San Francisco, CA
San Francisco, hoping to resuscitate its ‘doom loop’ post-pandemic image, hosts APEC (and Biden)

Golden Gate Gathering: San Francisco set to host major APEC summit
San Francisco is hosting the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, for the first time ever, beginning November 11. (Nov. 9) (AP Video: Haven Daley)
Over two decades, urban planner Geeti Silwal has helped design some of San Francisco’s trendiest neighborhoods and helped convert a two-mile stretch of downtown into a car-free zone.
That’s in the past. Amid talks of the city’s downward spiral, or “doom loop,” and with the city preparing to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, one of the world’s major economic conferences, Silwal is disturbed by the recurring negative narrative plaguing the city’s national and global post-pandemic image.
Perhaps APEC, which started over the weekend and ramps up Monday, can spark the city’s bounce back amid a longstanding homelessness crisis, rising crime and the exodus of major retail outlets. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit will bring dozens of heads of state and world leaders from 21 countries. It’ll also feature a highly-anticipated meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Thousands of protesters are also expected to descend on the Golden City.
“There are very many compounding things that got us to a place where we are now, but there’s also a deep commitment to bounce back,” said Silwal, part of an initiative with other noted national urban planning and real estate experts to help revitalize downtown. “This event could give the city some much-needed vibrancy.”
Protests are planned for myriad topics, from United States’ dealings with certain Asian businesses to calls for more climate change efforts to the latest war between Israel and Hamas. Meanwhile, the city looks to put its best foot forward.
“Look, if you want to find what’s great about San Francisco, it will all be on display. If you want to find abject human misery, that won’t be hard to find either,” San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin told USA TODAY. “I think this will be a moment for San Francisco to feel good about itself as the reality is the glass is more than half full and the echo chamber of gloom and doom is overstated.”
What is APEC?
APEC discussions are usually centered on trade and economic growth. There will also be discussions on sustainability, women’s economic empowerment, food security and health, as well as a focus on how the private sector can work with governments.
More than 20,000 people are expected to attend and city officials estimate the conference could generate $53 million for the local economy.
The forum was founded in 1989 with 12 member countries, including the U.S, and has since expanded to 21 countries. Besides Pacific Rim countries with sizable Asian populations, other notable APEC members include Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.
In addition to the foreign dignitaries and demonstrators, about 1,200 CEOs are expected to attend the event, according to APEC. This will be the first APEC Summit held in the U.S. since 2011 in Honolulu.
San Francisco was selected because of its international prominence, as its customs district accounts for about $100 billion in two-way shipping each year, according to the San Francisco host committee’s website.
The economies of APEC’s members account for nearly 40% of the global population, almost 50% of all global trading, and more than 60% of goods that the U.S. exports, according to the host committee’s website. These economies have made “impressive direct investments” in the U.S. estimated at $1.7 trillion while employing 2.3 million Americans as of 2020, the host site added.
The potential image boost and economic windfall from APEC puts San Francisco in an enviable position compared to other major American cities, said James Taylor, a political science professor at the University of San Francisco. He added, both sides of the political spectrum “have used San Francisco as a poster child for social decay.”
“I bet you that New York City would love to have APEC. Los Angeles would love to have APEC. Chicago, you name them, all of the big cities would love to be in San Francisco’s position,” Taylor said.
Law enforcement preparing for anticipated protests
As is typical with an event of APEC’s scale, there will be a significant law enforcement presence in San Francisco. Four square blocks of downtown will be locked down around the convention center where APEC will be held.
“There will be an extraordinary amount of law enforcement, military, and public safety personnel in San Francisco for this event, well above what anyone has seen before,” Jeremy Brown, an assistant special agent in charge with the U.S. Secret Service told reporters on Nov. 8.
The “No to APEC” coalition held its “People’s Counter Summit” on Sunday. The coalition of several groups scheduled another demonstration for Wednesday, according to its website.
