San Francisco, CA
San Francisco celebrates new recipients of ‘Bridge to Excellence Scholarship’
SAN FRANCISCO – On Monday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and her office celebrated the new recipients of the city’s “Bridge to Excellence Scholarship.”
Graduation is a time to look back on students’ accomplishments and, for many of them, a time to look forward as well.
Breeds wants to ensure that money does not stand in the way of that path. She awarded 15 students with this year’s Bridge to Excellence Scholarship, which gives each of them $5,000 over two years.
“But this is just the beginning. This is the beginning of an opportunity to hopefully lead to the life that you know you want, but also the kind of life you know you deserve,” said Breed.
Among those recipients was Audrey Bryant who recently graduated from Thurgood Marshall Academic High School. Audrey is headed to Cal State East Bay and looking to major in biological science.
Her family moved to Oakland while she was still in high school, which meant she had to hit the road every morning at 6 a.m. to commute to school. She had to take AC Transit, BART, and then Muni, in order to get to class.
She’s already looking to her own future as well as those around her.
“I have a younger nephew and he doesn’t know too much about college, but he seems interested in it,” said Audrey. “So, I feel that if I can show him, ‘Hey college is fun, and you get to learn extra and get paid a little more, you can do it too.’”
Audrey is the first in her family to go to college and credits her academic success to a strong mother and father who was an eager student. She says the Bridge to Excellence Scholarship will help pay for her living expenses and meal plan; costs above and beyond the basics that are covered by her Pell grant and Cal grant.
“I wanted to have the full college experience like living in the dorms. You see it all the time, living in the dorms looks fun, eating the college campus food looks, not fun, but nutritious,” said Audrey. “It’s part of the experience.”
Since the city launched the scholarship program in 2019, Breed has awarded more than $300,000 in scholarship funding to 76 students.
San Francisco, CA
Dev Patel look-alike contest to be held in San Francisco
Three women are taking their love of actor Dev Patel and turning it into a contest.
The friends are organizing a Dev Patel look-alike contest in San Francisco on Nov. 10 at the Miguel Hidalgo Statue in Dolores Park.
They got the idea after a similar event was held in New York City for Timothee Chalamet. That event drew thousands of people, including the star himself.
The organizers of the San Francisco event say they don’t expect Patel to show up, but they are expecting to meet some of his doppelgangers.
“I feel like everyone has met someone, that even remotely looks like Dev Patel or kind of has the same facial features, structure,” organizer Tasnim Khandakar said. “So, I also felt like there is also a lot of diversity here in San Francisco Bay Area. So, it feels like a kind of a good way to celebrate the actor and the people who live here.”
The women say they created the event, expecting a small gathering. But, now more than 140 people have RSVP’d.
“We’re ready for it, we’re prepared for it, we’re excited,” organizer Sitara Bellam said.
The winner of the contest will get $50, presented on a large check and a “Monkey Man” statue.
“I think we’re looking for someone who is really passionate about this too. I don’t think you have to look exactly like Dev Patel,” Khandakar said.
Bellam added: “It’s got to be like a guy that’s written by women, that vibe. You know, the ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ ‘Mr. Darcy’ vibe. I feel like that’s the Dev Patel energy.”
The contest starts at 1 p.m.
San Francisco, CA
Local races are reason why some San Francisco voters have yet to submit ballot
SAN FRANCISCO – Election Day is less than two days away, but the majority of San Franciscans’ ballots have not been returned yet.
According to the San Francisco Department of Elections, about 33% of vote-by-mail ballots have been returned.
City supervisor candidate Marjan Philhour spent her Sunday canvassing to get out the vote. She’s running against current City Supervisor Connie Chan.
Philhour says she’s talked to many voters who still haven’t submitted their ballots.
“I think in San Francisco voters take voting very seriously and I think many of them are probably going back to their high school and college days and are procrastinating,” Philhour said.
She thinks part of the reason is because of just how many decisions San Francisco voters are required to make to complete their ballot.
“We have a 300-page voter guide in San Francisco,” Philhour said.
Joe Asiano handed in his ballot on Sunday, he says the volume of ballot measures definitely slowed him down.
“I think because the book was pretty thick and there’s a lot of measures we had to consider and review and there’s some state ones,” said Asiano. “Locally we have a lot going on too.”
That sentiment was echoed by Kevin Born.
“It was a lot,” said Born. “It just felt like we’re making a lot of decisions and there was a lot of information in there and it was a lot to go through.”
Born hasn’t handed in his ballot yet. That’s because he doesn’t want to just drop it in any ballot box, he wants to take it directly to city hall.
“It just feels like that’s where we want to take it and there’s been weird stuff going on and we’re going to take it to city hall,” Born said.
For Asiano, he felt safe dropping his ballot at the box at the library.
He says he’s grateful to get to participate in the electoral process and now he’s just going to sit back and wait to see what happens next.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of action next week and I’m glad we did it and I hope everything is going to be OK,” said Asiano.
If people are concerned about the status of their ballot, they can use the California Secretary of State’s Where’s my ballot feature to track it themselves.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Giants Linked to Blockbuster Trade for Outfield Slugger
The San Francisco Giants are entering an offseason that many believe could be extremely busy for them. As has been the case in recent years, the Giants are expected to pursue a big splash move or two.
Many rumblings have connected them to a pursuit of superstar outfielder Juan Soto. While they will likely show interest in Soto, there is a very small chance that they will actually end up landing him.
With that likely being the case, San Francisco will need to look into other avenues to make a big move.
They could look into signing other elite free agent options. Names like Corbin Burnes and Blake Snell have been connected to the Giants, while Anthony Santander and Teoscar Hernandez have come up as bats San Francisco could target.
However, there is another option that would require a blockbuster trade to pull off.
Mike Axisa of CBS Sports has suggested that the Giants could be a top trade destination for Chicago White Sox star slugging outfielder Luis Robert Jr.
“The Giants and Phillies stand out as potential landing spots for Robert. The Dodgers too.”
Robert would certainly be an intriguing option. He’s a bit of a risk, as he had a very poor season in 2024, but the elite potential at the plate is clearly there for him.
When everything was said and done this season, he played in 100 games. He hit 14 home runs to go along with 35 RBI, while batting .224/.278/.379.
Back in 2023, however, Robert showed much more of the potential that makes him such an intriguing trade target. In that season, he played in 145 games, hitting 38 home runs and driving in 80 RBI. His slash line was also much better, hitting .264/.315/.542.
At just 27 years old, Robert is in the early stages of his prime. In the right situation, he could become a superstar.
San Francisco would be wise to look into trading for Robert. While they should look into a trade for him, they should make sure not to overpay. The White Sox aren’t going to give him away cheap, but Robert is not a sure thing.
This is just another route that the Giants could choose to take. Robert would give them a potential superstar slugger and a long-term piece to build around. Unfortunately, he could also end up being a bust if he doesn’t develop.
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