A Jack in the Box restaurant in San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood has been ordered by a San Francisco Superior Court judge to fix its faulty plumbing, which for several months last year leaked water and feces onto Biscuits and Blues, the old-school music venue below it that has remained closed for almost a year.

The order is part of a temporary injunction issued by the court on Monday. It comes roughly 10 months after the building at Geary and Mason streets began to have plumbing issues. According to the filing, Jack in the Box “must stop any leaks from the refrigerators and freezers up to and including unplugging the appliances.” It goes on to say Biscuits and Blues “continues to suffer irreparable harm” while the 24-hour burger joint operates.

The order does not specifically state which repairs need to be made or whether Jack in the Box will be forced to temporarily close.

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“I’m more excited now about what’s happening than I have been in a while,” said Steven Suen, owner of Biscuits and Blues. “I feel like this could be the official start of our countdown to when we’re finally back in business.”

Biscuits and Blues, which closed last April, opened in 1995 and is one of the oldest blues bar and restaurants in San Francisco, where the number of similar venues has been shrinking. What first drove the Jack in the Box location and Biscuits and Blues to court was a disagreement about who would pay to fix the plumbing. Biscuits and Blues said it was Jack in the Box’s responsibility. The fast-food restaurant owner said it was the duty of the landlord, and the landlord said the Jack in the Box operator should pay for the work.

Jack in the Box Inc., which does not own the restaurant but was later added to the lawsuit as a defendant, and the legal representatives for the San Francisco franchisee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As the court battle raged, Suen said Biscuits and Blues teetered on the brink of a permanent closure. Over nine months, Suen said he has canceled more than 100 shows. He said all 16 of his employees have left to find other work. In late 2019, Suen said he was losing as much as $250,000 each month.

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Biscuits and Blues owner Steven Suen inspects the damage to his ceiling and nightclub in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019 caused by flooding from the restaurant above. The Biscuit and Blues nightclub has remained closed since April 4 when a sewage line from the Jack in the Box restaurant on the floor above cracked, sending waste water raining down from the ceiling of the club.Paul Chinn / The Chronicle 2019

But simply fixing the plumbing and changing appliances as the injunction orders won’t address all of the building’s issues, according to Gordon J. Calhoun, who represents the franchisee of Union Square’s Jack in the Box, Saeed Khan. During a Jan. 29 court hearing, Calhoun said the plumbing in the building was more than 20 years old and repairing it would require structural work on the building’s foundation, which would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take roughly two years to complete.

But according to a Jan. 28 letter from Tony Sanchez-Corea, a local building inspector who reviewed the property at the request of Biscuits and Blues, the damage at the location “is fairly minor in nature and could not reach a level requiring a seismic or foundation upgrade.”

Alexander Hamilton of the Versant Law Group, a representative for Meiyan Enterprises Inc., the landlord of the property that houses both Jack in the Box and Biscuits and Blues, said during the Jan. 29 hearing that he wanted to see “both tenants able to operate and remain in place.”

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Despite the doors being closed to Biscuits and Blues, Suen said he spends his time functioning as though the business were to reopen tomorrow. He was scouting blues talent in Memphis during Super Bowl weekend. Later this year, he plans to attend a blues music awards show for the same reason. He’s also working on upgrading the payment system at the bar and restaurant.

Since music venue mainstays in the city like Bissap Baobab, Elbo Room and Hemlock Tavern are either closing, moving or being sold, the local blues community has rallied to support Biscuit and Blues. Roughly 20 people have attended each court hearing for the business over the past nine months.

Chris Siebert, a piano player and bandleader for Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, performed regularly at Biscuits and Blues for 25 years until it closed. Both Siebert and Smith sat in the audience at the Jan. 29 hearing.

“It’s just incredibly frustrating to see what has been happening. There’s just so many people that care about this place,” Siebert said while leaving the hearing. “You’ve been seeing honest, hardworking people being stonewalled by a big corporation.”

Biscuits and Blues owner Steven Suen views the damage to his nightclub in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019 caused by flooding from the restaurant above. The Biscuit and Blues nightclub has remained closed since April 4 when a sewage line from the Jack in the Box restaurant on the floor above cracked, sending waste water raining down from the ceiling of the club.Paul Chinn / The Chronicle

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The post As SF blues venue Biscuits and Blues’ closure drags on, court docket steps in appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

According to official figures, San Francisco’s homeless population was around 7,750 people in 2022, with 57 per cent living outside officially sanctioned shelters.

