Tag: san francisco

San Francisco mayor sneaks through reparations bill just before Christmas that could give each black resident $5MILLION

The mayor of San Francisco discreetly approved a bill to create a fund that may eventually grant each of the city’s eligible black residents $5 million in reparations. 

Mayor Daniel Lurie quietly signed the incredibly divisive Reparations Bill just two days before Christmas. 

The ordinance establishes a Reparations Fund, as recommended by the city’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee (AARAC) in its 2023 report. 

The legislation merely establishes the fund but does not allocate any money to it – setting up the framework for any future contributions, whether they be through the city or privately donated.

The AARAC is tasked with developing ‘recommendations for repairing harm in our black communities,’ according to its website. 

Per the 2023 report, every African American adult in San Francisco should be handed a $5 million lump sum to ‘compensate the affected population for the decades of harms that they have experienced.’

While this effort has captured the most attention – and sparked the most controversy – the AARAC rattled off more than 100 suggestions, including debt relief, guaranteed annual income of $97,000, debt forgiveness and city-funded homes for black people. 

In 2023, the conservative public policy think tank Hoover Institution said the plan would cost each non-African American household in the city about $600,000 in tax dollars. 

However, Lurie told the Daily Mail that this is not the case, citing the city’s struggling finances. 

‘For several years, communities across the city have been working with the government to acknowledge the decades of harm done to San Francisco’s black community,’ Lurie wrote. 

‘While that process largely predates my administration, I am signing the legislation to create this fund in recognition of the work of so many San Franciscans and the unanimous support of the Board of Supervisors.’

But Lurie said the city is bracing for a $1 billion budget deficit next year.

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Massive power blackout leaves at least a third of San Francisco in darkness

A massive outage has knocked out power to 130,000 homes and businesses across San Francisco, leaving at least one-third of the city in darkness.

The power failure left a large swath of the northern part of the city in the dark on Saturday, beginning with the Richmond and Presidio neighborhoods and areas around Golden Gate Park.

Social media posts and local media reported mass closures of restaurants and shops and darkened street lights and Christmas decorations.

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said on X there were ‘significant transit disruptions’ happening citywide and urged residents to avoid nonessential travel and treat down traffic signals as four-way stops.

The city’s transportation agencies said they were bypassing some Muni bus and BART train stations because of the power outages.

At least some of the blackouts were caused by a fire that broke out inside a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) substation at 8th and Mission streets.

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Things Are So Bad in San Francisco, Residents Are Forced to Take Drastic Safety Measures

California is a beautiful state run by absolutely terrible people. Those Democrats have driven the state into the ground. In San Francisco, a city where Gavin Newsom was once mayor, things are so bad thanks to Leftist policies that residents are forced to fork over tons of cash to help keep their neighborhoods safe.

For 24 hours a day, seven days a week, private security workers patrol 109 blocks of the Soma neighborhood.

Erin Kametani of ASPIS Solutions spoke with the media about the company’s work. “If there’s anybody that’s on the sidewalk, blocking doorways, blocking garage ways, or mainly blocking the sidewalk where people can’t pass through, we basically walk up to them, we address it, we ask them if they can relocate.”

The guards are not armed. They are paid by the Soma West Community Benefit District (CBD), which has spent more than $800,000 on the services. The CBD’s main job is to keep the neighborhood clean and welcoming, but residents felt they had no other choice but to hire private security.

Alex Ludlum, Executive Director of the Soma West Community Benefit District, also spoke to the media. “We need more security because of the population of street addicts, and the reason they’re here is that the city has concentrated all the facilities and services that enable their lifestyle in this area.”

The CBD created a map showing where all those services are located, and they’re all concentrated in one neighborhood. “The city is designing pockets of poverty, and they’re putting it here,” Ludlum said.

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Armed Robber Targets Sam Altman’s Ex-Boyfriend’s House, Forces Transfer Of $11 Million In Crypto

A thief barged into a house owned by Lachy Groom – a wealthy tech investor who once dated OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, tied up a victim, and made off with $11 million in Crypto Saturday evening in San Francisco, the NY Post reports.

Dressed as a delivery worker, the armed robber rang the door at Groom’s $4.4 million home on Dorland Street while carrying a white box, asks for Joshua – who lives with Groom – while claiming to be a UPS driver. The victim answers the door and identifies himself as Joshua. 

The thief then asked for him to sign for the package – asking if he can borrow a pen. The suspect then followed Joshua inside when a loud bang can be heard. 

According to the report, the suspect pulled a gun, tied up the victim with duct tape, and then stole $11 million worth of Ethereum and Bitcoin (exact method unknown), in what is believed to have been a hit by an organized crime group that the suspect was part of.

The suspect then tortured the victim, beating him while he held a phone up on loudspeaker as foreign voices on the line repeated his personal information that they had obtained. The thief then poured liquid on the victim before the crypto wallets were emptied.

The whole thing took around 90 minutes. 

