San Francisco, CA
Federal judges to hear San Francisco’s appeal regarding encampment removal
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The issue of homelessness in San Francisco will go before three federal judges Wednesday.
San Francisco city officials are appealing a recent judge ruling that they say has tied their hands when it comes to removing tents or encampments from sidewalks and other areas.
Several tents were lined up along Van Ness Ave and Eddy Street in San Francisco Tuesday night, just two blocks from City Hall.
“It’s very frightening to see what they’re doing!”
MORE: Former SF Mayor Frank Jordan criticizes London Breed’s approach to solving homeless crisis
Challiss Mosher and others we spoke with live at nearby Opera Plaza, Mosher is referring to the homeless situation and the tents that they say, now sit on sidewalks along Van Ness Avenue for long periods of time.
“Constantly, we call 311 and nothing we can do, nothing we can do,” said San Francisco resident Eddie Ramos.
City officials will go in front of three federal judges Wednesday to appeal a court order that temporarily limits the city from enforcing certain laws that prohibit public lodging or camping against “involuntarily homeless individuals.” That is, as long as the number of people experiencing homelessness exceeds the number of available shelter beds in San Francisco.
Officials say those on the street won’t take the help.
MORE: San Francisco pilot program diverts 911 calls about homeless from police to new street crisis team
“Over half the folks they’re reaching out to, are refusing offers of shelter by the city or have shelter elsewhere but chose to keep a tent on the streets,” says San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu.
We asked those with the Coalition on Homelessness if that is true.
“Only half the people are accepting shelter because they only have shelter to offer half the people. We can see how many shelter beds are being offered in the encampments, they’ve only got enough for half of them, the other half they mark down as refusing shelter,” said Jennifer Friedenbach of the Coalition on Homelessness.
As the city battles in the court system over enforcement, some community members say they are now angry over what they call a lack of any action.
MORE: SF crews making a difference cleaning homeless encampments, but here’s what’s slowing them down
“I’ve lived here since 1974, I’ve never seen San Francisco this dirty, it’s pathetic – my wife and I have to cross the street just to go up to dinner just because of all of the tents are blocking everything,” says Ramos.
“They’re coming here for one reason and it’s not to pay taxes, it’s to use our facilities and use the drugs that are here just very close by,” said Mosher.
“People are compassionate but there is also growing frustration, we’ve spent billions of dollars, we’ve tried many many things, none of it seems to be working and now it’s going into the legal system. You’re just figuring, when does this end and what is an answer?” says ABC7 News political insider Phil Matier.
This court hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at the federal building at 95 7th Street in San Francisco. City officials will rally with the public at 9 a.m. at that same location outside of court. It’s unlikely we’ll see a decision by these judges on Wednesday but that will likely come soon.
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Giants Predicted to Spend This Offseason in Free Agency
The San Francisco Giants are heading into free agency and the offseason as a very interesting team to watch.
It was another disappointing season for the Giants in 2024, as they finished under .500 once again and missed the playoffs for the third straight year.
The struggles in San Francisco resulted in a change in the front office, as Buster Posey took over as the President of Baseball Operations.
With the decision to add Posey to the front office, the hope is that he will be able to lure in some of the top caliber free agents that they have been missing out on in recent years.
The Giants haven’t been shy about spending money, but that money hasn’t always went to the right places.
Recently, Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report ranked teams in different tiers based on what they will spend this offseason. For San Francisco, he placed them in the tier that will be spending this winter.
“Perhaps the most interesting team on this list is the Giants, with former NL MVP Buster Posey now serving as their president of baseball operations. He’s talked about wanting to figure the shortstop position out, which is why we’ve projected the Giants as the landing spot for Adames. But San Francisco has had a hard time getting star players to sign on the dotted line in recent years, probably due in large part to Oracle Park being seen as a bad place to hit at 81 times a season.”
While the Giants have the desire to sign a superstar and the next face of the franchise, there have been some indications that they might not break the bank this offseason. However, at the same time, they have been linked to some of the top free agents this winter.
Currently, the biggest need for San Francisco is in their lineup. While Juan Soto would be a great addition, him going to the Bay Area seems unlikely. However, a player like Willy Adames or Alex Bregman might be a more realistic target. Neither one of those players would be cheap, but both would instantly upgrade the lineup.
In addition to trying to upgrade the lineup, the Giants also saw Blake Snell decline his player option to become a free agent. Considering how good Snell was in the second half of the season, it will be interesting to see what the plan is to either bring him back or replace him.
While San Francisco will certainly be spending this offseason, the real question will be how much the organization is willing to invest.
San Francisco, CA
Atmospheric river storm causes minor flooding in San Francisco
Some San Francisco roadways and neighborhoods experienced minor flooding Friday as the atmospheric river dumped heavy rain on the city.
Matthew Coric said he was inside his restaurant when all the sudden he noticed water rising outside.
“Water was coming over the curb already and Rainbow Grocery closed for the day because they flooded or started to flood, and the next two restaurants had water in their restaurant already,” said Coric.
Two years ago during another big storm, the entire block flooded with several feet of water.
Coric told KPIX he was determined to not let that happen again, so he and some of his employees grabbed brooms and anything else they could get their hands on and ran towards the flooding.
“These two drains right here on either side of the street, we literally couldn’t see them. This was up above the curb. We were just blindly scraping trying to get it unclogged until we could see the little tornado start,” said Coric.
He said they were able to unclog the drain just in time to stop the water from flooding his restaurant, and that it took about 30 minutes for the water to fully recede.
While he is happy they were able to avoid another crisis, he said he wishes the city would have been monitoring the area so that he and his employees didn’t have to fix it on their own.
“It flooded two years ago, and then last year the city was like high alert. They would park their trucks out here and make sure nothing happened. But now it’s been two years, they forgot about us again and same thing happened,” said Coric.
He said, from now on when it rains, he’s going to monitor the drains himself and step in anytime he sees them getting clogged.
He recommends that others in areas where flooding happens do the same.
“If you’re out on the street, anybody right, and you see the drain overflowing, I know if you can wait for the city that’s great, but it might not come. Just clean it yourself or get somebody that can just to save everybody a bunch of headaches,” said Coric.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco D.A. announces conviction in 2015 quadruple murder
SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly 10 years after a quadruple murder, drive-by shooting shocked the San Francisco Hayes Valley neighborhood, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Friday announced the conviction of the San Francisco man responsible.
The D.A.’s office issued a news release that said Lee Farley, 36, was found guilty by a jury on four counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances when he opened fire on an occupied vehicle on the night of January 9, 2015.
According to evidence and testimony, four men were ambushed from behind on Laguna Street just south of Page Steet at around 10 p.m.
The jury found that Farley committed this act as a participant of a criminal street gang and that he was a felon in possession of a firearm.
Police arrested Farley in the summer of 2016. He was already serving time at a federal prison in Atwater on unrelated weapons charges when he was taken into custody.
The slayings of Manuel O’Neal, David Saucier II, Harith Atchan and Yalani Chinyamurindi left the victims’ families in turmoil as they waited for justice.
“I would like to thank the jury for their service in this trial,” said District Attorney Jenkins. “I would also like to thank the mothers and families of the murdered men for their patience, faith and trust in my office to get justice for their families. Our strong legal team fought hard, understanding that while nothing we do can bring back their loved ones, that hopefully this verdict brings them some comfort.”
The D.A. thanked her team and the San Francisco Police Department’s homicide unit for their work on this case.
Farley’s sentencing will be scheduled after a bench trial on priors. That date is set for Dec. 16, 2024.
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