Elon Musk has taken ownership of Twitter Inc TWTR-N with brutal efficiency, firing top executives but providing little clarity over how he will achieve the ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform.

“The bird is freed,” he tweeted after he completed his $44-billion acquisition on Thursday, referencing Twitter’s bird logo in an apparent nod to his desire to see the company have fewer limits on content that can be posted.

The CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc and self-described free speech absolutist has, however, also said he wants to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division.

Other goals include wanting to “defeat” spam bots on Twitter and make the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available.

Yet Musk has not offered details on how he will achieve all this and who will run the company. He has said he plans to cut jobs, leaving Twitter’s 7,500 employees fretting about their future. He also said on Thursday he did not buy Twitter to make more money but “to try to help humanity whom I love.”

Less that 10 per cent of 266 Twitter employees who participated in a poll on messaging app Blindly expected to still have their jobs in three months. Blind allows employees to air grievances anonymously after they sign up with corporate emails.

Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover: a timeline

Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform.

Agrawal and Segal were in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out, the sources added.

Musk, who also runs rocket company SpaceX, plans to become Twitter’s interim CEO according to a person familiar with the matter and following an earlier report by Reuters. Musk also plans to scrap permanent bans on users, Bloomberg said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Twitter, Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Before closing the deal, Musk walked into Twitter’s headquarters on Wednesday with a big grin and a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting “let that sink in.” He changed his Twitter profile description to “Chief Twit.”

Musk said in May he would reverse Twitter’s ban on Donald Trump, who’s account was removed after the attack on the US Capitol. A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, but the former US president previously said he won’t return to the platform and has instead launched his own social media app, Truth Social.

Musk tried to calm Twitter employee fears that major layoffs are coming and assured advertisers that his past criticism of Twitter’s content moderation rules would not harm its appeal.

“Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” Musk said in an open letter to advertisers on Thursday.

As news of the deal spread, some Twitter users were quick to flag their willingness to walk away.

“I will be happy to leave in a heartbeat if Musk, well, acts as we all expect him to,” said a user with the @mustlovedogsxo account.

European regulators also reiterated past warnings that, under Musk’s leadership, Twitter must still abide by the region’s Digital Services Act, which levies hefty fines on companies if they do not control illegal content.

“In Europe, the bird will fly by our EU rules,” EU industry chief Thierry Breton tweeted on Friday morning.

European Parliament lawmaker and civil rights proponent Patrick Breyer suggested people look for alternatives where privacy is a priority.

“Twitter already knows our personalities dangerously well due to its pervasive surveillance of our every click. Now this knowledge will be falling into Musk’s hands.”

Musk has indicated he sees Twitter as a foundation for creating a “super app” that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and ride-hailing.

But Twitter is struggling to engage its most active users who are vital to the business. These “heavy tweeters” account for less than 10 per cent of monthly overall users but generate 90 per cent of all tweets and half of global revenue.

Musk will face a challenge building revenue “given that the controversial opinions he appears to want to give more of a free rein to are often unpalatable to advertisers,” said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

The deal’s road to fruition was full of twists and turns that sowed doubt over whether it would happen at all. It began on April 4, when Musk disclosed a 9.2 per cent Twitter stake, becoming the company’s largest shareholder.

The world’s richest person then agreed to join Twitter’s board, only to balk at the last minute and offer to buy the company instead for $54.20 per share.

Over the course of just one weekend later in April, the two sides reached a deal without Musk carrying out any due diligence on the company’s confidential information.

In the weeks that followed, Musk had second thoughts. He complained publicly about Twitter’s spam accounts and his lawyers then accused Twitter of not complying with his requests for information on the subject.

The acrimony resulted in Musk telling Twitter on July 8 he was terminating the deal. Four days later, Twitter sued Musk to force him to complete the acquisition.

By then, the stock market had plunged on concerns about a potential recession. Twitter accused Musk of buyer’s remorse, arguing he wanted out of the deal because he thought he was overpaid. Most legal analysts thought Twitter would likely prevail in court.

On Oct. 4, Musk performs another U-turn, offering to complete the deal as promised. He managed to do that, just one day ahead of a deadline to avoid going to trial.

Twitter shares ended trade on Thursday up 0.3 per cent at $53.86, just under the agreed price. The stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The mayor of San Francisco announced a state of emergency Thursday over the growing number of monkeypox cases, allowing officials to cut through red tape and fight a public health crisis reminiscent of the AIDS epidemic that began devastating the city in the 1980s.

