By Sophia Bollag, Staff Writer Updated March 3, 2026 (SFChronicle.com)

Gift Article

California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks speaks during a press conference on Feb. 20 at the state convention at Moscone Center in San Francisco.Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle

SACRAMENTO — The leader of the California Democratic Party on Tuesday began publicly urging Democrats to drop out of the governor’s race because of the possibility they will be locked out of the general election.

About 45% of California voters are registered Democrats, compared with about 25% registered as Republicans. But nine candidates are splitting the Democratic vote, versus just two dividing Republicans. As a result, the two Republican candidates — Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News pundit Steve Hilton — could place first and second in the primary. Under California’s jungle primary system, where the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party, that would guarantee a Republican governor in liberal California.

• Read more: Key Friday deadline could help determine whether California elects a Republican governor

On Tuesday morning, a website built by California election data expert Paul Mitchell to assess the likelihood of a Democratic shutout was pegging that possibility at about 15%. The website factors in recent polling and fundraising data and runs simulated primary elections to predict how much of the vote each candidate might expect to win.

“The likelihood of two Republicans effectively ‘locking out’ California Democrats from the contest for Governor in the General Election is relatively low,” California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks wrote in an open letter. “However, while it is implausible, it is not impossible.”

At its convention last week, the party failed to coalesce around one candidate to endorse. 

Hicks didn’t name any candidates in his letter. But he urged all Democrats to assess whether they have a path to victory and to drop out before Friday, the deadline to file paperwork to appear on the ballot, if they don’t. If they decide to stay in the race, he said they should assess their viability again before April 15 and endorse someone else if they can’t win.

At a forum Monday evening, most Democrats in the race declined to do just that. Moderators asked all seven of the candidates participating which of their rivals they would endorse if pressed, and just three gave an answer. Billionaire Tom Steyer said he would pick former Controller Betty Yee. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Yee and state schools chief Tony Thurmond. Yee said Steyer and Villaraigosa. No one said they planned to drop out.

Just hours after Hicks called on candidates to consider dropping out, Yee and Thurmond announced they had formally filed paperwork to appear on the ballot. Once candidates file paperwork, they cannot remove their names from the ballot.

“Bernie Sanders was right. Our political system is rigged,” Thurmond said in a video posted on social media. “The California Democratic Party is essentially telling every candidate of color in the race for governor in the race to drop out.”

The same afternoon, Villaraigosa began publicly calling for former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to drop out, citing Mitchell’s website. Becerra responded on social media that unlike Villaraigosa, he has actually been elected to statewide office.

“And I’ll do it again,” Becerra wrote.

Villaraigosa, Yee, Thurmond and Becerra all garnered less than 5% of the vote in a February poll from Emerson College, alongside San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Assembly Member Ian Calderon.

The same poll found Hilton leading with 17% and Bianco tied with Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Castro Valley, at 14%. Former Rep. Katie Porter came in fourth place with 10% followed by Steyer at 9%. 

Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, also urged candidates to drop out on Tuesday. She noted that it will be more difficult for Democrats to flip competitive U.S. House seats in California without a Democratic gubernatorial candidate at the top of the ticket to draw liberals to the polls.

“Two Republicans advancing to the general election for California governor would be beyond detrimental to the progress we have made in California to protect access to abortion and reproductive health care,” she wrote.

Planned Parenthood has not yet endorsed in the race.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has also not endorsed anyone in the race. On Monday, he said his attention has been elsewhere. That’s true, he said, for the California electorate more broadly, who have been focused on the constant stream of news coming from President Donald Trump’s White House.

Newsom acknowledged his own effort last year to redraw California’s congressional maps also took attention away from the race. 

Newsom has mostly avoided answering questions about the contest. On Monday, he suggested that might change.

“When I’m out in the community, people aren’t talking to me about it, which is interesting this late, just weeks before early voting,” he told reporters at an event in the Bay Area. “As a consequence, I’m not directly as engaged as perhaps I might need to be.”

March 3, 2026

Sophia Bollag

Politics Reporter, Sacramento

Sophia Bollag joined the San Francisco Chronicle as a politics reporter in 2022. She has covered state government from Sacramento since 2016 and has worked at The Sacramento Bee, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times. She grew up in the East Bay and graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied journalism and literature.

Mayor Lee’s homelessness office has issued a bold report. But funding is short, and there’s a different plan already on the table.

by Natalie Orenstein March 4, 2026 (Oaklandside.org)

A few months into taking office, Mayor Barbara Lee created a new, high-level city office dedicated to one of Oakland’s most severe and persistent crises: homelessness.

Now that office has released its draft “strategic action plan,” with a goal of reducing unsheltered homelessness in Oakland by 50% in the next five years.

“I wish that we could have said we’re going to get to functional zero in the next five years,” said Sasha Hauswald, who leads the new Office of Homelessness Solutions, speaking at a February meeting of the city’s Commission on Homelessness. “Not to mince words, but we don’t have the resources.”

It would cost $3.2 billion beyond what the city and county already spends to abolish homelessness in five years, she said.

Hauswald was not available for an interview by publication time. A city spokesperson responded to questions we sent.

At last count, Oakland had an estimated 3,659 unsheltered residents and 5,485 homeless people overall — numbers that have grown dramatically over the past decade. But a tally conducted this year will offer an updated snapshot.

The plan identifies a roughly $284 million annual gap in funding, and suggests avenues to pursue to plump up city resources.

The vision laid out in the new 71-page document highlights strategies that have been successful, and calls for the city to double down on those programs in the coming years. 

But it’s also not shy about weighing in on what hasn’t worked so far in Oakland and where priorities should shift, raising questions about how the administration’s approach will square with a more aggressive encampment policy the council is considering. 

