On Tuesday, January 24, 2017 The San Francisco Foundation held an informative session on community benefit opportunities for local and national construction contractors in partnership with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). The SFPUC is close to embarking on a city-wide $8 billion Sewer System Improvement Program (SSIP). The first steps to SSIP is completing a $2.9 billion remodel and retrofit the Southeastern Sewer Treatment Plant located in Bayview Hunters Point, a historically neglected neighborhood of San Francisco.

Through the SFPUC’s Community Benefits Program, any construction contractors bidding on a project will have to demonstrate their commitment to partner with the SFPUC and local community-based organizations. The goal is to make significant, positive community impact in the communities and neighborhoods throughout the SFPUC’s service area. The $2.9 billion remodel of the Southeast Sewer Treatment Plant will result in approximately $9 million in community benefits over 10 years.

Most contractors bidding on these projects with the SFPUC do not have a local context of the neighborhoods like Bayview Hunters Point. The SFPUC and The San Francisco Foundation have formed a partnership to provide more information and resources to the contractors to help them develop their strategies for impactful community benefits opportunities.

During the information session, The San Francisco Foundation presented its Regional Equity Strategy and its alignment with the SFPUC’s Community Benefits Program. The San Francisco Foundation walked the contractors through a brief history of  Bayview Hunters Point and presented demographic information to provide more contexts of the impacted area and the barriers faced by residents to the contractors. We outlined our investment strategies in Bayview Hunters Point and provided examples of some of our core community partner in Bayview Hunters Point. We led the contractors through a robust discussion of the community-based organizations in Bayview Hunters Point to help them shape their investment strategies.

All of the contractors appreciated the partnership between the SFPUC and The San Francisco Foundation and stated that they have not seen this type of partnership in working with previous public agencies. Many of the participants were inspired to craft holistic strategies to their investment and asked to have The San Francisco Foundation as a continued resource.

The San Francisco Foundation and the SFPUC will continue to partner around expanding access to good jobs and career opportunity for San Francisco residents in these impacted areas.

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DALY CITY (KPIX 5) — It’s pretty difficult these days to find an open public restroom. But there’s a movement now to exchange all of the fixtures. When that’s done, it’s believed that these restrooms will be much safer.

Westlake Shopping Center in Daly City, which stretches for nearly 40 acres, has 98 businesses, is going all-touchless in its public restrooms.

“They don’t have to touch anything! Either toilets, either faucets or soap dispensers, nothing,” said Westlake Kimco Reality Facilities Engineer Marlon Bautista.

The new demand for touchless fixtures couldn’t have come sooner, says plumbing contractor Paul Rowe. “Any business is going to be worried because we have no idea what’s going to happen,” said Rowe. “But, I did feel comfortable being a plumbing contractor that we were going to have work.”

Paul’s company has re-focused, finding new work with proximity sensor fixtures because dozens of handle faucets are coming out. Proximity sensor faucets have special battery-powered control modules that should last for two years, depending on usage.

It’s not just Westlake Shopping Center making the move. Rowe believes the switch is going nationwide. “Our supplier has had a hard time providing us with the quantity of that we need and I think that’s because the whole nation needs these touchless sensor fixtures. The supply is going to have to catch up with demand.”

Soap, paper towels, and everything else are all going automated.

A lot of folks are shopping for food or getting take-out at Westlake, but the facilities engineer says public restrooms will remain closed until the upgrades are completed, and that depends on how soon the additional proximity sensor fixtures arrive.

More from CBS News

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The Shiloh wind farm in Solano County. Photo: Paul Thomas Curry / Shutterstock

“California Forever” is a pet project of some Silicon Valley billionaires to build “a new walkable city of 50,000 people” on a traunch of agricultural land in Solano County, located in the northeastern region of the San Francisco Bay. While there is no shortage of billionaires in California, water rights (amongst other things) are essential, and these guys seem to have none.

California Forever is starting a PR campaign and opening up offices to sell the idea to people who already live in the region’s established cities of allowing them to go forward. I am entertained by the idea that “walkability” is what these Solanao residents are looking for, rather than access to the former cattle and grazing land the company has taken away from them. Disrupting the economy rarely ingratiates one with the locals. CF will be dead without locals voting to allow this farmland to be used to build another city.

ABC7:

“I know that there’s been a sense of mystery about it going back a number of years and a lot of people still have questions,” said Sramek. “And so that’s what it’s for, to come in and get your questions answered. Hear more about the project here, about why we believe that this would be a really good thing for all of Solano County.”

Inside the offices are posters of renderings of what the city could look like – people fishing, riding bikes, and lots of walking. Sramek told the I-Team in September, the city’s affordability and walkability will make it stand out.