Drugs also plague the area. San Francisco’s UN Plaza – about 1.6km (1 mile) from the Moscone Centre – saw more reported overdoses each year from 2018 to 2022 than any other block in the city.

Why the US push for military guard rails with China could be a near miss

Despite San Francisco’s move to clear its unhoused population around the site of the summit, there were still homeless people in the area on Tuesday, a day before Biden and Xi meet to hash out issues from AI governance to tensions over Taiwan.

California Governor Gavin Newsom – a possible future presidential candidate who visited Beijing in October and met Xi – addressed the issue of moving on homeless people ahead of the Apec summit at a press conference earlier this month.

“I know folks say, “Oh, they’re just cleaning up this place because all these fancy leaders are coming into town. That’s true because it’s true,” Newsom said. But he also insisted the removals were part of the broader “Clean California” project that has moved some 3,300 encampments since 2021.

The city’s homelessness and supportive housing department said it would not be expanding shelter capacity during Apec but would allocate funding for 300 new beds as winter approached.

San Francisco’s downtown area has been a favourite punching bag in recent months for the US right-wing media, which cites homelessness and illicit drug use as by-products of liberal policies in the Democrat-controlled city.

Xi Jinping and Gavin Newsom strike positive tone on US-China climate cooperation

As Apec approached, Chinese state media – which sometimes uses negative overseas examples to showcase China’s system – ridiculed the city’s social problems. “San Francisco hogs limelight for wrong reasons,” read a China Daily headline in July.

Global Times commentator Hu Xijin asked: “Why doesn’t the US put up some money to resettle these homeless people?”

Closer to home, San Francisco activists wanted the money spent on the summit to help marginalised communities instead.

Local organiser Joemae Santos said residents would see little benefit from the US$20 million in sponsorship agreements to fund the event. They “will only benefit the political elite and the wealthy”, she wrote on a blog.

When Xi and Biden talk at Apec, managing Taiwan will top the agenda

Pamela Holmon, executive director of San Francisco’s Project Homeless Connect, said the city had “provided a lot of options and a lot of pathways to resources for those that were encountered on the street”.

“Everyone that has been in an encampment was offered shelter access services directly by San Francisco’s city and county emergency response team,” she said. Holmon also noted that the level of homelessness had not increased around her office, about 1.6km (1 mile) from the Moscone Centre.

San Francisco is also on a tourism drive, offering free or discounted tickets for boat trips, art exhibitions, Chinatown restaurants and historical tours to showcase its stunning scenery and long record as a gateway to the Indo-Pacific.

“I love my city,” said Curtiss Hayden, a “welcome ambassador” in an orange jacket printed with an image of the Golden Gate bridge. “It’s a world-class city, people who live here get along even if we have a few issues.”

How leaders and an army of staff turned Beijing’s grey into ‘Apec blue’

Beijing made a similar effort to put its best foot forward in 2014, enlisting 400,000 officials to cut smog and shut down factories ahead of its own Apec summit.

While Chinese authorities do not face the fierce public backlash experienced by US politicians for heavy-handed policies ahead of major international conclaves or visits, there was indirect criticism on China’s social media platforms.

Internet users coined the term “Apec Blue” to describe the temporary clear skies over the capital that resulted from the factory closures and other measures. They also said the picture-perfect conditions staged for foreigners should be extended permanently for locals.

The post San Francisco mocked in China for transferring homeless away from Apec summit venue appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

According to official figures, San Francisco’s homeless population was around 7,750 people in 2022, with 57 per cent living outside officially sanctioned shelters.

Drugs also plague the area. San Francisco’s UN Plaza – about 1.6km (1 mile) from the Moscone Centre – saw more reported overdoses each year from 2018 to 2022 than any other block in the city.

Why the US push for military guard rails with China could be a near miss

Despite San Francisco’s move to clear its unhoused population around the site of the summit, there were still homeless people in the area on Tuesday, a day before Biden and Xi meet to hash out issues from AI governance to tensions over Taiwan.

California Governor Gavin Newsom – a possible future presidential candidate who visited Beijing in October and met Xi – addressed the issue of moving on homeless people ahead of the Apec summit at a press conference earlier this month.

