SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s former public works director, who pleaded guilty to steering public contracts and taking pricey gifts, was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison in a corruption case that ensnared several City Hall officials and insiders.

Mohammed Nuru in January pleaded guilty to what federal prosecutors described as “a staggering amount of public corruption” during his time leading the city’s Department of Public Works. Federal prosecutors said that over a 12-year period, Nuru accepted more than $1 million in money, international trips, jewelry, restaurant meals and other goods and services from city contractors and developers in exchange for preferential treatment and confidential information about city business.

“This is a tale of greed as old as time,” federal prosecutors said in a court filing requesting that Nuru, who they described as the “quintessential grifter,” serve at least nine years in prison, get three years probation upon his release and pay $35,000 in fines to deter other officials from doing the same. Nuru’s attorneys had asked for a three-year sentence, which Judge William Orrick said didn’t “come close to recognizing the gravity of this case.”

Orrick agreed with prosecutors saying it was important for the sentence to “make clear that public corruption cannot be tolerated in a democratic society. When it’s discovered, it should come at a high cost for its practitioners.”

Orrick said he considered the good things Nuru has done in life when issuing his seven-year sentence in a packed courtroom. He also sentenced Nuru to three years of probation and ordered him to pay $35,000 in fines.

Authorities said that much of the bribe money paid to Nuru went to fund his ranch in Colusa County where he planned to retire. As part of a plea agreement, Nuru forfeited the ranch that federal prosecutors called “a monument to his grifting.”

The mortgage on the sprawling property “was partly paid by laundered bribes from city contractors, with a large home custom-built and furnished by city contractors, on grounds maintained with the help of equipment and soil provided by city contractors,” federal prosecutors said.

In exchange for his guilty plea on the fraud charge, prosecutors agreed to drop additional charges, including lying to the FBI and money laundering.

The sweeping City Hall corruption probe topped prominent leaders, including Harlan Kelly, the former general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, who is accused of receiving thousands of dollars in travel expenses, meals, jewelry and repair work on his house.

Mayor London Breed, who dated Nuru more than 20 years ago, was not charged with any crimes but admitted to receiving $5,528 for car repairs and a rental car in 2019 from him.

More than 100 family members, friends, and former colleagues sent letters of support for Nuru, who was known as Mr. Clean because of his efforts to clean San Francisco’s dirty streets, praising his dedication to his five children, who he raised as a single father, and his work for the residents of San Francisco, and describing him as kind and hard-working.

Public Works Deputy Director for Operations DiJaida Durden wrote to the judge asking for leniency for her former boss, explaining that she worked for Nuru for 19 years starting as a cement mason.

“He wanted us to take pride in how our city looks,” she wrote. “Mr. Clean certainly fit his style of working because not only did he encourage staff to take care of the city, he did it himself.”

In a four-page letter to the judge before sentencing, Nuru apologized for violating the trust of the people of San Francisco, saying his behavior left him in constant anxiety but still, he did not stop. He highlighted his health problems and asked for leniency and a second chance.

“I accept full responsibility for violating the public trust,” he wrote. “I hope and pray that the sentence will allow me to demonstrate afterwards that I have learned my lesson.”

Nuru, 59, was among the first of 12 people and three corporate entities to face federal charges due to the Department of Justice’s probe into public corruption in the city and county of San Francisco. After he was arrested in January 2020, he agreed to cooperate with the investigation and not disclose his arrest but shortly after told multiple people being investigated about the probe. He then lied to the FBI about his disclosure.

Last year, a recycling plant owner was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after stating in a plea agreement that she plied Nuru with gifts that included a $36,500 gold Rolex watch. Florence Kong, who owned SFR Recovery Inc., was the first person to be sentenced as part of a federal probe into citywide corruption. Contractor Alan Varela, who along with two fellow businessmen gave Nuru a $40,000 tractor and accessories to do work on his ranch, was sentenced to two years in prison.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — As a high-ranking city official, Mohammed Nuru got a $278,000 annual salary and looked forward to a lucrative retirement with a $7,000-a-month pension. Now the self-titled “Mr. Clean” will spend the next seven years in federal prison for public corruption.

“It is important that this sentence make clear that public corruption cannot be tolerated in a democratic society,” US District Judge William Orrick said, calling Nuru’s crimes among the most reprehensible he’s seen.