“APEC promotes so-called ‘free trade,’ which in reality means driving down wages, stealing land from peasants and Indigenous people, driving forced migration, destroying the environment, plundering natural resources, and pumping up corporate profits,” the coalition said on another coalition website.
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told reporters the city is “ready to meet this moment,” as its entire force will be mobilized throughout the event.
“Which means every able-bodied officer will be working. We will have coverage daytime and nighttime,” Scott said. “Our goal is to be prepared for everything and anything that may come our way.”
He added: “Our message is simply this: People are welcome to exercise their constitutional rights in San Francisco, but we will not tolerate people committing acts of violence, property destruction, or any other crimes.”
Taylor, the University of San Francisco professor, said demonstrations will range from broad topics like climate change to even protesters accusing China of committing genocide against the Uyghur minority group in the Xinjiang region. Depending on the turnout, the protests could paint a different picture of the summit, he said.
“Short of any violence, the protests will be acknowledged and hopefully contained with the thinking that any collateral damage will be marginal,” Taylor said. “But, it is San Francisco.”
Biden and Xi look to stabilize ties in meeting next week at APEC
President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will look to stabilize fraught U.S.-China relations next week during their first face-to-face meeting in a year on the sidelines of the APEC summit in San Francisco. (Nov. 10)
APEC’s main event: A high-stakes meeting between Biden and Xi
The highlight of the summit arguably will be the meeting between Biden and Xi scheduled on Wednesday, the pair’s second face-to-face meeting since Biden took office following the 2020 presidential election.
It is assumed that Biden will try to work on easing tensions with Xi and press him on several issues including restoring military communications, the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine and ongoing tensions in Taiwan, a self-ruling island that’s expected to hold elections next year, but China claims as a province, Taylor said.
“China needs America just as much as America for economic and political reasons,” Taylor said. “These superpowers don’t want to cut off their economic ties to one another.”
Taylor said trying to establish ongoing lines of communication is why the Biden administration sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of State Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to China earlier this year and why California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose state is poised to have the world’s fourth-largest economy, met with Xi last month ahead of APEC.
“Newsom smartly went to China and paved the path for California’s and San Francisco’s relations, apart from the U.S.,” said Taylor, who added that Biden met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last month in Washington to discuss possibly mending the countries’ tense relationship.
According to the White House, the president “underscored that the United States and China must work together to address global challenges.”
Cleaning up San Francisco
As San Francisco races to clean up its streets, including repaving roadways and clearing out encampments of people without homes on major streets and around the site of APEC, Mayor London Breed told reporters Thursday what some in an APEC advance delegation told her.
“In many of the cases of the people that I talked to, whether they were from Australia, Peru, or China, they said, ‘We have very similar problems in our country and we are excited to come to San Francisco,’” Breed said. “That’s what I heard over and over again.”
During a ribbon-cutting for a new city tree nursery Thursday, Newsom told reporters it’s no coincidence that San Francisco is putting its best face forward.
“I know folks say ‘Oh, we’re just cleaning up this place because all of those fancy leaders are coming into town.’ Um, that’s true, because it’s true,” Newsom said.
Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, said during his China visit with Xi, the first thing Xi talked about was his last visit to San Francisco in 1985 and seeing the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
“You should’ve seen the smile on his face,” Newsom said. “I mean this city, this place, is beloved, and its best days are in front of it, not behind it.”
Larry Baer, CEO and president of the San Francisco Giants baseball team, echoed that sentiment. He’s co-chair of Advance SF, a group of local leaders who have funded a splashy $4 million public relations campaign called “It All Starts Here,” that’s looking to uplift the city’s battered image.
“Sometimes, it feels like a barrage around the issues that we face, and these are issues that other cities face as well,” Baer said to a crowd at a kickoff at the Giants ballpark last month. “We don’t believe our city should be defined by those issues.”