“I know folks say, “Oh, they’re just cleaning up this place because all these fancy leaders are coming into town. That’s true because it’s true,” Newsom said. But he also insisted the removals were part of the broader “Clean California” project that has moved some 3,300 encampments since 2021.

The city’s homelessness and supportive housing department said it would not be expanding shelter capacity during Apec but would allocate funding for 300 new beds as winter approached.

San Francisco’s downtown area has been a favourite punching bag in recent months for the US right-wing media, which cites homelessness and illicit drug use as by-products of liberal policies in the Democrat-controlled city.

Xi Jinping and Gavin Newsom strike positive tone on US-China climate cooperation

As Apec approached, Chinese state media – which sometimes uses negative overseas examples to showcase China’s system – ridiculed the city’s social problems. “San Francisco hogs limelight for wrong reasons,” read a China Daily headline in July.

Global Times commentator Hu Xijin asked: “Why doesn’t the US put up some money to resettle these homeless people?”

Closer to home, San Francisco activists wanted the money spent on the summit to help marginalised communities instead.

Local organiser Joemae Santos said residents would see little benefit from the US$20 million in sponsorship agreements to fund the event. They “will only benefit the political elite and the wealthy”, she wrote on a blog.

When Xi and Biden talk at Apec, managing Taiwan will top the agenda

Pamela Holmon, executive director of San Francisco’s Project Homeless Connect, said the city had “provided a lot of options and a lot of pathways to resources for those that were encountered on the street”.

“Everyone that has been in an encampment was offered shelter access services directly by San Francisco’s city and county emergency response team,” she said. Holmon also noted that the level of homelessness had not increased around her office, about 1.6km (1 mile) from the Moscone Centre.

San Francisco is also on a tourism drive, offering free or discounted tickets for boat trips, art exhibitions, Chinatown restaurants and historical tours to showcase its stunning scenery and long record as a gateway to the Indo-Pacific.

“I love my city,” said Curtiss Hayden, a “welcome ambassador” in an orange jacket printed with an image of the Golden Gate bridge. “It’s a world-class city, people who live here get along even if we have a few issues.”

How leaders and an army of staff turned Beijing’s grey into ‘Apec blue’

Beijing made a similar effort to put its best foot forward in 2014, enlisting 400,000 officials to cut smog and shut down factories ahead of its own Apec summit.

While Chinese authorities do not face the fierce public backlash experienced by US politicians for heavy-handed policies ahead of major international conclaves or visits, there was indirect criticism on China’s social media platforms.

Internet users coined the term “Apec Blue” to describe the temporary clear skies over the capital that resulted from the factory closures and other measures. They also said the picture-perfect conditions staged for foreigners should be extended permanently for locals.

The post San Francisco mocked in China for transferring homeless away from Apec summit venue appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

More world leaders will visit San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this week than at any time since 1945 – when 50 dignitaries met to found the United Nations – and the famed city by the bay is trying to put its best foot forward.

This week’s historic meeting of leaders from around the Asia-Pacific region has prompted a beautification campaign, with San Francisco scrubbing streets and cleaning up the city.

San Francisco has also removed homeless residents from encampments near the summit and called in thousands of law enforcement officers to police the area around the Moscone Centre where world leaders – including US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping – will meet.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

More than 1,000 members of the California Highway Patrol are lining the streets of San Francisco’s downtown area and metal barricades stretch for several blocks to help with pedestrian management.

According to official figures, San Francisco’s homeless population was around 7,750 people in 2022, with 57 per cent living outside officially sanctioned shelters.

Drugs also plague the area. San Francisco’s UN Plaza – about 1.6km (1 mile) from the Moscone Centre – saw more reported overdoses each year from 2018 to 2022 than any other block in the city.

California Governor Gavin Newsom – a possible future presidential candidate who visited Beijing in October and met Xi – addressed the issue of moving on homeless people ahead of the Apec summit at a press conference earlier this month.

“I know folks say, “Oh, they’re just cleaning up this place because all these fancy leaders are coming into town. That’s true because it’s true,” Newsom said. But he also insisted the removals were part of the broader “Clean California” project that has moved some 3,300 encampments since 2021.

Story continues

The city’s homelessness and supportive housing department said it would not be expanding shelter capacity during Apec but would allocate funding for 300 new beds as winter approached.

