Freekbass & The Bump Assembly have announced the 2022 Funk The World Tour featuring Sammi Garett (formerly of Turkuaz). Freekbass & The Bump Assembly is a high-energy live show like no other.

Part musical journey, part Ohio-Funk experience, everyone from bass guitar enthusiasts, to Funk and Live music fans will want to plan a party around this show when it comes to their town.

The tour will take the band to HVAC Pub on August 11th. Tickets for Freekbass’ Funk The World tour are available at https://cloud.broadwayworld.com/rec/ticketclick.cfm?fromlink=2190430®id=23&articlelink=https%3A%2F%2Ffreekbass.com%2F?utm_source=BWW2022&utm_medium =referral&utm_campaign=article&utm_content=bottombuybutton1.

Freekbass has cemented himself as a groundbreaking bass player and funk guru. His innovative styling including his signature double thumb strumming technique has garnered critical acclaim and a cult fan following. Hailed by the legendary Bootsy Collins as “the new spiritual warrior for the funk,” Freekbass has graced stages across the country and has been a staple in the festival and touring circuit. His notable performances have taken place alongside Bernie Worrell, Umphrey’s McGee, Turkuaz, Dumpstaphunk, George Porter Jr., Buckethead, DJ Logic and Mike Gordon.

Amidst the disruption of live music over the last couple of years, Freekbass kept the music moving forward by releasing a single & video a month throughout the shutdown from 2020-2021. During this time he collaborated and released music with musicians such as Stefan Lessard (DMB), Billy Sheehan, Doug Wimbish (Living Colour), Eric Nally (Foxy Shazam), Gary Mudbone Cooper (P-Funk / Bootsy’s Rubberband), and Karina Rykman . Many of these songs, and others from that period will be making their debut live.

The Bump Assembly is comprised of Sammi Garett on vocals (Formerly with Turkuaz), Dione Howard on drums, Reilly Comisar on vocals, and for select dates: Nate Lewis on guitar (Ernie Johnson from Detroit), and Craig Brodhead on guitars & keys ( formerly of Turkuaz). In addition to Freekbass songs, The Bump Assembly set will include some of Sammi’s new material, so. Sammi Garett is currently releasing her solo singles which are produced and mixed by Freekbass.

When Freekbass is not on the road, you can always find him live streaming on his new Twitch channel, http://twitch.tv/freekbass. On “Live Grooves with Freekbass,” Freekbass creates new bass guitar-centric grooves and songs on each stream, along with the participation of the chat/audience.

You won’t want to miss the infectious energy that is showcased in a Freekbass & The Bump Assembly live show. Freekbass states, “Recordings are the blueprint/ template for the live show. With Funk & Dance music, the Live Medium always takes these songs created in a studio to a higher level.”

Catch the Funk The World Tour

Thu, Aug 11
HVAC Pub
3530 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60657
$15
tickets

The post Freekbass & The Bump Meeting to Carry out Stay At HVAC Pub On August 11 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO — Two Democrats appear headed to a June runoff election in the race to represent part of San Francisco in the state Assembly.

Matt Haney, who sits on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and former Supervisor David Campos both garnered the most votes in Tuesday’s contest but neither collected more than 50%, the threshold to win outright.

Whoever wins will replace Democrat David Chiu, who left the legislature to become San Francisco’s city attorney last year.

Illicit drug abuse, homelessness and a lack of affordable housing dog Assembly District 17, which covers the eastern part of the city and includes the Mission, Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods.

Campos, 51, and Haney, 39, agree on many issues but are on opposing sides of a proposed 495-unit high-rise apartment complex in Haney’s South of Market neighborhood that supervisors rejected last year.

Haney voted for it, saying it would bring desperately needed housing and help alleviate the city’s deep shortage of affordable units, while Campos, who left the Board of Supervisors in 2016, said he would have rejected it because of fears that gentrification would displace low- income residents.

In Los Angeles County, voters were also picking a replacement for Ed Chau, a Democrat who resigned from Assembly District 49 in December to become an LA County Superior Court judge.

Democrat Mike Fong is the likely winner in that contest, picking up about two-thirds of the vote over his Republican rival, Burton Brink, in election returns as of Wednesday.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Excess light cast into the sky is now seen as a form of pollution with real impacts on the environment. The State of California is now considering a bill that would be a first step in bringing darkness back to the night.

When the sun goes down, the lights of San Francisco come on and the city is at its most beautiful. But from the East Bay hills you can see the huge dome of light enveloping the entire area. That’s not a thing of beauty to Ruskin Hartley, Executive Director of the International Dark Sky Association.

