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San Francisco maker nonprofit Humanmade working to bounce back from fire to continue serving innovators

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San Francisco maker nonprofit Humanmade working to bounce back from fire to continue serving innovators


A first-of-its-kind San Francisco program that trains the next generation of makers is closed temporarily because of a fire, but Its founder is working to safely reopen as soon as possible.

Ryan Spurlock’s nonprofit, Humanmade, empowers hundreds of people with skills and tools they need to launch or get a job in design and maker businesses.

But a recent fire casts a shadow over the program he founded.

“It’s pretty tough. It’s hard enough given the cost of launching a business here and tooling a shop,” said Spurlock.

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The fire apparently started in a surge protector under the table and the sprinkler system couldn’t put out the flames before fire crews arrived so there’s considerable smoke and water damage.

That includes about $50,000 in losses to equipment like 3D printers and computers.

“About 80% of computers are lost because they were on the floor,” Spurlock said.

His goal is to restore the 15,000-square-foot maker space we first visited two years ago. A lot of people are counting on it. Humanmade is home to San Francisco’s first community-based training center for advanced manufacturing. At any given time, dozens of underserved adults take a free 12-week training course to gain skills for jobs of the future.

But because of the fire, that valuable hands-on learning had to go virtual. Program graduate Jody Roane teaches students online while he sharpens his own skills, but he admits that he gets discouraged..

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“It’s given me a sense of trepidation,” Roane said. “I finally figured out what I want to be in life and what I want to do, and then I reach another roadblock.”

The fire is also a setback for entrepreneurs from diverse communities who rely on Humanmade’s discounted access to equipment and mentoring to build their first tangible prototypes in sectors like robotics.

Those startups are scrambling for space.

“We’ve had some folks resort to using their home or garage,” explained Spurlock. “We’re doing our best to get things back up and running.”

And in the process, he’s taken a second look at his commitment to the maker community.

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It helped to solidify why we do this – how important the work we do is, that there are very few of these spaces left in San Francisco,” Spurlock said.

The space is covered by fire insurance, but that takes time, so he has started a GoFundMe account for $50,000 with hopes of reopening in a few weeks after the fire investigation is done and the space is professionally cleaned.

As he crafts a comeback for his six-year-old nonprofit, some days are tougher than others, but the founder and executive director says he draws light and strength from his wife and family  – though not all of them are “human made.”

“The dog has been my saving grace in the last two weeks,” he laughed.

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Video: Mountain Lion Spotted in San Francisco

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Video: Mountain Lion Spotted in San Francisco


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Mountain Lion Spotted in San Francisco

Residents were shocked to see a young mountain lion roaming the streets of San Francisco this week. Local animal control agencies were able to capture and tranquilize it on Tuesday.

Swear to God, am I tripping? There’s a mountain lion. What is that? I can see it. Oh my God. What the. Dude!

Residents were shocked to see a young mountain lion roaming the streets of San Francisco this week. Local animal control agencies were able to capture and tranquilize it on Tuesday.

By Cynthia Silva

January 27, 2026



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Animal control locates mountain lion in San Francisco

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Animal control locates mountain lion in San Francisco


A young mountain lion that was spotted Monday night in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood has been located, city officials said.

Around 6:20 a.m. Tuesday, city officials said San Francisco Animal Care and Control found the mountain lion and that they are working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage the situation. No injuries were reported.

A biologist is on their way to the scene, with the plan to tranquilize the animal and move it to a suitable location, officials said.

The mountain lion was first reported Monday night after being seen near Octavia Street and Pacific Avenue, according to an alert from the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.

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Animal Care and Control officials said experts believe the animal is about a year old. It had also been seen earlier Monday morning near Lafayette Park, just a few blocks from the later sighting.

City officials said the mountain lion was likely lost and may have been trying to move south out of the city.



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San Francisco Unified educators nearing final days for vote on whether to strike

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San Francisco Unified educators nearing final days for vote on whether to strike


After months of back and forth between educators and the San Francisco school district, Georgie Gibbs is ready to strike. 

“But every year we have to figure out what staffing we’re going to have at our school, and every year there’s less money to staff our site, and that’s hard,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs is an elementary school teacher and a member of the United Educators of San Francisco, a union for school staff. Since March, they’ve requested higher wages, stable health insurance, and more support for special education teachers.

“At our site, we have special day classes which are self-contained, special education classrooms, and those, one of our classrooms has not had a full-time teacher for a whole entire year in three years,” Gibbs said.  

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In their latest offer in January, the district proposed the following three-year stabilization plan.

The district proposed a path to fully funded family health benefits, a 6 percent raise over three years, along with addressing staffing shortages for special education. The union rejected it.

  • Identifying a fiscal pathway for the District to fully fund family health benefits
  • 6% raise over three years (2% each year for next three years)
  • Salary rate augmentations for hard-to-staff special education paraeducators
  • Solutions to address special education workload with a focused pilot program

Union president Cassandra Curiel says members are casting their final round of votes for a strike. 

“The district hasn’t changed their position since May of 2025. That is an untenable condition for us to be in,” Curiel said. 
If both groups don’t come to an agreement, the union’s more than 6,000 members will strike for the first time in nearly 50 years. 

“Being in our schools is the place we want to be, but working for San Francisco Unified can be complicated at best,” Curiel said. 

Officials say the district is planning for more budget cuts in the next school year, which plays a role in negotiations.

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A spokesperson for the district wrote:

“We know many of you are closely following the ongoing negotiations between our district and United Educators of San Francisco (UESF). 

We are disappointed to share that we did not reach an agreement with UESF after today’s fact-finding session (part of the formal bargaining process). SFUSD remains committed to negotiating in good faith with our labor partners and to reaching an agreement that honors our educators while also balancing the need to be fiscally responsible.

Our goal is to have a stable district. We want to reach an agreement that supports our valued educators. However, we must also be able to afford the agreement long-term so that we can continue serving students now and in the future.”

Havah Kelley told CBS News Bay Area that her son, who has a learning disability, was transferred outside of the district because there aren’t enough special needs teachers. 

“Especially since COVID, the high teacher turnover, the shortages, and just a myriad of other reasons, he was not getting the services that he needed,” Kelley said. 

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That experience makes her feel a strike is necessary, but she knows there would be real-life consequences.

“It would be ideal if we could avoid a strike. That’s a definite, and I’m not going to say otherwise,” Kelly said. “Any type of disruption, for our kids, we have almost immediate regression.” 

Union members are holding their final vote to authorize a strike. If the majority votes yes, it is likely SFUSD educators will strike for the first time since 1979. The last day to vote is Jan. 28.



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