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San Francisco Mayor Breed’s drug crisis meeting interrupted by boos, shouting, brick thrown in crowd

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San Francisco Mayor Breed’s drug crisis meeting interrupted by boos, shouting, brick thrown in crowd


SAN FRANCISCO —  A long-planned and unprecedented Board of Supervisors meeting was held at UN Plaza, the epicenter of San Francisco’s open-air drug market crisis. 

It was meant to draw urgency to the deteriorating street conditions and worsening drug problem, but it was cut short soon after it began.  

“I run into people day in and day out in the Tenderloin and they say ‘London, we would have never been able to get away with this stuff back in the day,’ and the fact is it’s time for a change,” said Mayor London Breed. “We want to get people help, but we will not continue to allow things to just occur as they have been.”

Breed spoke forcefully as she called for a tougher approach to dealing with brazen drug usage and dealing during the special off-site session.

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It wasn’t hard for KPIX 5 cameras to find people opening using drugs nearby, in the shadow of City Hall.

“I think they should just give us housing. There’s 276,000 millionaires in San Francisco,” said one woman as she openly used drugs. 

The outdoor meeting was called by Supervisor Aaron Peskin who said while the problem isn’t new, it’s become so visible that many San Franciscans don’t feel safe. 

Within minutes, the meeting turned chaotic. Members of the public shouted down Peskin and the mayor. 

Peskin had just begun to ask the mayor to set up an emergency operations center that would coordinate city agencies around shutting down open-air drug markets within 90 days. He said that the city does not a resources problem, it has a coordination problem. 

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“We have tried over and over again and what we are doing is not working, and in fact our local resources have increased,” said Breed. “But it has not dealt with the problem based on the magnitude of what we are experiencing.”

“I am putting everything on the line. I am doing this job without fear of losing it because at the end of the day when you know what it feels like to grow up in chaos you want nothing more than change,” she said. 

The mayor also spoke passionately about the next generation growing up in the city.

“Why should someone else’s rights be put before their needs and their safety and what they deserve, too, in a place like San Francisco that claims to be so compassionate and liberal. What about them?” she said. 

After it became clear to the mayor that she would not be able to answer questions thoroughly and completely, someone threw a brick in the crowd, injuring a teen, before being detained by police.  

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The meeting continued at City Hall.

“We must and we will hold people accountable when their behavior on the street is disruptive to residents, families and small businesses, enough is enough,” she said. “We are proposing changes to our state law and we will be enacting local programs to try and end this disruptive behavior.”

The mayor also noted that many people who need services are refusing them, which complicates the problem. There’s also a severe SFPD staffing shortage.

She urged the board to work together and approve her public safety budget and support programs and legislation to change our laws. She also asked supervisors to support arrests for those who are struggling with addiction, especially when they break the law, so that they can receive mandated treatment. 

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco mother convicted of mayhem after 2-year-old suffers burns over 50% of body

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San Francisco mother convicted of mayhem after 2-year-old suffers burns over 50% of body


FILE IMAGE – Cells inside the Suffolk County Correctional Jail Facility in Riverhead, New York on Jan. 16, 2019. (Photo by J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images)

A San Francisco mother was convicted of mayhem and child endangerment for failing to get medical treatment for her daughter, who suffered third-degree burns over half of her body.

A jury found 29-year-old Reneisha Devore guilty of the charges, along with the girl’s babysitter, 42-year-old Diana Washington, convicted of child endangerment, the only charge she faced.

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“My office will always do everything we can to protect children and hold those who harm them accountable. This case was horrific, and we pray for the victim’s continued healing and progress,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said.

On July 25, 2023, the 2-year-old victim was brought to UCSF Children’s Hospital Mission Bay with second and third-degree burns over 50% of her body.

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Doctors determined the girl’s wounds were not acute but days old. Due to the severity of the girl’s injuries, she was transferred to Saint Francis Memorial Hospital Bothin Burn Center for specialized treatment, where she remained for two months as she underwent multiple surgeries, debridement, and skin grafts that were necessary, in large part, because of the delay in care, prosecutors said.

