News Columnists

Keith Zwölfer, director of education for SFFILM, stays busy connecting filmmakers and studios with public, private and home schools<ins>. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner) </ins>

Streamlined SF film festival focuses on family features

SFFILM Director of Education Keith Zwölfer finds movies that appeal to kids

It would be good for The City’s businesses if a person taking a break in a parklet could legally have a drink. <ins>(S.F. Examiner file photo)</ins>

I love drinking outdoors

Now’s the time to update California’s laws about alcohol consumption

A house in the Berkeley hills with a million-dollar view of the San Francisco Bay – literally – has made news. <ins>(Shutterstock)</ins>

Bay Area real estate offers house (sale) of cards

Here’s how Berkeley hills residence sold for $1 million over asking price

Pedestrian safety will increase by improving streets and dropping the speed limit as well as revising jaywalking laws.<ins> (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)</ins>

Just what exactly will the Freedom to Walk Act do?

Decriminalizing jaywalking is fine, but pedestrian safety remains an issue

Pedestrian safety will increase by improving streets and dropping the speed limit as well as revising jaywalking laws.<ins> (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)</ins>
People have been dining indoors, inside Mario’s Bohemian Cigar Store Café in North Beach. (Jordi Molina/Special to S.F. Examiner)

What happens when the pandemic is over?

According to the latest COVID stats, I may have to start regularly…

People have been dining indoors, inside Mario’s Bohemian Cigar Store Café in North Beach. (Jordi Molina/Special to S.F. Examiner)
LisaRuth Elliott, co-director of the history project Shaping San Francisco, has been pleased to welcome visitors to Alemany Farm in The City during the pandemic. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)

Farmer, artist and historian LisaRuth Elliott is shaping San Francisco

‘As soon as you start researching, the world opens up beneath you’

LisaRuth Elliott, co-director of the history project Shaping San Francisco, has been pleased to welcome visitors to Alemany Farm in The City during the pandemic. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)
It’ll be great to be able to dine again at favorite restaurants, like Sotto Mare in North Beach. <ins>(Jordi Molina/Special to S.F. Examiner)</ins>

What I fantasize about doing once I get my vaccine

I’ll be getting married, eating out, hugging friends and traveling, for starters

It’ll be great to be able to dine again at favorite restaurants, like Sotto Mare in North Beach. <ins>(Jordi Molina/Special to S.F. Examiner)</ins>
When development plans for a mall in Elk Grove didn’t pan out after more than a decade, another project to build a casino is in the works. <ins>(Shutterstock)</ins>

The tale of the ghost mall in Elk Grove

Doomed development makes way for a casino

When development plans for a mall in Elk Grove didn’t pan out after more than a decade, another project to build a casino is in the works. <ins>(Shutterstock)</ins>
John Yen Wong of the Asian Real Estate Association of America and Maeve Elise Brown of Housing and Economic Rights Advocates are calling for the government to assist affordable housing providers.<ins> (Courtesy photo)</ins>

Small landlords need government support

More must be done to ease affordable housing providers’ financial burden

John Yen Wong of the Asian Real Estate Association of America and Maeve Elise Brown of Housing and Economic Rights Advocates are calling for the government to assist affordable housing providers.<ins> (Courtesy photo)</ins>
My backyard once was, like much of the San Francisco Bay’s estuary, a tidal marsh.<ins> (Shutterstock)</ins>

Revenge of the tidal marsh in my East Bay backyard

Home improvement attempts foiled by workers, weather

My backyard once was, like much of the San Francisco Bay’s estuary, a tidal marsh.<ins> (Shutterstock)</ins>
Some have raised objections to a plan to remove a Monterey cypress tree in the median on Geary Boulevard in Japantown. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)

SF needs plan to protect trees and one agency in charge

Transit planners want to remove a Monterey cypress on Geary against the public’s will

Some have raised objections to a plan to remove a Monterey cypress tree in the median on Geary Boulevard in Japantown. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)
Teacher and activist Benjamin Bac Sierra is the author of “Pura Neta,” a novel about life in San Francisco’s Mission. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)

Benjamin Bac Sierra: From San Pancho with amor

Former street kid spreads love with teaching, writing, activism

Teacher and activist Benjamin Bac Sierra is the author of “Pura Neta,” a novel about life in San Francisco’s Mission. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)
The pandemic, which cleared out major thoroughfares in San Francisco, has ushered in the opportunity for people and the government to consider major changes in economic and public policy.<ins> (Chris Victorio/S.F. Examiner file photo)</ins>

Things we should have learned from the pandemic but didn’t

Health care and housing are possible for everyone, and there are ways to pay for them

The pandemic, which cleared out major thoroughfares in San Francisco, has ushered in the opportunity for people and the government to consider major changes in economic and public policy.<ins> (Chris Victorio/S.F. Examiner file photo)</ins>
University of California San Francisco is studying the longevity of the COVID-19 vaccine, and how factors like stress or sleep play a role. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images/TNS)

Do sleep, stress, and age affect the longevity of the COVID-19 vaccine? UCSF researchers plan to find out

As COVID-19 vaccines continue to roll out across the country, information on…

University of California San Francisco is studying the longevity of the COVID-19 vaccine, and how factors like stress or sleep play a role. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images/TNS)
The tech company Opendoor provides customers the opportunity buy homes with all-cash offers. (Courtesy Opendoor)

Buyers and renters beware: Koch Industries could be your new landlord

New home buying methods may have a hidden downside

The tech company Opendoor provides customers the opportunity buy homes with all-cash offers. (Courtesy Opendoor)
At a rally in February, Monthanus Ratanapakdee, left, and Eric Lawson remember Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thai man who died after he was pushed to the pavement in San Francisco. (Ekevara Kitpowsong/Examiner file photo)

The criminal justice system can’t fix what’s wrong in our community

My 87-year-old mother walks gingerly, slowly, deliberately, one step in front of…

At a rally in February, Monthanus Ratanapakdee, left, and Eric Lawson remember Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thai man who died after he was pushed to the pavement in San Francisco. (Ekevara Kitpowsong/Examiner file photo)
COVID restrictions have prompted a benefit or two, such as empty streets in The City. <ins>(Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)</ins>

Taking the scenic route through a pandemic

Streets of San Francisco are pleasantly free of traffic

COVID restrictions have prompted a benefit or two, such as empty streets in The City. <ins>(Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)</ins>
San Francisco workers who are members of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers are calling for The City’s retirement board system to stop investing in Chevron. <ins>(Shutterstock)</ins>

SF should step up efforts to divest from fossil fuels

Retirement fund continues to include big oil companies

San Francisco workers who are members of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers are calling for The City’s retirement board system to stop investing in Chevron. <ins>(Shutterstock)</ins>
Rev. Roland Gordon shows “The Great Cloud of Witnesses” collage mural at the Ingleside Presbyterian Church, which he began building in 1980.<ins> (</ins>

Rev. Roland Gordon preaches love in action

Pastor promotes peace, hope through art and prayer

Rev. Roland Gordon shows “The Great Cloud of Witnesses” collage mural at the Ingleside Presbyterian Church, which he began building in 1980.<ins> (</ins>
Disability advocates protested outside the home of San Francisco Health Officer Tomas Aragon. (Courtesy Brooke Anderson)

Vaccine rollout plan for people with disabilities remains deeply flawed

On February 13, disability activists paid a visit to the house of…

Disability advocates protested outside the home of San Francisco Health Officer Tomas Aragon. (Courtesy Brooke Anderson)