(SF Bay Guardian) // Creative, artistically minded people are leaving San Francisco in search of affordable housing in the East Bay. Oakland is fast becoming the new hip location for the working class and young artists driven out of San Francisco by sky-rocketing rents. Oakland City Council member Rebecca Kaplan says those moving into Oakland and surrounding East Bay cities are of many different ethnicities including Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Vietnamese...
(SF Chronicle) // A drop in crime throughout the Bay Area may be linked to the current recession and the communal solidarity that occurs during hard economic times, says Robert Weisberg, a criminal justice expert at the Stanford Law School. According to new statistics released by the FBI, thirteen of the Bay Area’s 15 biggest cities reported a decrease in murders, robberies, assaults, and rapes last year in comparison with 2010. But the statistics also reveal that in Oakland, for example, violent crime went up by 6 percent in 2011, making it safer than only Flint, Michigan, Detroit and St. Louis...
(SF Examiner) // The historic Cliff House restaurant in San Francisco, which draws up to 1 million visitors each year, might be getting a 31-foot-tall wind turbine installed on its observation deck. This wind turbine proposal has generated praise for its environmental savvy as it would enable the site to produce its own electricity using wind off the Pacific Ocean. But critics of the plan worry that the wind turbine would not be aesthetically pleasing, and distract tourists and locals alike from the beauty of the historic site...
(SF Examiner) // In light of the San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency's $17 million deficit, police officers will be increasing parking enforcement. This means parking tickets will be given out with new fervor throughout the city. This will be achieved by hiring more enforcement officers in San Francisco, a move that is projected to bring in an additional $6.5 million in citation revenue over the next two years...
SF Chronicle) // On June 5, San Francisco saw the lowest voter turnout on record for a presidential primary, with only 30.83 percent of registered voters showing up to cast their ballot. Increased voter turnout is expected for the November general election when the stakes are higher...
(SF Chronicle) // UC Berkeley’s numerous libraries, noted for their high caliber collections of rare books and scientific documents, are under threat. Reduced staffing at the librariesdue to a 12 percent decrease in library spending since 2008 forced University Librarian Tom Leonard to send out a letter to UC Berkeley staff asking if they would prefer closing 16 of the 24 libraries or just 10. Faculty members signed a petition to ask for an extra year to discuss other options. For now, plans for closure are on hold as a committee convenes to make recommendations in December...
(SF Chronicle) // The Oakland Zoo is not only home to a plethora of exotic animals but local wildlife as well. Unlike the San Francisco Zoo, which works hard to keep native animals off their property, the Oakland Zoo embraces the foxes, coyotes, skunks, and many other creatures that mingle with their zebras, flamingos and giraffes. The Oakland Zoo even has a keeper to watch out for them and veterinarians to treat their injuries.
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