The turmoil has given way to continuity.

The Padres do, indeed, plan to move forward with the same men running the team.

Manager Bob Melvin and President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller will continue in their posts, Preller confirmed Wednesday.

“Bob is our manager and is going to be our manager going forward,” Preller said.

This comes after a season in which the Padres underachieved on the field and the two primary decision makers navigated a frosty relationship.

Preller spoke to the media via a video conference on Wednesday morning. The reasoning for not doing a gathering in person, according to a team spokesman, was a matter of timing. The team felt it was important to have Preller speak this week, even as the Padres’ senior leadership is conducting meetings virtually all day every day. Melvin did not appear on the call with Preller due to a previously arranged travel commitment, the spokesman said.

A.J. Preller says reports of a rift between he and manager Bob Melvin have been overblown.

(Rob Leiter / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

After a meeting involving Preller and Melvin on Monday, the decision was made that they would continue to work together to move on from a disappointing and dysfunctional 2023. They plan to meet again next week to begin addressing plans for the offseason.

“A lot has been said in the last few weeks, but both he and I are very excited about the challenge of getting this group back to the postseason next year,” Preller said. “… I think just even in the last couple days, you know, you get a chance to recap and look at some different things and both of us feel really good about where things are going forward.”

The Padres finished 82-80, two games out of the National League’s final wild-card spot. They won 14 of their final 16 games to achieve just the 17th winning season in the franchise’s 55 years of existence, but it fell well short of expectations for a team with MLB’s third-highest payroll.

Additionally, a divide between Melvin and Preller that was present even in 2022 grew to a level that had to be addressed. Their communication waned, and they differed over player usage, roster construction and other philosophies. While the relationship was strained enough that several people around the situation opined they did not think it was salvageable, Preller on Wednesday called reports of the rift between he and Melvin “overblown.”

Padres Chairman Peter Seidler preferred to keep both men.

He made that clear last week to those who are running the team’s day-to-day operations while he recovers from a medical issue. And the team issued a statement from Seidler Monday morning that was intended to affirm his intentions while also pledging to undertake necessary changes to get back to the playoffs.

“What we talked about here in the last couple of days it’s ultimately about how we get this better, how we do this better,” Preller said Wednesday. “I think Bob understands that, for my job, it’s to put the roster together. I have a ton of respect for Bob and his experiences and the way he leads our team. … I think we both feel that ultimately on the big-picture items, the belief in this group, the belief in this team, what we need to do to get it going forward, I think we got a chance to kind of reaffirm that in the last few days and feel really good about where … we’re moving on.”

Manager Bob Melvin looks on during a Sept. 4 game against the Phillies.

(K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Melvin, who will turn 62 this month, has one year remaining on his contract. He said when he was hired before the 2022 season that he intended to manage only through ‘24, though in the spring he left open the possibility of continuing beyond that.

He has been mentioned by multiple people around the league as a potential replacement for the fired Gabe Kapler in San Francisco. It isn’t known whether Melvin is interested in that job, or others. Melvin declined comment Wednesday.

Preller, whose contract runs through 2026, continued throughout last week and into this week conducting end-of-season business mostly as usual.

The usual roster tweaks this offseason come with some intrigue.

Multiple league and team sources have said the Padres will trim payroll this offseason, likely down to around $200 million from their current level of $253 million. That would drop them from having the third-highest payroll among the 30 MLB teams but easily keep them among the top half.

Preller on Wednesday uttered the usual platitudes regarding the idea that the team will consult with pending free agent pitchers Blake Snell and Josh Hader. But it is considered highly unlikely the team brings back the market’s top available starting pitcher and reliever.

Padres left fielder Juan Soto is likely to make $30 million or more next season.

(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Arguably the biggest question centers on left fielder Juan Soto, who was far and away the team’s top offensive producer in 2023. He is under team control for one more season, but with his salary expected to reach at least $30 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility, the Padres have discussed the possibility of trading him this offseason.

The other possibility is signing him to a long-term contract, though the sides coming to terms on a deal that is expected to top $500 million is considered unlikely, especially a year early.

“We’ll go down that path this offseason and talk to Juan and his representatives, kind of see where things stand there,” Preller said. “What he was able to contribute, as he settled in, as the year went on, he was a consistent offensive force, one of the best in the game. And we’ll have those conversations here when we get into the offseason, kind of seeing where his head is at and figuring out if there is some common ground.”

Among the changes that could occur would be an additional voice and presence in the baseball operations department. While Preller also holds the title of general manager, adding someone in that role to work alongside him has been discussed.

“It’s something that’s been on the table, that we’ve talked about throughout different points last offseason and this year,” Preller said. “The biggest thing for myself, conversations I’ll continue to have with Peter, we just want to have as good a team, as good a leadership team as you can have. I feel good about the current group. But also, I’m always going to be open if we can add somebody that brings different experiences to the team, that can help us perform better on the field, I will always be open to that.

“We’re always talking about best practices, best ways to do things, how to be best in class. I think those are always conversations. I think obviously the first few years we were pretty realistic that we were in a rebuilding situation. And I think the marching orders (were) when we get to ‘20 we want to have a team year in year out that can contend for a World Series title. We’ve been in the playoffs a couple times and fallen short two times. We want to be there every single year. We want to be in October every year. … We’ll learn from it. If that means we’ve got to make some changes, we will.”

