The Weekly Digest (August 27, 2023)

Happy Sunday, Brionies!

This weekend marks the beginning of the college football season, and this year started off with the fine boys from Notre Dame traveling to the land of their mascot, where they trounced the Navy Midshipmen 42-3. 

Here’s what you need to know about San Francisco politics this week and beyond:

City Hall

• There’s one more week of summer hiatus for the Board of Supervisors before it returns to regular meetings on September 5. 

Happenings around town

• Meet and Greet with Captain Hart of SFPD Park Station, hosted by Hi5D5 and Safe and Healthy Haight

  • Tuesday, August 29, at 6:30pm, online

• Special Meeting: San Francisco Unified School District

• Tuesday, August 29, closed session at 5pm, open session at 6:30pm, 555 Franklin Street, First Floor (also available online)

• During the meeting, the board will discuss proposals to “align the District’s resources and operations” for the year ahead. The school district is in dire straits, with an expected $37.6 million shortfall casting a considerable pall. One of the topics that will be discussed is possible mergers, co-locations, or closures of school sites. Parents are anxious.

• Alameda County Republican Party: Labor Day Picnic

• Monday, September 4, at 1pm, 1039 MacArthur Boulevard, San Leandro

What we’re reading

• By now, you’re likely familiar with the lawsuit embroiling San Francisco over the city’s treatment of homeless encampments. To summarize, in December, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu issued an injunction stating that San Francisco officials can’t clear encampments unless they have enough shelter beds to accommodate every single homeless person in the city. On Wednesday, there were dueling rallies while the Ninth Circuit heard arguments over the City’s appeal. You can get a flavor of the proceedings by watching this video, containing interviews with rally participants.

• Days before the hearing, Beyond Chron editor Randy Shaw informed readers that one of the judges on the Ninth Circuit panel appeared in a testimonial on the ACLU Arizona website. Why does that matter? The group suing the city, the Coalition on Homelessness (led by real piece-of-work Jennifer Friedenbach), is represented … wait for it … by the ACLU! No word on when we will get a ruling, but Mayor Breed has said she will appeal to the Supreme Court if the Ninth Circuit rules against the city.

• Fans of meatballs and umlauts, rejoice! IKEA opened a store in downtown San Francisco. Situated near Market and Fifth, the Swedish furniture store is a stone’s throw from where a number of businesses (Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off Fifth, um … another Nordstrom, Old Navy) have either shut down or have announced plans to do so. A lot of muckety-mucks are hoping this goes well, including Mayor Breed. Let’s hope it lasts longer than the Whole Foods location. Vi önskar dig lycka till!

Quick hits

• Cruise’s Outside Lands glitches may have ‘serious implications’ in SF

• SF must create 82,000 new homes in 8 years. The city is already behind

• ‘Brazen’: How notorious SF engineer at heart of City Hall scandal hid corruption in plain sight for years

• San Francisco Corruption Scandal Forces New Ballot Measure for Voters

• Drug Addiction Driving "Homeless" Crisis

• From boomtown to bust, the story of San Francisco

• Four things San Francisco needs to address its drug crisis

Palate Cleanser

• This is cool: Zero-emission robots clean sandy beaches and surface of Lake Tahoe

• So is this: Scientists say a new device can scrub 99.9 percent of microplastics from water. (In related news: Paper drinking straws may not be better for the environment than plastic versions, researchers warn. Put that in your turtle’s nose!)