco Chronicle</a> reported, “FBI agents on Monday arrested Nuru, 57, and Bovis, 56, at their Bay Area homes before unsealing a federal complaint Tuesday for one charge of wire fraud. Nuru is separately charged with lying to the FBI after initially being arrested on Jan. 21 and being told to keep quiet about the investigation.”
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This is a sad day for San Francisco. 
These charges against Director Nuru demonstrate the need for much broader reforms. 
We urgently need a top to bottom restructuring of the Dept, with much stronger public oversight, accountability and transparency.<a href="https://t.co/p6SO003TJU">https://t.co/p6SO003TJU</a>
&mdash; Matt Haney (@MattHaneySF) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattHaneySF/status/1222252399617642497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Chronicle added, “Nuru is a visible department head who’s been at the post for nearly two decades and is deeply intertwined in San Francisco’s so-called city family, which includes former Mayors Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom and Ed Lee and current Mayor Breed.” The Chronicle <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/SF-official-arrested-by-FBI-was-go-to-guy-for-15011155.php">opined</a>, “ … a succession of four mayors ignored bright red flags about his performance for decades … Mayors Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom, Ed Lee and London Breed counted on Nuru to respond to a call or text at any hour … City Hall observers said privately that Nuru’s loyalty may have discouraged mayors from looking too closely at how he ran his ship at Public Works <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Cleanup-wizard-in-a-messy-scandal-DPW-aide-has-2795062.php">despite documented complaints over the years</a>.”
The Chronicle detailed, “In 2004, a Chronicle investigation uncovered accusations that nine people from Nuru’s nonprofit, SLUG, were forced to do work for Newsom’s mayoral campaign and were pressured into voting for him for mayor. They reportedly were told their jobs with the city would be in danger if they didn&#8217;t cooperate.”
David Anderson, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, stated on Tuesday, “The complaint alleges corruption pouring into San Francisco from around the world,” and accused Nuru of “corruption, bribery kickbacks and side deals by one of San Francisco’s highest-ranking public employees.”
Nuru supervises 1,600 employees as well as the design and construction of city facilities.
Nick Bovis, the owner of the sports bar Lefty O-Doul’s, was also arrested. In 2017, the two men supported “Tiny Potties” that the Chronicle said were supposed to resemble the Painted Ladies Victorian homes near Alamo Square.
Supervisor Matt Haney slammed Nuru, saying, “It’s a shock. I think that department has been run like a one-person fiefdom for a long time. There’s an understanding that ‘everything goes through Mohammed,’ and if you piss him off, there’s retribution. I think there needs to be an overhaul of that department. We need much more accountability and transparency there.” He added, “When you have a department head who can make everything or nothing happen, it’s disastrous for both potential corruption and effective city services. Both failed. He was created by mayors for their own purposes to be able to deliver things they wanted.”
Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer echoed the news “came as a complete shock … There was no buzz at City Hall, and that’s a place where secrets are hard to keep.”

Inequality Highest in U.S. Cities With Strong Economies

SF Official Charged With Keeping Streets Clean, Calls Himself ‘Mr. Clean.’ He’s Been Arrested For Corruption.

