Government Spending

UCSF Transgender Research Drama Puts Future of Academic Program in Question

Bay Area Profs Speak Out Against Stimulus

Did stimulus really help them?Washington's elected officials and punditocracy have of late been consumed in hashing out the shape of an economic stimulus package. While no love has been lost between Republicans and Democrats in the pit fight over the bill's final shape, both sides say they recognize ... More >>

Tenderloin Man on Trial for Possession/Sale of Marijuana Could Get 3 Years in State Prison

Nobody's saying David Rhodman is perfect. He used to be a cocaine addict, says his public defender, Carmen Aguirre, and he's got a few crack and cocaine-related charges from the early 90's on his record. There was also a felony robbery in 1995, which resulted in a strike on Rhodman's recor ... More >>

Transit Spotting

A transportation activist points to inefficient and costly projects like the Central Subway.

New College Out of Money: Teachers Unpaid, Not Teaching

A transportation activist points to inefficient and costly projects like the Central Subway.

Letters to the Editor

A transportation activist points to inefficient and costly projects like the Central Subway.

Porkmistress Pelosi

Madam Speaker says she wants to tame pork-barrel spenders. Takes one to know one.

Vicious Cycle

Federal investigators clear AIDS prevention programs of wrongdoing -- and then reinvestigate them

Best Grungy Art Factory

Artists' Television Access

How to Kill a Nonprofit

A federal audit reveals the waste and mismanagement that ruined a once-promising minority aid program

Shaky Ground

Environmental activists adopt a new strategy -- playing the race card

Crime and Patronage

For more than a decade, three different mayors have let one man dole out government jobs to alleged murderers, crack dealers, and other serious felons. The question, obviously, is why.

Healthy Investment

Ignore Davis, Fang, O'Donoghue, and Roselli; here's how renovating Laguna Honda could save taxpayers $500 million

Seven Steps to Nowhere

Ignore Davis, Fang, O'Donoghue, and Roselli; here's how renovating Laguna Honda could save taxpayers $500 million

The Grid

Ignore Davis, Fang, O'Donoghue, and Roselli; here's how renovating Laguna Honda could save taxpayers $500 million

Unspun

Ignore Davis, Fang, O'Donoghue, and Roselli; here's how renovating Laguna Honda could save taxpayers $500 million

Clockers

Residents of a downtown loft tell you where to get off

General Motors is Bankrupt. Is Your Marriage Healthy?

They didn't have to worry about car manufacturersCalifornia has been called a place where dreams come true. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that our state is a land where grotesque fantasies become reality without causing anyone to blink. The elected leader of California's 37 million residents is ... More >>

Obama's stimulus money will increase traffic, but not bridge safety

They didn't have to worry about car manufacturersCalifornia has been called a place where dreams come true. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that our state is a land where grotesque fantasies become reality without causing anyone to blink. The elected leader of California's 37 million residents is ... More >>

Stimulus Wreckage

Despite having been accused of deceptive business practices by the attorney general, former students, and ex-employees, Corinthian Colleges are getting millions in federal stimulus dollars.

Board Members Predict Even Feds' Threats Can't Derail Oakland Airport Connector

​What will it take to derail BART's half-billion dillar planned extension to Oakland Airport? How about the price quadrupling while the anticipated ridership dropped by two-thirds? Nope. How about the predicted commute time actually being slower than the existing shuttle system? Nope. Well, how ab ... More >>

Oakland Airport Connector Lives to Be Controversial For Another Day

​The regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission moments ago voted to stay the course, applying $70 million in endangered federal funds not to the Bay Area's moribund transit agencies but a controversial, half-billion dollar proposed BART extension to Oakland Airport. "Closer than I thought, b ... More >>

Feds Imperil Central Subway Funding, Demand Proof it's No Boondoggle

Jim HerdWoosh -- gone?​Mayor Gavin Newsom and his public transit chief Nat Ford had the chance to hold an elaborate groundbreaking earlier this month for the $1.6 billion Central Subway light rail project. But a letter from a  top federal transportation bureaucrat suggests the festivities may ... More >>

Muni Fail

Federal scrutiny could threaten funding for the Central Subway boondoggle.

City Has $2.6 Million Stimulus Surplus Burning Hole in its Pocket

Program's implosion leaves San Francisco with millions to spend and nothing to buy.That was fast...​As City Hall struggles to close a $483 million budget gap, bureaucrats a block away at the San Francisco Department of the Environment are faced with the opposite quandary: They must figure out how ... More >>

Vegan activist protests sale of live chickens at UN Plaza farmers' market

Program's implosion leaves San Francisco with millions to spend and nothing to buy.That was fast...​As City Hall struggles to close a $483 million budget gap, bureaucrats a block away at the San Francisco Department of the Environment are faced with the opposite quandary: They must figure out how ... More >>

Senate To Vote On DREAM Act Tuesday. Local Activists To Picket Feinstein's Office.

​You may recall our July cover feature on young undocumented immigrants waiting for the DREAM Act, a bill that would give illegal immigrants who go to college or serve in the military a path to citizenship. At the time the story came out, many advocates predicted that Democrats would lack the ball ... More >>

Whose Dole Is It, Anyway?

