SAN FRANCISCO — Mayor Daniel Lurie joined the nonprofit San Francisco Downtown Development Corporation (SFDDC) to launch a $25 million Downtown Business Fund. This fund offers grants, loans and professional support to entrepreneurs interested in filling vacant storefronts to revitalize downtown San Francisco.

San Francisco lost a dedicated public servant in September, and I lost a good friend, whom I had known for many decades. Frank Blackburn was a retired San Francisco Fir Department (SFFD) Division Chief who had a huge effect on the City’s level of fire safety during his 35 years as a firefighter.

SAN FRANCISCO — The recent arrest of four suspects linked to a street robbery in the Sunset District and four auto burglaries in San Francisco's tourist areas highlights the importance of reporting crimes and the effectiveness of the newly-established Real-Time Investigation Center in combating violent crimes.

SAN FRANCISCO — Thirty Family Child Care centers in San Francisco are on a list to receive advanced heat-pump water heaters for free under a childcare electrification pilot program aimed to improve air quality of the environment where the youngest generation grows.

SAN FRANCISCO — As the Asian population has continued to grow in the southwest sector of San Francisco in recent decades, the Ocean Avenue portion within the Ingleside and Oceanview neighborhoods has become an emerging major business corridor for the Asian community. Asian merchants and residents citywide have overwhelmingly spoken out against the K-Ingleside Rapid Project in which red-transit-only lanes in both directions along that Ocean Avenue corridor would be added.

SAN FRANCISCO — Recent data indicates a significant surge in influenza (flu) cases this season and continues to rise nationwide with test positivity reaching high levels in the San Francisco Bay Area and very high levels in Central California. Healthcare experts have recommended that everyone aged 6 months and older receives the flu vaccines every year. 

SAN FRANCISCO — District 11 Congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti visited the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) and praised its historic accomplishment in fighting for equal rights for over a century. This included the 128-year-old landmark Wong Kim Ark case, which established birthright citizenship that benefited all communities, including himself, an American-born child of immigrant parents from India.

What you need to know about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: The 2025 reconciliation bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, is now law. It changes eligibility rules for important programs like Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), and health plans through the Affordable Care Act.

SAN FRANCISCO — Rita F. Lin has always believed in the U.S. legal system for justice. She has had vast experience in both criminal and civil practice on federal and state levels. But she didn't expect herself one day to become the first Chinese American woman judge in the 175-year history of the U.S. District Court in Northern California.

SAN FRANCISCO — The pedestrian bridge connected the Hilton Hotel to Portsmouth Square has been an icon and landmark of San Francisco Chinatown for over five decades. It also has had a profound Chinese American history of fighting for representation, providing a peaceful and safe open space for children and seniors, and good Feng Shui bringing in well-being to Chinatown. Leaders and members of the Chinese community have been trying hard to save the bridge from being removed by the city under the approved plan of Portsmouth Square renovation.