A few ideas in Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent budget proposal would be so damaging to the free flow of information in California that they should be scrapped immediately. Read More

Today’s price to live in San Francisco is $1 million for a modest home or thousands a month for a market-rate apartment. That’s the reality of supply and demand when 800,000 people want to live on a tiny peninsula where Tartine scones and Bi-Rite Creamery can be found on the same Mission district block. It’s especially tough on middle-class families fleeing San Francisco. We have fewer children than any major American city, and the ones we have are often relegated to sleeping in converted closets. Read More

Extending the hours during which alcohol could be sold makes sense in a city like San Francisco, which has a dynamic and diverse nightlife scene that draws people from around the Bay Area, country and world. But state Sen. Mark Leno’s legislation to allow municipalities to decide whether they want to extend the current alcohol-sales cutoff time from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. instantly created opposing sides and nothing in between. Summarily discounting or blindly endorsing the proposal is dangerous. Testing its merits is the prudent approach. Read More

Far too many projects in San Francisco hit roadblocks because of complaints from a handful of neighbors. And when the America’s Cup Event Authority announced a major concert series on the waterfront, it appeared as if nearby residents could have sunk the deal. So it is good that the America’s Cup group, the concert promoter Live Nation and the neighbors, including the politically connected Telegraph Hill Dwellers, talked about concerns and reached a conclusion that seems to be amicable to the greatest majority of people possible. Read More