Silwal said part of improving downtown includes expanding it not just as a place where bankers and tech workers exist. She has a future vision that includes converting 35 million square free of vacated office and storefront space into mixed-use developments, affordable housing, entertainment zones and affordable housing.
It all starts with APEC.
“To the point for the common person to feel like they belong downtown and that’s the remake approach we need to have, to be more welcoming and belonging for all walks of life,” Silwal said. “A successful APEC can help create all these new types of opportunities.”
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San Francisco, CA
San Francisco’s Central Drug Store closes doors after 117 years

SAN FRANCISCO – After more than a century, the Central Drug Store in San Francisco is closing its doors as the owner takes a well-deserved break.
Drug store opened in 1908
The backstory:
The pharmacy has been a part of the community for generations — 117 years. And now that the owner is retiring customers have been coming in for one last visit.
Since 1908, customers have relied on Central Drug Store, located in the city’s Excelsior District.
For Jerry Tonelli, it was a family affair, with his parents working there when they were young.
“My mother and father didn’t know each other, and they met here at the drug store,” Tonelli said. “Eventually met, fell in love, and got married.”
Tonelli’s mom and dad worked side by side for decades, eventually buying the business.
“I started here in ’71 when I was 16,” Tonelli said. “When I was in high school, college, pharmacy school, and graduated from pharmacy school in ’78, and been here ever since.”
Tonelli said the shop has withstood COVID-19, the influx of chain drug stores, and now online pharmacies by relying on the one thing his competitors can’t compete with.
Rooted in community
What they’re saying:
“We know our customers. Even if they go to Walgreens, they come in here, and we remember their name or their medications, what they’re taking other conditions,” he said. “They don’t get that elsewhere.”
Over the decades, customers became friends and, in the case of Toni Ferretti, co-workers.
“It’s like a community,” said Ferretti. “It’s like a family here,” saidSo people come in, and they talk to us, and they have a sense of who, that we care and that we want to help and that’s not going to be here anymore.”
“It’s like a family here,” Ferretti said, adding, “that’s not going to be here anymore.”
Dentist Dr. Peter Karsant works in the neighborhood and is one of the medical professionals who have relied on Central Drug Store as a partner in patient care.
“It’s sort of a team effort, and he will be sorely missed,” said Karsant.
Longtime customers say the personal touch at the drug store did more than treat their illnesses; it helped create a caring community.
“For me, to see them close it’s like part of my life is closing too,” said Evelyn Jones. “But then, life has to go on.”
In the end, Tonelli said that connection is what he will miss the most.
“I’ll miss the people. It’s my social life,” he said. “More than a business.”
Tonelli said he can’t remember the last time he had more than five days off in a row; the business and taking care of patients were so important to him.
He is retiring after all these years to spend more time with his grandchildren.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco DA addresses safety concerns as data shows hate crimes grow in US

Bay Area Jewish organizations are saying people are being attacked simply for being Jewish.
There’s been two high-profile antisemitic incidents in San Francisco recently — one at Manny’s and another in the Marina that left a man unconscious, according to the district attorney’s office.
This prompted DA Brooke Jenkins to address safety at a virtual meeting Monday.
Jenkins promised to prosecute hate crimes as she can under the law.
“A lot of this is about open communication, trusting us that we will do our jobs and to hang in there during what we know is a difficult time,” Jenkins said. “But we will all get through this.”
But the cases and more incidents are sparking continued discussions around safety for the Jewish community.
The Anti-Defamation League said in April that there were more than 9,300 cases in the U.S. last year — a record.
And California was a hotspot with nearly 1,350 incidents.
“These aren’t just isolated events, they’re a part of a wave of intimidation that’s left people scared to walk down the street to wear a star of David or host a public event,” said Julia Mates of the Jewish Community Relations Bay Area.
Full story in video player above.