For now, status quo.

The post ‘We’re shifting on’: Padres protecting each Bob Melvin and A.J. Preller as they flip consideration to offseason appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

There is an ongoing fixation with San Francisco. National magazines and even international newspapers have written story after story about the potential doom spiral hitting the City by the Bay and theorizing on potential causes.

In a circle-the-wagons response, local officials and residents have countered by saying it’s still a majestic place with a free and easy spirit, great outdoor spaces, and innovative arts, dining and culture. They also suggest that the city is being unfairly targeted.

It’s not an either/or situation. San Francisco can be both beautiful and inspiring and tragic and depressing at the same time. In fact, that is the case right now. There are severe issues with open drug use and sales, homeless, violence and crime. There are also issues with retailers pulling out for any number of reasons and office work not coming back.

Homelessness is not a new issue in the city, but it has gotten worse in recent years. Open drug use is the same. Crime too. Those issues are certainly not unique to the city, or any city, but it is very bad there right now. If you deny that, you are delusional. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office just activated its emergency service unit to address the fentanyl crisis and the mayor has enlisted the help of the National Guard and California Highway Patrol.

Add in the fact that some major retailers are pulling out of the city, along with this week’s news that two of the city’s biggest hotels plan to halt payments and give up on both properties, and there are some very real issues facing San Francisco right now.

It is easy to conflate the issues as they all seem connected, and in a sense they are. But it’s more complicated than that. It always is. San Francisco has long leaned on its beauty and reputation and that was often enough — so other issues lingered without solution. The pandemic did a number on the financial district and working from home seemed to stick. Ancillary businesses suffered. Retail is also shifting and that hasn’t helped. Then the lingering issues with homelessness and drugs festered and grew, fueled by fentanyl and its horrors.

As someone who was born in San Francisco, lived there three times, and lived near it most of my life, I know the city has changed much over the years from when my father told me I wasn’t allowed to wear white shoes there after Labor Day. There are homeless people, drug use and crime. It’s life in the city.

But it was nowhere near the levels of today, where I have seen men openly masturbate or urinate in public, people shoot up drugs and openly exhibit signs of drug-induced stupors, and stolen goods openly displayed for sale. How is it that a man can be passed out in the middle of the sidewalk with his pants around his ankles and no one will help for fear of potential violence or harm? We wouldn’t allow someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease to wander the streets self-medicating, so why do we, as a society, allow for those with a disease — and drug addiction is a disease — waste away on those same streets?

Every person living on the street has a family and a past and a potential future; and yet, we have somehow decided that the best course of action is to let it be. It’s wrong. This is not just a crisis for the city, but a crisis for its people who find themselves addicted and living on its streets. It is a crisis for all of us.

This is one of the reasons why the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act is important and needed. By next year, the act will compel every county in California to implement its plan to get people suffering severe psychosis and addiction into treatment through a judge’s order.

Family, medical professionals and first responders can make the request for such an order. San Francisco must set this up by Oct. 1. There have been concerns about civil liberties and freedom for those living on the street and potential for abuse of power. Yet, the current situation is no longer tenable. Nor is it humane.

Under the chatter about the potential ruination of San Francisco and its potential causes and the cross-chatter about its beauty and promise are lives of thousands of people in peril who are afflicted with a terrible disease. They need help. Let’s not forget that. When the focus is on people, then other issues tend to fall in line. I suspect that will be the case here as well.

Jon Mays is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Journal. He can be reached at jon@smdailyjournal.com. Follow Jon on Twitter @jonmays.

The post Consideration on San Francisco | Columnists appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Wildfires and COVID — both of which can threaten the quality of indoor office building air — are triggering demand for better ways to filter out contaminants such as smoke which according to the Centers for Disease Control can irritate the lungs, cause inflammation, alter immune function and increased susceptibility to respiratory infections.

“Our company has seen 35% growth in demand for air quality solutions, evidenced by increasing sales of air scrubbers, HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters and MERV 13-plus filtration products, ultraviolet light systems and related solutions for businesses, residences , schools and hospitals,” said Nick Hartman, HVAC division manager for Ongaro & Sons in Santa Rosa.

The heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems contractor serving Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties installed updated devices in its 7,500-square-foot main location at 2995 Dutton Ave. in Santa Rosa.

“We believe this decision convinced most of our people to come back to the workplace after the lockdown,” Hartman said. “We continue to install a range of healthy air options in several Sonoma and Marin County schools, private homes and for large commercial customers.”

High tech solutions

There are small business or home electrostatic air filtration systems that contain several multifold, 5-inch-wide air filters on racks, They can capture particles as small as 0.1 micron in size (700 times narrower than a human hair).

Hartman said this system is up to 100 times more effective than the standard 1-inch filter and captures up to 99.98% of allergens from filtered air. That performance level has been independently verified by experts at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Also available are ozone-free air scrubbers that incorporate high-intensity UV-C light and produce negatively charged ions that inactivate airborne contaminants.