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“Despite a substantially increased pace of encampment closures in 2025, reported encampments still rose,” the draft plan says. “The city lacks shelter and housing to meet the needs of unhoused individuals and without an indoor place to move, most individuals simply self-relocate to another Oakland location during encampment closures.”

The plan also lays bare the severe racial disparities in the homeless population in Oakland and calls for keeping equity at the forefront of all programs and policies. 

Ramping up what’s working already

The mayor’s plan addresses five areas:

• Preventing people from becoming homeless
• Improving access to services
• Managing homeless camps and neighborhood health
• Improving interim housing 
• Building permanent housing

Last summer, the city held 10 general community feedback sessions and two focus groups with people who’ve experienced homelessness to inform the proposal.

Oakland’s “targeted prevention” program is held up as one of the city’s most successful strategies; the plan recommends expanding it significantly. Under this program, the city identifies households that face the greatest risk of homelessness. These risk factors, according to research, include prior homelessness, severe rent burdens, and involvement in the criminal justice system. Households with these characteristics are eligible for financial assistance, social services, and legal help.

More people enter homelessness each year in Oakland than leave it. Preventing inflow costs $6,000 to $10,000 per household, according to the city, but getting someone stable and housed once they are already homeless costs tenfold that, so it’s cheaper to nip the problem in the bud before it becomes a crisis. Even so, Oakland would be left with a $21 million annual shortfall by expanding the targeted prevention program to the size the plan suggests, according to the report.

Moving people from interim housing programs into permanent supportive housing also works, the city says. Most people remain housed after that step. But Oakland can’t do this at the level that’s needed. 

“Shortages of effective emergency and transitional housing solutions, combined with scarcity of permanent affordable housing, have created bottlenecks where the street becomes a waiting room, and shelter becomes a long-term home,” the plan says.

“You get placed somewhere temporary and then forgotten,” says an unhoused person quoted in the report. “No plan, no timeline, no follow-up.”

The city recommends funding permanent housing — the subsidies that Oakland provides to developers and social service agencies — at a significantly higher rate.

Oakland needs “3,650 additional permanent, deeply affordable housing options” to cut unsheltered homelessness in half over five years, the plan says. Put in dollar figures, that’s roughly $217 million a year — or $169 million annually once you take into account existing city and county funds.

Accessing Measure W dollars and a new bond measure?

Cutting the size of the unsheltered population in half is an expensive endeavor, the plan makes clear.

The estimated $284 million annual shortfall for meeting this goal is paired with a dearth of external resources. The state is facing an extreme deficit, and the Trump Administration is poised to tighten limitations for using federal homelessness money.

One bright spot is the county’s $1.83 billion sales tax Measure W. Officials have decided that 80% of revenue will go toward homelessness, but big decisions remain on exactly how and where most of the money will be allocated. 

The city says Measure W could cover 55-61% of the budget shortfall in the report, and the plan calls on Oakland officials to advocate fiercely at the federal, state, and local levels for funding. Oakland should also put forward a new bond measure for homeless housing development, it says.

Another controversial encampment policy already on the table

How the city should handle homeless camps and treat people living in them has been one of the most engrossing and divisive debates in Oakland in recent years. Last year, Councilmember Ken Houston proposed legislation that would have the city crack down on unsheltered homelessness, towing vehicles people live in and closing more encampments, regardless of whether the city has available shelter beds.

Houston has repeatedly said that allowing encampments to remain is a safety issue for both housed and unhoused people. In response to criticism that his proposal was too aggressive, he updated the legislation to say Oakland should try to offer shelter before closing a location, but refrained from requiring it.

Houston’s proposal has been repeatedly tabled and rescheduled, but it recently cleared a hurdle when a state agency weighed in, saying his plan won’t imperil state funding. 

When she spoke to the Commission on Homelessness last month, Hauswald said her office’s plan is not meant to counter Houston’s proposal. However, it paints a different vision for the near-future of Oakland encampments. 

City closures of encampments have ballooned from 240 in 2024 to 1,212 in 2025, according to the report. This spike was due in large part to extra staff hired, large state funding awards, and priorities that shifted after Mayor Sheng Thao issued an executive order to clear more camps, the city told us.

However, the city estimates that while closures ramped up, encampments still grew, to over 1,900 locations. 

“While encampment closures are necessary to maintain usability of Oakland’s parks, schools, businesses, and critical infrastructure, forced relocation has negative and racially disproportionate impacts on unsheltered people,” the plan says. Because the city has insufficient shelter beds — under 1,300 for over 5,000 homeless people — the closures often “force residents into more dangerous locations,” cut off their access to healthcare and service, increase the loss of critical paperwork and medications, and heighten the risk of fatal overdoses, the report says, referencing research.

“Every time they sweep the camp, you lose your place in line. You lose paperwork, you lose your worker, you start over,” a homeless person says in the report.

Because almost half of Oakland’s unsheltered residents are Black, compared to 22% of the city overall, the closures have racially disparate impacts, the plan says.

The document calls for the creation of more “low-sensitivity” zones where unhoused people can generally live without being rousted. Presenting the plan, Hauswald said Oakland should “pace” its closures based on available shelter. Oakland’s current rules, and Houston’s proposal, define most of the city as “high-sensitivity,” allowing camps to be closed more easily.

In the first year of the plan, the city should expand trash pick-up and sanitation services at camps — something homeless people have long called for — increase outreach, and reinforce expectations that unsheltered residents be “good neighbors” to surrounding businesses and people, the report says. 

“We need to bring down the temperature, and bring a basic level of health and sanitation to our neighborhoods and to our unhoused neighbors,” Hauswald said at the February commission meeting.