READ MORE: San Jose Police Search for Man Who Kidnapped 3-Month-Old Baby from Home

“We have flooded the night with light and it’s accelerated,” he said. “In the last 25 years, we estimate the light pollution has grown globally, probably around 100 percent.”

All that light, much of it aiming up into the sky, is taking its toll on nature – especially the birds.

“Birds are adapted for flying at night in darkness, not in light,” said Glenn Phillips, Executive Director of the Golden Gate Audubon Society. “And their vision at night actually depends on darkness in order to actually sense the magnetic fields of the earth. And when it’s too light, they can’t sense them and they get disoriented.”

So, many end up in places where they face the dangers of an urban environment. The Bay Area is right in the middle of the Pacific Flyway, the main migratory route for millions of birds moving south in the fall and north in the spring. But a satellite map displaying luminance shows the entire Bay is ringed with a solid glow of artificial light.

“And so, all those birds are coming through our area and they can’t avoid the light. They can’t go around it. They have to go through it,” said Phillips.

READ MORE: COVID: Study Finds Vaccine Prevented Tens Of Thousands Of Deaths, Hospitalizations

It’s a problem scientists have only recognized in the last few years, prompting South Bay Assemblyman Alex Lee (D-Milpitas) to introduce AB 2382.

“The bill, simply put, requires that all State buildings have a light shield, so basically, a physical shield, or are motion activated so they’re not constantly on,” said Lee. “And that will reduce our energy consumption and reduce light pollution.

“It’s a small change,” said Lee. “Kind of perceived as a small change, but it actually has immense impact on the natural and built environment, too.”

The bill doesn’t require retrofitting, just a change in future construction or when fixtures are replaced. The bill has already passed one committee and Lee says, so far, he knows of no organized opposition to it.

Hartley said the best thing about the fix – unlike other kinds of pollution – as soon as the light is eliminated, so is the problem.

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“We can solve this one,” said Hartley. “We can solve it tomorrow. It saves money, it makes sense, and it’s great to see California’s taking these first steps.”

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The race to fill David Chiu’s open seat in California Assembly District 17 didn’t receive much attention in the Feb. 15 primary. Only 36% of registered voters participated. And the results were close, with San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney earning a less than 1,000-vote over former Supervisor David Campos.

And yet events since the primary have demonstrated how San Franciscans can ill afford to be so apathetic about this seat.

Consider the recent ruling that would have frozen an enrollment increase at UC Berkeley under the guise of a dubious California Environmental Quality Act (known as CEQA) challenge. Only last-minute action from the state Legislature saved thousands of kids from being unfairly rejected. Then, there was Supervisor Gordon Mar’s stunning admission this month that he views four-plex legislation in San Francisco “as a way to circumvent” state housing law.

Clearly, we need an aggressive legislator in District 17 willing to close loopholes that allow the status quo to fester.

Thankfully, there remains a candidate in the race who we believe can rise to that challenge: Haney.

A politically savvy progressive with nuanced views on mental health, criminal justice and transportation, Haney has been a leading voice for compassion on addiction issues in San Francisco and for more public toilets for homeless residents. He entered office years ago with a recalcitrant approach to building housing, but has since become a reliable supporter of pragmatic solutions to the regional housing crisis. We commended him for this evolution.

Though we have criticized Haney in the past for authoring headline-seeking legislation, we believe that his changing views on housing are emblematic of his maturation as a politician. His campaign has offered a detailed list of policy prescriptions that reflect this growth, many bold and innovative. He is an enthusiastic supporter of California entering the real estate business to build “social housing” — mainly mixed-income developments that would allow residents across the class spectrum the opportunity to rent and own beside one another.

In his endorsement interview with The Chronicle, Haney did not shy away from sharing his views on politically fraught issues such as amending CEQA to better bring it into compliance with a 21st century understanding of environmental harm. He was clear that he viewed reform as essential, while still expressing a desire to preserve the most meaningful aspects of the law that protect vulnerable communities. Among the ideas he proposed was a legislative fix to expedite the approvals process when municipal abuse CEQA to stymie development — such as what San Francisco supervisors did with the infamous 469 Stevenson development.