While at the burn center, doctors determined the victim’s injuries were older than originally believed. The girl’s burn wounds were seven to 10 days old, and others were more than two weeks old.

The delay in care resulted in the wounds converting from second to third-degree burns. The wounds resulted in the girl’s permanent disfigurement, prosecutors said.

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SEE ALSO: San Francisco police link 1992 killing to suspect awaiting murder trial in Denver

Authorities said the victim’s mother was aware of her daughter’s injuries and did nothing to help her. They also said the girl’s babysitter knew and did nothing to help.

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“The conduct in this case was particularly deplorable and heinous, not just because of the injuries, but because it was an act committed by a mother against her child,” Assistant District Attorney Melissa Demetral said.

Devore and Washington are both in custody.

Their sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2025.

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The Source: Information for this story comes from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

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Saison’s $78 bar menu is the best fine-dining deal in San Francisco

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Saison’s  bar menu is the best fine-dining deal in San Francisco


The bread service was a definite highlight, featuring a laminated brioche with miso butter. It took pastry chef Armar Nasir weeks to perfect the techniques that resulted in a coil of distinct, shatteringly flaky layers of bread, all dusted with salt crystals. 

Dessert came in the form of buckwheat tea and an array of delicate little mignardises.

Consider yourself warned: If you’re truly hungry, don’t count on this petite menu to fill you up. However, you always have the option to add courses, including uni toast ($48), the restaurant’s most Instagram-famous dish, and an entree of wagyu beef ($78). 

Lee says the idea stemmed in part from wanting to make sure the restaurant’s dining room felt full and energetic, even on weeknights. “We love fine dining, but we don’t love quiet dining rooms,” he says. So they came up with a way to bring in new diners and give regulars (and yes, Saison does have regulars) a less time-consuming option. It has clearly been popular. Reservations for the six-seat bar are available on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, and they tend to go fast. 

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“If you would have asked me a year ago if you could sit at the bar and have bites, I would have politely said no,” Greene says. 



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San Francisco restaurants, bars step up to support LA fire victims

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San Francisco restaurants, bars step up to support LA fire victims


Several San Francisco restaurants are stepping up to support people affected by the devastating wildfires in Southern California.

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What we know:

Octavia, located at Octavia and Bush streets, quickly recognized the urgent need for action as the fires raged in Southern California.

“Personally, I’m from Southern California, and I have a lot of friends and family there,” said Jack Irving, Chef de Cuisine at Octavia. “As the fires started unfolding, it became clear we needed to do something.”

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Octavia, which had paused its monthly Saturday bake sales, is bringing it back this weekend. The event, called Saturbake, will feature pastries, breads, pasta, and sandwiches, and run from 10 am to 1 p.m. All proceeds will go to World Central Kitchen’s relief efforts, which are feeding thousands of evacuees and first responders on the ground.

“It feels so good to see the community of San Francisco come together, not just here, but everywhere,” Irving said. “In restaurants, we’re all about hospitality, and I believe that goes beyond just serving dinner. Taking care of people is what we do.”

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The Flour + Water Hospitality Group, which includes Flour + Water in the Mission District, is also donating a portion of sales from every tasting menu, house wine, and Margherita pizza to World Central Kitchen.

Modern Indian restaurant Besharam, located in the Dogpatch neighborhood, is also donating a percentage of proceeds from every tasting menu ordered to World Central Kitchen. 

In downtown San Francisco, Holbrook House is donating $3 from every Los Angeles Gin Martini sold through January 31st to the American Red Cross.

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Erin Rickenbaker, co-owner of El Chato wine bar, is also fundraising to support relief efforts. She once lived in Los Angeles, and shared that this cause is especially personal for her.

“It’s nice to be able to provide people with warm meals and offer what we can. We may be far away, but this is something we can do, and it feels good,” she said. 

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A portion of sales from El Chato on Tuesday night, which saw a busier than usual crowd, will go directly to restaurants feeding fire victims in Los Angeles. 

Hadley Kemp, a San Francisco resident, came out to support the cause. 

“I can’t stop reading the news, looking at photos, and hearing from friends who live down there,” Kemp said. “So, anything we can do to give back.”

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