“Many cities in California are not walkable and there’s a lot of people that really like that lifestyle,” Sramek told ABC7’s Stephanie Sierra.

There is no power, water, or waste infrastructure. No public transit. No schools. No fire or police. This is a major undertaking to build a new city where there are plenty of existing ones. I would not want to move to a community where the developers forgot to secure water rights before buying the land, that kind of attention to detail signals disasters to come.

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A South San Francisco man was found guilty of car theft and burglary for stealing a van and a motorcycle in December 2020 and stealing catalytic converters and an exhaust pipe in 2021.

Cedric Anthony Sanders, 43, pleaded guilty to the two felonies Oct. 27 and had five prior car theft convictions, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. He faces up to three years and eight months in state prison, with a sentencing date set for Dec. 6.

Sanders was stopped by Redwood City police officers on Dec. 25, 2020, when officers determined he was driving a Chevrolet van stolen three days earlier with a motorcycle that had been stolen several weeks earlier inside, the DA’s Office said.

On June 17, 2021, the police were called on Sanders after reports of him breaking and entering a Fair Oaks residential property garage with an unidentified woman, at which point used catalytic converters and an exhaust pipe were also found in his car, according to the DA’s Office.

The post South Metropolis man pleads responsible of automotive theft, housebreaking | Native Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Ann Schneider

Millbrae Mayor Ann Schneider has expressed worry a proposed Bayside flood barrier from SFO to San Mateo would have a detrimental affect on her city’s Bayfront, despite assurances by project leadership that a barrier would be the most effective way to protect against sea-level rise.

It would also reduce or remove residents from federally required flood maps, which require costly insurance, proponents contend.

A natural barrier like a retention pond would work better, according to Schneider, who also believed the proposal could limit Bay access and has not received adequate community input.

“I’m one of those people that believe that we’re going to be at sea-level rise much greater than what America wants to deal with, but we still have time to do the job and do it correctly. OneShoreline should go back to the drawing board, they should hold public meetings,” she said.

OneShoreline, the county’s Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District, is overseeing the project. It is currently in the proposal stages and is awaiting an environmental impact report, permitting and feedback from various government entities before construction would begin, CEO Len Materman said.

If approved, the structure would connect from the San Francisco International Airport’s barrier, which is in the construction phase, and span from Millbrae as far south as Coyote Point on the San Mateo and Burlingame border, Materman said during an Oct. 16 Burlingame City Council meeting.

Multiple studies point to the county’s unique vulnerability from sea-level rise over the years, which is projected to rise up to a foot in the next 30 years and up to 6 feet over the next century. It will significantly affect the 53 miles of county shoreline, threatening cities on the Peninsula with low-lying areas home to vital infrastructure and private developments.

Schneider said that Millbrae Bayfront area — which she acknowledged as comparably smaller than other city Bayfronts included in the project — has already been “taken” from the city by San Mateo County and San Francisco, particularly because of SFO, and building a barrier would leave the city with minimal remaining Bay.

Materman said that building offshore, as opposed to other potential options like building floodwalls around creeks, would create the least impact on public access.

“The barrier is open 99% of the time, but closed when big atmospheric rivers and king tides come,” he said. “The offshore structure doesn’t have to be this big, imposing wall.”

Schneider also contends Millbrae was not adequately included in the planning process for the barrier, with only one representative on the OneShoreline board for the entire Burlingame to Brisbane region, and would have liked to see requests for public input. Materman said Millbrae’s input had been included from the beginning of the project.

Schneider, who received her degree in environmental science, said that she also sees climate resiliency as a major issue for Millbrae residents, but that nature-based solutions are the answer.

“Instead of the old Army Corps of Engineering thing, which is ‘build a levee, build a wall, build a dam,’ let’s see how nature can help us resolve some of these environmental problems,” she said.

She proposed retention ponds, which capture water and gradually absorb it into the ground, as one potential solution, and enhancing wetlands so they can fully function as another.

But for OneShoreline, another important objective of the project — and one that might require a barrier — is reducing or removing flood insurance requirements for both Millbrae and other Peninsula residents.

“That’s an important goal, and one that requires structural elements,” Materman said, explaining that the Federal Emergency Management Agency doesn’t certify natural barriers when considering if flood insurance is a requirement for homeowners.

The size of the tidal lagoon and project costs are yet to be determined. Materman hopes construction will be done within the decade.

