Tag: san francisco

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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San Francisco official spent $80k of taxpayer cash on GLAMOR photoshoot as city crumbled

A San Francisco city official is facing intense backlash after she awarded a $100,000 contract to a production company for a glamourous photoshoot and video project.

Kimberly Ellis, the director of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, has been called into question for her unusual spending habits after the city official spent $80,000 of taxpayer money on ’employee portraits.’

The city official, who was placed on leave last week, reportedly awarded a contract worth up to $100,000 to a high-priced production company in September 2023, hiring the firm to take portraits of 21 people and record a series of conversations on gender equity.

In the end, Ellis’ department paid $80,000 towards the full amount of the contract, fueling mounting concerns about her frivolous spending habits.

Former staffers claimed Ellis’ expenditure was an example of the official using resources in ways that seemed ‘excessive or inappropriate’ at a department tasked with ensuring that women are represented equally at City Hall.

‘I don’t think it’s a good use of public money to engage a professional artist to take headshots of staff and the commissioners outside the de Young Museum,’ one staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

‘It could have been handled by someone in the department using their phone.’ 

Earlier this year, the under-fire official reportedly hired a life coach – from a company owned by a friend – to host a series of curiously expensive training sessions for her staff.

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San Francisco Health Department Hires Obese Woman to Promote Fatness — Report

The Health Department of San Francisco hired an obese woman named Virgie Tovar for the role of ‘weight stigma czar’ who’s job it will be to consult on ‘weight stigma and weight neutrality’, reports The Gateway Pundit.

Tovar, an influencer in the ‘fat positive’ movement is a self-described expert on ‘anti-weight-based discrimination’. She wrote the book ‘You Have the Right to Remain Fat’ which promotes obesity. She took to social media Tuesday to express her gratitude toward the new role.

“I’m UNBELIEVABLY proud to serve the city I’ve called home for almost 20 years in this way! This consultancy is an absolute dream come true, and it’s my biggest hope and belief that weight neutrality will be the future of public health,” Tovar said in a social media post Tuesday.

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SF says homeless tents down 60%; homeless haven’t gone anywhere, just tentless

Amid a tightening mayoral race, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced the number of homeless tents have declined 60% since peaking in July 2023. Meanwhile, homeless individuals say they’re still around and have simply ditched their tents to avoid being arrested under the mayor’s new enforcement of anti-camping laws. 

 In July 2023, homeless tents peaked at 609, and homeless vehicles at 1,058. By July 2024, those numbers had declined to 319 and 474, respectively. Since Ninth Circuit overturned a regional ban on enforcement of anti-camping ordinances in July — in a case, then ruling supported by Breed and California Gov. Gavin Newsom — Newsom has since issued an executive order banning encampments from state property and ordered municipal governments to take similar action. 

San Francisco began enforcing anti-camping laws after the ruling, arresting but not detaining homeless individuals who have refused to leave their tents. While there is no data available for August or September, the newly released October count has homeless tents and vehicles down to 242 and 548, declines of 24.1% and 3.4% respectively, since the ruling.

“Every day our City workers are out in San Francisco offering help, bringing people indoors, and cleaning up our neighborhoods and we are seeing the results,” said Breed in a statement. “We are a compassionate City that leads with services, but we also will continue to enforce our laws when those offers are rejected.”

According to the San Francisco Standard, homeless individuals are leaving their tents to avoid arrest, but are still remaining on the streets; Standard reporters found no increase in utilization of shelter or bus tickets elsewhere.

Breed and her two opponents are neck and neck, with Levi Strauss heir and homelessness expert Daniel Lurie holding a narrow lead at 51% if the election were held today in the city’s ranked-choice voting system that allows voters to rank their first 10 choices for a given office. The candidate with the least amount of votes is dropped in each round, with that candidate’s votes distributed to voters’ next preference on their ballot, until a candidate has a majority.

While Breed would get 38% of first-round votes and Lurie just 21%, Lurie’s popularity as citizen’s second choice brings him to 51% by the fourth-round. Aaron Peskin, who sits on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and thus has one of the consolidated city-county’s most powerful positions, nearly tied Lurie in earlier rounds of voting in the survey, but fell behind due to Lurie’s hold as voters’ popular second choice. 

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San Francisco Bay Area Reinstates Mask Mandates as Flu Season Approaches

As COVID-19 cases increase, mask mandates are being reinstated in several counties around California.

Residents in the San Francisco Bay Area will be required to wear masks in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other healthcare facilities as flu and cold season begin, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The mandate will take effect from Nov. 1 to either Mar. 31 or April 30, 2025, the outlet reports.

Health officials are implementing the mandate as an attempt to decrease the risk of spreading COVID, the flu and other respiratory viruses during the winter and early spring in medical settings.

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Kamala Harris says she owns a Glock despite supporting handgun bans in SF, prompting speculation it’s unregistered

Vice President Kamala Harris told “60 Minutes” Monday that she owns a Glock handgun — triggering allegations of hypocrisy due to her own past support for firearm bans and questions about whether she’s complying with existing gun-control laws.

“I have a Glock and I’ve had it for quite some time,” the 59-year-old Harris told CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.

“My background is in law enforcement, so there you go.”

Asked if she had ever fired the gun, Harris laughingly replied, “Yes, of course I have, at a shooting range— yes, of course, I have.”

Harris previously supported handgun bans in both San Francisco, where she began her political career and served as district attorney between 2004 and 2011, and Washington, where she has served in federal office since 2017.

California state law requires gun buyers to have a Firearm Safety Certificate and DC requires all handguns to be registered.

Glocks, furthermore, cannot legally have magazines with a capacity of more than 10 bullets in the nation’s capital, and some models of Glock come with a standard capacity that exceeds that limit.

“DC residents have to register their firearms. And DC issues a gun-registration ID card for each firearm, with the make, model, and serial number. Post your card, Kamala,” tweeted Mike Davis, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and a former Senate Judiciary Committee aide.

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San Francisco City Attorney Sues Sites That “Undress” Women With AI

San Francisco’s City Attorney has filed a lawsuit against the owners of 16 websites that have allowed users to “nudify” women and young girls using AI.

The office of San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu on Aug. 15 said he was suing the owners of 16 of the “most-visited websites” that allow users to “undress” people in a photo to make “nonconsensual nude images of women and girls.”

A redacted version of the suit filed in the city’s Superior Court alleges the site owners include individuals and companies from Los Angeles, New Mexico, the United Kingdom and Estonia who have violated California and United States laws on deepfake porn, revenge porn and child sexual abuse material.

The websites are far from unknown, either. The complaint claims that they have racked up 200 million visits in just the first half of the year.

One website boasted that it allows its users to “see anyone naked.” Another says, “Imagine wasting time taking her out on dates when you can just use [the website] to get her nudes,” according to the complaint.

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Pride Paraders Expose Themselves To Children, Say It’s ‘Okay’

While Pride is officially over, there is one unsettling detail that many have not discussed, as TENET Reporter Tayler Hansen found out while conducting interviews with LGBT members and advocates at a San Francisco “Pride” parade. Apparently, some attendees believe being nude in front of children is no big deal.

Throughout his interview, Hansen spoke with many individuals, including naked men, about whether it is appropriate for grown men and women to parade around naked in the presence of children.

“We’re born naked and so it’s okay for children to see people naked,” one man said.

Another man claimed that no one could explain the harm nudity causes to children.

One man, who decided to cover and then uncover himself, told Hansen that it was okay, as long as there was no “sexuality added to it.”

One man who was present with two others, admitted that he “just likes to be naked.”

“Teach your kids not to stare, it’s rude,” another man in the group told Hansen.

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