“We are at a very scary place. And we don’t want to be ignored by the federal government in our need. So many leaders of the LGBT community have also, weeks ago, asked for additional help and support and assistance,” said Mayor London Breed.

The city is in “desperate need of vaccines,” she said.

The declaration, which takes effect Monday, was welcomed by gay advocates who have grown increasingly frustrated by what they called San Francisco’s lackluster response to a virus that so far has affected primarily men who have sex with men, although anyone can get infected.

“San Francisco was at the forefront of the public health responses to HIV and COVID-19, and we will be at the forefront when it comes to monkeypox,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat who represents the city. “We can’t and won’t leave the LGBTQ community out to dry.”

The city has 281 cases, out of about 800 in California and 4,600 nationwide, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health. A national shortage of vaccine has resulted in people waiting in line for hours for scarce doses, often to be turned away when the shots run out.

Members of the LGBTQ community expressed anger and frustration at a city hearing last week, saying they were relying on social media because the San Francisco public health department had not dispensed basic information on testing or vaccine availability.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman excoriated the department, saying it was unclear why it could not staff phone lines, especially after telling people to call those phone numbers for information, while the San Francisco AIDS Foundation was able to quickly staff a monkeypox information hotline. The organization also has started a wait list for people wanting the vaccine, unlike the public health department forcing people to wait in line.

“It’s a bad look for San Francisco,” he said.

After attending the San Francisco Pride weekend in late June, Tom Temprano, 36, got a notification that at least one other attendee had tested positive for monkeypox. He called four numbers that local health officials provided in an effort to get vaccinated, but no one picked up. He left voicemails.

“I waited and I waited and I waited,” said Temprano, “And there was just sort of — I think for myself and many people — just growing concern, really, about our safety, given that we were further and further out from an exposure.”

Finally, on July 8, two weeks after being potentially exposed to the virus at the pride event, and monitoring gay social media networks all the while, he learned through an Instagram post that a vaccine drop-in clinic was being held at San Francisco General Hospital. The poster said drop everything and go now. Temprano texted a half-dozen people and rushed over.

He waited with hundreds of other people in a line that snaked out into the street and halfway down a block. After waiting for 3 1/2 hours, Temprano, who is the political director of San Francisco-based Equality California, got his first dose of the vaccine. One of his friends stood in line four times before he was able to get the shot.

Temprano was scheduled to get his second dose next week but that was canceled — with vaccine in short supply, city officials have opted to prioritize getting first doses to people. He is frustrated that authorities have taken so long to respond, and noted they did so after LGBTQ politicians in his community raised their voices.

“I think the saddest thing is there are people who are getting monkeypox now who tried to get that vaccine over the last month-and-a-half and couldn’t get one, who are sick and are in pain and are going to be out of work potentially for two to six weeks,” he said.

Wiener had urged local and state officials to declare a health emergency, which he said would give the city and counties greater flexibility to respond to the growing outbreak. For example, it would streamline getting test results to people and allow a broader array of providers to perform vaccinations.

Wiener, who is gay, also noted the parallels to the AIDS crisis in San Francisco.

“I feel like this is like deja vu — that once again, gay men are getting attacked and demonized and blamed as we get sick, and that we can never tolerate that,” he said.

In the early 1980s, the US government was slow to react as the AIDS epidemic ravaged gay communities in San Francisco and elsewhere. Groups like ACT UP emerged to push for action to fight AIDS. That struggle has echoes today.

Despite the problems with vaccine supply, federal officials said Thursday that the country’s monkeypox outbreak can still be stopped, amid worries that the US has missed the window to contain the virus.

The monkeypox virus spreads through prolonged skin-to-skin contact, which includes sex, kissing, breathing at close range, and sharing bedding and clothing, the public health department said. Health officials are asking people who could be at risk to cover exposed skin when out in crowds and to watch out for symptoms, such as fever, blisters and rashes.

The World Health Organization over the weekend declared the monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries a global emergency.

___

Selsky reported from Salem, Oregon. Associated Press writer Janie Har also contributed to this story.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced a state of emergency Thursday over the rapidly growing number of monkeypox cases in the city.

The legal action, which goes into effect Monday, allows officials to mobilize personnel and resources and cut through red tape to get ahead of the mounting public health crisis. City officials hope that the declaration will also pressure the federal government to increase the available supply of the monkeypox vaccine.