The post SFO to San Mateo Bayside flood barrier plan sparking fear | Native Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A 40-year-old woman has pleaded not guilty to felony vehicular manslaughter for allegedly causing a head-on crash that killed another driver in South San Francisco last week, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Cherise Nicole Shanta Wafer, an Antioch resident, is accused of causing the crash that killed 56-year-old Daly City resident Kham Ky Lam on Airport Boulevard early on the morning of Nov. 21, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said Wafer has a history of mental illness and was speeding on the wrong side of the road and went through at least two intersections with traffic lights before the head-on collision occurred.

After the crash, Wafer allegedly walked into a nearby Denny’s restaurant and asked for a glass of water while not mentioning anything about the collision or asking police to be called. Officers eventually arrived and she allegedly gave multiple inconsistent and bizarre statements to them, prosecutors said.

She was arraigned Monday and entered the not guilty plea. She will return to court on Dec. 7 for a preliminary hearing and remains in custody on $50,000 bail.

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“Hi, my name is Lora, I’m a first-year medical student, and I live in San Francisco.” This simple sentence, my brief introduction at the start of a meeting, reverberated in my mind. Hearing myself speak these words for the first time was jarring, the identities of “medical student” and “San Francisco resident” still feeling totally foreign to me.

My first several months of school have elicited a wide range of emotions. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to study medicine. I sometimes feel overwhelmed with the amount of information I am expected to learn. I also feel the enormity of the responsibility I am shouldering as a future physician.

I also feel an acute sense of displacement having moved across the country for the first time. I was born in Duluth, raised in the Northland, and attended college in rural Minnesota. This community instilled within me the values that guide my work and provided me with the spaces I needed to learn and grow.

And yet, like many young people, I have found an incredible sense of fulfillment and adventure in my cross-country move. San Francisco offers diverse cultural opportunities, the ability to study at an incredible institution, and, admittedly, much better weather than Duluth. For now, San Francisco is where I am living. But, when medical school ends, I will be faced with the question: Where should I call home?

It was my upbringing in the Northland that cemented my desire to pursue a medical career, particularly seeing how my family was impacted by provider shortages in our rural community. Just in October,

Essentia announced

it was ending urgent care at its Hermantown clinic, citing staffing challenges.

A 2022 Minnesota Department of Health survey found that there is a growing shortage of primary-care physicians in rural parts of the state. While metropolitan areas have an average of 20.3 pediatricians per 100,000 people, isolated rural communities have just 0.5. Physicians who practice in rural Minnesota are also on average 10 years older than their urban counterparts, and one in three rural physicians plans to retire within five years. This already urgent problem of rural-physician shortages will only compound in the coming years.

It is imperative we find new ways to recruit and retain doctors in rural Minnesota. We can call upon our elected officials to support legislation such as the bipartisan Rural America Health Corps Act, which aims to incentivize more health professionals to work long term in rural communities.

Returning to the question of where I should call home, on the one hand, the idea of coming back to the Northland to practice as a physician seems to be the culmination of all I have worked toward. It would be as much an expression of gratitude to the place that raised me as it would be a gift to reimmerse myself in this grounded, kind, and hard-working community. And yet, moving away from an urban environment means forgoing many of the compelling cultural, academic, and social opportunities that come with living in a city like San Francisco.

I’m not sure where my career will take me. I do know that no matter where I choose to live and work, I will continue to be an advocate for the health and well-being of our community, and I am certain that my fellow Northlanders will choose to do the same.

Lora Randa is a Duluth native studying to be a doctor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

The post Native View: Minnesota’s rural doctor scarcity took me from Duluth to San Francisco – Duluth Information Tribune appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Photo by @castro.artmart on Instagram

San Francisco has plenty of open-air markets, from regular farmer’s markets to massive craft fairs, and there’s never a shortage of amazing local vendors. One must-see market takes place on the first Sunday of every month, focusing on local creatives. The Castro Art Mart isn’t your average market; it also includes lively entertainment, true to the vibrancy of the Castro.

The market is held on the first Sunday every month, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. The outdoor market aims to give a space for local artists to showcase their work and build community. You can find the art mart at the small intersection of Noe St and Market St, right next to the iconic Lookout Bar in the Castro.

The market embodies the lively Castro spirit, complete with performances from local musicians. The Art Mart has over 30 local artists participating in the monthly event. Plus, the event will have a drag party from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. Various types of artists participate in the art fair, from painters to mixed media creatives; the market is guaranteed to be full of creative energy. Past markets have included tarot card readers, live bands, and fabulous drag performances.

The organization behind Castro Art Mart

The Castro Art Mart is run by Arty Hood, an organization that aims to help break down barriers that artists often encounter in the art industry. The organization helps facilitate connections between local artists and businesses. Arty Hood also organizes the Valencia St Art Corridor every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month. The event takes place on Valencia St between 18th St and 21st, running through November.