“This innovation can be installed in existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system ductwork to eliminate up to 99.96% of common flu and DNA or RNA viruses, mold and bacteria while also lowering indoor air quality index (AQI) values ​​to maintain green levels of less than 50, where pollutants cause little or no risk,” Hartman added.

The AQI index runs from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution. A good AQI level is between 0 and 50. Levels during the North Bay wildfires shot up above 300 — the hazardous level — in some areas.

Mark Hagarty, with Simpson Sheet Metal Inc. in Santa Rosa, said his firm has also seen a rise in residential customer demand for HVAC air-quality improvements and has several new installation projects underground.

“Bringing fresh air outside indoors is important. This has become a high priority for a variety of health reasons, but more can be done to enhance air quality by upgrading or replacing existing systems,” Hagarty said.

He said California’s Building Standards Code Title 24 contain “robust” regulations that contribute to achieving the state’s climate and air quality goals. In addition, The California Green Building Standard promotes healthy indoor and outdoor air quality by addressing issues of adequate ventilation, air exchange and indoor air pollution.

School air quality grants

California Air Resources Board Supervisor Pat Wong said building code revisions in 2020 addressed air-quality standards for new buildings, the construction of multifamily housing and for major upgrades to existing structures.

That year a research study at the University of California Davis and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that only 15% of public-school classrooms studied met the state’s ventilation standard. That means 85% of schools were likely “woefully under-ventilated.” The study arrived at the time the COVID-19 respiratory coronavirus was being spread by close human interaction.

As a prelude to reopening schools after mandatory COVID closures, the California Legislature passed AB 841 (The California Schools Healthy Air, Plumbing and Energy (CalSHAPE) Ventilation Program). It provides up to $600 million through two grant programs for energy upgrades and to test, adjust and repair HVAC systems in schools.

Governor Newsom signed this bill into law Oct. 1, 2020. The round 2 application deadline for both ventilation and plumbing program funds is May 31.

Demand for increasing system MERV ratings

Zach Brandner, vice president for construction with Peterson Mechanical Inc. in Sonoma, said a trend toward widespread adoption of air quality improvements during the pandemic “began slowly and did not take hold as fast as I thought it would be among all sectors of the economy due to cost and maintenance issues.”

The post Indoor air high quality attracts new consideration as staff return to San Francisco North Bay workplaces appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Wildfires and COVID — both of which can threaten the quality of indoor office building air — are triggering demand for better ways to filter out contaminants such as smoke which according to the Centers for Disease Control can irritate the lungs, cause inflammation, alter immune function and increased susceptibility to respiratory infections.

“Our company has seen 35% growth in demand for air quality solutions, evidenced by increasing sales of air scrubbers, HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters and MERV 13-plus filtration products, ultraviolet light systems and related solutions for businesses, residences , schools and hospitals,” said Nick Hartman, HVAC division manager for Ongaro & Sons in Santa Rosa.

The heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems contractor serving Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties installed updated devices in its 7,500-square-foot main location at 2995 Dutton Ave. in Santa Rosa.

“We believe this decision convinced most of our people to come back to the workplace after the lockdown,” Hartman said. “We continue to install a range of healthy air options in several Sonoma and Marin County schools, private homes and for large commercial customers.”

High tech solutions

There are small business or home electrostatic air filtration systems that contain several multifold, 5-inch-wide air filters on racks, They can capture particles as small as 0.1 micron in size (700 times narrower than a human hair).

Hartman said this system is up to 100 times more effective than the standard 1-inch filter and captures up to 99.98% of allergens from filtered air. That performance level has been independently verified by experts at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Also available are ozone-free air scrubbers that incorporate high-intensity UV-C light and produce negatively charged ions that inactivate airborne contaminants.

“This innovation can be installed in existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system ductwork to eliminate up to 99.96% of common flu and DNA or RNA viruses, mold and bacteria while also lowering indoor air quality index (AQI) values ​​to maintain green levels of less than 50, where pollutants cause little or no risk,” Hartman added.

The AQI index runs from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution. A good AQI level is between 0 and 50. Levels during the North Bay wildfires shot up above 300 — the hazardous level — in some areas.

Mark Hagarty, with Simpson Sheet Metal Inc. in Santa Rosa, said his firm has also seen a rise in residential customer demand for HVAC air-quality improvements and has several new installation projects underground.

“Bringing fresh outside air indoors is important. This has become a high priority for a variety of health reasons, but more can be done to enhance air quality by upgrading or replacing existing systems,” Hagarty said.

He said California’s Building Standards Code Title 24 contain “robust” regulations that contribute to achieving the state’s climate and air quality goals. In addition, The California Green Building Standard promotes healthy indoor and outdoor air quality by addressing issues of adequate ventilation, air exchange and indoor air pollution.

School air quality grants

California Air Resources Board Supervisor Pat Wong said building code revisions in 2020 addressed air-quality standards for new buildings, the construction of multifamily housing and for major upgrades to existing structures.

That year a research study at the University of California Davis and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that only 15% of public-school classrooms studied met the state’s ventilation standard. That means 85% of schools were likely “woefully under-ventilated.” The study arrived at the time the COVID-19 respiratory coronavirus was being spread by close human interaction.