Haney’s opponent, Campos, meanwhile, was vague on CEQA, saying in an interview that he was “open to reform” while failing to offer specific fixes. Campos has been a fierce advocate for social, racial and economic justice throughout his career in politics, but his vagueness on CEQA was largely characteristic of his current campaign, which has been short on ideas. Campos’ past work in pushing for homeless navigation centers throughout San Francisco was laudable, as was his effort to secure free Muni for the city’s youths. And yet, months into the campaign, he largely failed to outline a substantive new vision beyond a state housing bond to provide a dedicated stream of funding for affordable housing. To be clear, this is a fine idea. But, as illustrated by the recent “no slums in the sunset” debacle — where neighborhood residents opposed the construction of a 100% affordable development on ostensibly aesthetic grounds — California’s housing fight is often less about funding than obstinance.

Campos described himself in an interview as an “only Nixon can go to China” progressive — with the cachet to talk reluctant communities into accepting bold plans for new housing, because of his own track record on the issue; he was an architect of the Mission Moratorium, which would have halted, possibly for years, any housing development in that neighborhood that wasn’t 100% affordable. Overcoming anti-housing intransigence at the state level, however, will demand more than one politician’s personal touch. It will require ideas and vigilance.

Haney offers such ideas. Campos offers assurances. We’ll take ideas every time.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: sfchronicle.com/letters.

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With more than 63% of votes in San Francisco, Supervisor Matt Haney went from leading the city’s most challenged neighborhood to now representing the city on a bigger platform.

“I’m going to bring a message to Sacramento that we need statewide plans. We need every city and county to build housing to provide for people who are experiencing homelessness,” said assemblyman-elect, Haney.

First results are out: We’re up by over 27 points. we won

Thank you so much to San Francisco voters, & to all of our staff, volunteers, donors, endorsers, & everyone who worked so hard over the last 6 months. pic.twitter.com/jypH670iCw

— Matt Haney (@MattHaneySF) April 20, 2022

Haney has been representing San Francisco’s District 6 since 2019. Within Haney’s district is the Tenderloin neighborhood.

Four months ago, Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency in that neighborhood; citing chaos with open drug use, overdoses and homelessness.

VIDEO: SF Mayor London Breed declares State of Emergency in Tenderloin due to drug crisis

According to city data, in the last two years the majority of drug overdose deaths have been in District 6. During our 3 pm show, “Getting Answers,” Matt Haney said he will continue to advocate for the Tenderloin.

“I’m also going to focus on drug addiction and the fentanyl epidemic. We are still seeing people in our city die from drug overdoses. We need more leadership from the state,” said Haney.

Mayor Breed said the Tenderloin continues to be her focus, even though the state of emergency expired and now supervisor Haney is moving on.

“The priority is not only to keep it clean but keep it safe. The biggest issue I’ve heard from a lot of the residents has everything to do with safety. The random attacks of violence, the stabbings, the shootings,” said Mayor breed

VIDEO: 85% of SF’s drug arrests happen in the Tenderloin. Police explain why

Randy Shaw, Director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic said Supervisor Haney did what he could.

“They act like it’s about the homeless people or mentally troubled people. No, it’s about drug dealing. That’s the problem in the Tenderloin, 95% of it.”

Shaw said Mayor Breed has the power for real change in that neighborhood, “The mayor needs to order the police to continue. To not only keep the 20 officers they added 3 weeks ago but to expand it.”

Mayor Breed will now get to appoint the next supervisor for District 6.

Luz Pena: “What’s your strategy when it comes to the tenderloin? Who are you thinking to appoint and what are you looking for?”

Mayor Breed: “What I’m looking for is a real partner. As you know, I’ve been focused on turning the tenderloin around.”

The city is remapping and there’s a chance the new supervisor Mayor Breed appoints might not be in charge of the Tenderloin. The Tenderloin could end up as part of Supervisor’s Dean Preston’s District 5.

Luz Pena: “Any idea of ​​who that person might be?”

Mayor Breed: “Not at this time. I have to start meeting with folks and having those conversations. I’ve talked to some people who have expressed interest. I spoke to some people who are part of the community.”

Matt Haney said his pick would be his chief of staff, Honey Mahogany, who if appointed by Mayor Breed would become San Francisco’s first transgender supervisor.

Copyright © 2022 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.

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AP

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney declared victory Tuesday in a special election for the state Assembly but he will have to run again in June and November to keep the seat.

Haney received nearly 64% of the vote and former Supervisor David Campos had about 36%, according to mail-in ballot returns for the 17th Assembly District special election.

Campos conceded Tuesday evening, telling supporters that “big money has figured out how to win elections …and that’s what happened here.”

Haney significantly outraised Campos, who had pledged to avoid corporate contributions.

Both candidates are on the progressive end of the Democratic Party but Mayor London Breed endorsed Haney and will get to pick his replacement on the Board of Supervisors.