She said the plan is “not intended to set a stake on one side of the convo. Nobody wants homelessness in Oakland…The polarizing nature of the convo is harming our ability to make practical progress.”

If both were adopted by the City Council, Houston’s legislation “would prevail over” the action plan, city spokesperson Jean Walsh said. 

A representative for Houston, speaking at a council committee meeting last week, praised Hauswald’s commission presentation but said the councilmember was frustrated that he wasn’t briefed on it in advance.

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Natalie Orenstein

natalie@oaklandside.org

Natalie Orenstein is a senior reporter covering City Hall, housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. Her reporting on a flood of eviction cases following the end of the Alameda County pandemic moratorium won recognition from the Society of Professional Reporters NorCal in 2024. Natalie was previously on staff at Berkeleyside, where she covered education, including extensive, award-winning reporting on the legacy of school desegregation in Berkeley Unified. Natalie lives in Oakland, grew up in Berkeley, and has only left her beloved East Bay once, to attend Pomona College.More by Natalie Orenstein

Diamond Dave Whitaker, a San Francisco icon and legend, dies at 88

Diamond Dave Whitaker, a San Francisco icon and legend, dies at 88

There is going to be a gathering to honor him this Saturday March 7, 3-6 pm at Hippie Hill in Golden Gste Park. Bring poetry to read and acoustic instruments.

He was also a participant in ‘Occupy’.

By Adrienne Fong

Not back posting on a regular basis.

RESOURCES:

 UPDATES WITH BAY RESISTANCE and get plugged to actions you can support, text “Resist” to 888-850-0928

GI HOTLINE (877) 477-4497

  – Share this number to people who know active duty service members

There are events listed on Indybay that might be of interest to you(many listings in the South, North & East Bays and beyond the bay area)

Please post your actions on Indybay: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/?page_id=12

Bay Area Progressive Action Calendar: ATW Bay Area / NorCal — Action Together West

ARTICLES

A. US Senate fails to advance war powers measure to rein in Trump’s Iran war – March 4, 2026

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/4/us-senate-fails-to-advance-war-powers-measure-to-rein-trumps-war-with-iran

   US House of Rep. VOTE IS TOMORROW – Thursday –

     See Petition #1

B. Marine veteran disrupts US Senate hearing – protesting US-Israeli war on Iran (2 min. YouTube)

Marine veteran disrupts US Senate hearing protesting US-Israeli war on Iran – YouTube
Marin corps veteran @brianmcginnisnc — a 4 year combat veteran– was violently pulled out of Senate hearing today, then tackled to the floor and had his arm snapped and broken by Senator Sheehy and security after saying ” Israel is the reason for this war in Iran.”

  He yelled out FREE PALESTINE as he was being cuffed in the hall.

C. No Evidence Iran Is Building Nuclear Bomb, Says UN Atomic Energy Chief

Deja vu. – March 4, 2026
https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/04/no-evidence-iran-is-building-nuclear-bomb-says-un-atomic-energy-chief/

D. The U.S. CAN’T WIN This War And Here’s Why! w/ Scott Ritter – March 3, 2026

The U.S. CAN’T WIN This War And Here’s Why! w/ Scott Ritter

   YouTube – about 6:34 min long. Turn on your sound

E. I fought in Iraq. The Iran war already feels like déjà vu – March 3, 2026

I fought in Iraq, so the Iran war already feels like deja vu

F. Iran, Epstein & Human Sacrifice

G. Minnesota county attorney investigating Gregory Bovino and other federal officials over immigration crackdown – March 2, 2026

H. Democratic Leaders Face Backlash Over ‘Cowardly’ Responses to Trump War on Iran – March 1, 20-26

Democratic Leaders Face Backlash Over ‘Cowardly’ Responses to Trump War on Iran | Common Dreams

I. Israel shuts Rafah, seals Gaza off again as joint strikes with US on Iran raise fears of wider war – February 28, 2026

J. Growing Tensions With US Could Lead Europe Deeper Into Nuclear Proliferation – February 24, 2026

Growing Tensions With US Could Lead Europe Deeper Into Nuclear Proliferation | Truthout

5 PETITIONS

1. Tell Congress to Oppose U.S. War on Iran for Israel’s Benefit

CAIR Action Alert: Tell Congress to Oppose U.S. War on Iran for Israel’s Benefit

  House of Rep. VOTE IS TOMORROW – Thursday

   Make the Call to your US Representative

   Capitol Switchboard: 202) 224-3121

 Rep. Nancy Pelosi(202) 225-4965

2. Demand companies side with the people & constitution – not the regime waging illegal war

  SIGN: Demand companies side with the people & the constitution – not the regime waging illegal war.

3. Investigate and shut down abusive ICE prisons!

  SIGN: Investigate and shut down abusive ICE prisons! | Demand Progress

4. Tell your governor: No tax breaks for Big Tech data centers

  SIGN: Tell your governor: No tax breaks for Big Tech data centers  

5. Tell Universities: End support for Chinese state-run AI labs and complicity with the Uyghur Genocide

  SIGN: Tell Universities: End support for Chinese state-run AI labs and complicity with the Uyghur genocide – Action Network

PETITIONS of Scheduled March Executions (click on the name to sign)

March 3, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET: 
Billy Kearse in Florida

–        He was executed yesterday

March 11, 2026 at 6:00 pm CT:
Cedric Ricks in Texas

March 12, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET:
Charles “Sonny” Burton in Alabama

March 17, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET:
Michael King in Florida

EVENTS / ACTIONS

Thursday, March 5 – Wednesday, March 11

Thursday, March 5

1. Thursday, 4:00pm – 6:00pm, Tell Target to STAND UP TO ICE!

Metreon Target: 789 Mission Street.