As a prelude to reopening schools after mandatory COVID closures, the California Legislature passed AB 841 (The California Schools Healthy Air, Plumbing and Energy (CalSHAPE) Ventilation Program). It provides up to $600 million through two grant programs for energy upgrades and to test, adjust and repair HVAC systems in schools.

Governor Newsom signed this bill into law Oct. 1, 2020. The round 2 application deadline for both ventilation and plumbing program funds is May 31.

Demand for increasing system MERV ratings

Zach Brandner, vice president for construction with Peterson Mechanical Inc. in Sonoma, said a trend toward widespread adoption of air quality improvements during the pandemic “began slowly and did not take hold as fast as I thought it would be among all sectors of the economy due to cost and maintenance issues.”

The post Indoor air high quality attracts new consideration as staff return to San Francisco North Bay workplaces appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Wildfires and COVID — both of which can threaten the quality of indoor office building air – are triggering demand for better ways to filter out contaminants such as smoke which according to the Centers for Disease Control can irritate the lungs, cause inflammation, alter immune function and increase susceptibility to respiratory infections.

“Our company has seen 35% growth in demand for air quality solutions, evidenced by increasing sales of air scrubbers, HEPA (high-efficiency aarticulate air) filters and MERV 13-plus filtration products, ultraviolet light systems and related solutions for businesses, residences , schools and hospitals,” said Nick Hartman, HVAC division manager for Ongaro & Sons in Santa Rosa.

The heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems contractor serving Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties installed updated devices in its 7,500-square-foot main location at 2995 Dutton Ave. in Santa Rosa.

“We believe this decision convinced most of our people to come back to the workplace after the lockdown,” Hartman said. “We continue to install a range of healthy air options in several Sonoma and Marin County schools, private homes and for large commercial customers.”

High tech solutions

There are small business or home electrostatic air filtration systems that contain several multifold, 5-inch-wide air filters on racks, They can capture particles as small as 0.1 micron in size (700 times narrower than a human hair).

Hartman said this system is up to 100 times more effective than the standard 1-inch filter and captures up to 99.98% of allergens from filtered air. That performance level has been independently verified by experts at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Also available are ozone-free air scrubbers that incorporate high-intensity UV-C light and produce negatively charged ions that inactivate airborne contaminants.

“This innovation can be installed in existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system ductwork to eliminate up to 99.96% of common flu and DNA or RNA viruses, mold and bacteria while also lowering indoor air quality index (AQI) values ​​to maintain green levels of less than 50, where pollutants cause little or no risk,” Hartman added.

The AQI index runs from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution. A good AQI level is between 0 and 50. Levels during the North Bay wildfires shot up above 300 — the hazardous level — in some areas.

Mark Hagarty, with Simpson Sheet Metal, Inc. in Santa Rosa, said his firm has also seen a rise in residential customer demand for HVAC air-quality improvements and has several new installation projects underground.

“Bringing fresh outside air indoors is important. This has become a high priority for a variety of health reasons, but more can be done to enhance air quality by upgrading or replacing existing systems,” Hagarty said.

He said California’s Building Standards Code Title 24 contain “robust” regulations that contribute to achieving the state’s climate and air quality goals. In addition, The California Green Building Standard promotes healthy indoor and outdoor air quality by addressing issues of adequate ventilation, air exchange and indoor air pollution.

School air quality grants

California Air Resources Board Supervisor Pat Wong said building code revisions in 2020 addressed air-quality standards for new buildings, the construction of multifamily housing and for major upgrades to existing structures.

That year a research study at the University of California Davis and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that only 15% of public-school classrooms studied met the state’s ventilation standard. That means 85% of schools were likely “woefully under-ventilated.” The study arrived at the time the COVID-19 respiratory coronavirus was being spread by close human interaction.

As a prelude to reopening schools after mandatory COVID closures, the California Legislature passed AB 841 (The California Schools Healthy Air, Plumbing and Energy (CalSHAPE) Ventilation Program). It provides up to $600 million through two grant programs for energy upgrades and to test, adjust and repair HVAC systems in schools.

Governor Newsom signed this bill into law Oct. 1, 2020. The round 2 application deadline for both ventilation and plumbing program funds is May 31.

Demand for increasing system MERV ratings

Zach Brandner, vice president for construction with Peterson Mechanical Inc. in Sonoma, said a trend toward widespread adoption of air quality improvements during the pandemic “began slowly and did not take hold as fast as I thought it would be among all sectors of the economy due to cost and maintenance issues.”

The post Indoor air attracts new consideration as staff return to San Francisco North Bay workplaces appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

OAKLAND (KPIX) – An innovative housing solution in East Oakland is gaining international attention as the country’s first youth-rented Tiny Home Village to open this year.

Colorful murals greet visitors to the Tiny House Empowerment Village. A warm welcome home for Ashley Jaggers and her dog.

CONTINUE READING: CA Drought: North Bay water flowing, grass greener thanks to recent rains

“It kind of makes you excited to see it when you walk in. It’s like this place is so cool, ”said Jaggers.

ALSO READ: East Bay Woman offers homeless youth a place of healing

Every house is a little shorter than a mobile home. Jaggers was among the first to move in months ago. She was homeless in Oakland for over two years.