Nuru, who headed the city’s public works department for 12 years until his arrest in Jan. 2020, pleaded guilty to one count of honest services fraud last year, admitting he received envelopes of cash, free international trips and hotel stays, a $36,000 watch, free construction labor and materials for his vacation home and other benefits in exchange for favors to city contractors and developers.

Nuru admitted working with permit expediter Walter Wong to help a billionaire developer from China win approvals for a multimillion-dollar mixed-use development in San Francisco. The developer, who owned multiple five-star hotels, gave Nuru free travel and luxury hotel stays, high-end liquor, meals and other gifts.

In exchange, Nuru ordered subordinates to help the Chinese businessman cut through red tape and used his influence with other city officials to expedite approvals in various departments. Wong pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the public in June 2020 and agreed to cooperate with authorities. Wong’s next court date is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2023.

“You made the city’s building permitting process a farce,” Orrick chided Nuru, who stood before Orrick in a dark suit flanked by his defense attorneys. “What you did for 12 years undermines civil service and trust in government everywhere. The assumption becomes that they all do it. But they don’t all do it. But you did it. Your crime resulted from greed. And you called into question fairness of the bidding department. You have weakened the public’s confidence in our leaders.”

Nuru was eventually caught after a failed attempt at bribing an airport commissioner on behalf of disgraced restaurateur Nick Bovis, who wanted to open a concession at the San Francisco International Airport.

Prosecutors had recommended a nine-year sentence for 59-year-old Nuru, seeking to make an example out of him for undermining the public’s trust in government.

“A substantial sentence would send a message to other public officials that using their office for their own personal benefit will result in significant jail time. It also sends a message to the public that the courts and the government take this conduct very seriously and that nobody should simply accept this kind of criminal activity from their public officials,” Assistant US Attorney Alexandra Shepard told the judge.

She reminded Orrick that Nuru had been obstructed rather than helped the FBI’s investigation. Shortly after he was pulled out of the security line at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, she said he began to tip off friends who might also be targets, then later lied to the FBI about his actions.

The government’s sentencing memo casts Nuru as a rapacious power broker, insulated by a network of co-conspirators who needed his influence to win coveted city contracts.

Nuru accepted kickbacks and bribes from a number of city officials and business people, including the waste management company Recology in exchange for his help in raising the trash collection rates of San Francisco residents.

At Nuru’s request, Recology gave the former DPW director’s son a job that paid $17,000 over two years and funded a paid internship at a nonprofit that earned his son $23,600. Nuru further admitted that he told Recology executives to funnel $60,000 into a charity account that he used to pay for DPW holiday parties.

He also received $20,000 in restaurant meals and a $40,000 tractor for his vacation home from contractors William Gilmartin and Alan Varela in exchange for inside information about a city contract to build and operate an asphalt recycling plant, and $250,000 in labor and materials for his vacation home in Stonyford near Mendocino National Forest from contractor Balmore Hernandez. All three pleaded guilty to bribery.

Nuru also confessed to receiving a Rolex watch, cash and other gifts from Florence Kong, a Chinese immigrant businesswoman who Nuru helped win city contracts for her recycling company.

Shepard noted Nuru’s shakedowns occurred in tandem with another public corruption scandal that implicated former state Senator Leland Yee, who was sentenced five years in prison in 2015 for accepting bribes from undercover FBI agents. Yee also agreed to vote on certain legislation, help phony companies get state grants and contracts, and offered to import guns from a suspected terrorist group in the Philippines in exchange for campaign donations.

“It’s inexplicable that [Nuru] could see fellow politicians being arrested, convicted and sentenced for public corruption crimes and still continue,” Shepard said.

Nuru’s attorneys pleaded with Orrick for leniency, touting his long history of being a mentor and leader in the community who regularly welcomed homeless people into his home to live with him, and gave former inmates jobs.

Defense Attorney Miles Ehrlich noted the throngs of friends, family and former employees who packed the gallery, spilling into the aisles and out the door. Many of them gasped and began to cry after Orrick handed down his sentence.

Orrick said he was moved by the dozens of letters and character statements he received on Nuru’s behalf. “They speak eloquently about a man who has done really admirable work and has benefited this city,” Orrick said. “I’ve read and been moved by your stories. That is precisely what makes this sentencing so difficult.”