“We are at a very scary place,” Breed said at a press conference held at City Hall on Thursday. “We don’t want to be ignored by the federal government.”

Earlier this week, San Francisco had to shut down its primary monkeypox vaccination clinic at SF General Hospital for the second time this month after it again ran out of doses, turning away long lines of people. The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) said it was expecting to receive an additional 4,220 doses of the vaccine this week, bringing the total number of vaccines received to roughly 12,000 — about a third of the supply they’ve requested from the federal government.

“We have a solution in the vaccines and we want to make sure that everyone who is requesting a vaccine gets one,” Breed said.

News of the declaration — which comes amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — was welcomed by LGBTQ+ advocates who have grown increasingly frustrated by what they call a lackluster response from the city and the federal government to a virus that can infect anyone, but has so far primarily affected communities of gay and bisexual men, and men who have sex with men.

“We know the challenges of what happens in San Francisco when we put public health on the back burner,” said Breed. “During the AIDS crisis … San Francisco was virtually left on its own to fend for itself.”

During the initial onset of the HIV/AIDS crisis in San Francisco during the 1980s, the majority of infections were among gay and bisexual men, and men who have sex with men. City Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax praised the way local care providers reacted to HIV/AIDS back then and said that response has informed the way San Francisco is responding to monkeypox now.

“As a gay man who came out and did my medical training during the peak of the AIDS epidemic,” Colfax said, “I personally and professionally experienced the indifference, the homophobia and the stigma by the medical and public health institutions in regard to prioritizing HIV prevention and care.”

“But San Francisco’s community-driven and responsive care systems were a notable exception.”

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San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed and the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) on July 28 announced a local emergency declaration to strengthen the City’s preparedness and response to the rapidly rising cases of Monkeypox. This action will expedite and streamline the availability of resources to better respond to this developing health emergency.

The declaration of a local emergency is a legal action that will mobilize city resources, accelerate emergency planning, streamline staffing, coordinate agencies across the city, allow for future reimbursement by the state and federal governments and raise awareness throughout San Francisco about how everyone can stop the spread of Monkeypox in our community. It went into effect on August 1.

“San Francisco showed during COVID that early action is essential for protecting public health,” said Mayor London Breed. “We know that this virus impacts everyone equally — but we also know that those in our LGBTQ+ community are at greater risk right now. Many people in our LGBTQ+ community are scared and frustrated. This local emergency will allow us to continue to support our most at-risk, while also better preparing for what’s to come.”

Currently, SFDPH has confirmed 261 cases of monkeypox in San Francisco. There are reportedly 799 cases in California, over 4,600 cases in the United States, and more than 19,000 cases globally (in 76 countries).

“We need to be prepared and this declaration will allow us to serve the city better,” said Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax. “Our COVID-19 response has taught us that it is imperative that we mobilize city resources. The declaration helps us ensure we have all the tools available to augment our outreach, testing and treatment, especially to the LGBTQ+ who remain at the highest risk for Monkeypox .”

“San Francisco is an epicenter for the country. Thirty percent of all cases in California are in San Francisco,” said San Francisco Public Health Officer Dr. Suzanne Philip. “We have always been on the forefront of advocacy and action for LGBTQ+ health and I’m issuing this declaration to reaffirm our commitment to the wellbeing of these communities and to allow us to move more quickly to obtain and distribute the resources needed to help those disproportionately impacted.”

As Monkeypox cases continue to increase in San Francisco, the demand for vaccine remains high and additional supply is needed to stop community spread. This week, San Francisco is expected to receive 4,220 doses of Monkeypox vaccine. SFDPH initially requested 35,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine to meet the needs of San Franciscans. Including this week’s allocation, to date the City has only received approximately 12,000 doses.

“I’m grateful that San Francisco, under the leadership of Mayor Breed, understands the deep public health threat that Monkeypox poses,” said Senator Scott Wiener. “San Francisco was at the forefront of the public health responses to HIV and COVID-19, and we will be at the forefront when it comes to Monkeypox. We can’t and won’t leave the LGTBQ+ community out to dry.

”While the Monkeypox virus impacts all people, data shows significant spread in San Francisco’s LGTBQ+ community at higher rates. However, anyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, can be infected and spread monkeypox. The local emergency declaration will also provide adequate support for San Francisco’s LGTBQ+ population.