San Francisco, CA
NFL offseason power rankings: No. 13 San Francisco 49ers try to forget a nightmare season
Other NFL team previews: 32. Titans | 31. Saints | 30. Browns | 29. Panthers | 28. Jets | 27. Giants | 26. Raiders | 25. Patriots | 24. Colts | 23. Dolphins | 22. Jaguars | 21. Falcons | 20. Steelers | 19. Cardinals | 18. Cowboys | 17. Seahawks | 16. Texans | 15. Bears | 14. Bengals
Nobody knew it at the time, but 90 minutes before the San Francisco 49ers’ season began we got our first tip that everything was about to go wrong.
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The 49ers, after a pretty clear manipulation of the injury report, declared Christian McCaffrey inactive for their Week 1 game. That surprised everyone, especially fantasy football managers waiting for their first-round pick to put up some points on Monday night. The 49ers said in the week leading up to the opener that McCaffrey’s Achilles injury wasn’t an issue. The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year didn’t play until Nov. 10 due to that injury.
The 49ers won their first game against the Jets without McCaffrey. But it was the first sign that San Francisco was going to have one of those seasons.
[Get more San Francisco news: 49ers team feed]
The 49ers led in overtime of the Super Bowl months before last season started. They saw the title slip away when Patrick Mahomes led a game-winning drive for the Kansas City Chiefs. That stung, but most of the roster was set to return. The 49ers were in position to get right back to a Super Bowl. They put out the one big fire of the offseason, a Brandon Aiyuk trade tour, when they used the Pittsburgh Steelers to set the market and signed Aiyuk to a huge extension. Everything seemed fine. And McCaffrey’s injury wasn’t a big deal, right?
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Sometimes when things go bad in the NFL, they go really bad. The 49ers had the most games lost due to injuries in the NFL by a mile and nearly every position group was affected. The 49ers had the second-most adjusted games lost to injury on offense and the third-most on defense. McCaffrey played in just four games. Aiyuk tore his ACL. Close losses piled up. In a moment that summed up a spiraling season, linebacker De’Vondre Campbell refused to go back into a game against the Rams and then just left the sideline. When the 49ers lost by 28 points to the Packers and 25 points to the Bills in back-to-back weeks, they were 5-7 and effectively finished. A team everyone ranked among the top few in the NFL going into the season went 6-11.
And if the bad vibes ended when the season did, that would have been fine. They didn’t. Deebo Samuel asked for a trade and was shipped to the Washington Commanders. The 49ers lost eight free agents who got at least $10 million per season elsewhere. Money talks in the NFL, which makes it easy to see San Francisco lost a lot of valuable players. Their three biggest free agent additions were all backups (tight end Luke Farrell, quarterback Mac Jones, receiver Demarcus Robinson) at low-cost contracts. The 49ers couldn’t spend much because they were keeping the decks clear for Brock Purdy’s five-year, $265 million extension, which was signed in May. Aiyuk’s recovery from his knee injury seems to be going a bit slow and he could start the season on the physically unable to perform list. Now Jauan Jennings, who’s grown into a valuable contributor at wide receiver, wants a new contract — or a trade. It was a horrible offseason for San Francisco.
And yet, the 49ers built such a deep, talented roster over the past few years that there’s hope for this season. McCaffrey should be back. Purdy is an efficient master of Kyle Shanahan’s offense. Other players like George Kittle, Trent Williams, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner are among the best in the NFL at their positions. Shanahan is one of the NFL’s best coaches, and he made a good hire to bring Robert Saleh back as defensive coordinator. BetMGM has the 49ers with one of the highest win totals in the NFL, at 10.5, and it’s justifiable. The 49ers had one of the unluckiest seasons possible, and that won’t repeat. There’s tremendous talent on hand.
It’s just a bit tougher now. Those stars are a year older. The roster took some hits. We can’t be sure if McCaffrey, at age 29, is further beyond his prime than we realize. Last year, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that San Francisco would be one of the best teams in the NFL. Going into this season, it’s hard to know what the 49ers will be.