Meet on the sidewalk by the Mission Street entrance.

SF

Tell Target: We will boycott until they Stand Up To ICE!
Join us to say: Until Target acts to protect its workers and guests from ICE, we will not shop at Target!

We will hold signs, hand out flyers, and explain why we must all boycott Target until they Stand Up To ICE!
Bring a sign if you have one.
This is a peaceful protest.

Info: Tell Target to STAND UP TO ICE! : Indybay

2. Thursday, 5:30pm – 6:30pm (PT, Workshop on Local Divestment and Boycott Campaigns Targeting Military Tech Giant Palantir

Online
https://actionnetwork.org/events/from-minneapolis-to-gaza-purge-palantir-workshop

Palantir, the tech giant which powers ICE surveillance and kidnappings as well as the Israeli military’s genocide, has been expanding its contracts in communities across the US. From medical centers that use Palantir AI tech for patient services, to partnerships with utility companies, to student recruitment on university campuses, Palantir has local contracts everywhere—and community cut-the-contract campaigns to “purge Palantir” are popping up just as quickly.

Join us to learn more about different local campaigns targeting Palantir contracts in communities across the country. We’ll be joined by Cathy from Mijente to talk about stopping Palantir’s student recruitment, Amy Schur from Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment to talk about challenging Palantir’s work with utility companies, and more!

Info: Workshop on Local Divestment and Boycott Campaigns Targeting Military Tech Giant Palantir : Indybay

Friday, March 6

3. Friday, 10:30am, Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG)

SF Israeli Consulate
456 Montgomery St.
SF 

Palestinians still being slaughtered on a daily basis by Israeli Forces!

Break the silence at the SF Israel Consulate….what better place to resist?
Join our family of noisemakers and chalkers for Palestine!
We will not rest until Palestine can rest!

israeli consulate NOT welcome in the Bay Area ‼️
Come and join Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG) and autonomous activists in letting the israeli consulate know that they are NOT welcome in SF Bay Area! 

Bring noisemakers, drums, banners, whistles, horns, keffiyehs and flags  to make a proper ruckus!
No business as usual for mass murderers. 

Info: Noisemakers Against Genocide (NAG) : Indybay

4. Friday, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, Film Showing of Persepolis

Revolution Books, Berkeley
2444 Durant Ave.
Berkeley 

As the US and Israel bomb Iranian cities in an unprovoked and criminal war, we screen Persepolis.

This film comes from a perspective of opposing BOTH the horrific rule of the US-backed Shah of Iran, AND the rule of the repressive Islamic Republic, which just last month murdered thousands of protesters. This understanding and perspective is urgently needed now in relation to the US’s unjust attack on Iran.

From the 1953 CIA coup, to the Shah, to the Islamic fundamentalist theocracy, this film movingly portrays the resistance and lives of the Iranian people through the beautifully animated film of the life of Marjane Satrapi, based on her graphic novel.

In 1970s Iran, Marjane ‘Marji’ Satrapi watches events through her young eyes and her family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah’s defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

But as she grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own.

Our screening is dedicated to the people of Iran.

Watch the trailer here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PXHeKuBzPY&t=2s

Info: Film Showing of Persepolis : Indybay 

Saturday, March 7

5. Saturday, 12Noon – 2:00pm, Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday)
corner of Van Ness and O’Farrell St
SF 

We do not consent to Trump and his billionaire allies taking a chainsaw to our government and our economy for their benefit! San Francisco is a sanctuary city and We the People need to defend the values that make it so. Let’s stand united and oppose the endless assaults on our communities, our civil rights, the rule of law, and our democracy.

Keep democracy alive every Saturday by showing up, taking a stand, and sticking together for the long haul. Standing together is better than standing alone. Let’s get together and call out the Trump/MAGA regime as a community. Plus, it’s fun! Think of it as our democracy corner—a place for you to voice your opinion, hang out with like-minded fellow protesters, and experience a cathartic moment together.

What you can do:
• If you’ve got signs, flags, cardboard cutouts, or any protest visuals you want to make, bring ’em! We also have spare signs to lend.
• If you have whistles, drums, cowbells, or other noisemakers, bring ’em!
• Musicians are welcome and encouraged. Sing the song of democracy!

Sponsors: Indivisible & 50501

Info: Trump Regime Takedown (every Saturday) : Indybay

6. Saturday 2:00pm-4:00pm, The Global Struggle for Women’s Rights

In person:

The Starry Plough Pub
3101 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley 

Online: Register for your personal link at https://bit.ly/SSS-WomensRights

March is the month when we honor the history of approximately half the world’s
population. On this day before International Women’s Day, our speakers will discuss
some pioneers in women’s reproductive freedom in the U.S., and women’s movements
in Ireland, Iran, and beyond.

Speakers include:

Emer Martin – Award-winning Irish novelist; Co-founder of Saoirse Hurriya
(Palestinian/Irish Solidarity Committee); member of Fremont Education
Association

Negeene Mosaed – Founder, Berkeley Network for Palestine; member,
Democratic Socialists of America; owner/operator, Berkeley Community
Physical Therapy, a community clinic for the people of Berkeley

Marsha Feinland – Member, Peace and Freedom Party State Executive
Committee, and California Teachers’ Association (retired); Former
commissioner, Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board

An open discussion will follow the presentations. While online attendees may have their input read by the moderator, attendance in person greatly facilitates participation in the discussion

This event is sponsored by the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party,
the Alameda County Green Party and Bay Area System Change Not Climate Change.