Assembly District 17 covers the eastern half of San Francisco and includes tourist-heavy neighborhoods such as Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, downtown and the Mission. It also includes the tenderloin, which is a hot spot for homelessness and illicit drug use.

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The special election was held because neither Matt Haney nor David Campos received more than 50% of the vote in February’s special election.

Haney will have to run again in the statewide June primary and November general elections to keep the seat for another two-year term, meaning residents of the district could vote on the race up to four separate times this year.

The seat became vacant last year after David Chiu resigned to become San Francisco’s city attorney, a job that became available when Breed appointed then-city attorney Dennis Herrera to head the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission after Harlan Kelly resigned in 2020.

Kelly left after federal prosecutors charged him with fraud for allegedly accepting bribes from a permit expediter in exchange for insider information. Kelly is fighting the charge and is just one of several city officials and contractors ensnared in a public corruption scandal involving former public works director Mohammed Nuru.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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The San Francisco electoral card for the two State Assembly districts could soon look very different, leaving some residents confused about who represents them in Sacramento and how best to organize politically on important issues.

In the past ten years, assembly districts 17 and 19 were largely easy to demarcate and clearly separated The City into the east and west sides. But the new maps, created by the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, due for approval by Dec. 27, show vastly different polling lines instead weaving in and out of neighborhoods, dividing whole parts of the city into a new borough.

“I would ask the committee why they made these changes, but this is definitely a district with some significant changes,” said Supervisor Matt Haney, who is running in a special election for assembly district 17 in February. (The new cards wouldn’t go into effect until June.)

The commission had not answered any questions about its work by Friday.

Such a change would include areas near the Panhandle, such as Haight-Ashbury, Cole Valley, and North of Panhandle (NoPa), from District 17 to District 19 and neighborhoods such as West Portal, St. Francis Wood, and Forest Hill from District 19 in District 17.

“It is a confusing puzzle that no community of interests I know of will delineate and confuse residents’ voting rights,” said Mike Chen, a Pacific Heights resident and Assembly District 17 delegate for the California Democratic Party. When the new cards go into effect, Chen will live in District 19.

How these voting card changes will affect San Francisco politics is not yet clear.

Cally Wong, director of the Asian Pacific Islander (API) Council in San Francisco, said that while she did not need to do a full analysis of the proposed map, her first reaction was that the make-up of voters would be significantly different. Until recently, both districts were represented by a member of the Asia-American-Pacific Islander Community, Representative David Chiu, who represented District 17, and Phil Ting, who represented District 19.

“I think this could change things if we move forward,” said Wong. “I don’t yet know how this will affect the voters and who is representing whom. I think that remains to be seen. “

Every 10 years all of California is redistributed along with a new census. It is overseen by a 14-person commission made up of five Republicans, five Democrats and four people with no party preference. People apply, then get cut by the California legislature before finally being drawn through a lottery at random by the California State Auditor.

The task of this commission is to meet a daunting challenge: to create statewide constituencies that offer relatively equal representation; maintain contiguous boundaries so that all parts of a district are connected; minimize the division of “interest groups” with common priorities and lived experiences; and ensure that all people have equal opportunities to vote for representatives.

Community groups can submit their own cards, and the commission goes through months of public meetings, public comment periods, and card drafts, followed by revisions before moving on to the final product. While it is almost always a messy process, this is done in order to protect the integrity of the California voting card.

California is one of only eight states with independent reallocation commissions. Voters voted in favor of its creation in 2008 with a vote to protect against gerrymandering, which occurs across the country – and within the state – when constituency lines are drawn to silence some voices and ensure others are heard keep power.

Members of Chinatown and North Beach barely fought off potential political disenfranchisement through the redistribution process.

The Redistricting Commission originally proposed maps that drew the dividing lines for the elections along Broadway Street and Columbus Avenue. Anything north of Broadway and south of Columbus would have been placed in District 19, which would have split two of San Francisco’s oldest neighborhoods in two.

Such a rift would have jeopardized the ability of residents, many of whom are immigrant and low-income, to organize for political advocacy. It would also have separated the state-level interests of the otherwise closely-knit communities of Chinatown and North Beach.

“Our only concern was that if that part were removed, you would disenfranchise all local residents and most businesses from their respective interest groups,” said Malcolm Yeung, executive director of the Chinatown Community Development Center. “It is very worrying because you have effectively eliminated the purpose of the meeting place.”

Community leaders in Chinatown and North Beach say they learned about these cards late in the redistribution process, so their mobilization to fight them was quick and chaotic. They held a press conference on December 17, ahead of the Commission’s final public meeting on December 19.