“I am grateful to our Public Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip for declaring this State of Emergency,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. “In the face of a frustratingly slow federal response, it is all the more important that we be able to mobilize all available local resources to get vaccines into arms as quickly and equitably as possible.”

“I strongly support our local public health authorities’ decision to declare a public health emergency for Monkeypox, and I think it’s important for San Franciscans to understand that this isn’t about alarmism but preparedness,” said Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “It’s a prudent step, which aligns with recent moves by the World Health Organization and the US Department of Health and Human Services. I think it also reflects the ‘San Francisco Model’ of care, which is rooted in our City’s early response to the AIDS Crisis a generation ago, and which put us far ahead of other cities’ response to COVID-19 in 2020. It prioritizes the health and safety of at-risk populations in San Francisco, and I’ll be supporting it at the Board of Supervisors.”

The City has been working diligently to increase the implementation of testing, treatment, and vaccine distribution in response to the spread of the Monkeypox virus. San Francisco has a significant number of Monkeypox cases and lacks sufficient vaccine supply for the number of people in need. SFDPH will continue to request additional vaccine allocations from the state and distribute them to community clinics, health systems, and other locations where they are needed.

Additionally, SFDPH is also reaching out to communities to raise awareness and education about monkeypox, the city’s response, and ensure clinicians remain well informed about testing, infection control, and management of monkeypox as the health emergency develops.

Monkeypox spreads through prolonged skin-to-skin contact, which includes sex, kissing, breathing at very close range, and sharing bedding and clothing.

While SFDPH continues to advocate for more vaccines for our City, here are some additional preventative measures you can take to reduce your risk of infection:

• Consider limiting opportunities that put you in close skin-to-skin contact with others

So see

•Stay home if you do not feel well and encourage your friends to do the same

•Call your doctor if you are experiencing a rash or sores

• Talk with your sexual partners about yours and their health

If you have symptoms:

• Talk to a healthcare provider as soon as possible

•Avoid skin-to-skin, or close contact with others

•Avoid sharing your bed while you have the rash

•Do your best to keep a healthy distance from othersTo find additional guidance on monkeypox, including local case counts, and updates about vaccine supply, please visit sf.gov/monkeypox

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In January 2021, Kourtney and Travis spark romance rumors again when they both posted photos of the view of her mom Kris Jenner‘s pool at her Palm Springs-area vacation home. A source later tells E! News that the two have been casually dating since around December.

“It’s been very low-key,” the insider says. “They are a really good match, and Kourtney’s entire family already loves Travis. They have been neighbors and great friends for years, and it just recently turned romantic.”

The source adds, “Travis has always had an eye for Kourtney. The chemistry and flirtation has always been there. They have a lot in common, and Kourtney has always been attracted to how Travis is as a parent. He’s an amazing, hands- on dad, and Kourtney loves that about him. They love relaxing at home with their kids, and everyone gets along. It’s going well, and they aren’t putting pressure on it being super serious at this point.”

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The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission declared a water shortage emergency on Tuesday, urging nearly 3 million of its customers in San Francisco and three other Bay Area counties to take shorter showers and conserve water.

The commission unanimously approved a commitment to voluntarily reduce the city’s water consumption by a total of 10% from the water consumption from July 2019 to June 2020.

This news comes after two consecutive winters marked by dry conditions. The 2021-2022 rainy season got off to a wet start with two atmospheric rivers drenching the region, but the past week has been dry with no significant rain forecast.

“As California continues to suffer from a devastating drought and uncertainty surrounding this wet season, we must make tough decisions that will ensure our water source continues to be dependable and dependable,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement.

“Year after year, San Franciscans work to conserve our most precious resource, resulting in one of the lowest water usage rates in California, and I know our city will once again answer the call to reduce water use at this critical time. ” She said.

The commission provides water to residents of San Francisco and provides wholesale water to customers in parts of Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. The statement calls for a 5% reduction in water use in San Francisco and a 13.7% reduction in wholesale customers. The cuts are based on fiscal year 2019-2020 levels, the commission said.

San Franciscans are among the most efficient water users in the state. SF residents use an average of 42 gallons of water per person per day, less than half the statewide average of about 90 gallons, the commission said. Wholesale customers use an average of 63.4 gallons per person per day.

“We are in the midst of a drought with far-reaching consequences, and it has become clear that we all need to do more to address it,” said Dennis Herrera, general manager of SFPUC. “San Franciscans have done their part and have one of the lowest water usage rates in the state. This emergency water scarcity declaration will help all of our customers pull together and walk in the same direction.”