Info: The Global Struggle for Women’s Rights : Indybay

7. Saturday, 2:00pm, SF: Stop the War on Iran – National Day of Action

Meet at:

Embarcadero Plaza
SF 

SAN FRANCISCO ACTION: This Saturday, March 7th, in cities and towns around the country, stand up to say No War on Iran!

Hundreds have already been killed by the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran—including over 100 children as they sat in their elementary school. The people of the U.S. overwhelmingly oppose the war, but that opposition needs to be expressed in the streets so it is impossible to ignore. Join a protest this Saturday, March 7, to make your voice heard!

We won’t stand by while this new war claims more lives—including the lives of U.S. service members—and Trump and the billionaires in the White House cheer.

Host: Multiple organizations

Info: SF: Stop the War on Iran – National Day of Action : Indybay 

Sunday, March 8

8. Sunday, 11:00am – 3:00pm, Oakland: International Working Women’s Day Protest March & Rally – No ICE! Stop Fascism!

Meet at:

Pergola at Lake Merritt
path near El Embarcadero and Lakeshore Ave
Oakland

The march will be roughly 1 mile on mostly flat terrain. More access information to come!

Come with loved ones and your fighting spirit as we demonstrate our power against the repression of immigrant communities, the stripping of services to the most vulnerable, the demonization of our trans kin, and the funneling of our tax dollars toward endless wars.

We uplift the hundreds of thousands of working women within Turtle Island and all around the Global South who have paved the way for revolutionary struggle today. We know that working women and gender expansive folks will light the way forward and advance our fight towards liberation.

View site for listing of organizations

Info: Oakland: International Working Women’s Day Protest March & Rally – No ICE! Stop Fascism! : Indybay

9. Sunday, 1:00pm – 4:00pm, San Francisco: Anti-Fascism March & Rally – Unleash the Power of Furious Women

Meet at:

Union Square in San Francisco
Corner of Geary Street and Stockton Street
SF 

March & Rally

The start of 2026 made one thing painfully clear: this administration thinks it’s above the law. We’ve watched cruelty become policy, chaos masquerade as leadership, and power exercised without accountability. And still, women have stood up.

The Trump regime thinks it’s above the law. Cruelty is policy. Power is exercised without accountability.

And still, women stand up.

We’ve seen women like Renee Good face fascism head-on. Her courage reminds us that bravery is a choice made in real moments, by real people, at real cost. This moment calls for more of us to be brave.

This International Women’s Day, let’s be brave together. Join us for a Brave Women Weekend of Action with a march and rally in San Francisco on March 8th. We will demonstrate the collective power of women & allies to resist, the impact of our noncompliance, and our will to build a better world.

The land of the free is under attack. The home of the brave still stands. A Free America depends on us!

Info: San Francisco: Anti-Fascism March & Rally – Unleash the Power of Furious Women : Indybay

10. Sunday, 4:30pm – 5:30pm, Webinar: Tax Resistance and Civil Disobedience

Virtua Register at https://bit.ly/3MYlvTt

join Taxpayers Against Genocide (TAG) for the educational webinar, Tax Resistance & Civil Disobedience: History, Law, and Consequences, presented by the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee

Info: Webinar: Tax Resistance and Civil Disobedience : Indybay

Monday, March 9

11. Monday, 12:30pm – 1:30pm, No Monarch’s Monday: Weekly Protest at Tesla in San Francisco

Tesla Dealership –SF
999 Van Ness Ave. (Corner of O’Farrell)
SF

Join us to stand up for democracy, civil liberties, and the planet, and against the fascist/authoritarian Trump Regime!
ABOLISH ICE! NO WAR ON IRAN!
Bring a sign if you have one.

Info: No Monarch’s Monday: Weekly Protest at Tesla in San Francisco : Indybay

Wednesday, March 11

12. Wednesday, 11:00am – 1:00pm, a humble prayer March in honor of Intl Women’s Day

Meet at:

11am Wednesday , March 11th occupied Yelamu (SF) Launch at Corner of Market and Montgomery streets

SF

1:00pm – Ends at St. Mary’s Square on California St.between Grant and Kearney Sts. SF

Homeless Women/Indigenous women/Refugee Women/Disabled women /incarcerated women/Comfort women… a humble prayer March in honor of Intl Women’s Day

Honoring women surviving the violence of borders, colonization, sweeps, evictions, and wars across Mama Earth.

The Vision (Engles)
The vision of this humble multi-generational walk in the occupied village of yelamu (SF) is to pray, to weap, to dream , to honor voices and struggles from the poorest women among us – impacted first and worst by violent gentrification , eviction , false borders, carceral systems , police Terror and violent extraction of mama earth and our mamas

Each stop on the march reflects these communities, We will b starting at Montgomery and market, above a BART station where many houseless , disabled, elder women have tried to sleep and sit and were met with violent sweeps and arrest -then to the site of an abandoned ICE korthouse -a site of false colonial border terror of indigenous women , men and families and then we will culminate at the comfort woman memorial in St Mary’s park because the far too little known story of the comfort women who were victims of terrifying sexual violence, abuse and extraction has much to teach us about the abuse and terror experienced by poor women in a colonial systems everywhere

We chose SF becuz this city currently employs some of the most violent anti-houseless , anti disabled peoples policies. As well, that all of these issues are intertwined , Most houseless women are disabled , a very high percentage are indigenous refugees from the other sides of the false borders and the only “solution” this settler town has is incarceration and criminalization

PLEASE DM us if your movement or org would like to co-sponsor

Hosts: House Keys Not Handcuffs, POOR Mag. & Other groups

Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/DVPgVNsj_w1/?hl=en&img_index=1

13. Wednesday, 1:00pm – 2:30pm, No More Nukes On 15th Annviersary of Fukushiam: SF Rally

San Francisco Japanese Consulate
275 Battery St/California St.
SF 

3/11 SF Rally At SF Japanese Consulate: On The 15th Anniversary Of Fukushima Nuclear Meltdowns-Stop Restarting Nuke Plants In Japan & Shutdown Nuke Plants Around The World

On the 15th anniverary of the meltdown of 3 nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan the government and the operator TEPCO have still been unable to remove over 880 lbs. of melted
radioactive waste. At the same time Japanese governments including the latest supporter of Nukes Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi who supports opening up all closed nuclear plants and is in full support of the expansion of nuclear power and weapons. She and her party also want to eliminate Article 9 and build a military force for military interventions around the world. She has also supported the export of weapons from Japan to other countries.

