San Francisco, CA
Sutro Elementary parents in San Francisco rally to keep school from closing
Another school on the San Francisco Unified School District’s proposed closure list is fighting to keep the classrooms open.
Parents and teachers sent a message loud and clear to the superintendent just a day after Mayor Breed said she had lost confidence in Matt Wayne’s ability to manage the closures.
Parents and students at Sutro Elementary School in the Richmond district gathered to try and save their school. It is one of 13 schools on a list from the district that could potentially close or merge with others as SFUSD tries to climb out of a $113 million deficit.
Alex Hawes’ daughter just started kindergarten a couple of months ago. He said none of this makes sense to him.
“The only person that I’ve heard say we should close schools is Matt Wayne,” Hawes said. “I haven’t heard one other person say that we should close schools. So, to me, that seems like there’s a pretty clear message being sent.”
Superintendent Matt Wayne faced criticism from the crowd gathered at Sutro Elementary Wednesday night. Many questioned whether he’s the right person to lead the district.
“So, I ask you, if the Mayor has no confidence in you as a superintendent, how can any of us any parent have confidence that you are managing the school district in a responsible way,” a parent asked.
“I’m here, and we’re here to share responses about the process and the questions,” Superintendent Wayne replied. “I appreciate what’s being shared, and I’ll say I’m here as an educator first and foremost. Trying to make the long-term decisions, working with our board of education, working with our community will ultimately help all our students in the district.”
Many parents left the town hall meeting feeling the Superintendent didn’t directly answer many of the questions. Parents wanted transparency to explain how Sutro ended up on the proposed closure list.
“Definitely not because all he answers is we will go back to the office and research on it,” parent Sam Lau said. “All the data is outdated. A lot of the parents bring that up.”
Lau is a parent of two, one who graduated from Sutro and a 5th grader currently at the school. He said Sutro is the only Cantonese bi-literacy program in the Richmond district and it means a lot to many of the families here.
“Our school 75% is Asian and a lot of them are new immigrants,” Lau said. “Then, in this whole entire Richmond neighborhood, that is the only school that we have this kind of program for new immigrants.”
Superintendent Wayne is expected to visit every school on the closure list before presenting his final recommendation to the board on Nov. 12.
Parents are hoping the district can find other ways to address declining enrollment and the budget deficit.
“If closing the schools got you out of the deficit, then maybe that would be a good move, but it seems like a Band-Aid,” Hawes said.
San Francisco, CA
Sea lion pup found in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset malnourished but ‘feisty’
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
San Francisco, CA
Giants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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San Francisco, CA
Why do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?
The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
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