Free Republic

The last remaining Denny’s in San Francisco closed its doors this month because customers would frequently leave without paying their bill in the crime-plagued city, according to the restaurant’s owner. Chris Haque shuttered the 24-hour diner at 816 Mission St. near the Union Square section on Aug. 1 after 25 years. “We’re the only store left, and we operated until the last day that we could,” Haque told SFGATE. “The cost of doing business is tremendous. There’s vandalism, and people come and eat and walk away, and there’s no one to stop them.” Haque also lamented the fact that a...

Just when you thought the progressive left couldn’t sink any lower in their relentless quest to redefine Christianity, along comes the National Bimbo™’s pastor, Amos Brown. In his latest “sermon”—if you can even call it that—this self-appointed sage of San Francisco rewrites the Bible to convince us that Jesus’ pick for U.S. president is their “dear member,” Kamala Harris. We all know that the fruits of the Spirit, as stated in Galatians 5:22-23, are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But according to Rev. Brown, we need to add “justice” to that list. But we all...

A longtime San Francisco McDonald’s has become the latest casualty of California’s new $20 minimum wage, according to reports. The McDonald’s at the Stonestown Galleria shopping mall, about eight miles southwest of downtown San Francisco, was permanently shuttered Sunday after more than 30 years serving the area. “This is a gut-wrenching day for my family,” franchise owner Scott Rodrick said, according to ABC 7. Rodrick blamed the closure on a number of factors — but said the newly rolled-out law hiking the statewide minimum wage from $16 to $20 an hour pushed the business over the edge. Coupled with the...

San Francisco Mayor London Breed has announced the San Francisco Reproductive Freedom Act, a ballot measure that would prevent city funds from being used to cooperate with out-of-state abortion prosecutions and create a fund to help people access abortions. It would also target pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), limiting their funding, and requiring signage for PRCs that state they do not commit abortions. Breed made her announcement during a press conference held at a local Planned Parenthood abortion business. In addition to the above objectives, she also signaled her intent to make it easier for abortion facilities to open in San...

San Francisco firefighter Gabriel Shin is talking publicly for the first time about a brutal attack that he says ended his career. Another firefighter stands charged with beating him with a hydrant wrench.

San Francisco recognized Pride Month differently this year — by declaring itself a sanctuary for transgender and gender non-conforming people. The city’s Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday in favor of the sanctuary status, making San Francisco one of the first major cities in the nation to do so. The resolution symbolically indicates those identifying as transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex and two-spirit are safe to seek transitioning health care and that providers are similarly safe, Los Angeles’ FOX 11 reported. “We have seen an influx of refugees, not just from other countries, but from other states who are seeking care...

Patrons could be seen eating and drinking outside the popular North Beach restaurant Original Joe's Wednesday evening. Restaurant employees from other locations say it isn't fair that one restaurant can stay open and others must close. As we began asking questions, some were not happy to see our cameras and one man quickly turned on us. "Is this considered outdoor dining? I guess it could be considered outdoor dining," says Joe Guinnane, who is against the stay-at-home order. With a sarcastic tone another man went on to say, "There is no outdoor dining!" The manager at Originals Joe's wouldn't talk...

The City of San Francisco is handing out bottles of beer, glasses of wine and shots of vodka to homeless alcoholics - and spending $5m a year on the program. The alcoholic drinks are served by nurses as part of the city's 'managed alcohol program', which has been running for four years, as a way of taking care of vulnerable homeless people. The program is designed to curb the amount of alcohol homeless people drink. It still allows them some, but in a more managed way, in the hope of curbing their addiction in a controlled manner.

San Francisco's well-publicized homelessness crisis is emblematic of the problems facing many of America's big cities as they struggle to provide affordable housing against the backdrop of high interest rates and low inventory. This has led the city to employ a variety of methods to tackle the problem, but a recent plan to provide tiny houses for San Francisco's homeless population has residents furious over the cost. The units would cost a reported $113,000 each to construct. Considering that the average home in San Francisco costs nearly $1 million the $113,000-per-unit cost for the tiny houses seems in line with...

"𝕏 will leave San Francisco if Aaron Peskin is elected as mayor." 一 Elon Musk

When in doubt, blame businesses for closing their doors instead of the crime that has made it unsustainable for them to operate. San Francisco might even do you one better: force the businesses to stay open anyway. One of the 11 members of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is floating reviving a vetoed 1984 law that would force grocery stores to stay open against their will. Supervisor Dean Preston calls it a “good idea” because of the risk of “food insecurity” that comes with grocery stores closing. The law in question would require stores to give a whopping six-month notice...