The fact that the supporters of nuclear power have still been unable to remove the radioactive waste from Fukushima is proof positive that this technology and nuclear development is a threat to not only Japan but the world.

At the same time the US Biden and now Trump administration are pushing for more nuclear plants and mini-nuclear power plants to help power the expanding data centers. Governor Gavin Newsom also with the support of the super majority of Democrats in the legislatue and Republicans in California voted to spend billions of dollars in subsidies to keep the PG&E Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open. This threat of an earthquake at this nuke pant is is real since it sits on an earthquake fault. It is also one of the reasons for the massive increase in electrical costs for rate payers in California.

We need to continue the international campaign to stop re-opening of Nuke plants and to stop the drive for nukes and war globally.

Stop Dumping Fukushima Radioactive Tritium Into The Pacific
Shutdown Diablo Canyon, No Subsidies to PG&E For Nuke Power
Defend of the Residents of Fukushima & No More Nukes In Japan and the World

Host: No Nukes Committee

Info: No More Nukes On 15th Annviersary of Fukushiam: SF Rally At SF Japanese Consulate : Indybay

14. Wednesday, 6:00pm – 7:30pm, The Future of Independent Commissions in San Francisco

Women’s Building
3543 18th St #8
SF 

Register: The Future of Independent Commissions in San Francisco · Luma

​You may attend this event in person or online. The event recording will be shared with all event registrants.

San Francisco’s system of independent commissions is one of the strongest tools residents have to hold their government accountable — and it’s now at a critical turning point.

​The Commission Streamlining Task Force, created by the voter-approved Proposition E (November 2024), is proposing changes that could dramatically weaken public oversight and concentrate more power in the Mayor’s office. This will have real consequences for housing, public safety, transit, and neighborhood services across the city.

​Come to this urgent community forum to understand what’s at stake. You’ll learn what commissions actually do, how these recommendations could reshape who makes decisions for San Francisco, and why this moment matters for everyone who cares about transparency, democracy, and the future of our city.

Host: League of Women Voters – SF

Info: The Future of Independent Commissions in San Francisco : Indybay

• By James Salazar | Examiner staff writer
• Mar 2, 2026 (SFExaminer.com)

City leaders are turning the focus of their investments in San Francisco’s Mid-Market neighborhood to its arts scene, with a new proposal on the table and positive feedback from the community.

Under a proposal from District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, the area and its five historic theatrical venues would be targeted for street performances, public art installations and other improvements as part of an effort to create a robust theater-arts district.

So far, community stakeholders have expressed optimism about what the proposal means for the continued revitalization of the area.

Last week, Mahmood proposed turning the stretch of Market Street between Fifth and Ninth streets into a cultural destination with murals, digital displays highlighting current theatrical productions, pop-up events with local small businesses, and other attractions.

The area is already a significant city hub for the performing arts. It’s home to the American Conservatory Theater’s Strand Theater, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, Golden Gate Theatre, the Orpheum and The Warfield. The proposal for a theater-arts district builds on post-pandemic investments in the neighborhood to continue its revival.

“San Francisco’s recovery starts downtown, and downtown’s recovery starts with the arts,” Mahmood said in a press release announcing the plan. “The theater arts district is about … turning the incredible venues we already have into a destination people experience both inside and outside.”

The proposal would cost an estimated $5 million, which Mahmood’s office said it will raise through a mix of philanthropic donations and contributions from The City’s public and private sectors.

Mahmood said he aims to secure an initial $1 million in pilot funding to begin the first phase of the project by the end of this year. (As a public-private partnership, the proposal would not require a formal vote by the Board of Supervisors, per Bay City News Service.)

Mahmood said in an interview that since announcing the proposal, it has been “really encouraging to see the outpouring of support from so many different walks of life.”

Tenderloin Community Benefit District Executive Director Kate Robinson said the “renewed investment in arts and thoughtful placemaking represents an important step” toward reestablishing the Mid-Market neighborhood as “a vibrant destination for both residents and visitors.”

Fernando Pujals, executive director of the Mid-Market Business Association and Foundation, said a theater-arts district will turn “a collection of great venues into a destination.” The proposal is “a great step forward,” which “catalyzes momentum that has been building in the neighborhood,” he said.

In early February, tech billionaire Chris Larsen gave The City $5 million to help revitalize the Larkin Street commercial corridor with “better lighting, cleaner sidewalks, decorative security gates and regular cultural events,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said at a press conference announcing the public-private partnership.

Last summer, the nonprofit workforce-development program Holy Stitch and the Roar Shack Live creative lab — both of which occupy formerly vacant storefronts — celebrated their one-year anniversaries in the Mid-Market neighborhood.

Mahmood said that city-backed grants, such as those issued through the Tenderloin Storefront Opportunity Grant Program, have also been helpful in revitalizing the neighborhood. Launched earlier this year by The City’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the program issues grants of up to $100,000 to entrepreneurs who set up shop in the neighborhood, with money going toward purchasing equipment, decreasing operating costs and tenant improvements.

