The GrowSF Report: Lowell Returns to Merit Admissions Under New School Board
Plus: Dean Preston’s fake news and Muni killer apprehended
What You Need To Know
Here’s what happened around the city for the week of June 20, 2022:
- New School Board members restore Lowell High School to merit-based admissions
- Dean Preston & SF Socialists caught creating fake news
- Alleged Muni killer apprehended
- Mayor Breed caught covid, will miss the Pride parade
- El Farolito finally opens in North Beach
- Subsidized Affordable housing in California now routinely tops $1 million per home to build
New School Board members restore Lowell High School to merit-based admissions
One driving force behind the successful recall of the Board of Education members last February was anger around the removal of merit admissions at Lowell High School. A long-time goal for academically striving students across San Francisco, Lowell High School looms large in the minds of SF parents.
Thanks to the three new Board of Education members, all newly appointed by Mayor Breed and seeking re-election this November, Lowell has been returned to a merit-based admissions system that ensures gifted students have access to the best and most challenging education San Francisco has to offer.
Big thanks to Friends of Lowell Foundation, Christine Linnenbach, SF Guardians (especially Siva Raj and Autumn Looijen), Joel Engardio, Laurence Lee, Kit Lam, Selena Chu, Josephine Zhao, and Leanna Louie for their hard work, not to mention the legions of parents and students that showed up to advocate for merit.
Dean Preston & SF Socialists caught creating fake news
Josh Koehn of the SF Standard uncovered a fake news operation (really!) run by the SF Democratic Socialists of America (SF DSA) that promoted their favorite Socialist Supervisor, Dean Preston. The fake news website was run by known DSA operatives but did not disclose its connections to the party, and claimed to publish “unbiased local news coverage.”
We know the phrase "fake news" is politically charged, but we're at a loss for words to describe a "news" website that listed fake authors, was associated with Supervisor Preston's former chief of staff, and published breathless fact-free coverage of a politician in their political party.
I guess there's no getting away from political hackery, even (especially?) in San Francisco!
Alleged Muni killer apprehended
On Wednesday morning a man armed with a gun allegedly killed a fellow San Franciscan on Muni. At first it seemed this may have been a random, unprovoked attack but just-released information from SFPD indicate it may have been in self-defense. The alleged killer may have been defending himself from a knife attack.
As of Friday morning, the gunman was taken into custody by SFPD. We thank our police force for their fast investigation and action bringing in the suspect.
We are all shocked, sad, and angry at this senseless violence. It should go without saying that this is an unacceptable incident and San Franciscans deserve streets and a transportation system that is free of knives, guns, and violence.
As the investigation and ultimate trial unfold we are sure to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the attack. We’ll keep you informed, as always.
Mayor Breed caught covid, will miss the Pride parade
Mayor London Breed’s office announced Wednesday that she tested positive for COVID-19 and would be shifting her schedule to work remotely for the near-term future. Unfortunately, this also means that Mayor Breed won't be marching in Pride on Sunday.
We obviously wish the Mayor a full and speedy recovery, and this is as good a time as ever to remind everyone that vaccines are now approved for everyone 6 months and older, and if you haven’t already, go get your booster!
Subsidized Affordable housing in California now routinely tops $1 million per home to build
You’ve heard over and over how California has a serious shortage of housing. Amongst the many problems are the excessive costs for building a new condo, which recently were estimated to be an average of over $1 million per home. There are many reasons for these ballooning costs (inflation, supply chain problems, rapidly rising wages and materials costs), and just as many potential solutions (remove regulatory barriers, train more construction workers, legalize modular housing, etc).
What we need is for our leadership to act, and implement solutions to bring these costs down! One part of the solution is GrowSF’s Affordable Homes Now ballot measure that you will get to vote on this November!
Celebrate San Francisco
There’s a lot to love about our city. Here’s what makes it great:
SF Pride is back!
SF Pride returns from a two-year COVID hiatus this weekend! Festivities will take place on both Saturday and Sunday, with the march running from Market Street from Embarcadero to the Celebration at Civic Center on Sunday. Visit SFPride.org to see the full itinerary and get the details you need.
El Farolito finally opens in North Beach
A huge GrowSF thank you to Danny Sauter and his supporters for sending in over 2,000 signatures to help El Farolito open their new taqueria in North Beach!
Stop by for the Burrito Bash event on Saturday at noon to celebrate.
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Topical Tweets
Yes, there is good stuff on Twitter. Here’s some of it:
Georgia Gubernatorial hopeful Stacy Abrams pushed back on “defund the police”, and called for police officers to get a raise for the vital work they do.