San Francisco’s downtown area has been a favourite punching bag in recent months for the US right-wing media, which cites homelessness and illicit drug use as by-products of liberal policies in the Democrat-controlled city.

As Apec approached, Chinese state media – which sometimes uses negative overseas examples to showcase China’s system – ridiculed the city’s social problems. “San Francisco hogs limelight for wrong reasons,” read a China Daily headline in July.

Global Times commentator Hu Xijin asked: “Why doesn’t the US put up some money to resettle these homeless people?”

Closer to home, San Francisco activists wanted the money spent on the summit to help marginalised communities instead.

Local organiser Joemae Santos said residents would see little benefit from the US$20 million in sponsorship agreements to fund the event. They “will only benefit the political elite and the wealthy”, she wrote on a blog.

Pamela Holmon, executive director of the city’s Project Homeless Connect said the city had “provided a lot of options and a lot of pathways to resources for those that were encountered on the street”.

“Everyone that has been in an encampment was offered shelter access services directly by San Francisco’s city and county emergency response team,” she said. Holmon also noted that the level of homelessness had not increased around her office, about 1.6km (1 mile) from the Moscone Centre.

San Francisco is also on a tourism drive, offering free or discounted tickets for boat trips, art exhibitions, Chinatown restaurants and historical tours to showcase its stunning scenery and long record as a gateway to the Indo-Pacific.

“I love my city,” said Curtiss Hayden, a “welcome ambassador” in an orange jacket printed with an image of the Golden Gate bridge. “It’s a world-class city, people who live here get along even if we have a few issues.”

Beijing made a similar effort to put its best foot forward in 2014, enlisting 400,000 officials to cut smog and shut down factories ahead of its own Apec summit.

While Chinese authorities do not face the fierce public backlash experienced by US politicians for heavy-handed policies ahead of major international conclaves or visits, there was indirect criticism on China’s social media platforms.

Internet users coined the term “Apec Blue” to describe the temporary clear skies over the capital that resulted from the factory closures and other measures. They also said the picture-perfect conditions staged for foreigners should be extended permanently for locals.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

The post San Francisco mocked in China for shifting homeless away from Apec summit venue appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

More world leaders will visit San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this week than at any time since 1945 – when 50 dignitaries met to found the United Nations – and the famed city by the bay is trying to put its best foot forward.

This week’s historic meeting of leaders from around the Asia-Pacific region has prompted a beautification campaign, with San Francisco scrubbing streets and cleaning up the city.

San Francisco has also removed homeless residents from encampments near the summit and called in thousands of law enforcement officers to police the area around the Moscone Centre where world leaders – including US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping – will meet.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

More than 1,000 members of the California Highway Patrol are lining the streets of San Francisco’s downtown area and metal barricades stretch for several blocks to help with pedestrian management.

According to official figures, San Francisco’s homeless population was around 7,750 people in 2022, with 57 per cent living outside officially sanctioned shelters.

Drugs also plague the area. San Francisco’s UN Plaza – about 1.6km (1 mile) from the Moscone Centre – saw more reported overdoses each year from 2018 to 2022 than any other block in the city.

California Governor Gavin Newsom – a possible future presidential candidate who visited Beijing in October and met Xi – addressed the issue of moving on homeless people ahead of the Apec summit at a press conference earlier this month.

“I know folks say, “Oh, they’re just cleaning up this place because all these fancy leaders are coming into town. That’s true because it’s true,” Newsom said. But he also insisted the removals were part of the broader “Clean California” project that has moved some 3,300 encampments since 2021.

Story continues

The city’s homelessness and supportive housing department said it would not be expanding shelter capacity during Apec but would allocate funding for 300 new beds as winter approached.

San Francisco’s downtown area has been a favourite punching bag in recent months for the US right-wing media, which cites homelessness and illicit drug use as by-products of liberal policies in the Democrat-controlled city.

As Apec approached, Chinese state media – which sometimes uses negative overseas examples to showcase China’s system – ridiculed the city’s social problems. “San Francisco hogs limelight for wrong reasons,” read a China Daily headline in July.

Global Times commentator Hu Xijin asked: “Why doesn’t the US put up some money to resettle these homeless people?”

Closer to home, San Francisco activists wanted the money spent on the summit to help marginalised communities instead.