“I used to live under the underpass, in a makeshift tent, in a car,” she explained.

The East Oakland village is home to unsecured people ages 18-25. The once vacant property is now a fenced-in community with 25 tiny homes, a communal kitchen, communal area and showers.

Each unit has a fold-away bed that can be folded up into a desk, a laptop, WiFi and electricity.

Village director Angel Griffin says the residents have more than a roof over their heads. The residents living there get a fresh start.

“It just gives them a sense of independence and the guidance to say, ‘Okay, I can do this on my own,'” Griffin said.

Residents must participate in the Youth Spirit Artworks program. The Berkeley-based nonprofit provides professional training, health insurance, full service, and art classes to promote healing.

CONTINUE READING: PG&E expects claims of at least $ 1.15 billion related to Dixie Fire

Residents pay a third of their income for rent and can stay in the tiny homes for two years while they get back on their feet.

Sally Hindman, founder of Youth Spirit Artworks, says the nonprofit’s interns created the vision for the village a few years ago and guided the process from planning to prototype.

“You were the decision maker. They were brilliant leaders in everything, ”beamed Hindman.

Youth leaders received help from 3,000 volunteers from dozens of interfaith communities, schools and businesses. They built and painted the murals.

The $ 1.3 million project is funded by city grants, a GoFundMe campaign, and material donations.

“It’s an amazing model of what a community can do when they decide to tackle a problem,” said Hindman.

And the world is watching.

“We received calls from Germany and e-mails from Romania,” she said.

Here in the Bay Area, talks are ongoing with several cities about building the next 75 tiny homes in the East Bay.

For Jaggers, she finally enjoys a safe, quiet environment to study online at Laney College.

MORE NEWS: COVID: San Francisco Muni will introduce temporary cuts to “short” scheduled services when the vaccination deadline arrives

She plans to become a social worker so she can open doors to others who also need a home – and hope – for their future.

The post East Oakland Tiny Houses Village Garners Worldwide Consideration – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

OAKLAND (KPIX) – During the COVID lockdown, record numbers of people brought new pets into their homes, in many cases from animal shelters and rescues.

With COVID restrictions lifted and people back to work, shelters are now seeing the opposite – a record number of people wanting to give up their dogs.

Rocket Dog Rescue in Oakland currently has so many dogs that they have set up makeshift kennels in their lobby.

“We got too full almost overnight. The shelters are overloaded, ”said Pali Boucher, founder of Rocket Dog Rescue.

She founded Rocket Dog 20 years ago and said she saw a record number of people wanting to give up their dogs. She receives dozens of emails and SMS requests every day.

“I’ve never had so many re-homings!” She said.

Boucher says two things happen: some people adopted dogs when the lockdown began and don’t want a dog’s responsibility now that they work or travel again; others are simply dealing with the hardship caused by the pandemic.

“I would say that 60 percent of the move requests we are getting now are people being evicted from their homes – evicted or having to take care of an older parent or move back in with a family member,” Bouchercher said.

It’s a trend that is spreading across the Bay Area. Contra Costa Animal Services says their owner drop-outs are also increasing at 23 in April, 32 in May and 40 in June.

“It’s just awful. I don’t think any of the rescues or shelters were prepared for this, ”Boucher said.

At the same time, she says that they see fewer people who want to adopt.

“We went to a couple of adoption events and everyone would love the pups, but they weren’t adopted,” she said.

Boucher says that by the time the trend reverses, she and other rescue groups will do everything possible to make room for dogs in need of new homes, even if that means keeping puppies in the lobby.

The post Animal Shelters Inundated With ‘Pandemic Pups’ as Adoptive House owners’ Consideration Lags – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Bayer is saying goodbye to a long-standing research center in San Francisco, centralizing US activities in the Boston area and possibly leaving several biotechs homeless in its incubator.

The German pharmaceutical giant will close the “innovation center” and the CoLaborator incubator before its lease expires in October, a Bayer spokesman told Endpoints. The San Francisco site, which was once the central location for Bayer’s US plans, will be closed after more than a decade.

Since Bayer announced last year that it would “evaluate” various options for the site, Bayer has shrunk its workforce in San Francisco to fewer than 20, the spokesman said. These employees are “encouraged” to apply for other positions at Bayer, including a location in Berkeley, California with more than 100 vacancies.

“We communicated this decision with the employees in April in order to offer them the longest possible runway for their next career steps,” said the spokesman for Endpoints in an email. “We understand that not everyone may find their next position at Bayer, and in that case the company will offer its standard severance and placement services.”

For the biotechs with branches at the site, Bayer will work to relocate them to “future locations of their choice,” added the spokesman. There are currently 10 companies either headquartered in Mission Bay or using offices on-site, including Swiss biotech company CRISPR Therapeutics.

Bayer opened the hub back in 2010, starting with around 65 researchers in a former Pfizer room near UC-San Francisco. In 2012 Bayer started its incubator in San Francisco with partner locations in Berlin, Moscow, West Sacramento, CA and Kobe, Japan.

The incubator originally had 6,000 square feet of office space, but Bayer has expanded that space to 30,000 in recent years.

