We are calling upon YOU to help us report on the economic crisis around the Bay Area in our new series "The Economic Edge - documenting the downturn". We are asking you to attend one community meeting or event (see destinations) in your neighborhood or city, then report back. Help us take the pulse of Bay Area. How are folks faring as jobs are lost, hours are cut, and 401ks continue to shrink? What do our communities need, and what kind of opportunities for service and connection are out there? We hope to connect people who may not otherwise meet and to use the power of the public to understand the scope of the economic crisis.
Funds targeted for struggling students may be eliminated
SFUSD and other districts around the state may be facing cuts to programs Read More
10/22/093:08 pm
State Restores Funding for Domestic Violence Shelters
Yesterday, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed an emergency bill, restoring $16 million for domestic violence in California. Read More
10/22/093:07 pm
Gov. Schwarzenegger Blames Budget Problems on Judges
Yesterday the Governor cited judicial actions striking down furloughs, requiring reduction in the prison population, and blocking cuts in in-home care services as some of the ways that judges have made it more difficult to solve the budget problems. Read More
10/22/093:07 pm
Opinion: Who Can be Against Fixing Mid-Market?
A look at the naysayers in the debate around Proposition D, which would allow commercialized billboards to exist between 5th and 7th streets on Market. Read More
10/22/093:06 pm
New Businesses Come to Burlingame, Including New Auto Dealership
Even though Burlingame is still suffering the effects of the recession and auto industry crisis, they advertise the opening of a new Chrysler Dodge Dealership, as well as seven other new businesses, in hopes of boosting the economic development that IS going on. Read More
10/22/093:06 pm
Legal Battle Intensifies Between Auto Dealer and Nissan
The closing of five dealerships, including some in Fremont and Oakland, sparked a legal battle between the owner, auto magnate Michael Kahn, and Nissan Motor Corp, leaving abandoned dealerships and hundreds without jobs. Read More
10/22/093:05 pm
A Free Computer Center Opens in East Oakland
The Eastmont Technology Center will have five teachers and 100 computers, and more than 400 students, aimed at bridging the digital divide in this violent and low-income part of Oakland. Grand Opening is TODAY between 11am and 2pm. Read More
10/22/093:04 pm
Public Hearing Called to Discuss Muni Freeloaders
Study that found 1 in 10 muni riders don’t end up paying, prompted SF Supervisor Bevan Dufty to call for a public hearing. Read More
It seems that every week -- if not every day -- there’s news of yet another cut in public services somewhere. So we were intrigued to hear that the City of Oakland is actually opening a new computer resource center. KALW’s Steven Short dropped in during the official opening of the Eastmont Technology Center last week.
It’s almost voting time again! Time to go through all those Propositions and Measures. Before you become overwhelmed, today, we’re going to start off with one Proposition that is causing controversy among San Franciscans, and that is Prop D. The measure aims to renew an area of the City that many consider an eyesore, and others consider to be just plain dangerous. It’s mid-market - that’s Market Street between 5th and 7th. And the question revolves around – billboards. Prop D would exempt that part of mid-market from a ban on new general advertising signs. It is supported by the Chamber of Commerce, among others, but it is opposed by the historic advocacy group, San Francisco Beautiful. Today, we hear from both sides of the debate before Prop D goes to the voters this coming Tuesday. KALW’s Roisin Hunt reports.
School administrators have a lot to deal with this fall - they’ve got to find a way to improve academic standards while dealing with tighter budgets. The economic recession is taking a toll on the classroom, but for some students, it’s affected their home lives as well. The number of homeless students in the Bay Area last year was more than 17,000. That’s a 60 percent increase over the previous year.
Angela Kilduff is a reporter at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She reports on this phenomenon from Mount Diablo Unified School District - one of California’s largest, spanning 150 square miles in the East Bay.
Japanese rice wine, or “sake”, is an ancient Japanese beverage. The shopkeeper of a sake store in San Francisco's Hayes Valley says the recession has been good for business there. Economic Edge street team member Laura Klivans brings us this business profile.
A few weeks ago, we got a call from listener Jennifer Blau, telling us about her in-laws in Calistoga. They are wine grape farmers there, and for the first time in 30 years, they have no buyer for 125 tons of merlot grapes. It’s harvest season, so we sent KALW’s Rina Palta to Sonoma County to talk with Blau’s father-in-law and other growers, and delve into the future of California’s wine industry.
HIGHLIGHTED STORY
10/29/095:29 pm
The City of Oakland Opens a New Computer Resource Center
It seems that every week -- if not every day -- there’s news of yet another cut in public services somewhere. So we were intrigued to hear that the City of Oakland is actually opening a new computer resource center. KALW’s Steven Short dropped in during the official opening of the Eastmont Technology Center last week.