Turning to Nuru, he said, “You were a well regarded leader of this city and from 2008-2020 you were taking bribes and corrupting our public life.”

Outside the courtroom, Nuru hugged his supporters and brushed off requests for comment from reporters. His attorney Katherine Kates, who also declined to speak, handed out prepared statements that read: “Again, I want to apologize to the people of San Francisco for my misconduct. Now that sentencing is behind me, I plan to concentrate on my family and my health in the near term. I look forward to the time that I can return to serving my community and work to repair the damage that my actions caused both the city and my family.”

Nuru requested a surrender date in January, citing acute diabetes and a recent heart attack that required two surgeries. Orrick granted the request and set his surrender date for Jan. 6, 2023.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s former public works director, who pleaded guilty to steering public contracts and taking pricey gifts, was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison in a corruption case that ensnared several City Hall officials and insiders.

Mohammed Nuru in January pleaded guilty to what federal prosecutors described as “a staggering amount of public corruption” during his time leading the city’s Department of Public Works. Federal prosecutors said that over a 12-year period, Nuru accepted more than $1 million in money, international trips, jewelry, restaurant meals and other goods and services from city contractors and developers in exchange for preferential treatment and confidential information about city business.

“This is a tale of greed as old as time,” federal prosecutors said in a court filing requesting that Nuru, who they described as the “quintessential grifter,” serve at least nine years in prison, get three years probation upon his release and pay $35,000 in fines to deter other officials from doing the same. Nuru’s attorneys had asked for a three-year sentence, which Judge William Orrick said didn’t “come close to recognizing the gravity of this case.”

Orrick agreed with prosecutors saying it was important for the sentence to “make clear that public corruption cannot be tolerated in a democratic society. When it’s discovered, it should come at a high cost for its practitioners.”

Orrick said he considered the good things Nuru has done in life when issuing his seven-year sentence in a packed courtroom. He also sentenced Nuru to three years of probation and ordered him to pay $35,000 in fines.

FILE – Mohammed Nuru, then-director of San Francisco Public Works, is interviewed at the Tenderloin Pit Stop mobile bathrooms in San Francisco on March 19, 2015. San Francisco’s former public works director, who pleaded guilty to steering public contracts and taking pricey gifts , was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison in a corruption case that ensnared several City Hall officials and insiders. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jeff Chiu

Authorities said that much of the bribe money paid to Nuru went to fund his ranch in Colusa County where he planned to retire. As part of a plea agreement, Nuru forfeited the ranch that federal prosecutors called “a monument to his grifting.”

The mortgage on the sprawling property “was partly paid by laundered bribes from city contractors, with a large home custom-built and furnished by city contractors, on grounds maintained with the help of equipment and soil provided by city contractors,” federal prosecutors said.

In exchange for his guilty plea on the fraud charge, prosecutors agreed to drop additional charges, including lying to the FBI and money laundering.

The sweeping City Hall corruption probe topped prominent leaders, including Harlan Kelly, the former general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, who is accused of receiving thousands of dollars in travel expenses, meals, jewelry and repair work on his house.

Mayor London Breed, who dated Nuru more than 20 years ago, was not charged with any crimes but admitted to receiving $5,528 for car repairs and a rental car in 2019 from him.

More than 100 family members, friends, and former colleagues sent letters of support for Nuru, who was known as Mr. Clean because of his efforts to clean San Francisco’s dirty streets, praising his dedication to his five children, who he raised as a single father, and his work for the residents of San Francisco, and describing him as kind and hard-working.

Public Works Deputy Director for Operations DiJaida Durden wrote to the judge asking for leniency for her former boss, explaining that she worked for Nuru for 19 years starting as a cement mason.

“He wanted us to take pride in how our city looks,” she wrote. “Mr. Clean certainly fit his style of working because not only did he encourage staff to take care of the city, he did it himself.”

In a four-page letter to the judge before sentencing, Nuru apologized for violating the trust of the people of San Francisco, saying his behavior left him in constant anxiety but still, he did not stop. He highlighted his health problems and asked for leniency and a second chance.

“I accept full responsibility for violating the public trust,” he wrote. “I hope and pray that the sentence will allow me to demonstrate afterwards that I have learned my lesson.”