If you want to get involved in the organization, you can become a volunteer to help organize the art fairs and support local artists.

The next Castro Art Mart takes place on Sunday, August 6, 2023, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. The market takes place at the intersection of Noe and Market Street.

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Coastal Skin and Eye Institute is looking to expand its reach in serving the dermatological, ophthalmological and other needs of the community in and around Carmel Valley and Encinitas. They have been a leading dermatology and ophthalmology practice in north San Diego County with locations in both Carmel Valley and Encinitas.

“We provide medical, surgical, and cosmetic care for a variety of skin and eye conditions,” said April Lynne Dionela, practice manager at Coastal Skin and Eye Institute.

Christopher Crosby MD, PhD

(Courtesy of Coastal Skin and Eye Institute)

Specializing in skin care, Christopher Crosby MD, PhD, is a board-certified dermatologist whose career path began at Duke University. At Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, he earned both MD and PhD distinctions. Internship at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center followed. Then, during residency in dermatology at Emory University, Dr. Crosby served as Chief Resident. With an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, he completed a rigorous Fellowship (accredited by ACGME) at University of California San Francisco, in Mohs micrographic surgery and procedural dermatology.

Dr. Crosby is one of just a few Fellowship-trained Mohs surgeons in the San Diego area. He takes a special interest in Mohs surgery and reconstructive dermatologic surgery for skin cancers. He understands that a skin cancer diagnosis can be devastating to a patient’s emotional wellbeing, and he sees the amazing impact of compassionate, effective treatment.

Neeta Varshney, MD

(Courtesy of Coastal Skin and Eye Institute)

Specializing in eye care, Coastal Skin and Eye has both an optometrist and an ophthalmologist on staff. Neeta Varshney, MD, is a board-certified comprehensive ophthalmologist trained in the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease. Dr. Varshney is an accomplished surgeon and enjoys using the latest technologies available to deliver the highest degree of care to her patients. Dr. Varshney is a native of Southern California who comes from a family of physicians. After completing high school as class valedictorian, she later graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where she double-majored in biology and psychology. She received her medical degree (MD) with honors in 2009 from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Varshney is well-versed in cataract and refractive surgery, glaucoma evaluation, and management (including laser treatments), macular degeneration, and diabetic eye disease, among other topics.

A client treatment at Coastal Skin and Eye Institute.

(Courtesy of Coastal Skin and Eye Institute)

Dr. Connor Caldwell is a board-certified optometrist who became interested in health care at a very young age. He began his journey in high school where he was nominated to attend an elite summer course for young professionals and aspiring doctors, the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine hosted at UC Berkeley. This is where he discovered his passion for the ocular healthcare field and continued his medical journey by pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Integrative Physiology from the University of Colorado. Dr. Caldwell was one of 50 students accepted into the Arizona College of Optometry. He trained with leading optometrists from around the world in many fields, including ocular prosthetics, low vision services, electrodiagnostics and specialty contact lens fitting.

In San Diego, with more than 200 sunny days every year, regular checks for skin cancer at the Coastal Skin and Eye Institute can catch the disease when simpler, less invasive treatments are still possible. Making note of any abnormalities during self-checks at home is also an important part of the process.

The Coastal Skin and Eye Institute also treats patients for conditions such as acne, moles, skin growths, and much more. On the cosmetics side, they provide treatments such as botox, lasers, microneedling, and more. The practice also provides eye examinations, including testing for issues such as glaucoma and macular degeneration. In addition to these tests, they can do vision checks and assist with the selection of glasses and contact lenses. Overall, patient testimonials have praised the Coastal Skin and Eye Institute for having a “super friendly” staff, having “a wide spectrum of services ranging from general skin care to cosmetic procedures,” having “the best service in my 20 year history of buying eyewear,” and for having a staff that makes you “really feel that you are in good and safe hands.”

Coastal Skin and Eye Institute has locations at 5500 Carmel Mountain Rd., Suite 206, in Carmel Valley and 477 N. El Camino Real, Suite C300, in Encinitas. Hours at the Carmel Valley office are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and hours at the Encinitas office are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Coastal Skin and Eye Institute also accepts Medicare and most PPO and vision insurance. Coastal Skin and Eye Institute’s Carmel Valley office offers dermatology, optometry, and ophthalmology services, and the Encinitas office currently offers ophthalmology.

Coastal Skin and Eye Institute will also be debuting a more patient-focused website. Patients can use the website for booking appointment requests, to learn more about the physicians and other information related to their skin and eye care needs. For more information, visit www.coastalskineye.com. — Coastal Skin and Eye Institute report

— Business Spotlight features enterprises that support this publication.

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