Bayer is moving after the drug maker once tried to expand its San Francisco hub but secured more office space. According to a report in the San Francisco Business Times, nearby Silicon Valley tech companies like Uber and Square all took up prime space while setting up their own stores in the early 2010s.

As a result, Bayer shifted its focus to Berkeley, California, and recently asked the city for a 30-year “master plan” that includes approximately 1 million square feet and an additional 1,000 employees over the next three decades. The site has pumped out three hemophilia A treatments for global distribution, but Bayer is looking to advance its cell and gene therapy, including gene therapy for the blood disease.

Further efforts are likely to be made at the Berkeley site, and Bayer has increased its pipeline in recent months. In October Bayer had already committed up to 4 billion US dollars for the takeover of the gene therapy pioneer Asklepios, better known as AskBio. And in December, the drug maker set up a cell and gene therapy platform to bring all related projects under one roof so that executives can close more deals.

Further tenants from Bayer in the Incubator in San Francisco are Atlay Therapeutics, BioGraph 55, Cairn Biosciences, Coagulant Therapeutics, DNALite Therapeutics, Explora BioLabs, Mantra Bio, ProLynx and Xcell Biosciences.

This article has been updated with a comment from Bayer.

The post Bayer closing down San Francisco analysis hub as consideration turns to Berkeley plan – Endpoints Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

From two blocks away, REEF Technology’s “ghost kitchens” appear through a maze of palm trees like a technicolor aluminum herd, sleepily huddled in a parking lot next to a Metromover overpass at the apex of two of Coconut Grove’s busier streets.

Yet, as you get closer, a buzzing hive of tourists, foodies, picnic tables, bougainvillea planters, and UberEats and GrubHub scooters coming and going somehow miraculously have brought this formerly vacant asphalt polygon back to life.

REEF, whose headquarters is a few miles away in downtown Brickell, calls what I’m standing in the middle of “proximity as a platform”. And if Miami’s current political class has anything to do with it, the start-up’s pandemically turbo-charged, on-demand logistics model could set a new national template for smart, sustainable cities and the future of everything from restaurants to retail to healthcare delivery forever.

It could also keep tipping America’s innovation power balance geographically from Silicon Valley to South Florida for years to come.

One of REEF Technology’s 200 ‘ghost kitchens’ around the country providing on demand food prep, … [+] cooking, and remote delivery services for aspiring and celebrity chefs

Courtesy of REEF Technology

Late last month, Miami’s now-celebrity Mayor Francis Suarez and its five City Commissioners officially passed a one-year pilot ordinance that formally acknowledges and legally zones what are technically called “mobile operation units”, or MOUs for short—which in addition to REEF’s current ghost kitchens has the potential to ignite an infinity of other deconstructed, on-demand businesses built around revitalizing wonky slivers and triangles of underutilized urban real estate into pop-up, neighborhood hubs for curated, locally-sourced goods, services, and experiences.

According to REEF, other tech-driven, app-based businesses that Miami’s new law eventually could green light include last-block retail delivery depots, mobile medical and wellness clinics, vertical farmers markets in neighborhoods lacking fresh food, electric vehicle charging stations, and micro-mobility stations for bike and scooter shares—all of which by REEF’s calculus has the potential to unleash a hidden real estate logistics ecosystem in hundreds of neighborhoods around the country for the principal benefit of its residents.

“With policies like these, Miami is setting a global example on how to work in partnership with technology start-ups and innovators while also meeting the evolving needs of the community, creating a win-win,” says REEF’s founder and CEO Ari Ojalvo. “By working collaboratively with city leaders like Mayor Suarez and City Commissioner Ken Russell, and the support of the rest of the Commissioners, along with businesses and community groups, start-ups like ours can reimagine and rebuild our urban spaces for people, not just cars, and help our cities become more sustainable and inclusive centers of community and opportunity.”  

REEF’s neighborhood hubs also have the potential to create thousands of well-paying technology, creative, and service jobs in local communities while simultaneously helping small, independent businesses to grow more efficiently and reach wider markets with less overhead compared with the slow, precarious cliff-jump of expanding through traditional brick-and-mortar storefronts.

Perhaps most importantly, Miami’s newest piece of legislation is another loud, cracking shot across the bow of traditional innovation hubs like Palo Alto, Boston, and Austin about the city’s global ambitions to become the most technology, disruption, and venture capital friendly destination in America when it comes to legislation, zoning, tax policy, and business regulation—particularly on the backside of the pandemic which has set South Florida’s real estate and commercial office markets on fire.

“It’s incredibly important as we recover from COVID that Miami comes out swinging,” Mayor Suarez tells me, “Particularly in the case of innovation and how we as a city define ourselves because we believe that the tech economy and the knowledge-based economy are the future of the world economy. So for Miami to position itself right now after the pandemic with legislation like this, delivering local meals, supporting the start-up technology community, and expanding the capabilities of our small restaurants that are still struggling is a win-win for business and our community and shows that we can originate innovative ideas and public-private partnerships here in Miami that are scalable worldwide.”