Gavin Newsom

With multiple confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, including two in California, the city of  San Francisco has activated its emergency operations center in preparation for a potential outbreak.
While there have been no reported cases of the virus in the city, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital is &#8220;on standby, with isolation rooms prepared for coronavirus patients if needed,&#8221; Fox News-affiliate <a href="https://www.ktvu.com/news/san-francisco-activates-emergency-operations-center-in-preparation-of-coronavirus-outbreak">KTVU</a> reported Monday.
&#8220;It&#8217;s important to recognize that there are no known cases in San Francisco at this time,&#8221; said San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón, KTVU reports. &#8220;We are actively preparing for the possibility of confirmed cases.&#8221;
&#8220;We will be broadcasting in partnership with the Department of Public Health public health information about how to prevent the spread of the virus, and what to do to stay healthy during flu season,&#8221; said San Francisco Department of Emergency Management&#8217;s Mary Ellen Carrol.
&#8220;We won&#8217;t be able to tell just by the symptoms,&#8221; Dr. Aragón explained. &#8220;That&#8217;s why the history of where that person has been is the most important factor.&#8221;
As the symptoms of the coronavirus are similar to the common flu, officials are carefully monitoring those flying into the states from the regions in China impacted by the virus, namely Wuhan, outbound traffic from which has now been canceled, San Francisco International Airport announced.
WTVU notes that a flight planned by the State Department containing personnel who worked in Wuhan is scheduled to arrive Tuesday in Ontario via Anchorage. &#8220;San Francisco authorities say they are in communication with state health officials and the Centers for Disease Control to monitor developments in the progression of coronavirus,&#8221; WTVU reports.
San Francisco&#8217;s preparatory measures were announced after additional coronavirus cases were reported in the States over the weekend, totaling <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coronavirus-hits-u-s-more-cases-reported-in-multiple-states">five cases</a> in four states, including two in California (one in Orange County and another in Los Angeles County), one in Arizona (Maricopa County), one in Washington state, and another in Chicago, Illinois.
As reported by The Associated Press, China reported Tuesday that 25 more people have died from the coronavirus, totaling at least 106 deaths so far.
“China on Tuesday reported 25 more deaths from a new viral disease, raising the total to at least 106, as the U.S. government prepared to fly Americans out of the city at the center of the outbreak,” The Associated Press reported. “There were 1,771 new cases confirmed on Monday, raising the national total to 4,515, according to the National Health Commission. It said 976 were in serious condition.”
The Chinese government has responded to the outbreak by imposing a massive, &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coronavirus-hits-u-s-more-cases-reported-in-multiple-states">unprecedented</a>&#8221; quarantine, encompassing some 56 million people.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a level 3 travel warning Monday to &#8220;avoid nonessential travel&#8221; to the affected area.
“CDC recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to China,” the CDC <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/warning/novel-coronavirus-china">said</a> in a statement. “In response to an outbreak of respiratory illness, Chinese officials have closed transport within and out of Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, including buses, subways, trains, and the international airport. Additional restrictions and cancellations of events may occur. There is limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas.”
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CDC recommends travelers avoid all nonessential travel to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/China?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#China</a> due to the ongoing <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2019nCoV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#2019nCoV</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/coronavirus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#coronavirus</a>) outbreak. The outbreak is growing and there is limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas. <a href="https://t.co/Km38IKxIAs">https://t.co/Km38IKxIAs</a> <a href="https://t.co/NHboTImlyr">pic.twitter.com/NHboTImlyr</a>
&mdash; CDC Travel Health (@CDCtravel) <a href="https://twitter.com/CDCtravel/status/1221904223333429250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-new-chinese-reports-show-coronavirus-rapidly-spreading-deaths-infections-surging">Coronavirus Rapidly Spreading; Deaths Predicted To Be In Thousands</a>