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Offseason grade
The 49ers lost nine players who other NFL teams believed were worth more than $10 million per season: receiver Deebo Samuel, guard Aaron Banks, cornerback Charvarius Ward, offensive tackle Jaylon Moore, safety Talanoa Hufanga, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd and defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins. Samuel was traded to the Washington Commanders and the others were free agents. No matter how you want to explain the defections, that’s a lot to lose in one offseason. And San Francisco didn’t add a single impact free agent. The highest-paid free agent addition was tight end Luke Farrell (three years, $15.75 million) who fills a role as a blocking tight end and insurance in case George Kittle goes down, but it’s hard to get too excited. A low-cost trade for pass rusher Bryce Huff, the Eagles’ most expensive free agent addition last season (yes, he got more money than Saquon Barkley) after Huff didn’t fit in Philadelphia could pay off. The draft didn’t get good grades, but pass rusher Mykel Williams was a good value at No. 13 and defensive tackle Alfred Collins (second round) and linebacker Nick Martin (third round) should also help the front seven. When I graded each team’s moves, I ranked the 49ers’ offseason as the worst in the NFL.
Grade: D-
Quarterback report
Brock Purdy is now one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in NFL history. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
(Michael Owens via Getty Images)
The debate about whether the 49ers should pay Brock Purdy is over. Not that the team seemed to ever entertain the idea of not paying him. Purdy signed a five-year, $265 million contract with $182.55 million guaranteed. It’s one of the great stories in sports, a former Mr. Irrelevant who now has the fifth-largest contract, in terms of total value, in NFL history.
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The next question will be if the 49ers can build a roster around Purdy that can compete for championships. It’s understandable why San Francisco wasn’t going to let Purdy walk. He has been highly efficient running Kyle Shanahan’s scheme. Last season Purdy did post career lows in passer rating, completion percentage, adjusted yards per attempt, touchdown rate and sack rate while delivering a career-high interception rate, but that can be attributed to the attrition around him. However, with Purdy taking up a lot of the salary cap going forward, he’ll have to get used to not being surrounded by a stellar supporting cast.
BetMGM odds breakdown
From Yahoo’s Ben Fawkes: “The era of Brock Purdy being the best QB contract value in the league is over, as Purdy signed his long-awaited extension this offseason. Is the Super Bowl window closing for the 49ers? Deebo Samuel, Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga are gone, but San Francisco has easiest schedule of any team by opposing win total — which helps explain a seemingly high win total of 10.5 at BetMGM. The 49ers are favored in a staggering 15 games this season and in the two games they’re underdogs, it’s only by 1.5 points each. The 49ers are +160 favorites in the NFC West (ahead of the Rams at +185) and -180 favorites to make the postseason. But can they get back to the Super Bowl? They’re 20-to-1 to win it all, tied for the seventh shortest odds.”
Yahoo’s fantasy take
From Yahoo’s Scott Pianowski: “The market doesn’t know what to do with Christian McCaffrey this year, and I understand. He’s currently the RB6 in Yahoo ADP, typically going in that 10-13 range overall. McCaffrey has missed more than half the season in three of his past five years, but in his last four healthy seasons, he’s been the RB3, RB1, RB2 and RB1 in basic fantasy scoring. It’s ironic that McCaffrey played just four games last year while most of the other signature backs in the league were shockingly healthy. Bottom line, McCaffrey is the biggest boom-or-bust pick in the league. Do you feel lucky?”
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Stat to remember
In the 49ers’ final two games last season, Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings were laying the groundwork for the 2025 season. They combined for 28 catches, 329 yards and two touchdowns in those final two games. Each of them caught at least six balls in each game. That could be a preview of what’s to come.
