Here's what's happening in the Bay Area, as curated by KALW news:
San Francisco school adopting gender-neutral bathrooms // SF Gate
“The boys’ bathrooms and girls’ bathrooms will become just bathrooms at the first San Francisco school to go gender-neutral.
“Miraloma Elementary started removing the circles, triangles and stick-figure signs from restrooms at the start of this school year, in part to acknowledge six to eight students who don’t fit traditional gender norms — kids who range from tomboys to transgender, said Principal Sam Bass.”
-----
San Francisco to man public restrooms with attendants // Kron 4
“The city of San Francisco is spending $1 million to man public restrooms with attendants as a way to combat the problem of people using the streets as their personal toilets.
“Now, at the public bathroom in Civic Center, when someone leaves the self-cleaning toilet, an attendant goes in to make sure it is clean for the next person.”
-----
Exclusive: Latest Oakland Raiders stadium plan violates team's 'terms and conditions' for deal // San Jose Mercury News
“The plan Floyd Kephart has been pitching to get a new Raiders stadium built in Oakland appears to have one heretofore hidden flaw -- it violates key terms the team insisted upon in April. In discussing his latest financing plan for the Coliseum City mega development last week, Kephart once again recommended that the estimated $400 million shortfall for a $900 million Raiders stadium should be closed primarily through issuing bonds backed mostly by revenue generated at the future stadium. Kephart, the city's handpicked financial partner for Coliseum City, said the revenue would come from ‘nongame events, a portion of naming rights or things like that.’
“What he didn't say was that the Raiders had already made clear to him in a three-page letter, obtained by this newspaper, that they insisted on keeping all stadium revenue to help with their $500 million contribution to the stadium, including the repayment of an anticipated $200 million NFL loan.”
-----
Courting teen audience, startup lets teens interview sports stars // SF Gate
“[Glenna Patton] founded Sicksports last year as a social media sports app for high school and college students. But that version didn’t take off, so Sicksports began aggregating top trending sports stories, photos and videos produced by dozens of media outlets, from ESPN and Bleacher Report to BuzzFeed and The Chronicle.
Its young staff of four full-time employees, five part-time workers and 14 interns are almost all 25 and under. They try to collect human interest sports stories they think will be of particular interest to youth.
“The company isn’t profitable yet while it focuses on building its audience. So it relies on young, eager reporters who identify with the target audience, yet are happy to work for little more than minimum wage.”
-----
Obama Policing Task Force Director Speaking in Oakland Tomorrow Night / East Bay Express
“Tomorrow night, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf will host a discussion on police-community relations with Ron Davis, the executive director of President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Joining Schaaf and Davis will be Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent and civil rights attorney John Burris.
“‘We're in the middle of a national conversation of dire importance about policing and justice and how both are administered in our country,’ said Schaaf in a press release about the event.”
-----
Red Rock Island now yours for only $5 million // SF Gate
“How much to own your own private island spanning three Bay Area Counties? $22M? Half that? A quarter? Don’t worry if you can’t guess: neither can Red Rock Island’s seller and real estate team. In 2012, the 5.5 acre span of rock, sand, hearty vegetation and minerals (the rights to which were included with sale) hit the market at $22M. Despite a reported ‘real interest’ from island buyers, Red Rock did not sell. Instead, its price was slashed to $9M, and mineral rights downgraded to negotiable. Now, in 2015, it’s yours for $5M, mineral rights included.
“Red Rock, sometimes called Golden Rock or Treasure Island, enjoys a storied history and, perhaps, mythology. SF Gate reported in 2012 that ‘according to legend, the island was once a burial place for pirate’s treasure; though, if any was ever found, it was never publicly acknowledged.’”