Local organiser Joemae Santos said residents would see little benefit from the US$20 million in sponsorship agreements to fund the event. They “will only benefit the political elite and the wealthy”, she wrote on a blog.

Pamela Holmon, executive director of the city’s Project Homeless Connect said the city had “provided a lot of options and a lot of pathways to resources for those that were encountered on the street”.

“Everyone that has been in an encampment was offered shelter access services directly by San Francisco’s city and county emergency response team,” she said. Holmon also noted that the level of homelessness had not increased around her office, about 1.6km (1 mile) from the Moscone Centre.

San Francisco is also on a tourism drive, offering free or discounted tickets for boat trips, art exhibitions, Chinatown restaurants and historical tours to showcase its stunning scenery and long record as a gateway to the Indo-Pacific.

“I love my city,” said Curtiss Hayden, a “welcome ambassador” in an orange jacket printed with an image of the Golden Gate bridge. “It’s a world-class city, people who live here get along even if we have a few issues.”

Beijing made a similar effort to put its best foot forward in 2014, enlisting 400,000 officials to cut smog and shut down factories ahead of its own Apec summit.

While Chinese authorities do not face the fierce public backlash experienced by US politicians for heavy-handed policies ahead of major international conclaves or visits, there was indirect criticism on China’s social media platforms.

Internet users coined the term “Apec Blue” to describe the temporary clear skies over the capital that resulted from the factory closures and other measures. They also said the picture-perfect conditions staged for foreigners should be extended permanently for locals.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

The post San Francisco mocked in China for shifting homeless away from Apec summit venue appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Two high-profile figures in the contentious debate over San Francisco’s homeless crisis drew a full house at the civic and community space Manny’s in the city’s Mission District Tuesday evening. A local business owner and a prominent homeless advocate usually would trade blows and take a lot of heat for their vocal views online. 

Deli Board owner Adam Mesnick, who runs the X account @bettersoma, said he became an expert on homelessness through his personal experience in the city’s South of Market district.

“I have found two dead bodies, one in 2023, one in 2019, both walking my dog outside of my home,” Mesnick said. “If you’ve seen the conditions on 7th and Mission and you can look at me and honestly tell me that that’s humane, then I will give up.” 

Mesnick approached Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director for the Coalition on Homelessness for a public debate. The non-profit is suing the city, arguing that it had violated the law by clearing homeless encampments without offering shelter. There is a temporary limit on sweeps of unhoused people. This week, the city received court guidance that would allow them to clear certain encampments if individuals refuse shelter. 

“What we have to do to have a functioning homeless system, one of the first things we have to do, is we have to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place. Last year in San Francisco for every one person that we got off, we had five more people becoming homeless,” said Friedenbach. 

Mesnick believes the city needs a tougher, more aggressive approach to handling open-air drug use, mental illness and homelessness,  

“We need medical professionals to actually screen these people and figure out what their real needs are,” said Mesnick. “One thing that I have a real issue with and I’m going to say it out loud, how in the world do you ask a fentanyl addict, in a tent, high, if they want services. You have to give these people a time to decompress a little bit, give them an opportunity to take a shower, give them hope.” 

Venue owner Manny Yekutiel gave Friedenbach an opportunity to respond to why she called Mesnick, who often posts grim street scenes, toxic.

“I think the quote was, I think he’s well-intentioned, but his messaging is often toxic,” she responded. “I think that what is happening in a lot of the debate is we’re dehumanizing folks.”

Mesnick said the city needs to make San Francisco less attractive to drug users and homeless people. 

“It’s crazy. I just saw a kid yesterday, I asked him how long he’s been here. He said three days, he came from New Hampshire,” he said. “People come here, it’s the cheapest fentanyl on the planet. It’s the easiest place to sustain on the bottom with zero consequences.” 

Friedenbach said the city needs to appropriately match people with the right services. 

“Pushing people from block to block doesn’t really [work], that’s what we have been doing,” she said. “You give someone a citation or you give them an arrest, they’re back in the same situation, they’re worse off because maybe you threw away all their stuff and they lost their paperwork.” 

Both agreed the dignity of people on the street is important, though they differ on how to best uphold it.

More from CBS News

Betty Yu

Betty Yu joined KPIX 5 in November 2013 as a general assignment reporter. She spent two years at WTVJ, the NBC-owned station in Miami, as a reporter before moving to San Francisco.