Brandon Aiyuk is coming off a major knee injury. When he’ll return and how good he’ll be when he does get back is a mystery. Deebo Samuel is gone. George Kittle is one of the NFL’s best tight ends and if Christian McCaffrey is healthy he’ll get plenty of touches, but the 49ers offense also has to feature Pearsall and Jennings more, especially early in the season. Pearsall was a 2024 first-round pick whose rookie season got off to a slow start after he was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery. He looked good late. Jennings has generally played well when given the opportunity, and last season he had 975 yards and six touchdowns despite starting just 10 games. He complicated matters some this month by asking for a new contract or trade, so the 49ers have to sort that out. Because together, Pearsall and Jennings should be able to produce early in the season, and if Aiyuk rebounds to his pre-2024 form the 49ers might have one of the best receiver groups in the NFL.
Burning question
Can Robert Saleh boost the 49ers defense?
When Robert Saleh got the New York Jets head coaching job, it was mostly because his defenses in San Francisco were outstanding. The 49ers had a top seven defense in DVOA in Saleh’s final two seasons in San Francisco, and while he didn’t succeed running the Jets, his defenses were among the NFL’s best after a tough first year. Saleh might do well in his second head coaching job — he’s far from the first coach to not overcome a ridiculously bad Jets situation — but he didn’t land a top job this past offseason. It made sense for Saleh and the 49ers, who fired defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen after one season in that role, to reunite for his second stint running the team’s defense.
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The 49ers are undergoing a makeover on that side of the ball. They are projected to have four new starters on defense, and it could be five if rookie Nick Martin beats out Dee Winters at inside linebacker. Saleh is one of the best defensive coaches in the NFL and he’s a great fit to guide San Francisco through its transition, even if it’s just for the short term before he gets another shot to be a head coach.
Best case scenario
A Kyle Shanahan offense with Brock Purdy distributing the ball to Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Jauan Jennings (if his contract situation is resolved), Ricky Pearsall and (eventually) Brandon Aiyuk should be very good. The defense will look different but has All-Pro talent with Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, and Robert Saleh is a proven defensive coach. Seeing the betting market have the 49ers among the top win totals and best Super Bowl odds might be startling after they went 6-11 and had a rough offseason. But bad luck factors like injuries and a 2-6 record in one-score games that sank the 49ers last season won’t repeat and the top-end talent on the roster is undeniable. Also, the 49ers go from the second-toughest schedule in the NFL last season (via DVOA) to one that is projected to be by far the easiest (via Sharp Football Analysis, which uses betting win totals to determine strength of schedule). If everything that went wrong last season does a 180 and goes right this season, the 49ers could win the Super Bowl. That remains their upside.
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Nightmare scenario
The 49ers’ roster is more top-heavy after many solid players left this offseason. Trent Williams will be 37 this season, George Kittle will turn 32 in October and Christian McCaffrey is 29, which isn’t young for a running back. If those three Hall of Fame talents slip at once, the offense will suffer, especially if Brandon Aiyuk doesn’t bounce back strong from a torn ACL or the 49ers don’t sort out the Jauan Jennings contract. Some projections believe the 49ers could have a bottom-10 defense, after it struggled badly down the stretch and lost talent in the offseason. Great NFL teams have an expiration date. Championship windows don’t stay open forever. The 49ers can blame injuries for last season’s collapse, but it’s also possible we saw the first signs of a very strong roster falling to the middle of the pack. If the 49ers miss the playoffs again, the next step will be figuring out whether their core is capable of a rebound or if it’s time to blow it up. It would really hurt to say goodbye to this group without it ever winning a Super Bowl.
The crystal ball says
The 49ers were one of the toughest teams in this countdown to figure out. A Super Bowl championship is in their range of outcomes. We also saw a significant downturn last season, and they had the worst offseason of any NFL team. Star players like Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, Trent Williams and others become harder to project due to injuries or age. The 49ers will rebound from last season’s nightmare, but not all the way to being one of the NFL’s elite teams. There are too many variables to predict that to happen. They will be an NFC West contender, and that race against the Rams could come down to the final week of the season. Which side of the division race the 49ers fall on could go a long way in determining their future course.
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