REEF founder and CEO realized years ago that America’s parking lots were not realizing their real … [+] estate highest and best use in the communities where they were located. During COVID the start-up partnered with cities and health clinics to turn their parking lots into on-demand testing sites

Courtesy of Reef Technology

If you ask Ojalvo, Suarez’s vision of worldwide scalability wasn’t part of his company’s initial business model, however—though I suspect the 42-year old entrepreneur would be happy to take the compliment.  

REEF’s ‘proximity-as-a-platform’ business model got its start back in 2013 when the company formerly was called ParkJockey, providing hardware, software and management services to parking lot owners and management companies.

Over time, however, Ojalvo epiphanized that parking lots weren’t actually serving their highest and best use just temporarily storing cars. So he asked himself a simple question: What if all those thousands of acres of flat, strategically-located, and horrifically-underutilized real estate could be re-positioned for the benefit of local communities in cities all over America?

What if parking lots could become urban farms and pop-up restaurants and logistics hubs to help local businesses reach more customers with fewer operational friction points while returning greater, more sustainable value to their property owners?

REEF is now Florida’s only billion dollar unicorn start-up and the largest operator of mobile, … [+] neighborhood logistics hubs in America. The company recently completed the acquisition of DHL with the help of $700 million in new funding from SoftBank

Coutesy of REEF Technology

Nearly eight years later, Ojalvo’s parking lot epiphany now comprises a global ecosystem of more than 5,000 asphalt swatches, garages, and otherwise empty plots across 45 U.S. States, all seven Canadian Provinces (plus two Territories), and the UK, along with a team of 15,000 full-time employees, making the Miami-based start-up the largest operator of mobility and logistics hubs and neighborhood kitchens in America (200 at last count including 15 in Miami that are now legally zoned thanks to the city’s new ordinance).

REEF also just recently closed a $700 million round of fresh funding from a syndicate led by SoftBank and the Mubadala Corp along with investment firms Oaktree, UBS Asset Management, and the European venture capital firm Target with the intent to scale to 10,000 new locations across North America and transform the company’s real estate holdings into the world’s largest sustainable network of “neighborhood hubs” over the next three years.

From a start-up standpoint, if REEF’s vision sounds grandiose, it is. Transforming the habits by which products and services are fulfilled for consumers doesn’t happen overnight (ask Jeff Bezos). From a practical standpoint, however, the company’s fundamental business model sits on solidly simple footing despite its nine-figure valuation and global intentions—all of which have been accelerated by the on-demand, stay-at-home delivery economy spawned by the pandemic.

REEF leases the parking lots and real estate it operates, upgrades it with basic infrastructure (i.e., ADA compliant ramps and essential utilities), and either leases it out to other occupants or operates the pop-up businesses themselves, including designing, outfitting, and mobilizing all of the trailers and shipping containers required to do so in a kind of temporary, asphalt raft-up—typically going operational within a few months.

In the case of REEF’s ghost kitchens, the company usually houses a half dozen restaurants on each of its lots and covers all of the operating costs, food safety permitting and health licenses, staffing, marketing, raw material deliveries, food prep, delivery management, and even manages the chefs doing the cooking. Full-time employees also are given vacation time, health insurance, paternity leave, and in some cases stock options.

In return for REEF’s real estate and back-of-house support, the company’s restaurants and brand partners pay a revenue share of gross profits off the top ergo if REEF’s partners don’t make money REEF doesn’t make money—so everyone has the same incentive to keep things running smoothly, maintain quality, and project brand consistency.

REEF has chosen to operate behind the scenes efficiently as opposed to burn cash on front facing … [+] marketing unlike WeWork

Getty Images

From a real estate, sharing economy standpoint, if all of this whiffs a little like WeWork as well, it should—at least on face value.

Leasing someone else’s un-used stuff (i.e., a parking lot), carving it up into smaller, shinier pieces, and re-leasing the parts at a profit—a.k.a “arbitrage”—is well known in commercial real estate to be potentially risky business. It was partly responsible for the Great Recession and why WeWork’s still a mess today no matter how much new capital gets pumped into it.

Yet, REEF’s business model differs in several important ways.

First, nothing about the company is particularly overt or outwardly flashy with banners, promotions, signs, or logos at its sites shouting “who we are” (like WeWork). All of which says a lot about REEF’s core business philosophy. It doesn’t overspend. Nor is its purpose to replace brick and mortar storefronts through remote operations and delivery systems, but rather to help those businesses to better adapt to the future through technology and reach the end consumer more efficiently and effectively.

The second difference with WeWork is that REEF typically provides not only the physical real estate for its tenants (i.e., the arbitrage), but also the expertise, networks, business support, and labor to allow them to scale, increase revenues, and compete with larger, legacy brands through outsourced operations as well.

“REEF levels the playing field,” says the company’s Head of Communications, Mason Harrison. “For small businesses this kind of model is essential to giving local brands what the big companies already have: the tools and resources for rapid expansion into bigger markets. As a policy framework for the future, we’re full-throated supportive of what Miami is doing by setting a new standard and rethinking the vast swaths of under-utilized space that already exist in every city to help to make that happen.”

Francis Suarez attends Time 100 Next at Pier 17 on November 14, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by … [+] Taylor Hill/FilmMagic)

FilmMagic

All of which brings us back to Miami’s new MOU ordinance, America’s most famous Mayor, and why any of this matters in the first place.