But it was also effective.

The commissioners have revised the map slightly and moved the line from Columbus Avenue to Jones Street.

According to Wong, this result was the “best-case scenario” given the firefighting drill situation, but acknowledged that more attention needs to be paid to state redistribution sooner next time.

“The lesson we have learned from the pandemic – and maybe now re-entering the pandemic – is that many of our immigrant communities, many of our low-income communities, are still really struggling,” Wong said. “We have to look at the redistribution much earlier because … that was almost a big problem. It would have taken power away from our most vulnerable communities. “

Many local groups devote their limited resources to advocating for county redistribution at the local level, but looking to the future, both Yeung and Wong recognized that there should be a balance with similar work nationwide.

“We are still evaluating how we got to this point, but I am just very grateful and very proud that so many local leaders have been very willing to step in to make our voice heard,” said Yeung. “That makes me pretty optimistic about where our churches are right now.”

cgraf@sfexaminer.com

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Legislation introduced by Congregation member Adrin Nazarian (D-LA) that would change state laws regarding road closures and speed limits on local roads is moving through state legislature. The aim of AB 773 is to give cities the opportunity to make the “slow streets” created during the COVID-19 pandemic permanent. The bill will be heard by the Assembly’s Local Government Committee next Wednesday, May 5th.

Last spring, cities across California, from Sacramento to San Diego, introduced local variations of Slow Streets programs. Barricades, some better than others, have been erected on designated slow roads to slow traffic or to ban through traffic to create safe places for people to exercise, relax, exercise or just plain during the COVID crisis can be outside. With California appearing to be starting to get out of the crisis, many people who live on or near Slow Streets want the program to stay in place.

“The Los Angeles Slow Streets program has provided children, families and constituents in our city with the opportunity to play, exercise and socialize safely in their neighborhood during the pandemic. It should be expanded,” Nazarian said in one Press release when introducing the legislation.

“I am grateful that I spent a lot of time with my family this year taking advantage of the slow streets in our neighborhood and I am encouraged to offer this opportunity to so many others.”

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) reached out to volunteers who have been up and running the Slow Streets program to find out how to make Slow Streets permanent on the streets of Los Angeles. During the initial rollout here, advocates of unsafe driving on local roads complained to the city that the Slow Streets program was in violation of CVC 21101, which prohibits cities from closing roads unless very specific criteria are met. LADOT responded with a certain rollback of the program.

AB 773 would counter this by making it easier for cities to lower speed limits and even permanently block local roads if the block would make the streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorized road users. Just because it’s legal to make a slow street permanent doesn’t mean that current programs will automatically become permanent. Cities promise a public process to identify suitable Slow Streets projects that are permanent and what types of safety improvements to add to those streets. This process is already underway in major cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“Slow streets have been an integral part of our communities for a year now,” writes Michael Schneider of Streets For All, a Los Angeles-based non-profit that promotes slow streets. “Congregation Nazarian’s bill will give Los Angeles even more control and flexibility as we strive to make the current slow roads permanent and expand the program even further.”

Right now, Los Angeles Slow Streets have a plastic bollard that may or may not have been partially destroyed by the weather or drivers, and a change to Google Maps as protection for Slow Streets. Other cities, including Oakland, where the programmed Slow Streets pioneered at the start of the pandemic, have more aggressive signage.

42nd and Linden Street, when Slow Streets was implemented in Spring 2020. Photo: Oakland DOT

In San Francisco, the Slow Streets program is run by the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority (SFMTA or Muni). The SFMTA has set up a website that explains the five-step process for what are known as permanent slow roads. You are currently in Step 3 – Identifying Persistent Slow Roads – and will next enter a phase of contact with the affected communities. In Oakland, the DOT announced in its regular assessment of Slow Streets that it would outline a plan for long-term improvements in its Slow Streets areas. In Los Angeles, LADOT reached out to Slow Streets volunteer coordinators to begin the public process in the densest neighborhoods of Slow Streets.

SFMTA’s timeline for permanent slow roads.

But for the cities hoping to turn quick projects into permanent neighborhood improvements, AB 733 can’t come soon enough.

“COVID-19 has forced us to find creative ways to get outside and enjoy our communities while staying closer to home,” said Los Angeles Supporter and Mayor Eric Garcetti.

“With Congregation Member Nazarian’s bill, we can keep our Slow Streets program intact and grow so that we can turn neighborhoods into accessible spaces and give people the space they need to relax healthily.”

Note: Damien Newton is volunteering as the Slow Street Coordinator for Mar Vista Slow Streets in Los Angeles.

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