San Francisco Activates Emergency Operations Center Preparing For Coronavirus

China

Some businesses have shut down in San Francisco, California due to the city’s economy. Specifically, several companies that employed robots have closed their doors.
Last week, Zume Pizza closed down in Mountain View and in San Francisco, cutting a total of 252 jobs. This also meant that the robots that were used to make the company’s pizzas would be out of work.
“With admiration and sadness, we are closing Zume Pizza today,” said Zume Chief Executive Alex Gardn in an email to employees. “Over the last four years this business has been our invention test bed and has been our inspiration for many of the growth businesses we have at Zume today.”
The job cuts are part of a company-wide restructuring that will result in a total loss of 360 jobs, The Mercury News <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/01/09/zume-pizza-closes-down-cuts-172-jobs-in-mountain-view/">reported</a>. The company will now focus on food packaging and delivery systems, and will allow former employees to apply for 100 newly created positions within the restructured company.
In addition to Zume, three Café X coffee shops closed in the Bay Area. The shops used robot baristas, The San Francisco Chronicle <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Cafe-X-s-robotic-arms-wave-goodbye-at-3-SF-14957264.php?utm_campaign=sfgate&amp;utm_source=article&amp;utm_medium=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2Ffood%2Farticle%2Fcoffee-robot-baristas-3-locations-Cafe-X-close-14959241.php">reported</a>.
The Associated Press reported that “its robotic baristas joined robots that made smoothies and hamburgers or mixed and dispensed salads and quinoa bowls.” The outlet added that Café X “will continue to have competition in the automated coffee market,” as Briggo Coffee Haus, located in the San Francisco airport, also uses a robot to make 100 drinks per hour.
Robots are often used in place of humans because they are cheaper over the long run and can increase productivity (without needing breaks or benefits).
But San Francisco has become such a hostile place for businesses &#8212; not to mention residents and tourists – that even restaurants that use robots struggle. The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-no-one-wants-to-open-a-restaurant-in-san-francisco">reported</a> in November that people were afraid to open businesses in the area due to a string of burglaries. One restaurant, the Pine Tar Grill, was burglarized three times in its first 16 months of business, costing the owner thousands of dollars. Numerous business owners <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/restaurants/article/No-one-wants-to-open-a-restaurant-in-San-14842211.php">told the</a> Chronicle that opening a business in the Bay Area was difficult, with one owner saying “No one wants to open a restaurant in San Francisco.”
In addition to the crime, San Francisco is also dealing with a homelessness crisis and a literal poop crisis. The city is set to spend more than <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-will-spend-more-70-million-year-just-emily-zanotti">$70 million</a> trying to clean up human feces from its streets. One neighborhood has even started taking up a collection to hire its own private poop patrol, The Daily Wire’s Emily Zanotti previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-neighborhood-takes-up-collection-to-hire-its-own-private-poop-patrol">reported</a>.
While residents are predictably outraged at the state of their city, they don’t appear to be doing anything to change the leadership that has allowed San Francisco to decay. In November, voters <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shocker-san-francisco-elects-radical-d-a-whose-parents-were-american-terrorists">elected</a> Chesa Boudin as their new District Attorney. Boudin appears to be more interested in going after police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers than criminals. He is also the son of two Weather Underground terrorists convicted for the murder of a New York policeman and security guard.