The post Excessive-profile debate on San Francisco homeless encampments packs Mission District venue appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A dead-end street abutting a freeway on-ramp in a quasi-industrial part of San Francisco’s Mission District probably sounds like either the best place or the worst place to hang out at night, but it’s where Public Works has thrived for the last 13 years.

Public Works—which is to say, the club and not the scandal-ridden city department whose offices are a few blocks away—is a unique treasure in San Francisco’s nightlife ecosystem. It’s roughly the size of 1015 Folsom or the Great Northern, but there’s something different about Public Works’ vibe, beyond its conspicuously low ticket prices.

Beloved by scenesters and independent promoters alike, it survived the pandemic largely because the location on dead-end Erie Street allowed Public Works to put tables and a DJ setup outside, playing music at a volume somewhere between pulsating and library-appropriate. 

Even still, the nightlife scene has shifted, forcing clubs everywhere to change.

“Our crowd that has been supporting us for years is not going out as much,” said co-owner Jeff Whitmore. “They got older, they found the suburbs, they found sleep and they got out of the habit of going out three nights a week. But it’s exciting, because we get to look into styles and genres we haven’t played before.”

This need for experimentation has brought new audiences into Public Works, which has historically been a home for house and techno and is now leaning into other, more bass-heavy electronic subgenres. As it happens, this is something that bar owners citywide have echoed: San Francisco is constantly portrayed as circling the drain, yet fresh waves of new arrivals are finding their way here, as enraptured with the city’s magic as all those who came before.

This weekend, what they’ll find is the venue’s 13th anniversary, a triskaidekaphobia-be-damned, three-night party featuring DJs the world over, from London-based Hamdi to Berlin’s Lovefoxy. Five years ago, these were not names that would have played at Public Works—let alone for an anniversary.

While the door to 161 Erie St. in the Mission District may be discreet, Public Works is not, routinely making use of the outdoor space on its dead-end block. | Source: Astrid Kane/The Standard

Rob Casanovas, Public Works’ general manager, used to work at the much-missed SoMa venue Mezzanine. These days, he feels like he’s helping usher in a new San Francisco, at both the venue and its satellite salon space in the Tenderloin’s Little Saigon microhood. 

“Everybody knows it’s happening. I think the city’s actually swinging back better than ever. New people coming in through the door that just moved in,” he said. “It’s revitalizing to hear a fresh perspective on how beautiful the city is when the narrative for so long has been the city’s going to shit.”

Public Works’ ownership structure has some overlap with the Midway, the much-larger club and conference center in Dogpatch, but their working relationship is very informal, mostly on the level of borrowing chairs from each other.

Big-name artists who can fill much larger spaces routinely play Public Works, which has a capacity for only a few hundred people. The hugely popular John Summit, for example, played at Public Works over Memorial Day weekend. Granted, the show sold out within 90 minutes, but his other shows in the Bay Area this year included a block party for 7,000 people and a set at Stanford University’s Frost Amphitheater. 

Local independent promoters echo artists’ love for the venue as well.

Syd Gris is a longtime producer who throws parties under Opel Productions and for Opulent Temple, the 20-year-old Burning Man camp and nonprofit that stages fundraisers throughout the year. He appreciates the niche that Public Works fills, as independents like him are limited to a few clubs around the city.

“Some venues prefer to do most of their stuff in-house, so they don’t have to pay the promoter any of the money that comes in the door—and even when a venue will work with promoters, it’s not always on terms that make it worth the risk,” Gris said. “A venue like Public Works is key to my survival, and I’m sure I don’t speak for myself.”

Hyperinclusive dance party Electroluxx has thrown over-the-top parties at Public Works for the better part of a decade.

Muralist Elliott C. Nathan—whose joyously exuberant pieces fill up entire walls around San Francisco—has thrown the hyper-inclusive dance party Electroluxx at Public Works with his business partner Brett Mendenhall for years, partly because “they don’t say no to weird stuff” and the employees treat patrons with respect.

“Sometimes you find venues, and even if it’s great, the security is rough—and that’s the first experience of anyone who goes in,” he said. “Public Works ensured that their security is kind and generous and aware of the type of crowd, so having a party that leans into the queer community, they understand how to interact with everyone.”

