New California Law Imposes Massive Fines on Employers Who Refuse to Pay Stolen Wages
California has raised the stakes for businesses that steal wages and tripled the price of wage theft.
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Selected stories from recent months
Covering the Historic San Francisco Teachers Strike
A collection of my reporting on the first San Francisco teachers strike in nearly 50 years, including radio features, national spots, and field reporting.
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Neighbors Host Ice Cream Social for Kids in SF's Tenderloin, Where There Is No Ice Cream Shop
The neighborhood with the highest number of kids in the city has no permanent ice cream shop. A recent ice cream social aimed to change the narrative and provide a safe space for the community.
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Fast Food Workers Protest Alleged Wage Theft and Poor Work Conditions at San José Chain
A mother and daughter who said they were fired from a fast food restaurant in San José for protesting working conditions rallied Wednesday alongside community members, officials and union representatives to demand their jobs back.
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How a Surge in Bay Area Poverty Wiped Out a Decade of Progress
A decade of economic progress in the Bay Area has been erased in less than a year, according to a new report released Wednesday by Tipping Point Community, a San Francisco-based anti-poverty nonprofit.
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West Contra Costa Teachers Strike Continues as Support Staff Return to Work
Teachers in the West Contra Costa Unified School District entered their third day of a strike on Monday, with some maintenance and service workers returning to work.
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Oakland Council Expands Flock License Plate Reader Network Despite Privacy Concerns
The Oakland City Council voted Tuesday to expand the city’s network of automated license plate reader cameras, overriding strong objections from privacy advocates who warned the move could expose residents to federal surveillance.
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New San Bruno Home Offers Independence for Adults With Developmental Disabilities
The $1.8 million shared home is the second of its kind in San Mateo County.
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Stanford Scientists Reveal Oldest Map of the Night Sky, Previously Lost to Time
In a major breakthrough this week, researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park used X-ray beams to uncover a long-lost map of the universe.
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A Black, Disabled Truck Driver Is Awarded $5 Million for Harassment at East Bay Job
A disabled Black truck driver who said he was subjected to years of racial slurs, mockery and a hostile work environment at the cement company Cemex’s East Bay plants — and then fired after he repeatedly raised his concerns — is having his complaint heard in federal court in San Francisco.
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SF Judge Orders Public Defender to Pay $26,000 in Contempt Fines
A San Francisco County Superior Court judge, Harry Dorfman, ordered the city’s public defender to pay $26,000 in fines on Tuesday after ruling that his repeated refusals to accept new criminal cases each constituted a separate act of contempt
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Scoop: San José Could Convert Troubled Homeless Shelter to Permanent Housing
The San José City Council voted Tuesday to explore converting the city’s largest interim housing community into permanent housing — just days after officials moved to terminate the city’s contract with the site’s operators, following a staff member’s arrest on drug charges.
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San José Is the Latest Bay Area City to Restrict Flock License Plate Cameras
The San José City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to tighten restrictions on its network of automated license plate reader cameras — the latest Bay Area municipality to take a closer look at the software’s risks and rewards.
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Campbell Fast-tracks Townhome Development, First in State
A Campbell townhome complex that broke ground on Friday tests a 2023 state law designed to fast-track small-scale homeownership opportunities for middle-income families.
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Newsom Signs $590 Million Loan to Avert Drastic Bay Area Transit Cuts
Gov. Gavin Newsom authorized a $590 million emergency bridge loan on Thursday to prevent Bay Area transit agencies from shuttering stations and slashing service.
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San José’s Downtown Has Had a Strong Recovery. Is It Ready for the Super Bowl Surge?
For San José, the coming days are about more than just the big game; they’re a high-stakes test of downtown’s post-pandemic recovery — which outpaced San Francisco and Oakland — and its ability to host a national event.
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Bay Area Turns to Protest and Service on MLK Day Amid Trump Immigration Policies
Ninety-seven years after the birth of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., communities in the Bay Area will celebrate the legendary civil rights activist’s legacy by making their voices heard, amid the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
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MacKenzie Scott Donates $45 Million to The Trevor Project, Amid Trump Funding Cuts
The Trevor Project, a nonprofit best known for its suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth, announced Monday it has received a $45 million gift from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott — the largest one-time donation in the organization’s 27-year history.
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San José Buddhist Temple Destroyed After Second Major Fire in 2 Years
A massive three-alarm fire all but destroyed a San José Buddhist temple on Monday morning, just 20 months after another blaze heavily damaged it.
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South Bay Lawmaker Slams Trump Admin’s $1.6 Million Hepatitis B Study in West Africa
A Bay Area lawmaker slammed a Trump administration plan to conduct research on the Hepatitis B vaccine on infants in Guinea-Bissau, where nearly one in five adults lives with the virus.
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San José Activists March on International Migrants Day at a Time of Unprecedented Threats
In commemoration of International Migrants Day, dozens of faith leaders, activists and residents marched through San José on Thursday to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies and pressure the city to bolster investments in immigration legal services.
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