Homeowner Lachy Groom, 31, is a venture capitalist and the ex-boyfriend of Open AI’s Altman, 40, who dated the billionaire sometime before he got married in 2024, sources with knowledge of their relationship said. Groom bought the property from Altman’s brother in 2021 for $1.8 million, property records show. Details of their relationship have not previously been reported. Attempts to reach Groom were not returned.

The Post has learned Joshua is a fellow tech investor who lives with Groom at the 4-bedroom Dorland Street home. 

Altman and Groom have invested together in various companies. Groom, a native Australian, has founded four startups and sold three before he turned 18. 

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SF Sheriff’s Office Hit With New Scandal of Officers Allegedly Taking Video of Women’s Strip Searches

Nearly 20 women just filed a claim against the city saying that SF Sheriff’s deputies recorded their strip searches on video while laughing, with some deputies even threatening to post the video online.

There have been a few humdinger scandals coming out of the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office in recent months. Over the summer, it came to light that ​SF Sheriff’’s Office Chief of Staff Richard Jue had a hit-and-run accident in a city-owned vehicle and submitted a false report about it (he was placed on administrative leave, got a slap on the wrist, and was allowed to retire). Last month, we learned that a deputy who lied to the FBI to protect Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow was rehired by the department, at the direct recommendation of Sheriff Paul Yamamoto. And just days after that, news broke that Yamamoto’s own brother-in-law had been growing marijuana at SF County Jail, and smoking it on-site.

The latest scandal may prove to be the worst of the bunch. Mission Local reports that “at least 20 women” say they were subjected to strip searches that were recorded on video by Sheriff’s deputies when the women were incarcerated at SF County Jail. That report says the video was taken by male deputies’ with body-worn cameras, with the women saying that blinking green lights showed the cameras were recording. Now 17 women have filed a claim with the city, which is not a lawsuit, but shows the women have lawyered up and that a state or federal lawsuit mey be on the way.

“This Claim arises from a mass, unlawful, and degrading strip search of women housed in the B-Pod of the San Francisco County Jail on May 22, 2025, and from continuing harassment, intimidation, and gender-based violence by deputies in the days and weeks that follows,” the women’s attorney Elizabeth Bertolino says in the claim, per Mission Local.

That claim alleges that the women “were forced to strip in an open setting, were subjected to visual body cavity searches, and were required either to undergo or to witness these invasive searches while male deputies, some armed with weapons, stood by watching, laughing, and making comments.”

It gets creepier. The claim adds that “a supervising sergeant taunted the women that their nude videos could be posted online.”

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San Francisco Judge Forces Trump To Keep Funding Sanctuary Cities

A federal judge in San Francisco ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot suspend funding to 34 ‘sanctuary’ cities which limit or refuse cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

US District Judge William Orrick  – a rich kid lawyer appointed by former President Barack Obama to the US District Court for the Northern District of California – ordered the extension of a preliminary injunction barring the administration from blocking funding or placing conditions on federal  funding for those jurisdictions. Orrick also prevented the administration from imposing immigration-related conditions on two particular grant programs. 

The Trump administration initially tried to block funding to dozens of cities and counties over sanctuary city policies – cutting off their Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants due to noncompliance with federal immigration enforcement. 

The protected cities include; Boston, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Baltimore, San Jose, San Diego and others – while major counties covered include Multnomah County in Oregon, which encompasses Portland; Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, which encompasses Pittsburgh; and Hennepin County in Minnesota, which encompasses Minneapolis, the Epoch Times reports, nothing further; 

The Trump administration has ratcheted up pressure on sanctuary communities as it seeks to make good on President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to remove millions of people who are in the country illegally.

One executive order issued by Trump directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to withhold federal money from sanctuary jurisdictions. Another order directs every federal agency to ensure that payments to state and local governments do not “abet so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.”

In May, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a list of more than 500 “sanctuary jurisdictions” and said that all of those municipalities and counties would be sent a formal notification deeming them to be noncompliant with the Trump administration’s orders. Those officials would also be informed by DHS on whether they were said to be in violation of any federal laws.

Orrick said in his order that the administration’s decisions to withhold federal funding in those jurisdictions are a “coercive threat” that he deemed to be “unconstitutional.”

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“Chicago Will be Our Next” – Trump Says Chicago, New York, San Francisco Crime Crackdown Incoming and Democrats are Calling Him for Help

President Trump on Friday signaled that he is not stopping his crackdown on crime in Washington, DC, and told reporters that he plans to clean up Chicago, San Francisco, and potentially more Democratic cities across the country.  

President Trump has declared a “public safety emergency” in the nation’s capital, citing high crime and unsafe streets, and he federalized the DC police force last week. He further authorized the use of National Guard troops and deployed federal agents across the city to tackle the rampant crime, homelessness, and illegal immigration crises.

Hundreds of criminals have been removed from the streets, and crime has significantly reduced in the city.