Nuru, 59, was among the first of 12 people and three corporate entities to face federal charges due to the Department of Justice’s probe into public corruption in the city and county of San Francisco. After he was arrested in January 2020, he agreed to cooperate with the investigation and not disclose his arrest but shortly after told multiple people being investigated about the probe. He then lied to the FBI about his disclosure.

Last year, a recycling plant owner was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after stating in a plea agreement that she plied Nuru with gifts that included a $36,500 gold Rolex watch. Florence Kong, who owned SFR Recovery Inc., was the first person to be sentenced as part of a federal probe into citywide corruption. Contractor Alan Varela, who along with two fellow businessmen gave Nuru a $40,000 tractor and accessories to do work on his ranch, was sentenced to two years in prison.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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SAN FRANCISCO – Alan Varela was sentenced to 24 months in prison in federal court today and fined $ 127,000 for a seven year conspiracy to commit honest service fraud by bribing a public official in San Francisco, Acting US Attorney Stephanie M said Hinds and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Representative Craig D. Fair. The verdict was passed by the Honorable William H. Orrick, District Judge of the United States.

A federal complaint filed on September 17, 2020 accused Varela, 60, of Orinda and William Gilmartin, 61, of San Mateo, of bribing a public official. In 1991, Varela founded ProVen Management, a Bay Area civil engineering and construction company engaged in major infrastructure projects. Varela and Gilmartin served as the company’s president and vice president, respectively, during the conspiracy period. According to the complaint, Varela and Gilmartin granted Mohammed Nuru, then director of the Department of Public Works (DPW) of San Francisco, a number of benefits in exchange for favorable treatment of their business interests, including non-public inside information.

As Varela on the 27. The aim of the bribe was to use Nuru’s fame as a powerful official in San Francisco to ensure the success of Varela and his co-conspirators. Nuru’s position as DPW director gave him great influence on public contracts, permits and construction projects in San Francisco, as well as on other city governments and private companies seeking DPW contracts. In his plea agreement, Varela admitted that for seven years, from 2013 to the day Nuru was arrested on federal charges on February 27, he cooperated with the FBI – and with others, to pay Nuru bribes consisting of cash and free meals and entertainment, equipment for Nuru’s ranch and the prospect of a cut in future profits from anticipated city contracts.

Varela’s settlement agreement contained a plan in which he and his co-conspirators focused on winning a lucrative DPW contract and related lease for the Port of San Francisco to operate an asphalt recycling plant and concrete factory on the port’s land. The plea agreement describes that in exchange for cash and other valuables, Nuru agreed to use his official position to select Varela and the proposals of his co-conspirators. Gilmartin arranged to compensate Nuru by asking an undisclosed company to give Hernandez a $ 100,000 contract, and Hernandez, in turn, used the proceeds of the contract on Nuru. In turn, Nuru sent drafts of San Francisco’s proposal for the project and other inside information to the conspirators to increase their chances of being selected. Nuru also regularly discussed the plans and inside information with Gilmartin and Hernandez at expensive restaurant dinners, always paid for by Gilmartin, which ended up being around $ 20,000.

The conspirators’ proposal was selected in September 2015. Under the agreement, Nuru continued to meet with the group to provide additional inside information during the expensive meals Gilmartin paid for. At one of their meetings, Nuru asked for a tractor for his ranch. Varela coordinated the delivery of the tractor to Nuru with Gilmartin and Hernandez.

Nuru was arrested on January 27, 2020 on federal bribery charges prior to finalizing negotiations to finalize the asphalt recycling plant agreements with DPW and the Port of San Francisco.

In a submitted memorandum on Varela’s conviction, the government argued that Varela’s behavior towards Nuru was normal for Varela. The government claimed Varela, whose business success had given him a luxurious 50-acre life in Napa, had for years fostered a casual culture of corruption, a culture that ultimately undermines public confidence in their government and the rule of law. Regarding the tractor’s kickbacks, the Judgment Memorandum indicates that the value of the new John Deere tractor, including its attachments, was approximately $ 40,000. Varela lined up the purchase of the tractor and hurried to have it delivered to Nuru at Nuru’s ranch on February 18, 2019. After outlining these and other acts of bribery, the government issued a recommendation of 30 months in prison.

