Free Republic

In four years of operation, Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-Calif) $236 million mental health CARE Court program has helped 22 individuals. Initial estimates projected that 12,000 to 50,000 would be helped. The Governor denied the program was a flop. "Look, it's not as if there was no benefit," he said. "Almost two-dozen individuals got the care that they needed. It was a better deal than the Somali daycare fraud that siphoned off billions from the public coffers of federal and state governments. Besides, if we hadn't made this investment no one would've been helped. So, I ask my critics, 'what would...

During his first month in office, Mayor Daniel Lurie achieved something remarkable: He received near-unanimous approval from San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors to make himself more powerful. The board voted to broaden Lurie’s power to dole out contracts related to homelessness, mental health and drug abuse, and to reduce its own control over the process. In interviews with over a dozen people who work in city politics, most agreed that the new administration is a sea change from former Mayor London Breed’s way of doing things, which was marked by interdepartmental animosity, bad blood with supervisors, and corruption. “There’s a...

SAN FRANCISCO - The National Guard has been called to California's Golden City to neutralize a 600-foot-tall Katie Porter, who is apparently rampaging her way through San Francisco. Porter, a frontrunner in California's gubernatorial race, reportedly began roaring and growing to an unusual size after a reporter asked her a question. "You didn't ask her a question, did you? Oh no! She hates that!" cried Mayor Daniel Lurie as the hulking monstrosity smashed a giant hole in the the Transatlantic tower. "There's no stopping her now! Run! Run for your lives!" "BLLAAAAWWWRRRGGHHHHH!" responded Porter before swallowing a cable car....

While walking through the San Francisco Centre might feel like a complete ghost town, Bloomingdale's was bustling with shoppers looking for deals as the store offers 70% off before shuttering for good. Downtown San Francisco's ghostly and 'depressing' mall clears out, shoppers find deals | 2:21 ABC7 News Bay Area | 593K subscribers | 333,649 views | April 3, 2025

The hollowing out of U.S. cities’ office and commercial cores is a national trend with serious consequences for millions of Americans. As more people have stayed home following the COVID-19 pandemic, foot traffic has fallen. Major retail chains are closing stores, and even prestigious properties are having a hard time retaining tenants. The shuttering of a Whole Foods market after only a year in downtown San Francisco in May 2023 received widespread coverage. Even more telling was the high-end department store Nordstrom’s decision to close its flagship store there in August after a 35-year run. In New York City, office...

San Francisco Mayor London Breed lost her reelection bid Thursday night to Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie following years in which the liberal city struggled with sky-high crime and deteriorating quality of life.Breed, whose tenure began in 2017, said she called Lurie, a venture capitalist, to concede the election two days after voters went to the polls in the rank-choice election...An ongoing drug crisis has killed hundreds of people while crime, including relentless shoplifting and property crime, has diminished the quality of life for residents and frustrated businesses.Homeless encampments also became a familiar and heartbreaking sight under Breed...Lurie, 47, warned...

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, the first black woman elected to the job, is facing defeat after early returns showed Levi’s heir Daniel Lurie with a commanding lead in the 2024 election. Politico reported: Early returns show her trailing far behind Daniel Lurie, a Levi Strauss heir and nonprofit founder, who far outspent the incumbent using his personal wealth and blamed Breed for the city’s problems with homelessness, brazen theft and drug overdoses. He leads with 56 percent of the vote using the city’s ranked-choice voting system, while Breed has 44 percent. It’s a dismal showing for Breed, a moderate...