While red-tape, zoning announcements generally aren’t needle movers when it comes to flash mob media, Miami’s new legislation sends a much louder message about the political and legal intentions of the city to provide a fertile environment for the next generation of disruptive, technology-based start-ups to get off the ground.

“Through Miami’s new legislation, REEF is providing the first legislative platform for innovative new food brands to scale and thrive,” says REEF’s Ojalvo. “And now Miami has created a clear policy framework for regulating delivery-only kitchens, making it easier for these types of food concepts to expand their reach into new neighborhoods while putting vacant, underutilized real estate that’s a drag on local property values to better use. Ultimately, it creates a paradigm for every other city in the world to make it easier for brands to reach customers.”  

Equally as important, says Ojalvo, is that Miami’s new legislation also establishes a center of gravity for other future phases of tech-driven, on-demand innovation, which in turn attracts the capital and infrastructure to bring those visions to life. Silicon Valley and Austin started doing something similar decades ago—bit by bit revising and restructuring small, seemingly meaningless zoning, financial, and business regulations to turn their cities into the technology and venture capital epicenters of the world.

“One of the great challenges with creating new businesses is that regulations are often slow to catch up,” Ojalvo explains. “Most cities have regulations governing brick and mortar establishments and food trucks, but no existing framework in place for what falls in between. With this policy Miami is setting a global example and showing that it is willing to take bold steps to support and champion innovation. This is our hometown, and it is also where we incubate and pilot new products and initiatives—from restaurant brands to robot delivery—and maintaining the support of the community as we’ve experimented and innovated has always been incredibly important to our growth. The City of Miami and its leadership are showing that they are serious about supporting startups and embracing innovation. Combined with all the highly talented people moving to Miami right now as a result of the pandemic, this cooperation between public leaders and the private sector should be a model for every city in the world to follow.”  

Fortunately for Ojalvo that political support so far appears to be unwavering, although no one in the tech world is debating that Miami’s a little late to the party. At rate the city’s catching up, however, people are already wondering when Magic City’s going to mint its second billionaire unicorn (REEF was the first).

“Legislation like this tells the tech world that we’re willing to do whatever it takes to be the innovation capital of the world,” says Mayor Suarez. “It’s a signal to the rest of the world that if you come here with innovative businesses and technologies we’re willing to innovate as a city around you and your technology to make sure that it works, that it’s given the support it needs to thrive, and that Miami is one of the most business friendly environments for the knowledge economy in America and the world. We continue to look for opportunities in the crypto space, in the biotech space, and attracting and building the best high-end educational, engineering, and STEM facilities in partnership with the private sector and with companies like REEF.”

The future of neighborhood logistics is here and it’s spectacular

Courtesy of REEF Technology

As for the future of proximity-as-a-platform, ghost kitchens, and pop-up last-block retail hubs, the smart money doesn’t seem to be betting against REEF’s new micro-logistics, on-demand economy. If anything, it’s consolidating.

In part thanks to SoftBank’s funding, REEF recently acquired international logistics giant DHL, last mile delivery start-up Bond, healthcare services provider Carbon Health, and EV charging start-up Get Charged. Along with robotics startup Cartken, REEF recently began carbon-free autonomous deliveries in Miami.

The company is also tapping into the growing Millennial demand and political tailwinds for more sustainable, walkable, and connected cities, including turning some of its locations into sustainable, neighborhood, carbon-neutral hubs for grocery, food, and package delivery, using e-cargo bikes and low speed vehicles to fulfill orders from temperature-controlled shipping containers directly to customers’ homes.

REEF also is already fielding inquiries from data and telecoms companies to support 5G expansion and host remote cloud computing hubs that can power the connectedness of every neighborhood and city in the U.S. on a micro level to the world.

“Data and infrastructure is a huge part of our neighborhood hub (concept),” Ojalvo recently wrote in Tech Crunch. “It’s like electricity. Without electricity and connectivity, we don’t have the world that we want to see.” 

Pop-up vertical farming on site in action

Couresty of REEF Technology

More experientially, REEF is partnering with vertical farming companies like Crate to Plate on urban, hydroponic agriculture initiatives in empty lots which use recycled shipping containers to achieve the same production as an acre of farmland, using less energy and 96% less water than traditional methods. A single 40’ shipping container, for example, has the potential to produce over 3 tons of leafy greens every year for the surrounding community, says Ojalvo, which could revolutionize food deserts for communities that don’t have access to fresh, healthy produce.

Finally, this summer, REEF is launching the first of its experiential, open-air entertainment experiences in Austin, opening up an entirely new sector for the company’s pop-up logistics and operations capabilities.

Welcome to America’s next tech hub . . .

Courtesy of REEF Technology

As for Miami as America’s next great tech hub?

“Miami is competing with global tech and innovation hubs for talent and companies,” says Ojalvo. “This legislation is really just the beginning of a journey towards reimagining underutilized urban spaces, and creating a zoning framework that supports mobile, modular and micro enabled zoning that can create more vibrant and walkable neighborhoods while also continuing to seed Miami as a global epicenter for innovation.”

Translation: Austin, Boston, and Silicon Valley should expect more shots across the bow.

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