This case is part of a larger state investigation into public corruption in the city and county of San Francisco. Eleven people have been charged so far, including two senior San Francisco officials, Mohammed Nuru and Harlan Kelly. Several city contractors and mediators have been charged. According to charges against Mohammed Nuru and others, Nuru allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in cash, meals and work in his vacation home from contractors who received public contracts in San Francisco. The lawsuit against Harlan Kelly alleges that he received thousands of dollars in airfare, meals, jewelry and travel expenses, and repairs to his home.

In addition to a term of imprisonment and a fine, US District Judge Orrick also sentenced the defendant to a three-year supervised release. Varela will serve his sentence from January 2022.

The case is being prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Corporate and Securities Fraud Department. The FBI is investigating the case.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – BART officials said Wednesday climate change and sea level rise will pose a growing threat to the transit system in the coming decades.

The ailing transport company is trying to find money to combat the long-term but looming threat.

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“One of the predictions is that by mid-century we might see tides a foot higher than they are now. So that’s 2050, ”said BART spokesman Jim Allison.

BART engineers say sea level rise could have a number of potential effects. For example, the Embarcadero train station in San Francisco could occasionally be inundated by floods.

Other stations could be threatened by rising groundwater, which would strain the existing pumps and the aging infrastructure of the system.

“The thing for me is that we’re at the height of technology and innovation in the Bay Area, but this is an old system that is really shabby,” said BART driver Jason Caballero.

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BART has identified many of the potential problem areas, but the agency relies on injections of money from the federal government just to keep trains running.

“The devastating effects of the pandemic and the dramatic decrease in the number of passengers paying for their tickets have really turned our funding plan upside down,” Allison said.

BART drivers say they understand the transportation company’s financial plight but are concerned about the long-term costs of inaction.

“It might be better to say, ‘Let’s pretend it’ll happen in 10 years.’ And what could the BART system do in 10 years to avoid being caught wading in the BART system with pants down and knee-deep water? ”Asked rider Bianca Espinoza.

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BART officials noted that several vulnerable stations are connected to other important pieces of infrastructure in the Bay Area, such as the airports in San Francisco and Oakland. Any plan to mitigate this impact would necessarily have to be regional and collaborative.

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Montgomery County’s Director of Health became a household name during the coronavirus pandemic, but now Dr. Travis Gayles is preparing for the next step in his career.

Gayles said the past 18 months have been like an “ongoing marathon”.

“I’m not a marathon runner, but I can imagine that is how it feels, especially when you see the end and the finish line,” he said.

In less than two weeks, Gayles will be leaving the Dennis Avenue Health Center for the last time, leaving the county to end the race without his most prominent public health voice.

Gayles joins Hazel Health, a San Francisco-based startup providing telehealth services to K-12 schools.

“As a pediatrician, as someone who has researched and worked in the field my entire career, I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to continue this particular mission, but at the same time you are exhausted,” he said.

Gayles first found out about COVID-19 in late 2019. The county had no confirmed cases, but that changed within a few weeks.

Gayles and his team of doctors, epidemiologists, and other public health experts tried to fend off an invisible enemy, but soon found themselves caught in a health system full of injustices.

“Many of the health decisions we have had to make have been compounded by long-standing inequalities and inequalities in systems,” said Gayles.

The public health response to address these inequalities often brings the county into conflict with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

“I stand by the choices we make because they are based on data and science to keep our residents safe,” said Gayles.

“Our job is to say what is healthiest for communities and what keeps people safe,” he said.

Communicating these bitter truths during the weekly COVID-19 briefings made Gayles a target of racist and homophobic abuse.

“You develop thick skin and brush off a lot of things, but you get to a point where you think, we’re trying to protect people as best we can,” he said.

Gayles is joining a number of public health officials who are leaving their jobs across the country. He said the ongoing politicization of the pandemic is pushing many of them to exit.

Gayles said lessons still need to be learned to better prepare for the next pandemic.

“When a pandemic highlights and draws attention to these differences, this is the time to address them,” he said. “This is the time for this work, and if we don’t, we will regret it in five, 10, 20 years.”

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San Francisco’s top health official announced an update on the city’s COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, saying the increase in new cases has slowed slightly since the day immediately after Thanksgiving, showing that the city’s new stay-at-home policy , is working.