While small record labels that nurture new talent are often “rewarded” by their artists outgrowing them and moving on, small venues can brag that giant acts played there way back when.

In Public Works’ case, those names include Jamie XX, the Martinez Brothers, Black Coffee and other people who’ve gone on to play renowned festivals like Bonnaroo or Coachella. As booking assistant Alec Mann put it, the club’s history tracks the development of dance music.

“It’s crazy to see the underground moving into the mainstream,” he said. “I like to think Public Works had a big role in giving into these nuanced sounds that are at the forefront of production.”

The post Public Works Is San Francisco’s Venue for the Individuals appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Club Ebony, a famous Indianola, Miss. blues venue that was part of the Chitlin circuit — a loose network of black-owned clubs and venues in segregated American cities — has hosted hundreds of memorable moments. Bobby Rush, the 89-year-old blues singer, recalled one of his favorites in a recent interview: a scene from BB King’s 2014 homecoming concert.

As King weaved through a lengthy version of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” he noticed that Rush had nodded off. “‘Ladies and gentlemen,'” he began, according to Rush. “‘I have my best friend in the house. i play this music And he’s lying over there sleeping on top of me.’”

The audience giggled, and Rush joined King on stage with his harmonica to cap off his friend’s last performance, ending a tradition of annual concerts that began in 1980. King died a year later.

Club Ebony was more than King’s home club. Upon opening in 1948, it provided Indianola’s black community with a gathering place for dining, dancing, and socializing, and provided generations of blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and soul artists with the enthusiastic crowd they needed to make a living.

King purchased the venue from its third and longest-serving owner, Mary Shepard, in 2008 and donated it to the BB King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. But after his death, it slowly deteriorated due to the effects of time and disuse. The bill of keeping the 6,400-square-foot club in a city of 9,000 people open four nights a week proved too high in the midst of the vast delta.

“The traditional format wasn’t financially viable — times had changed,” said Malika Polk-Lee, the museum’s executive director. The organization turned Club Ebony into an events venue, but when the tourism industry began to reopen after the pandemic-related closures in 2021, museum staff found that the condition of the timber-frame building was poor.

“We found that there was structural damage. The roof and walls deteriorated and water got inside,” she said. “The senior year was tough on the building.”

The museum had no choice but to keep the club closed while it sought support for its rescue, which it secured through public and private funds, including a grant from regional National Endowment for the Arts-affiliated organization South Arts and a City of Indianola, received city tax. Its dormant period ends Thursday, when the venue is scheduled to reopen its historic doors after spending $800,000 on repairs.

Before mainstream America first saw Ike and Tina Turner when they brought the 1960 rave-up “A Fool in Love” to “American Bandstand,” and before Ray Charles’ four Grammys that same year with “Georgia on My Mind.” won — and long before King stunned a crowd of white hippies and sealed his mainstream success at San Francisco’s Fillmore West in 1967 — they were all regulars at Club Ebony.

Indianola entrepreneur Johnny Jones opened it in 1948 when the post-war economy was in full swing. New industries like the Ludlow Textile Mill had brought money to the city, and workers plonked much of their wages in the jukerooms on Church Street, the city’s notorious home of gambling and vice.

But Club Ebony offered a different experience. Jones’ new club was large and designed to house the big bands of the 1940s, including the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra and the Count Basie Orchestra. Revelers in khakis and pinstriped suits could buy bonded whiskey and bootleg corn whiskey, and men and women danced to jump blues and mingled on the ballroom floor.

“There wasn’t much socializing in the houses,” said Sue Evans, who was married to King from 1958 to 1966 and lived in the back of the club after her mother, Ruby Edwards, bought it in 1958. The houses were small, she remarked: “Families were big, so nobody was going to anyone’s house at that time to sit down and be entertained.” The club became a social outlet.”

Venues on the national chitlin circuit have included glittering palaces in major cities like Indianapolis and Houston, and lavish juke restaurants in smaller towns. If a club was not available, promoters rented halls; Some shows took place in private homes. Live performances lasting just one night bolstered the music scene’s ecosystem, while clubs, recording studios and record labels sprung up to capitalize on and fuel the celebrations.

The cycle arose from the need for self-sufficiency. Black musicians, promoters and audiences needed places where they were welcome and could be themselves. Even the musicians in King’s band would travel around with cookware and canned goods if they couldn’t find a restaurant that could serve them.