As part of the declaration, the Commission will introduce a “temporary drought surcharge” of 5% for retail water and wastewater customers. The surcharge will come into effect on April 1, 2022 and will be lifted once the declaration of state of emergency ends.

Part of the emergency declaration will also include a water conservation public awareness campaign, consisting of media advertisements in multiple languages, urging customers to take action to save water, z said.

Over the summer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on all California residents to reduce water use by 15%. According to the US Drought Monitor map, 80% of California is affected by extreme drought.

Bay City News contributed to this story.

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San Francisco has some of the most environmentally conscious water users in California, and its reservoirs contain enviable reserves, a crucial resource two years after a nationwide drought.

Now the city is asking its water customers to use even less.

Members of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission voted Tuesday to declare a water shortage emergency and enact a 10% system-wide reduction in water use.

They aim to do so by asking city dwellers and businesses to cut water use by 5% and calling for more than two dozen agencies in Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties that buy water from San Francisco to save even more , by reducing water consumption by 14%.

The statement requires the city to impose a temporary surcharge on city users’ water bills of up to 5% — the amount they are told to cut from customers — to ensure rates stay within what the city wants to pay for water bills running their water systems costs . The surcharge is measured against water consumption in fiscal year 2019-2020, a timeframe chosen prior to the pandemic. At most, it is expected to increase consumer bills by about $6 per month.

Steven Ritchie, deputy director general for water at SFPUC, said at Tuesday’s meeting that the planned cuts are intended to offset the long-term impact of the drought on the city’s water resources. October’s storms brought temporary relief to northern California’s water reserves, but it wasn’t enough to erase the effects of two dry winters.

“It doesn’t look like there are any storms on the horizon,” Ritchie said. “Certainly recent storms have helped, but the drought persists.”

A rainwater collection system helps conserve water at Zan Sterling’s home.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

San Francisco’s reservoir supply remains fairly resilient at nearly 73% capacity, just below the normal 80% capacity typical for this time of year. But about a third of the supply is blocked due to government cut orders issued amid the drought.

Public Utilities Commission officials said they would return to the commissioners next year to discuss the possibility of increasing rates for about two dozen wholesale customers, such as Alameda County and the cities of Hayward, Daly City and Sunnyvale, who get their water from the get city.

San Franciscans use an average of about 42 gallons of water each day, less than the statewide average of 90 gallons.

Saving water means, among other things, turning off the tap while you lather your hands with soap and brush your teeth. On a larger scale, water collection systems can be used to collect rainwater for use in gardens.

Zan Sterling, who is working to reduce water use at her Bernal Heights home, inspects a clay watering pot she uses for her plants.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

In Bernal Heights, Zan Sterling welcomes the call to save more water.

Sterling said some of her earliest memories of growing up in the South Bay in the 1970s were when everyone stopped using sprinklers and the lawn turned brown.

“It went from flushing the toilet to ‘if it’s yellow, let it soften,'” Sterling said.

She has installed a special toilet with a faucet on the tank and uses the hand wash water to flush. She built a system to collect water draining from an awning for use in her garden. She buried clay pots at the base of her backyard fruit trees, an age-old method of collecting rainwater and soaking it into the ground when the soil is dry.

“We should all conserve water – 5% isn’t that much,” Sterling said.

Water District of Alameda County

City of Brisbane / Guadalupe Valley Municipal Improvement District

City of Burlingame

California Water Service – Bear Gulch District

California Water Service – Mid-Peninsula District

California Water Service – South San Francisco District

Coastside County Water District

City Daly City

City of East Palo Alto

Urban Improvement District Estero

Town of Hayward

City of Hillsborough

City of Menlo Park

Mid-Peninsula Water District

City of Millbrae

City of Milpitas

City of Mountain View

North Coast County Water District

City of Palo Alto

Purissima Hills Water District

City of Redwood City

City of San Bruno

City of San Jose, Municipal Water System of San Jose – North

City of Santa Clara

University at Stanford

City of Sunnyvale

Westborough County Water District

See morecollapse

However, some concerns about the impact of the SFPUC’s decision were raised during Tuesday’s meeting.

The declaration of state of emergency could allow the SFPUC to circumvent government restrictions on water withdrawals due to the drought. The State Water Resources Control Board has ordered San Francisco to stop withdrawing water from the Tuolumne River to fill its reservoirs, but the statement allows the city to request an exemption to withdraw some river water.

