Civic

The federal government has tightened requirements that adults without disabilities and without dependent children must work at least 20 hours a week to access food stamps, a change expected to go into effect in April. California and 13 other states have filed suit against the Trump administration to block the rule. Dr. Hilary Seligman, associate professor of medicine at UCSF and director of the un...

Nearly half a million people in San Francisco say they visit their local library branch every month — for books, sure, but the library offers homework help, career coaching, access to film streaming and even immigration advice. Michael Lambert, San Francisco’s City Librarian, gives an overview of what the library does, from offering services to organizing book clubs to hosting events like the seve...

Donna Farvard, national organizing director for the National Iranian American Council, shares what communities in the Bay Area were experiencing and talking about during a period of rapidly escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iranian governments.

In her one-woman show "Mimi's Suitcase," actress Ana Bayat draws on her own experience returning to post-revolutionary Iran after growing up in Spain to explore involuntary displacement, immigration, and a search for identity that is uniquely her own but also universally relatable. It's a coming-of-age story in which Bayat plays 27 roles, in four different languages, with just a suitcase, a trench...

When investigative reporter Seth Rosenfeld couldn’t find published data on Lyft and Uber’s safety records in California, he set out to find that information for himself. His new Public Press investigation is the result of months of reporting to uncover at least an outline of safety data the public isn’t allowed to see.

In the second part of our conversation with journalist Seth Rosenfeld about his investigation for the San Francisco Public Press about the hidden incident record of the ride-hailing industry, we learn how complaints about a dangerous driver were handled, and how ride-hailing is impacting traffic safety.

After revealing that a former Police Officers Association president and former consultant in 2018 threatened to publish a city supervisor's husband's disciplinary record as a police officer, journalist Joe Eskenazi unpacks why the story matters in local politics.

Barbara Hale from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission explains why San Francisco was exploring public power long before PG&E's bankruptcy, and how other cities and counties around Northern California are proposing that they could better serve residents.

When Chloe Jackman-Buitrago was pregnant with her son Alonzo, she got word that the building she’d lived in for nine years, 369 3rd Avenue, was for sale. As more details emerged, there was a possibility she might be having a baby and getting evicted at the same time. Instead, the tenants of this building in the Richmond organized to preserve their homes as affordable through acquisition by a nonpr...

The San Francisco Police Department held a town hall meeting to share preliminary information about an incident in which two officers shot and injured Jamaica Hampton. Videos were shown that captured his confrontation with police officers on Dec. 7, which ended with Hampton in life-threatening condition and an officer seriously injured. Hampton's friends and family praised his character, and commu...

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to take up – and will thereby let stand – a ruling that if there aren’t enough shelter beds or housing for homeless people, governments can’t cite them for sleeping or camping in public. Paul Boden, director of the Western Regional Advocacy Project, offers perspective on what the ruling means and how cities have long "criminalized" homelessness.

After police shot and injured 24-year-old Jamaica Hampton, reporters for Mission Local were able to review video of the incident which shows he was not shot while allegedly assaulting an officer. In fact, the reporting indicates, he was attempting to escape. Reporter Julian Mark discusses what new information has come to light.

San Francisco's Outdoor Public Warning System is shutting down for upgrades for up to two years. You probably know it as the siren that sounded every Tuesday at noon. Francis Zamora from the Department of Emergency Management gives some insight into the weekly tests and why they won't be happening for a while.

In the second part of our story with journalist Julia Flynn Siler about her book "The White Devil's Daughters," we travel to the Cameron House, where women and girls rescued from forced prostitution were brought around the turn of the 20th century, and which serves as a community center today. (Part 2 of 2)

 Listen to the second half of this story in the next episode of Civic.

Two artists whose work will appear at this year's FRESH, an experimental dance, music and performance festival, talk about fostering healing from trauma like domestic violence and sex trafficking through artistic expression. Co-curator José Navarrete and exchange artist Regina Y. Evans also discuss their interpretations of the festival's theme, "tender."

In San Francisco's superheated market, displacement pressures are intense and affordable housing is in high demand. The San Francisco Community Land Trust pioneered a method of keeping people in housing they can afford: Buying small multi-unit buildings and turning them into cooperatives. Bruce Wolfe, president of the land trust's board, explains how the method works and how it has evolved.

In late November, students and instructors at City College of San Francisco learned that nearly 300 classes had been slashed from the Spring roster, resulting in more than 100 part-time instructors at City College being laid off or losing their health benefits. San Francisco Examiner reporter Laura Waxmann covers education and offers insight into the events leading up to, and the impacts of, the c...

In November of 1969, a group of indigenous activists sailed to Alcatraz and began an occupation that lasted some 19 months, drawing attention to the repression of indigenous rights and sparking a movement. In the early hours of Thanksgiving Day, indigenous communities gathered to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the occupation.

Filmmaker Fredrik Gertten and UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Leilani Farha discuss Gertten's documentary "Push," which looks into the practices and impacts of investment firm ownership of housing around the world.

In the Mission District, officials and neighborhood leaders recently announced that a portion of the Mission Language and Vocational School's building, which the school had previously rented and sold to make ends meet, has been bought back by MLVS and neighborhood allies. We look into the history of the school, the dispute, and the sale.

Uzuri Pease-Greene is the Executive Director of C.A.R.E., Community Awareness Resources Entity, which helps promote safety for public housing residents. She is also a former candidate for District 10 supervisor who has experienced homelessness and addiction. In her many roles, she works as an activist and a spokesperson for the under-served. We talked about getting out of homelessness, running for...

The nation is losing newspapers. Local journalists are rallying for better pay from hedge-fund controlled media companies. And some papers are going not-for-profit. Professor Dan Kennedy explains how the funding model of a newspaper can change its incentives and its ability to sustain good reporting.

Journalists for three Bay Area papers are in contract negotiations and organized a rally on Tuesday, Nov. 19 to call attention to the practices of an company that owns newspapers around the country, including several Bay Area papers. It's a New York-based hedge fund that has a reputation for taking over papers and gutting them to increase profits.

For every one older adult, there were once five people under the age of 15. Now the ratio is almost one to one. In response to this demographic shift, Governor Gavin Newsom has called for a master plan on aging to ensure elders have the care and support they need to age with dignity. Jeannee Parker Martin, CEO of Leading Age California, has long pushed for such a plan, and shares some insight into...