Archive for October 2024
ICYMI: ‘Dirty Delta’: California’s largest estuary is in crisis. Is the state discriminating against people who fish there? – CalMatters
A poignant article by Rachel Becker at CalMatters highlights the severe ecological crisis facing the San Francisco Bay and Delta rivers. Urban runoff, algal blooms, and historical contamination from gold mining and industrial waste are deteriorating the watershed, making fishing– an essential source of food and cultural connection for many– increasingly unreliable. The article also…
Read More☆ Expert critiques SJUSD’s endless taxpayer panhandling via Measure R
California Policy Center’s Education Policy VP Lance Christensen breaks down questions to ask re: SJ Unified’s $1.15 bn “facility repairs” bond measure: Where’s our money going, exactly? What should be prioritized? And (as many Opp Now readers echo) can we trust SJUSD’s fiscal discipline? An Opp Now exclusive. As far as ballot measures like SJUSD’s…
Read MoreThe back seat of a Greyhound bus
Image by a user on DeviantArt Since SF’s Mayor London Breed launched a plan in August to bus more homeless people out of San Francisco, many unhoused are taking cross-country overnights to states as far away as Texas and Florida. SF Standard, as always, is on the story. Of the homeless people who have been relocated…
Read More☆ Marin CO$T’s Mimi Willard: Prop 5 to unleash a “tax tsunami” for local and regional bonds
Image by Wikimedia Commons Proposition 5 will blow a massive hole in Prop 13 and Prop 218 protections, said Coalition of Sensible Taxpayers’ Mimi Willard to North Bay residents this summer. She warned that cutting voters’ threshold from two-thirds to 55% to pass housing and infrastructure bonds would trigger a tidal wave of tax hikes, with…
Read MoreEven Oakland starts to get real re: ameliorating homelessness crisis
Image by Daniel Gies Oakland has long resisted more aggressive techniques to address its crisis of crime and street homelessness. But on the heels of Grants Pass and directives from Gov. Newsom, its hard-left mayor, city council, and city staff are starting to act. The Merc’s report excerpted below. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao directed city…
Read MoreSources: San Jose official under investigation for child sexual abuse materials
Councilmember Omar Torres is pictured at a news conference in this file photo. San Jose police have served a search warrant on Councilmember Omar Torres on suspicion of child sexual abuse material and underage relationships, multiple sources have told San José Spotlight. A San Jose Police Department spokesperson confirmed Thursday night that a criminal investigation…
Read MoreCase study Sacramento: When sanctioned encampments go wrong—lessons for SJ
Sacramento’s Camp Resolution was supposed to be a national model of managed encampments for the unhoused. It recently closed in turmoil. The Sac Bee wades through the finger-pointing, providing further warnings and recommendations for San Jose’s upcoming Watson Park sanctioned encampment. When Sacramento officials signed a first-of-its-kind lease with a local nonprofit that allowed unhoused residents…
Read MoreSF Chron is No on Prop 5: says “Frankenstein” initiative would raise taxes, then ban local gov’ts from using proceeds on 96% of CA’s residential land
The more Bay Areans learn about Prop 5, the less they like it. Even the historically liberal Chronicle Editorial Board now joins the San Jose Mercury News & East Bay Times in opposition to the constitutional amendment, which makes it easier to pass local housing and infrastructure bonds. Where would Prop 5’s new tax money…
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