Robot Barista

Economy In San Francisco So Bad, Even The Robots Are Losing Their Jobs

A disturbing scene unfolded in San Francisco over the weekend as numerous people posted on social media about a man who walked into a Safeway grocery store and defecated in the middle of store.
The incident reportedly happened at a Safeway in northern San Francisco, inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s district, with a store employee telling The Daily Wire that the incident happened on Sunday.
The employee, who did not wish to be named, said that when they arrived at work today that other employees were talking about the incident from yesterday, which the employee said was the first time that it happened inside the store.
The employee said that public defecation has become such a problem in San Francisco that people in the area love when it rains because it cleans off the sidewalks and the streets.
Journalist Deborah Kan tweeted out a photo of the incident and wrote in a tweet to the Mayor of San Francisco: &#8220;. @LondonBreed here’s a pic of a man on drugs taking a poo in aisle 10 of @Safeway Marina Sunday morning in #SF. Why is this okay?&#8221;
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/LondonBreed?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LondonBreed</a> here’s a pic of a man on drugs taking a poo in aisle 10 of <a href="https://twitter.com/Safeway?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Safeway</a> Marina Sunday morning in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SF?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SF</a>. Why is this okay? <a href="https://twitter.com/KTVU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KTVU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/kpix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kpix</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/kron?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kron</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KGOdesk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KGOdesk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/sfchronicle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sfchronicle</a> <a href="https://t.co/4ef4S6Qs8n">pic.twitter.com/4ef4S6Qs8n</a>
&mdash; Deborah Kan (@debkhk) <a href="https://twitter.com/debkhk/status/1206359030576238592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Congressional candidate John Dennis, who is running for Pelosi&#8217;s seat as a Republican, wrote in a tweet: &#8220;Cleanup in Aisle 3! Thank you Nancy Pelosi. I publicly warned in 2018 that if we let people violate our streets the homeless problem would get worse. The answer: Arrest, then offer a choice. Jail or rehab. Just got this photo. A homeless man defecating in our local Safeway.&#8221;
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Cleanup in Aisle 3! Thank you Nancy Pelosi.
I publicly warned in 2018 that if we let people violate our streets the homeless problem would get worse.
The answer: Arrest, then offer a choice. Jail or rehab.
Just got this photo. A homeless man defecating in our local Safeway. <a href="https://t.co/4mrpzDNA9T">pic.twitter.com/4mrpzDNA9T</a>
&mdash; John Dennis for Congress (@RealJohnDennis) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealJohnDennis/status/1206307250240798720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Between 2011 and 2018, San Francisco experienced a massive increase in reported incidents of human feces found on public streets,&#8221; SFGate reported. &#8220;In 2011, just over 5,500 reports were logged by the San Francisco Department of Public Works; in 2018, the number increased to more than 28,000.&#8221;
The report says that the numbers are most likely much higher than what the statistics show because the statistics are based only on reported incidents.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Lately there has been a brownout in the Bay Area&#8230; Since 2011, there have been at least 118,352 reported instances of human fecal matter on city streets. <a href="https://twitter.com/ForbesOpinion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ForbesOpinion</a> <a href="https://t.co/4nzW2iNLvf">https://t.co/4nzW2iNLvf</a> <a href="https://t.co/4itldSUafq">pic.twitter.com/4itldSUafq</a>
&mdash; OpenTheBooks (@open_the_books) <a href="https://twitter.com/open_the_books/status/1118545509063561221?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The problem is so bad now that San Francisco now employs a &#8220;Poop Patrol&#8221; to deal with the issue. Business Insider <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-poop-patrol-feces-sidewalks-housing-crisis-2018-8">reported</a> in August:
<blockquote>In San Francisco, people call the city&#8217;s telephone hotline about 65 times a day to report piles of human feces on streets and sidewalks. &#8230;
&#8230; Starting next month, a team of five employees from the Department of Public Works will take to the streets of San Francisco&#8217;s grittiest neighborhood, the Tenderloin, in a vehicle equipped with a steam cleaner. They will ride around the alleys to clean piles of poop before citizens have a chance to complain about them &#8230;</blockquote>
San Franciso Mayor London Breed <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/sf-mayor-theres-more-feces-on-the-sidewalks-than-ive-ever-seen/62590/">said</a> in a recent interview: &#8220;I will say there is more feces on the sidewalks than I&#8217;ve ever seen growing up here. That is a huge problem, and we are not just talking about from dogs — we&#8217;re talking about from humans.&#8221;
&#8220;I don’t think that the city is poorly spending what it already has,&#8221; Breed added. &#8220;I spend a lot of time on Fillmore Street. I see the people who are part of a program, out there power washing. They’re out there doing what they can to keep the community clean, almost every day, and then right after they leave, maybe an hour or two later, the place is filled with trash again.&#8221;

Pelosi

‘Cleanup In Aisle 3!’: Horrifying Scene Shows What Is Going On In Pelosi’s District

