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San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Monday “Bloomberg Technology” that her city has constantly been cleaning streets and helping the homeless get shelter while discussing preparing for the APEC Summit of President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping. Host Ed Ludlow said, “Why has it taken the visit of U.S. President Biden, China’s President Xi, leaders around the world for action on all of the problems the city has been talking about for 4 years now?” Breed said, “Just to be clear, we have been working on this for a few years. This is not an issue have been sitting...

San Francisco has been blasted as a 'ghost town' and a 'ruined city' by Chinese media outlets, as city officials use the Star Wars theme to rid streets of homeless people. The beleaguered California city has been labelled a 'total failure' by some China-based outlets as the city prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping next week. The spotlight will be on the city as the Chinese President meets with President Biden for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. While the city gears up for the event, U.S. Chinese Radio used the headline 'Ghost town San Francisco to have major...

An abandoned tower looms 18-stories into the sky. Zombie-like bodies with blank stares shake and stumble about aimlessly as a corpse lies on the cold, blood-stained pavement. Dangerous criminals wielding weapons indiscriminately shoot firearms and swing knives and machetes. Deadly potions are passed around, and sharp needles poke up from the ground. Armed guards patrol the premises as surveillance cameras watch every move. This morbid scene isn’t the backdrop of a Halloween haunted house. It’s a real life scary situation outside of the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in San Francisco. The conditions are so frightening, federal employees have been...

For the last 18 months or so, a new organization has been tabling on the sidewalk in San Francisco’s Castro District, distributing wisdom to passers-by. Called the Church of Cosmic Consciousness, its gospel deals with an increasingly common path to spiritual growth: so-called magic mushrooms. The church recently rented a brick-and-mortar on the corner of 18th and Ord streets, a few blocks uphill from rainbow flag-filled Castro Street. It’s a bit different from the Bay Area’s other mushroom churches. The firmly established Zide Door, with locations in East Oakland and SoMa, is ambitious in scope and guarded by fearsome security....

A California city has become the first in the US to pass a resolution condemning Israel — accusing the Jewish nation of committing “ethnic cleansing and collective punishment.” The resolution passed by the Richmond City Council around 1 a.m. Wednesday states, in part, that Palestinians in Gaza “are currently facing a campaign of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment by the state of Israel.” That “is considered a war crime under international law,” the resolution states. It also calls for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the safe passage of substantial humanitarian aid to Gaza,” as well as an “end to Israeli...

San Francisco's mayor has ordered city departments including police and public health to propose budget cuts of $206 million by next week in a desperate attempt to reverse the stricken city's 'doom loop' spiral into economic collapse. Law enforcement budgets in the city, which is ravaged by homelessness, drugs and a downtown business exodus, face cuts of $27.6 million, while the public health department could lose a further $25.9 million, according to a DailyMail.com analysis. The fire department must propose reductions of around $10.5 million to meet the mayor's demand, while city's crumbling Municipal Transport Agency must find savings of...

Dude is a sex offender with a loophole that allows him to be near a school and he can set up the "free fentanyl" sign because he doesn't actually have the drugs on him.

San Francisco’s government is using taxpayer money to fund a cash giveaway to black and Latino people who claim to be transgender. The city’s taxpayer-funded “Guaranteed Income for Trans People” (GIFT) program even allows illegal aliens to apply, as well as people who “engage in survival sex trades,” as uncovered by Judicial Watch. Moreover, the use of the funds by participants of the program, which was launched last year, is virtually unrestricted. The records were obtained through a California Public Records Act (CPRA) request sent to the San Francisco Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector (TTX). When announcing the...

Starbucks is shuttering seven of its downtown San Francisco locations over the next several weeks, the company confirmed to SFGATE. “Each year as a standard course of business, we evaluate the store portfolio to determine where we can best meet our community and customers’ needs. This includes opening new locations, identifying stores in need of investment or renovation, exploring locations where an alternative format is needed and, in some instances, re-evaluating our footprint,” Starbucks spokesperson Sam Jefferies said in a statement. Employees at the seven stores were notified Tuesday that the locations are closing, Jefferies said. All affected employees will...