​You may recall our July cover feature on young undocumented immigrants waiting for the DREAM Act, a bill that would give illegal immigrants who go to college or serve in the military a path to citizenship. At the time the story came out, many advocates predicted that Democrats would lack the ball ... More >>

Cost-Saving America's Cup Proposal Not Shipshape Yet

Don't fire up the boats yet...​The new-and-improved groundwork for hosting the America's Cup in San Francisco appears to take much less of a bite of city finances than the fabulously expensive, nonbinding "term sheet" the city approved in October. Fred Brousseau, a principal at the city's Budget A ... More >>

Federal Legislation to Reform Crime Labs Proposed

Sen. Patrick Leahy would probably poll well here in Northern California​U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) says he will introduce legislation next year to reform the field of forensic science nationwide, a move that could potentially have implications for the San Franci ... More >>

Doyle Drive's Goofy Privatization Deal Stalled By Judge

Will Jerry Brown stop the fiscal insanity? ​A judge Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order halting Caltrans from signing a finance deal that would let a foreign consortium take over construction and maintenance of part of the Doyle Drive project in the Presidio.This marks the second time i ... More >>

Gavin Newsom -- You Can Still Watch Him on Demand

Technologically active again​When former Mayor Gavin Newsom left City Hall, his staid YouTube addresses that people had grown accustomed to went right with him. But Newsom's hiatus from YouTube was short-lived. Just barely a month as the state Lieutenant Governor, Newsom sent out his first video a ... More >>

Obama Budget Proposes $200 Million for S.F. Central Subway

Nat "Pro Shop" Ford​Muni boss Nat Ford on Monday praised Barack Obama for including $200 million in spending for the controversial Central Subway rail project as part of the president's federal budget proposal."The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency applauds President Barack Obama's pro ... More >>

Pelosi's Waning Power Felt with Republican $15 Million Cut for The Presidio

Thanks, Republicans.​House Republicans delivered a gut-punch to their nemesis Nancy Pelosi Thursday with a proposed $15 million cut in funding for the Presidio, a national park that's long been Pelosi's pet project.In order to wean itself off federal funding, the former U.S. Army base has become a ... More >>

Newsom Tweets His Support for Planned Parenthood; Asks Followers to Sign Petition

A message from Gavin Newsom​With the U.S. Congress on the precipice of stripping away federal funds for Planned Parenthood, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking Californians to sign an open letter opposing the controversial legislation. True to form, the former San Francisco mayor tweeted out a message ... More >>

Gov. Jerry Brown Stops in SF to Get Buy-In on Budget

What kind of salesman is he?​Update: The Bay Area Council voted to endorse Brown's budget proposal. Members called the talk with Brown "tough but refreshing."As a governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger had the star power that could set off a media frenzy every time he blew his nose. And while Gov.Jerry B ... More >>

Help Craft Federal Policy on LGBT Housing Discrimination

Grant WoodWill you need to look like this to live in federal housing?​In federally funded housing programs, it's illegal for landlords to discriminate based on race, ethnicity -- or even against the guy who says his pit bull keeps him from having panic attacks.But against homosexuals or the transg ... More >>

List: How S.F. Residents Want to Fix the City Budget

Grant WoodWill you need to look like this to live in federal housing?​In federally funded housing programs, it's illegal for landlords to discriminate based on race, ethnicity -- or even against the guy who says his pit bull keeps him from having panic attacks.But against homosexuals or the transg ... More >>

Pension Costs to Skyrocket for Key S.F. City Unions

Grant WoodWill you need to look like this to live in federal housing?​In federally funded housing programs, it's illegal for landlords to discriminate based on race, ethnicity -- or even against the guy who says his pit bull keeps him from having panic attacks.But against homosexuals or the transg ... More >>

Muni Workers File Federal Challenge to Proposition G

Things were working fine before!​The union representing Muni operators is seeking to buck the will of San Francisco voters, filing a federal challenge to Proposition G, the 2010 ballot initiative that overhauled labor negotiations for the city's troubled public-transit agency.Lawyers for Transport ... More >>

Clean Energy Stimulus Cash Is Slow to Be Spent

Things were working fine before!​The union representing Muni operators is seeking to buck the will of San Francisco voters, filing a federal challenge to Proposition G, the 2010 ballot initiative that overhauled labor negotiations for the city's troubled public-transit agency.Lawyers for Transport ... More >>

Amazon to Cut Out California Associates over Sales Tax Dispute

Nice little business you've got going there. It would be a shame if anything happened to it​Internet retail giant Amazon.com informed California-based Web sites, which make money via referring buyers, that they'll soon be cut out if the state forces the Amazon to pay sales tax, as proposed in the ... More >>

Thanksgiving in August: Cook-a-thon to Raise Funds for Food Bank

Karl Wilder​Thanksgiving in August When: August 27, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Where: St. Luke's Church Cost: As much canned/preserved food as you can afford. It's Thanksgiving...in August! At least that's what chef Karl Wilder is planning. In a 12-hour cook-a-thon, Wilder hopes to raise money for the ... More >>

Q&A: Chef Karl Wilder Talks About Living on Food Stamps

​Karl Wilder is not your typical chef. He doesn't spend his days cooking up fantastic gourmet food -- he has taken the food stamps challenge, which means for the past month and a half, Wilder has limited himself to a budget of $1.33 per meal and struggles daily to balance nutrition and calorie ... More >>

Republicans Threaten San Francisco Pedestrian and Bike Projects

​It's not news that America has a lot of problems, foremost among them cyclists and pedestrians being coddled too much by the government.Or at least that seems to be the view of our Tea Partying lawmakers who are trying to gut federal spending for road improvements for pedestrians and cyclists-- e ... More >>

Naomi Kelly: SF Weekly's Toilet Paper Warrior

When your $833K runs out...​In a city where, even late last year, perhaps 40 percent of voters still thought Gavin Newsom was mayor, it may be hard to get people worked up about the position of city administrator. But bear with us -- and you'll be rewarded with references to the lavatory. In any e ... More >>