Citizens in a residential area of San Francisco are bolstering their homes with chicken wire in a bid to keep out intruders. Happening in the city's Richmond District, the safety measures come amid a recent jump in burglaries, robberies, and homicides in the affluent neighborhood. Headline-grabbing incidents like thieves making off with a Bank of America ATM earlier this year have even longtime residents on edge - with some installing cameras and safety locks along with the unconventional farm equipment. Several have attended community meetings and made posts on social media as the rampant crime wave persists. In interviews with...

Add Macy’s to the long list of Union Square retail stores that have closed recently — the department store announced this week that it would close 150 locations in the coming years, including its flagship store in San Francisco.

San Francisco's supervisors plan to offer a formal apology to Black residents for decades of racist laws and policies perpetrated by the city, a long-awaited first step as it considers providing reparations. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the resolution apologizing to African Americans and their descendants. All 11 members have signed on as sponsors, guaranteeing its passage. It would be one of the first major U.S. cities to do so. The resolution calls on San Francisco to not repeat the harmful policies and practices, and to commit “to making substantial ongoing, systemic, and...

Citing what they describe as a “hostile” political climate, hundreds of Adobe workers are protesting the company’s decision to hold its flagship MAX conference in Miami Beach in October, according to a Wednesday report from Business Insider. The outlet secured a 10-page petition sent to company leadership, signed by more than 500 employees of the San Jose tech giant. The petition said workers were “shocked and dismayed” by MAX’s move to Florida, and called out the state’s history of “egregious policies,” BI reported. “We sincerely hope that the overwhelming evidence that Florida is a hostile environment for Adobe’s employees, partners,...

(1/31/24 story) On the heels of Safeway's decision to keep its Fillmore grocery store open until January 2025, one San Francisco supervisor wants to regulate grocery store closures in the city to ensure local communities are not blindsided. Why it matters: The proposal is an effort to ensure food security throughout the city and is a direct response to Safeway's announcement and subsequent reversal of its decision to close its Fillmore supermarket, the only full-service grocery store in the neighborhood, in March. What's happening: Supervisor Dean Preston plans to officially introduce an ordinance, dubbed the Neighborhood Grocery Protection Act, that...

A conservative group known for exposing Joe Biden’s dog as a serial biter of Secret Service staffers is suing San Francisco over its guaranteed income program for transgender residents. The nonprofit Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court this week “on behalf of San Francisco taxpayers” Michael Phillips, Paul Wildes and Reed Sandberg. It names Mayor London Breed, Treasurer José Cisneros, City Administrator Carmen Chu and the executive director of the city’s Office of Transgender Initiatives as defendants in the lawsuit, which argues that the city’s GIFT program violates the California Constitution’s equal protection clause. GIFT, San...

An iconic San Francisco toy store famed for inspiring the Toy Story movies has been forced to close after 86 years due to the city's rampant crime and homelessness epidemic. Jeffrey's Toys shared the news this week that it would be permanently closing its doors, citing a crimewave that had left it 'struggling for a number of years'. The store's attorney named the 'perils and violence of the downtown environment' as the main factor driving the decision, alongside 'inflation, the decrease in consumer spending and the demise of retail across the world'. 'The leadership of the City of San Francisco...

The San Francisco Center, once a thriving mall home to the largest Nordstrom in America, is a shell of its former self after a string of high-profile departures.. Staff and shoppers in the mall, where five more stores closed in January .. crime and falling foot traffic is ruining the palatial building.. The mall lost $1 billion in value last year ... The mall's cavernous, marble-floored atrium is eerily quiet. There's not a single shopper in sight and a litany of abandoned stores lay mostly empty, but for a few leftover cardboard boxes or fading signs which serve as a...

Bloodhound, a cocktail bar in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood, closed for good on Jan. 18, the owner said. | Source:Courtesy BloodhoundA San Francisco bar has permanently shut its doors after the pandemic slashed business in the neighborhood and emptied out Downtown offices, the owner said.The SoMa watering hole Bloodhound shut its doors for good on Thursday, according to co-owner Mike Goebel.Goebel said that since reopening after a one-year closure during the pandemic from March 2020 to March 2021, sales have been down 70% compared with before the pandemic."The business wasn't making money," Goebel said. "The neighborhood is just so...