SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — In San Francisco’s Portola neighborhood, a free grocery store is making sure students don’t go hungry anymore.

“Once we identify those families who are interested in accessing this resource they will be on a schedule. They will know when to come in it will be before school and after school,” said Tyson Fechter, Principal at MLK Jr. Middle School.

Based on their income, more than 70% of families at MLK Jr. Middle School qualify for free or reduced lunch. The school believes over 300 families could benefit from the supermarket.

MORE: Food access gets worse in this Bay Area county as inflation hits 40-year high

“I’m currently not working and truly this is a huge help for my family,” said parent Jessica Matos.

In a community where 39% of residents are low-income and living well below the poverty line, the school’s internal surveys pinpointed food insecurity as one of the biggest setbacks for students’ learning.

“The students that might leave class and are out in the hallways a lot of the times, they are looking for food. They bounce around from class to class. Mrs. Monterosa, ‘Do you have any milk? Do you have any cereal?’ They are looking for food and while they are doing that, they are missing out on class time,” said Fechter.

“A lot of our Bayview families are traditionally underserved in a lot of ways and are dealing with the shifting economics in the city,” said Jibraan Lee, Beacon Director YMCA of Greater SF.

MORE: ‘Food deserts’: Nearly 900 neighborhoods across Bay Area have limited access to food

The school’s supermarket is the result of a partnership with the SFUSD, Amazon, and the nonprofit Goodr that has launched 12 other free grocery stores throughout the country.

“Over the next year, I hope that you have one less worry because you are going to know where you can go and get access to food and it is free, and it’s here to serve your family,” said Jasmine Crowe-Houston, founder and CEO of Goodr.

Although this is the first free supermarket inside a school in California for this group, it may not be the last.

Luz Pena: “There is a possibility that other schools in the city could have something like this?”

“We would love that to be true. We would have to see what happens next,” said Sally Kay with Amazon Public Policy & External Affairs and added, “We are always evaluating our partners needs and hope to see what we can do together in the future.”

MORE: CA housing affordability crisis has been decades in the making – what got us here?

A group of parents left MLK Jr. Middle School feeling grateful with grocery bags filled with frozen food, fruits, vegetables and cleaning supplies.

“I never thought that this was something I could get at my son’s school. This is a huge help for me and for other families,” said parent Gabriela Hernandez.

An estimated 2,500 Denver residents and qualifying businesses will have an extra ballot question to vote on in November that their neighbors will not.

The City Council on Monday agreed to put the future of the Denver Downtown Development Authority — and thus potential funding for more than half a billion dollars in infrastructure and other projects in the city’s downtown core — in the hands of those qualified electors.

Mayor Mike Johnston announced his ambitions to greatly expand the little-known taxing authority at a press conference outside Union Station in May. At the time, he described the tsunami of new public investment that expansion could bring as a means to snap the downtown “doom loop” of falling commercial activity and rising crime that emerged at the outset of the COVID pandemic.

The city’s core is experiencing what is believed to be record levels of office vacancy, according to real estate firm JLL.

The authority, abbreviated DDDA, derives its income from collecting a portion of sales and property taxes from participating property owners within its boundaries. It uses that money to pay for approved development work that is identified “with an eye towards stimulating economic growth and alleviating deterioration of conditions,” Dawnna Wilder, a project manager with the city’s Department of Finance, told council members at a committee hearing earlier this month.

The district was launched in 2008 to pay off an estimated $400 million in public debt that was taken on to pay for infrastructure around the station when that facility was undergoing its major overhaul.

The ballot question that council members referred to voters on Monday would authorize the city to take on up to $570 million in new debt on behalf of the DDDA to pay for both public facilities and projects and possibly improvements to private property as well. The measure would set a repayment cap of $847 million on that debt, factoring in a 5% interest rate and other costs, Wilder said in that committee hearing earlier this month.

The debt would not be on the city’s books. It would belong to the DDDA. The authority is authorized to collect shares of tax revenue through 2038. Approval of the measure would not increase taxes on participating properties, city leaders emphasized.

Only property owners, residents and tenant businesses in the district’s existing boundaries will vote on that question in November. Those boundaries cover Union Station and several blocks immediately surrounding it and the city block that was formerly home to the Regional Transportation District’s Market Street Station, city maps show. The City Clerk and Recorder’s Office is handling outreach to qualified electors.

The council will come to bear on other key elements of Johnston’s plan in the months ahead.

Council members are expected to vote in October on whether or not to expand the district’s boundaries to include the entirety of the city’s Central Business District and even reach across Broadway into the North Capitol Hill neighborhood.

The council will also vote on a new development plan that will specify how any newly raised debt or other funding can be used, Wilder said.

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Originally Published: August 27, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.

The Houston Astros have enjoyed a great deal of success over the past two months. After looking dead for much of the first few months of the season, the Astros responded as everybody expected them to. 

Now 4.5 games ahead in the American League West, Houston looks poised to win the division yet again. 

While they should be credited with their impressive play over the past two months, it’s also important to note that the Seattle Mariners have struggled in unexpected ways. That hasn’t changed over their past 10 games, going 3-7. 

If things get interesting down the stretch, the Astros take on the Mariners in their second to last series of the year. That could decide the division. 

As of right now, it doesn’t look like that’ll be the case, 

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report doesn’t expect that to happen, either, predicting that Houston will win the division. 

“While those teams fell apart, Houston just kept doing its thing, putting together an eight-game winning streak (all on the road) against Texas, Boston and Tampa Bay to just about bury the Mariners in the span of a little more than a week.”

The Astros winning the division is also very important for their playoff chances. As it currently stands, they wouldn’t make the postseason if they didn’t win the division. 

The Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins all have better records.

If that stays, that’d also mean Seattle wouldn’t make the playoffs.

It’ll take Houston another couple of weeks to solidify the division. If the Mariners continue to play how they have and they go on a decent stretch over the next few games, it could be as good as over entering September. 

That won’t be easy, considering they take on the Philadelphia Phillies and Royals in their next seven games, but they should continue to play well against two of better teams in baseball.

Towards the middle of September, the schedule gets easier. If it gets to that point, they’ll need to take care of business.

More importantly, the Astros should be better positioned to play well heading into October, as they’re getting healthy. The injuries they’ve dealt with add to how impressive their campaign has been.

Only time will tell, but they seem to be in a great position to win this division again.

They’ll look to win another title to solidify their dynasty when the time comes.