Nancy Pelosi

poop

In the People’s Republic of San Francisco, where drug needles, urine, and homeless people abound, the 24 Pit Stops run by the city for public peeing and pooping that are open 24-7 are costing taxpayers $28.50 per flush.
According to <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/SF-s-public-toilets-a-big-relief-and-the-14879898.php">The San Francisco Chronicle</a>, “Public Works has estimated that keeping all 24 of the city’s Pit Stops open around the clock would cost an extra $8.25 million a year. Staffing is the primary cost. The attendants ensure the public bathrooms are kept safe, clean and used for their intended purpose.”
The Chronicle adds that public toilets sans attendants were often used for drug activity and prostitution; thus the city erected the Pit Stops on Sixth and Jessie streets South of Market, Market and Castro streets in the Castro, and Eddy and Jones streets in the Tenderloin, where two attendants were present to monitor the toilets 24 hours per day, costing the city $300,000 between mid-August through mid-November.
Public Works logs found that the toilets were utilized 10,518 times between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. The Chronicle stated, “So the extra $300,000 for 10,518 after-hour uses comes to $28.52 per overnight flush.”
Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, who initiated the program five years ago, defended his project, stating, “The Pit Stops provide a place for people to take care of their bathroom needs with dignity, improving neighborhood livability and reducing demands on Public Works staff to clean up human waste from the city’s sidewalks, doorways and streets.”
But the Chronicle points out that the supposed reduction in demands on Public Works staff is not entirely accurate, noting:
<blockquote>In the quarter-mile radius around the Tenderloin Pit Stop, calls went from 188 in the three months prior to the test to 176 during the three-month test — that’s a drop of four calls per month. Calls for cleanups in the quarter-mile radius around South of Market Pit Stop dropped to 166 from 190 — eight fewer per month. Calls in the quarter-mile around the Castro Pit Stop dropped from 68 to 61, less than three per month.</blockquote>
Yet Supervisor Matt Haney is bullish about the project, asserting, “We should open all of them downtown, in my district, 24 hours. I know there is a need there. The other locations we should look at in a case-by-case basis and review the use data. I’m certain there are other parts of the city with similar needs.” He added, “The people who do the work are almost entirely recently formerly incarcerated, so it also serves as a sort of jobs program. So there are significant additional benefits other than only the bathroom uses.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/san-francisco-neighborhood-takes-up-collection-to-hire-its-own-private-poop-patrol">The Daily Wire</a> has noted that <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/san-francisco-homeless-animal-human-feces-tenderloin-district-pressure-wash-sidewalks-program">Fox News reported</a> that the Tenderloin, which, according to the San Francisco &#8220;<a href="https://www.openthebooks.com/news/?CategoryId=105">poop map</a>,&#8221; is &#8220;ground zero&#8221; for the city&#8217;s waste problem, with dozens of reports of human feces littering the sidewalk being called into the city&#8217;s 311 non-emergency hotline every month, and despite San Francisco&#8217;s reported overtime commitment to keep the streets feces-free, the city&#8217;s &#8220;poop patrol&#8221; cleanup unit is only able to thoroughly wash the Tenderloin&#8217;s public sidewalks around once per month because demand is so high.
&nbsp;