Peter Drekmeier, policy director for conservation group Tuolumne River Trust, asked commissioners to postpone their vote so they can have a more thorough discussion of the impact of their decisions on the rest of California. Salmon slopes have declined sharply in recent years and rivers have receded, he said in a previous interview.

“Our concern is that the Tuolumne River is in really bad shape,” Drekmeier said. “He has the worst salmon returns of our Central Valley rivers.”

The commissioners did not respond to Drekmeier’s concerns. The five commissioners voted unanimously to accept the declaration.

SFPUC President Anson Moran described the statement as a normal step during the drought. Ritchie, the PUC’s water manager, said it could be lifted once the city met its goals.

That would end the surcharge.

In an earlier version of this story, the process for a water user surcharge was misrepresented. The surcharge is 5% until the declaration of emergency is lifted.

Julie Johnson is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: julie.johnson@sfchronicle.com. Twitter @juliejohnson

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The San Francisco states were used nationwide as fodder for Fox News and other conservative media outlets as a sign of the disorder allegedly caused by liberal governance. In San Francisco, opponents of District Attorney Chesa Boudin have tried to use clutter and high-profile incidents of retail theft to drive product recalls. This week Ms. Breed used a more high-pitched language than even the harshest critics of her town.

Their announcement came as mayors across the country grapple with an increase in gun violence, murders and overdose deaths.

Ms. Breed made a list of initiatives aimed at preventing street sales of stolen property, increasing police surveillance powers and pressuring drug users to seek treatment. Ms. Breed said the declaration of emergency would reduce red tape and increase resources for the police, who, she said, have already started “arresting people who have held this neighborhood hostage” during warrant searches .

Some who work at the tenderloin said they were encouraged by Ms. Breed’s announcement.

One block from an abandoned playground, Hanh Huynh, 33, said the Vietnamese grocery store she works at has been robbed frequently and that she had recently moved because she was concerned about raising her 2-year-old in the area. Ali Baalouach, 44, said homeless people often stole the groceries he sold in his father’s halal grocery store. “I love the mayor,” he said. “Listen to her, follow the rules and do what you have to do.”

Fatou Sadio, 37, who lives two blocks from Tenderloin and does frequent shopping in the area, said she was happy with the crackdown on drugs and homelessness. “You go out your door and have to be careful,” she said, “because someone is sleeping there, using needles, and pooping.”

But not everyone welcomed the news from the mayor.

“Anyone who lives or works in the Tenderloin knows absolutely that we need to do more,” said Laura Thomas, director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Harm Reduction Policy, adding that increased criminalization and coercion are not working. “We don’t have enough services, we don’t have enough housing, we don’t have enough emergency shelters.”

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Mayor London Breed declared a local state of emergency in the criminal Tenderloin District of San Francisco on Friday, allowing city officials to forego certain laws in order to quickly counter a rising tide of deadly fentanyl overdoses.

The proclamation was an extension of the emergency intervention Breed introduced earlier this week, which aims to dispatch additional police officers to the 50-square-block neighborhood to combat increasing gun violence and open-air drug trafficking.

CONTINUE READING: Mario Gonzalez’s son is suing Alameda, police, for father’s death after being detained by officers

The state of emergency now brings additional health services. Breed announced the state of emergency during a press conference on Friday.

Raw video: San Francisco’s Mayor London Breed announces a state of emergency in the Tenderloin District

“The situation at the tenderloin is an emergency and requires an emergency response,” said Breed. “We showed during COVID that we can get things done and make real, tangible progress when we are able to use a declaration of emergency to overcome bureaucracy and barriers that stand in the way of decisive action.”

“We will use this focus and coordination to stop the illegal activities in the neighborhood, to give people the treatment and support they need, and to make the Tenderloin a safer and more livable place for families and children who call the neighborhood their home. “

The state of emergency must be ratified by the board of directors within the next seven days and will not last longer than 90 days.

Fentanyl overdoses and deaths have hit alarming levels in the city. Much of the drug trafficking can be traced back to the tenderloin and a pipeline that supplies brazen street vendors in the district from outside the city.

“We lose more than two people a day to drug overdoses, mostly from fentanyl and mostly from Tenderloin and SoMa,” said supervisor Matt Haney. “This is a public health emergency that requires a crisis level response with massive urgency, coordination and determination to address this epidemic.”