Although some black musicians, as Rush said, “crossed over” to white audiences and had “crossed out” black clubs, artists could make a living in those venues when they weren’t welcome elsewhere. The closure and decay of Club Ebony posed a bigger problem, Evans says: the loss of the black common spaces that once held it together.

“There isn’t a club left in the Delta that could offer music like this,” she said. “So to speak, a large part of our culture goes south; it is no longer there. And this is a continuation of that culture.”

As of December 2021, the museum has raised and invested nearly $1 million in electrical, plumbing, kitchen appliances, furniture, and painting to help bring the club up to date with modern regulations and compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Some elements, such as the sheet metal ceiling panels, are original.

The exterior sports a new pea green livery, color-matched to the historic record at least since it was acquired by Shepard. On a warm afternoon in early May, a team installed information boards inside to give visitors the background story of the club. Museum staff compared their work to old photographs to ensure historical accuracy.

In the 15 years since the museum acquired Club Ebony, music tourism has given Delta towns like Indianola hope for a future, based in part on an interest in their past. In front of the club is a historic marker for the Mississippi Blues Trail, a network established in 2006 of more than 200 sites important to the development of music and its culture.

“It’s important that Black-run clubs are supported,” said Dr. William Ferris, a blues historian and author who spent summers touring the Delta in the 1960s. “Just as black people own their land and farms, it gives business people and families the independence and stability that is very important, and music is a way to achieve that.”

For today’s young black blues musicians, like 24-year-old Christone “Kingfish” Ingram of Clarksdale, Miss., who is widely credited as the heir to the King’s Delta blues crown, historic venues like Club Ebony are still places to celebrate be able to relax away from the pressure of top-class performances at festivals and theatres.

Like King before him, Ingram occasionally frequents his hometown clubs, such as Red’s Lounge in Clarksdale, where he plays three or four sets, often finishing in the wee hours of the morning. Club Ebony, where he performed at the beginning of his career, will certainly be back on his schedule.

“Every time I’ve been there, I’ve always hung out with the OGs of the blues, guys like Mr. Rush and Kenny Neal, and absorbed some history,” Ingram said. “It takes me back to when I started and I feel like it keeps me humble.”

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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The historic Castro Theater in San Francisco’s Castro District announced Wednesday that it is partnering with Another Planet Entertainment and transforming into a live music venue.

APE has plans to significantly improve the sound, lighting, production, HVAC and the theatre’s trademark mark.

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Bay Properties Inc. is the owner of the Castro Theatre.

“After operating the Castro Theater for nearly a hundred years, we have chosen to partner with Another Planet Entertainment for the next evolution of our historic theatre,” said Chris Nasser Padian, Bay Properties vice president. “Another Planet is an ideal partner, as they have a rich history with the City and in rehabilitating historic venues. Bay Properties is excited that the partnership with APE will continue the legacy of the Castro Theater and Castro neighborhood.”

The grand reopening is set for 2023, according to the SF Chronicle.

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The Jack in the Box restaurant in San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood, which earlier this week was told by a San Francisco Superior Court judge to fix its faulty plumbing, has temporarily closed.

A note on the restaurant’s door Thursday morning said the location was “closed due to maintenance until further notice.”

The closure comes one day after The Chronicle reported an injunction had been ordered to make Jack in the Box “stop any leaks from the refrigerators and freezers up to and including unplugging the appliances” at the restaurant. The owner of the fast food restaurant did not respond to The Chronicle’s initial requests for comment.

Jack in the Box shares a building at Geary and Mason streets with Biscuits and Blues, which opened in 1995 and is one of the oldest blues venues in the city. For several months last year, the burger joint’s plumbing leaked water and feces into Biscuits and Blues, forcing the blues business to shut down. It remains closed.

The order does not specifically state which repairs need to be made at Jack in the Box. During a Jan. 29 court hearing, Gordon J. Calhoun, who represents the franchisee of Union Square’s Jack in the Box, Saeed Khan, said fixing the plumbing could require structural work on the building’s foundation, which would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The two businesses have spent the last 10 months in court trying to decide who should pay to fix the plumbing. Over the course of several hearings, Biscuits and Blues claimed it was Jack in the Box’s responsibility. The fast-food restaurant owner said it was the duty of the landlord. The landlord said the operator should pay for the work.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips

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