Last February, the Community Arts Stabilization Trust and San Francisco public-radio station KALW jointly acquired the Warfield Building, with aims of turning the property into an arts and media incubator. It will provide studio and training space to local artists and arts organizations, as well as house KALW’s new broadcast studios.

“When buyers like that are investing in Mid-Market, it validates the direction this neighborhood is heading,” Pujals said.

Mahmood said that before announcing the proposal, he spent six months talking with neighborhood entertainment operators, businesses and other residents about the safety and security improvements they wanted to see in the neighborhood. He said that as a result, San Francisco Police Department officers have increased foot patrols throughout the neighborhood on weekdays, while the multiagency Drug Market Agency Coordination Center task force, launched in 2023 by then-Mayor London Breed, continues to target illegal drug activity in the Tenderloin and SoMa.

As details of the theater-arts district get hammered out, Pujals said, there needs to be continued coordination among city officials and community stakeholders.

“This has to be built together with the people who are already here,” he said.

To that end, Mahmood said, the proposal will be accomplished in stages, meaning that officials can take their efforts block by block, or focus on one element on the corridor at a time, such as lighting or artwork.

“What is clear is that this will be a phased process, so that we can continue to show progress throughout the street for years to come,” he said.

James Salazar

Neighborhoods & Culture Correspondent

(Courtesy of Tenderloin Museum)

by Randy Shaw on March 2, 2026 (BeyondChron.org)

Parking barriers clear SFs oldest drug market

Parking Barriers Deter Drug Activities

Open-air drug markets still afflict multiple San Francisco neighborhoods. The police clearly need help. While the city supplements SFPD officers with ambassadors and Sheriff’s staff, an unlikely agency could potentially make a big difference: SFMTA.

How can a transit agency impact drug markets? Drug dealers like the protection of parked cars.

That’s become clear from the Tenderloin Station’s recently blocking parking on blocks with high drug activity. Leavenworth between Golden Gate and Ellis and the longstanding drug market at Hyde and Eddy have been repeatedly targeted.

When barriers to parking are in place in both areas, drug activities steeply decline and even disappear. This occurs without the presence of police.

Why aren’t barriers always in effect on these blocks? Two reasons.

Lost Parking Revenue

First, SFMTA must approve the removal of parking. And that raises fiscal issues. In 1988, when neighborhood after neighborhood was allowed to issue Residential Parking Permits for free parking 24/7, I asked Mayor Agnos’ parking chief why Tenderloin residents couldn’t get such permits as well.

After all, in 1985 the Tenderloin was completely rezoned into a residential district. Its zoning was no different from neighborhoods that got parking permits.

To his credit, the parking chief was honest. He said, “Randy, we make so much money from parking violations in the Tenderloin that we can’t give it up.”

The low-income Tenderloin has long had among the most expensive meter rates in the city. Basically, downtown parking rates. Despite the neighborhood’s almost entirely residential zoning–new non-residential uses are banned above the second floor— when it comes to parking the city still treats the Tenderloin as if new office towers filled the community.

So Tenderloin residents with cars either park at meters and take their chances or rent space in a garage. Most understandably choose the latter option.

This leaves many Tenderloin meters to the drug trade. Residents, patrons of neighborhood businesses and those visiting the neighborhood don’t feel safe parking on drug-filled blocks.

I understand SFMTA and the city face a budget crisis. But the city should not the need for parking revenue to jeopardize public safety.

Will Drug Markets Simply Relocate?

The second issue raised about barriers is that drug activities will simply move to streets that still allow parking. After all, temporarily closing Hyde and Eddy has coincided with expanded drug activities on Larkin Street.

But drug markets already operate on streets near those protected by barriers. Clearing Leavenworth and Hyde and Eddy of drug activities frees up police to focus on closing drug markets in Little Saigon.

The Tenderloin Business Coalition has constantly called for consistency of enforcement. Barriers provide that consistency. Overall, barriers reduce overall drug activities in the Tenderloin.

A Tenderloin Precedent

We’ve been down this road before.

In 2013 the Central City SRO Collaborative (CCSROC) ran a campaign to address drug dealer parking on the first block of Turk Street. As organizer Karin Drucker wrote,

“The first block of Turk Street boasts the Tenderloin’s highest crime and violence, with open drug dealing, drug use, and people crowding the sidewalk. If you are wondering why parking impacts public safety on this block, consider that the cars parked there provide a convenient and comfortable shelter for individuals to buy and sell drugs. The lack of attention from parking enforcement encourages more and more audacious behavior including serious drug use in a neighborhood where children walk to and from school and which is a mere three blocks from the posh Nordstrom’s shopping center.”

The CCSROC then focused on getting SFMTA to agree to a two-month pilot program barring all cars from lower Turk. As Drucker wrote in February 2014:

“This two-month pilot is designed to see how much a simple change in the landscape of the street will affect its activity, and to challenge the ‘containment’ assumption I mention above. Tenderloin police Captain Jason Cherniss waxes rhapsodic about the value of public safety through environmental design; not surprisingly, he championed this pilot to Director Reiskin. Supervisor Jane Kim and her aide Ivy Lee were ardent supporters as well.

But it was pressure from SRO tenants who live in the neighborhood that truly drove this effort.” (emphasis added)

As Drucker points out, shortly before the pilot parking ban began there was a double-shooting on lower Turk. Mayor Ed Lee responded by ordering Chief Suhr to have two officers, 24/7 at Turk and Taylor. The presence of those officers likely did more than the parking ban to close the largest drug market the Tenderloin up to that point had ever seen.

But the parking ban helped. And such bans are clearing longstanding drug markets in today’s Tenderloin.