“We have proven during the pandemic that our city can move forward with solutions that are commensurate with the scale and threat of a
deadly epidemic, ”Haney continued. “We need an emergency response to drug overdoses with immediate rapid crisis intervention, contact and coordination on our streets, with advanced treatment and detoxification.”

CONTINUE READING: California’s unemployment rate drops to 6.9%, its lowest level since the pandemic began

Breed’s anger and frustration over a surge in crime in the city, particularly the Tenderloin, was fully shown at another press conference earlier this week.

“It is time to end the rule of the criminals who are destroying our city,” she said. “And it ends when we take steps to make law enforcement more aggressive. More aggressive with the changes in our policy and less tolerant of all the crap that has destroyed our city. “

RAW VIDEO: Mayor Breed announces aggressive crackdown on crime

On Tuesday afternoon, the SFPD’s Tenderloin Station Twitter account released information about police activities in the neighborhood over the past week, including the seizure of nearly a kilo of drugs – of which more than half (over 600 grams) was fentanyl – and the arrests of 17 suspected drug dealers.

Of these suspected dealers, 14 had previously been arrested in San Francisco.

Last week drug control in the TL:
– more than 950 grams of drugs seized (more than 600 grams of fentanyl)
– Seized over $ 3,400 in drug money
– 3 knives and 1 taser confiscated
– 17 dealers arrested (14 had previous SF arrests, 5 violated no-show orders, 6 pending arrest warrants)

– SFPD Tenderloin (@SFPDTenderloin) December 14, 2021

The Tenderloin raid was just one of four crime-fighting initiatives that Breed announced at a press conference that afternoon.

The other three were:

• Securing the funding of the emergency police for the required resources
• Changing our surveillance regulation to allow law enforcement agencies to interrupt crime in real time
• Stopping illegal street sales of stolen property.

“In the past few months we have seen not only a number of high-profile incidents of brazen robberies and car break-ins, but also street behavior and criminal activity, especially in the tenderloin, that has become far too normal and can no longer be tolerated,” Rasse said.

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“All of our residents, our workers and everyone who visits our city should feel safe, no matter what part of the city they are in. I know San Francisco is a compassionate city, ”continued Breed. “We are a city that prides itself on second chances and rehabilitation. But we are not a city where anything is possible. Our compassion should not be confused with weakness or indifference. “

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The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission declared a water shortage emergency on Tuesday and urged nearly 3 million of its customers in San Francisco and three other Bay Area counties to take shorter showers and conserve water.

The commission unanimously voted to voluntarily reduce the city’s water consumption by a total of 10% compared to water consumption from July 2019 to June 2020.

This news comes after two consecutive winters of drought. The 2021-2022 rainy season got off to a wet start with two atmospheric rivers soaking the region, but the last week has been dry and no significant rain is forecast.

“With California still suffering from devastating drought and uncertainty this rainy season, we must make tough decisions to ensure our water source continues to be reliable and dependable,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement.

“Year after year, the San Franciscans strive to conserve our most precious resource, resulting in one of the lowest water usage rates in California. ” She said.

The commission provides water to residents of San Francisco and wholesale water to customers in parts of Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. The statement calls for a 5% reduction in water use in San Francisco and 13.7% in wholesale customers. The cuts are based on fiscal year 2019-2020 levels, the commission said.

San Franciscans are among the most efficient water users in the state. SF residents use an average of 42 gallons of water per person per day, less than half the national average of about 90 gallons, the commission said. Wholesale customers consume an average of 63.4 gallons per person per day.

“We are in a drought with far-reaching consequences, and it has become clear that we all need to do more to combat it,” said SFPUC Managing Director Dennis Herrera. “The San Franciscans have done their part and have some of the lowest water usage in the state. This water scarcity declaration will help all of our customers pull together and go in the same direction.”

As part of the declaration, the Commission will introduce a “temporary drought surcharge” of 5% for water and wastewater consumers. The surcharge will come into force on April 1, 2022 and will be lifted after the declaration of emergency has expired.

Part of the declaration of emergency will also include a public awareness campaign on water conservation, which consists of media advertising in several languages ​​and encourages customers to take measures to save water, such as

Over the summer, California Governor Gavin Newsom urged all California residents to reduce water use by 15%. According to the federal map of the US Drought Monitor, 80% of California is in extreme drought.

Bay City News contributed to this story.

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