RITZY CITY: San Francisco 24-7 ‘Pit Stops’ Costing A Whopping $28.50 Per Flush

San Francisco is now famously the city of feces-covered sidewalks. But one particularly affected neighborhood &#8212; the city&#8217;s Tenderloin district &#8212; is so fed up with the mess they&#8217;ve taken up a collection from local businesses and residents to hire a private company to clean the sidewalks in between visits from the city&#8217;s official &#8220;poop patrol.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/san-francisco-homeless-animal-human-feces-tenderloin-district-pressure-wash-sidewalks-program">Fox News reports</a> that the Tenderloin, which, according to the San Francisco &#8220;<a href="https://www.openthebooks.com/news/?CategoryId=105">poop map</a>,&#8221; is &#8220;ground zero&#8221; for the city&#8217;s waste problem, with dozens of reports of human feces littering the sidewalk being called into the city&#8217;s 311 non-emergency hotline every month, and despite San Francisco&#8217;s reported overtime commitment to keep the streets feces-free, the city&#8217;s &#8220;poop patrol&#8221; cleanup unit is only able to thoroughly wash the Tenderloin&#8217;s public sidewalks around once per month because demand is so high.
The new program, the Tenderloin hopes, will increase powerwashings to at least once per week.
&#8220;The Tenderloin Community Benefit District, which is a non-profit neighborhood group, secured an additional $260,000 this year to essentially quadruple the number of times the neighborhood’s sidewalks are professionally cleaned a month, according to the program’s supervisor Matt Haney,&#8221; reports Fox News. &#8220;Property owners within the district’s 30 square blocks helped fund the program as the neighborhood continues to be plagued by a large homeless population.&#8221;
The program won&#8217;t supplant the city&#8217;s &#8220;poop patrol&#8221; efforts, run by the San Francisco Department of Public Works. But that group can only wash the sidewalks with industrial grade equipment once per month. Otherwise, the &#8220;poop patrol&#8221; hoses down the sidewalks with fire hoses and and steam cleaners once per day.
The daily wash doesn&#8217;t get everything, and going a month between industrial washes leaves the sidewalks a mess. So the Tenderloin wants a private company to come in and do a thorough deep clean once per week, ideally before the work week begins and employees of big-name tech companies like Twitter, whose headquarters are located nearby, have to wade through the mess to get to work.
The city of San Francisco has been dealing with the &#8220;poop problem&#8221; for more than a year now. While there aren&#8217;t reliable numbers available yet for 2019, in 2018 there were 28,084 instances of sidewalk feces reported to the city&#8217;s 311 hotline (those &#8220;incidents&#8221; could involve either human or animal poop).
<a href="https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/city-officials-deal-with-growing-poop-problem-in-san-francisco/">A local NBC affiliate</a> estimates that the city has received over 25,000 complaints so far, which would make 2019 San Francisco&#8217;s poopiest year ever &#8212; and that&#8217;s based only on documented reports. The real number could be much, much higher.
The city has tried to handle the issue by focusing on cleaning up the mess as often as possible and providing more public restrooms for the city&#8217;s ever-growing homeless population, but those efforts have mostly failed, if only because they barely scratch the surface of what is an endemic city issue. The Tenderloin district, for example, did get a new public restroom, serviced by Pit Stop and paid for by the city, but it&#8217;s not enough, and it doesn&#8217;t have 24-hour security, which means those sleeping rough aren&#8217;t always using it for its intended purpose.
The problem does actually seem to be San Francisco&#8217;s non-enforcement of rules against setting up camp on city streets and sidewalks. Although an estimated 7,500 people call the streets of San Francisco home, the city refuses to do much more than provide them with temporary housing and facilities. There&#8217;s no room for shelters (and rent is far too high for non-profits to afford, anyway), and public housing doesn&#8217;t seem to be an option. Short-term jail time could prove useful, but only as a temporary fix to a permanent &#8212; and growing &#8212; problem.

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San Francisco

Leading Art Curator Resigns After Allegedly Saying He’d ‘Definitely Still Continue To Collect White Artists’

At Least Six Children Killed Amid Wave Of Violence Over Holiday Weekend

San Francisco PD Will Stop Releasing Mugshots To Combat Racial Bias

Report: California Struggles To Fill Hotel Rooms It Booked For Homeless People

San Francisco Sued By UC Law School Over Rampant Drug-Dealing, Feces-Filled Streets

San Francisco Residents Sue City Over Homeless Encampment That TRIPLED During Coronavirus Outbreak

SF Police Officers Wear ‘Thin Blue Line’ Masks. Police Chief Then Tells Them To Stop It.

Liberal Cities Reverse Plastic Bag Bans, Ban Reusable Bags; Plastic Industry Lobbies For More

San Francisco Implemented Strong Measures Against Coronavirus. So Far, So Good.

San Francisco Imposes Strictest Shutdown In Nation, Leaves Many Unanswered Questions

San Francisco Public Defender Seeks ‘Immediate Release’ Of Some Jail Inmates Due To Coronavirus

San Francisco Expected To Order Residents To Shelter In Place But Homeless Are Exempt

San Francisco Mayor Just Admitted To Having Relationship, Accepting Money From City Worker Under FBI Investigation For Public Corruption

S.F. Police Union Slams New Progressive D.A., Says ‘It’s Open Season’ On Cops

SF Official Charged With Keeping Streets Clean, Calls Himself ‘Mr. Clean.’ He’s Been Arrested For Corruption.

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RITZY CITY: San Francisco 24-7 ‘Pit Stops’ Costing A Whopping $28.50 Per Flush

San Francisco Neighborhood Takes Up Collection To Hire Its Own Private Poop Patrol

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