SFMTA should authorize Tenderloin Station to install barricades where they have proven effective on at least a three month trial basis.

The city still faces a sidewalk drug use emergency. City Hall must implmenent all options to stop this.

Randy Shaw

Randy Shaw is the Editor of Beyond Chron and the Director of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, which publishes Beyond Chron. Shaw’s new book is the revised and updated, The Tenderloin: Sex, Crime and Resistance in the Heart of San Francisco. His prior books include Generation Priced Out: Who Gets to Live in the New Urban America. The Activist’s Handbook: Winning Social Change in the 21st Century, and Beyond the Fields: Cesar Chavez, the UFW and the Struggle for Justice in the 21st Century.

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The sun sets over container ships and oil platforms off the coast of Huntington Beach, California on January 12, 2021. (Photo: Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Ben van Beurden’s doubling down on fossil fuels came a month after he was directly confronted over his company’s role in the climate emergency.

Andrea Germanos

Nov 04, 2021

Declaring that “cash comes from our legacy business,” the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell has asserted that continuing the company’s oil operations is necessary to help it transition away from non-oil energy operations.

Ben van Beurden made the remarks in an interview with the BBC published online Thursday.

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“If we have to build a hydrogen plant from a wind farm that we build in the North Sea for a billion dollars, that is not going to be funded by a hydrogen business–it will be funded by the oil and gas business,” van Beurden told the outlet.

X post: https://x.com/KetanJ0/status/1456208164916011016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1456208164916011016%7Ctwgr%5Ef1e2bfaca7585cbfdba559e2f6db53fb331a3149%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2021%2F11%2F04%2Fshell-ceo-we-need-keep-extracting-oil-stop-extracting-oil

The executive also pushed back against climate activists’ demands, as well as scientific studies and international warnings, against pursuing new oil fields–like the proposed extraction in the Cambo oilfield off the coast of Scotland.

“Why would you say: Let’s not get our oil and gas demands from our own resources but let’s import from somewhere else, probably with a larger carbon footprint,” he said, adding that such a move “also will not help the carbon footprint of the world.”

Van Beurden made similar comments at an energy conference last month.

“Upstream, integrated gas, and the mature businesses like marketing and chemicals, they have to provide the cash for the future,” he said at the online Energy Intelligence Forum.

“Investing in these businesses is going to be needed to keep them the strong cash engines that they currently are,” he said, adding that “upstream needs to be a strong cash engine into, and probably through, the 2030s, and we need to invest to keep it there.”

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‘Landslide Victory for Climate Justice‘: Court Rules Shell Must Cut CO2 Emissions 45% by 2030

Jessica Corbett

Those remarks came just a week before he was confronted at the TED Countdown forum in Edinburgh, Scotland by a local climate activist over his company’s links to human rights abuses in Nigeria, pursuit of new fossil fuel operations, and its appeal of a May court ruling that said Shell must decrease its carbon emissions 45% by 2030.

“I hope you know that as the climate crisis gets more and more deadly, you will be to blame,” said activist Lauren MacDonald.

BBC noted in its reporting that Shell “plans to spend four times as much on oil and gas development as on renewables next year.” The company announced plans earlier this year to hit net zero emissions by 2050, with a reliance “heavily on carbon offsets”–a scheme climate activists denounce as harmful greenwashing.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Andrea Germanos

Andrea Germanos is a senior editor and staff writer at Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

Dear San Francisco Democrats,The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (SFDCCC) met on February 25, 2026 and after deliberation, voted to endorse the following local Democratic candidates and measures for the June 2026 Primary Election: District 2 Supervisor: Stephen Sherrill  District 4 Supervisor: Alan Wong  Board of Education: Phil Kim Superior Court Judge, Seat 16: Phoebe Maffei Yes on Bond Measure – Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Yes on Charter Amendment – Term Limits Read on below to learn more about how you can support each endorsed campaign. We’ll be voting to endorse all remaining ballot measures at our March 2026 meeting later this month. Encourage your friends and neighbors to stay in the loop by subscribing to our newsletter here. Contribute to the party to help us support our endorsed candidates & campaigns win in June! Candidates for Federal and State offices are endorsed by the California Democratic Party. You can find their endorsements here.

• Google AI Overview

Research indicates that Walmart often has a detrimental effect on local, independent, and small-chain retailers, a phenomenon frequently called the “

Walmart Effect.” When Walmart opens, it often forces surrounding mom-and-pop stores to close due to superior competitive pricing, leading to reduced overall economic output and sometimes, increased community poverty levels. Facebook +4

• Impact on Small Businesses: Studies show Walmart’s entry can lead to a decrease in local, independent, and regional discount stores. It tends to trigger a shift where local, independent, and specialty shops are replaced, as these businesses cannot match the low prices of a corporate giant that also often sources most of its inventory from international suppliers.
• Economic Decline in Communities: Research suggests that five years after a Walmart enters a county, total employment in that area may decrease, with a significant decline specifically in “goods-producing establishments”. Some findings indicate that the net impact on communities is a reduction in overall wealth and lower average wages.
• Shifting Retail Landscape: Walmart’s presence often changes local traffic patterns, encouraging suburban sprawl, making towns more automobile-dependent, and sometimes leading to the decline of downtown shopping districts.
• Mixed Results: Some research, however, shows that the net effect might be limited to a small number of lost, direct-competitor, small discount stores, rather than a total destruction of all local retail, as niche boutiques or specialized shops may survive. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis +7

Overall, the prevailing research suggests that while consumers might benefit from lower prices, the local business community and the broader local economy often suffer significantly, with the overall economic impact on the community frequently described as negative. Reddit +1