Law-abiding citizens can now walk around freely without fear of being attacked, robbed, or harassed by drugged-out bums.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Trump fired off a warning shot to Mayor Muriel Bowser during his Oval Office press conference on Friday, apparently threatening her removal.

“Mayor Bowser better get her act straight, or she won’t be mayor very long because we’re taking over with the federal government, running it like it’s supposed to be run,” Trump said.

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2 Charged in ‘Street Terrorism’ Murders Dating Back 20 Years in San Francisco Area

Two men face several murder charges in connection with multiple killings dating back more than 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced May 29.

Sauntek Harris, 44, and Shaun Britton, 48, are scheduled to be arraigned June 6 in San Francisco.

Prosecutors accused Harris and Britton of killing Perry Bradstreet on Jan. 18, 2002. According to the court complaint, Britton allegedly used a 9-millimeter MAC 11 military-style firearm, which is classified as an assault weapon.

Bradstreet was “robbed, carjacked, and fatally shot as he ran away,” said the department’s cold-case report. “His vehicle was set ablaze by the unknown suspect(s) and abandoned in the Oakdale Housing Project … at 0230 hours.”

Britton is also accused of murdering Bradstreet for a criminal gang, and the killing was an act of “street terrorism,” according to the district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors also allege that on Feb. 24, 2002, Harris killed Lorenzo Richards with a 9-millimeter pistol. Richards was shot and killed inside an apartment complex on George Court at 4 a.m., according to his cold-case page.

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Grading for Equity coming to San Francisco high schools this fall

Without seeking approval of the San Francisco Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools Maria Su plans to unveil a new Grading for Equity plan on Tuesday that will go into effect this fall at 14 high schools and cover over 10,000 students. The school district is already negotiating with an outside consultant to train teachers in August in a system that awards a passing C grade to as low as a score of 41 on a 100-point exam. 

Were it not for an intrepid school board member, the drastic change in grading with implications for college admissions and career readiness would have gone unnoticed and unexplained. It is buried in a three-word phrase on the last page of a PowerPoint presentation embedded in the school board meeting’s 25-page agenda. The plan comes during the last week of the spring semester while parents are assessing the impact of over $100 million in budget reductions and deciding whether to remain in the public schools this fall. While the school district acknowledges that parent aversion to this grading approach is typically high and understands the need for “vigilant communication,” outreach to parents has been minimal and may be nonexistent. The school district’s Office of Equity homepage does not mention it and a page containing the SFUSD definition of equity has not been updated in almost three years.  

Grading for Equity eliminates homework or weekly tests from being counted in a student’s final semester grade. All that matters is how the student scores on a final examination, which can be taken multiple times. Students can be late turning in an assignment or showing up to class or not showing up at all without it affecting their academic grade. Currently, a student needs a 90 for an A and at least 61 for a D. Under the San Leandro Unified School District’s grading for equity system touted by the San Francisco Unified School District and its consultant, a student with a score as low as 80 can attain an A and as low as 21 can pass with a D.  

Joe Feldman, the consultant the school district plans to contract with to implement Grading for Equity, wrote in 2019 that in Placer County, another jurisdiction with the grading system, “students who did not qualify for free or reduced-price lunch had a sharper decrease in A’s, reflecting how traditional grading practices disproportionately benefit students with resources because of the inequitable inclusion of extra credit and other resource-dependent grading criteria.”   

Grading for Equity may reduce A and D/F grades and, according to Feldman, enable a school district to cut costs for remedial classes but what about student academic outcomes? The most recent data from both middle schools in San Leandro where grading reform started in 2016 document significant continued disparities among student populations when it comes to performance on statewide assessment tests. In both English and mathematics, the gaps ranged from twice to triple to even four times as many students meeting or exceeding the statewide standard in some subgroups compared to others. The children needing the most help and improvement are not getting it.

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Renowned Metal Guitarist Passes Away In Shootout With Police

A guitarist described as a pioneer in the death metal genre passed away after getting into a shootout with police in San Francisco.

Brian Montana, 60, an original guitarist for the band Possessed, reportedly pulled a gun on his neighbor during an argument.

“Police say the incident began when Montana became enraged over tree debris from a neighbor’s yard and escalated into a shooting that left one resident injured and the neighborhood temporarily under lockdown,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Police responded to the scene and exchanged gunfire with Montana for over 25 minutes.

“On 4/28/25 at approx. 5:52 PM, SSFPD responded to a 911 call on the 300 block of Arroyo Dr. reporting a suspect brandishing a firearm at a neighbor. Officers arrived within minutes and quickly requested backup as the suspect began firing into an occupied home,” the South San Francisco Police Department stated.

“The armed suspect repositioned into a neighboring driveway and fired multiple times at officers using a handgun, shotgun, and rifle—taking cover behind vehicles and landscaping. Officers used patrol cars as cover and returned fire. The suspect was struck and ultimately pronounced deceased at the scene,” it added.

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