San Francisco hit another record high when it comes to drug overdoses in the Democratic city, with almost 85 deaths last month — and residents say the alarming numbers are just more proof that the city has turned into a “zombie apocalypse.” The City by the Bay saw 84 deaths in August, with 66 of them involving the deadly drug fentanyl. It tied January for the deadliest month since the city began tracking overdose deaths in the beginning of 2020. This year is on pace to exceed 2020’s deaths, which hit a record high of 725, according to reports by...

Cars are more convenient and comfortable than walking, buses and subways — and that is why they are so popular. Make them even cheaper through ride-sharing and people are coaxed away from those other forms of transit. This dynamic became clear in the data a few years later: On average, ride-hailing trips generated far more traffic and 69% more carbon dioxide than the trips they displaced. Uber Pool was so cheap it increased overall city travel: For every mile of personal driving it removed, it added 2.6 miles of people who otherwise would have taken another mode of transportation. The...

There was a heated protest Saturday in San Francisco where opinions clashed over the issue of Transgender rights. At the demonstration, outside a hotel where a women's rights group is holding its convention, protesters say the organization is anti-Trans rights. "What do we want? Trans justice. When do we want it? Now," protesters chanted.

Thieves are arriving at night aboard small watercraft and using bolt cutters and other break-in tools to gain access to unoccupied boats. Several sailboats have been stolen, as well as small watercraft, dinghies, tools, and outboard motors.

San Francisco has hired a tourism official to encourage travelers to visit the 'the city by the bay' as it battles rampant crime, homeless and drugs crisis. Josh Beck will be the new president and CEO of The San Francisco Travel Association, and the person that the city's tourism bureau and marketing organization is looking at in hopes of bringing SanFran back to the bustling vacation hub it once was. Beck, who is currently head of Destination Toronto, will begin his new post on October 30, replacing former head Joe D'Alessandro, who headed the travel organization for nearly two decades...

Rep. Nancy Pelosi told a reporter Friday that she's mainly running for office to raise money for herself and other Democrats. Speaking with outlet Politico, the 83-year-old representative from California said her veteran status in Congress is a major asset for raising funds.

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that San Francisco’s crime problems are “confined to a certain part of town.” Anchor Nicolle Wallace said, “Let’s start with San Francisco, as you know, is my hometown and one of my most favorite places on earth. UC Berkeley grad and a Berkeley native. It does need voices and powerful people in Washington. What is your prescription for helping the city from within? I mean, it is the subject of constant attack segments on conservative media, and the tragedy to me seems they can find enough examples of the most heinous...

A nationwide crime wave is forcing many retailers, large and small, to close their doors or lock up their merchandise.One example is Nordstrom, which made an announcement in May that it's closing its flagship store in downtown San Francisco after 35 years in business.The location inside Westfield Mall said goodbye to its last customers on Aug. 27, after opening in October 1988.The store at the corner of Fifth and Market Streets once occupied five floors and spanned more than 312,000 square feet but is now closing like many other retailers because of a surge in crime and poor sales.San Francisco...

A San Francisco store clerk has died from his injuries five days after he was brutally beaten with a baseball bat while trying to stop a thief stealing just two bottles of beer. Yowhannes “John” Tewelde, 60, never regained consciousness after suffering a major brain injury during the attack late Thursday at Richmond Market and died at a local hospital shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, his family announced. “John was a beloved member of the community, and even more loved by his family and friends,” a neighbor posted on a GoFundMe that raised money for his medical bills. Tewelde...

Some of the biggest and richest names in the tech and finance worlds are reported to be investors in a secrecy-cloaked company that has been buying up large tracts of the San Francisco Bay Area, apparently in a quest to create an entirely new city. Quoting three unnamed sources, The New York Times reported that backers of the firm called Flannery Associates include venture capitalists Michael Mortiz, Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison, former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, Cue co-founder Daniel Gross, and Laurene Powell Jobs, founder of the Emerson Collective...

A local council meeting in an affluent San Francisco neighborhood descended into chaos when hundreds of 'rowdy' residents began booing plans to place homeless people in a nearby hotel. Crowds of angry Millbrae residents packed out their local community hall on Friday to protest 'Project Homekey' proposals to house 100 rough sleepers at the La Quinta hotel on El Camino Real, close to the city center. So many people turned up that hundreds had to stand outside the 300-man capacity hall to hear proposals outlined by San Mateo County Executive Mike Callagy. But Callagy's speech was quickly 'drowned out' by...