Here’s what’s happening in the Bay Area as curated by KALW news:
San Francisco To Vote Nation’s Most Strict Styrofoam Ban// ABC 7 News
“San Francisco lawmakers are poised to give final approval to what will be the strictest ban in the nation on Styrofoam products.
It's called polystyrene but most people know it as Styrofoam. Its been around since the 1940's and is primarily used to keep drinks hot or cold and for packing insulation. It doesn't decompose very easily and can crumble creating an environmental challenge.
'It's a problem from litter on the streets and in the storm drains and into the Bay and the marine environment,' explained Jack Macy with the San Francisco Environment Department."
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California school spending: Will $88.3 billion help poor kids? // Mercury News
“Three years after Gov. Jerry Brown freed schools from spending controls and gave them extra cash to narrow a yawning achievement gap, the governor's reform remains popular among schools -- but there's only scattered evidence that the state's largesse is improving education for the most disadvantaged students.
When he signed what he dubbed a revolutionary law in 2013, Brown promised that money would flow to high-needs students hampered by language barriers, poverty and family instability. Through his new Local Control Funding Formula, Brown said the state would butt out of school spending decisions.
As California funnels a record $88.3 billion to pre-K-12 public education in the year that began July 1, the funds intended for disadvantaged children -- who make up 3 out of every 5 California students -- are paying for buildings, teacher salaries and other purposes.”
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Big Pharma eyes Bay Area, Boston expansions as it cuts R&D elsewhere // San Francisco Business Times
“Drug giant Merck & Co. Inc. will cut research jobs at three East Coast sites as it searches for a major Bay Area home to consolidate its cancer and biologics R&D work and hire about 100 scientists.
The company (NYSE: MRK) will move into an interim facility in South San Francisco early next year, according to a spokeswoman for the Kenilworth. N.J.-based maker of the Gardasil human papillomavirus vaccine, cancer immunotherapy drug Keytruda and a host of other products. But it is continuing a search for a long-term location in the Bay Area.
Merck said Tuesday that it will open a new R&D center in Cambridge, Mass., later this year.
Merck already houses cancer immunotherapy, biologics and vaccines discovery work at the former DNAX Research Institute, which it received as part of its $41 billion acquisition in 2009 of Schering-Plough Corp. But rumors of a greater presence in the Bay Area have persisted, even as the company — like most Big Pharma players — laid off thousands of people globally.”
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Fixing Airbnb's Discrimination Problem Is Harder Than It Seems // Fortune
“Airbnb is finding out that fixing discrimination is a really long and difficult road.
The home-sharing company has come under fire in the last few weeks over the racism and discrimination against some of its customers while they used the service. Even a hashtag—#AirbnbWhileBlack—emerged on social media amid the flood of conversations about the topic.
Of course, Airbnb quickly denounced racism in public statements and apologies. During its annual engineering conference in San Francisco, co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky declared that the company had started a 90-day review of its entire service and that, 'We have zero tolerance for any discrimination.' "
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First-of-its-kind report details code enforcement cases in SF homes// San Francisco Examiner
“San Francisco has been in the national spotlight in recent years for its sky-high cost of living and torrid tales of evictions. But a lesser-known housing element is setting a national standard for The City as well.
For those who still live in The City, a plethora of building code violations ranging from lack of hot water and heat to rodents and mold continue to plague residents, especially in rented homes.
San Francisco, however, actually saw such violations followed up by city officials more than most major cities in the U.S., according the Department of Building Inspection’s first-ever citywide report on housing code violations in San Francisco, which was released to the San Francisco Examiner last week.
'I’ve always wanted [to do] this,' said James Sanbonmatsu, a senior housing inspector with DBI who authored the report. 'We cover an enormous amount of ground and we see a lot of problems and do our best to get them all fixed, so it’s a lot more than any of us realize.' ”
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S.F. to allow taller affordable housing projects after political clash // San Francisco Business Times
“Following two years of study and public backlash, a proposal to allow 100 percent affordable housing projects to rise three extra stories was approved by San Francisco's Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The policy could yield 203 additional affordable units among seven active new projects in the near term.
But the fate of a separate, controversial density bonus program for market-rate projects remains unresolved, and the political maneuvering surrounding the proposal underscored the difficulty of shifting the city's housing policy, even when changes directly result in more affordable units. The proposal passed only after weeks of modifications, highlighting a Board and city that appear increasingly polarized between its progressive and moderate factions as a pivotal November election looms.”
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