Dr. Grant Colfax said two weeks ago the number of new daily cases increased by an average of 8% per day, while starting Tuesday they increased by 2% per day.

“This is because of the changes we’ve made to our behavior,” Colfax said, referring to the new December 7th health ordinance that closed everything from outdoor restaurants to museums. “This is a hopeful sign. It is an improvement. But I must stress that we still have a long way to go. Remember, this rate will continue to fall. Even if we continue at this current rate would increase, our situation would continue to increase. ” That was going to be bad for the next few months. Let’s go ahead and slow down this virus. Let’s not have a situation that happened right after Thanksgiving. “

As noted in previous press conferences, Colfax keeps a close eye on the city’s reproduction rate (Rt). This is the average number of people infected by a sick person. If it is above 1.0, a virus is spreading quickly. A virus can die if the RT is below 1.0.

The city’s reproduction rate was estimated at 1.45 before the order was imposed on December 5, and at the time Colfax said the city was forecasting there could be up to 544 additional deaths. Due to the new restrictions, the rate has dropped to 1.24 as of December 20, and Colfax said if the Rt persists at those levels, the city could see up to 214 additional deaths.

“I know these differences, 1.45 versus 1.24, don’t sound like much, but as a result of this change, the projected median hospital stays have decreased from 1,490 to 590,” said Colfax. “The additional estimated mean deaths are down by 330, which is 330 people projected to die from COVID-19 in San Francisco who may not die. And we did, and we must continue to do it together When we move forward, by limiting our mobility, wearing a mask, social distancing, and not even gathering in small groups, we have saved lives.

SFDEM and Mayor of London N. Breed – Virtual Press Conference – COVID-19 Update – December 22, 2020 https://t.co/6GJjbwLDiz

– City of San Francisco (@sfgov) December 22, 2020

California Governor Gavin Newsom introduced the stay-at-home order last month to keep local health systems from collapsing under the weight of skyrocketing COVID-19 case numbers.

It divides the state into five major regions and limits those with ICU bed capacity below 15%. After it comes into force, the order comes into effect for three weeks, but it can be extended.

San Francisco and several Bay Area counties issued the state mandate order even though the area’s intensive care units didn’t drop below 15%. The region has since hit the threshold, and the state ordinance went into effect on December 17 and can repeal it on January 8 if the ICU capacity is 15% or more.

Colfax said he currently doesn’t know if the date will be extended.

“That depends on regional capacity,” said Colfax. “We will continue to monitor our local prosecutors in San Francisco and determine if further action is required.”

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It’s the question all Franciscans ask: When will COVID-19 restrictions be eased?

The city’s health director was asked this question at a press conference on Tuesday, and while Dr. When Grant Colfax gave a vague answer, he implied that the stay-home order could go on for weeks.

“Our numbers are still going up, and it usually takes a few weeks for those numbers to go down once they level off,” Colfax said. “Right now we are under the state emergency shelter. I expect we will stay with it until at least the end of this month. And really we have to look at the numbers to see if there are any cases.” and hospitalization rates will start to drop and then we’ll have a much better sense of when we’re going to be able to gradually open up. “

California Governor Gavin Newsom introduced regional home stay ordinance in early December to keep local health systems from collapsing under the weight of skyrocketing COVID-19 case numbers.

It divides the state into five major regions – SF is part of the Greater Bay Area – and limits those with ICU bed capacity below 15%. The mandate requires most businesses other than essential services and retail to close their stores. Residents in areas for which the contract was awarded are asked to stay at home except for work, shopping, or other important activities, such as walking tours. B. when visiting the doctor’s office.

A county may choose to be more restrictive than the state’s regional stay-at-home order, and San Francisco was among several counties in the Bay Area that preventively passed the ordinance on Dec. 3, before the ICU capacity fell below 15% fell.

Intensive care capacity is now well below threshold, and state data shows the Bay Area region is 4.7% on Tuesday.

According to the California Department of Health, health officials will not consider lifting the Bay Area order until the region’s four-week intensive projection is at least 15% capacity.

In this file photo, a woman jogging in Golden Gate Park walks past signs reminding people of social distance and wearing masks in San Francisco.

Douglas Zimmerman / SFGATE

Colfax opened the press conference on Tuesday with an update on the state of the pandemic in the city.

“What we are seeing is a holiday spike on top of an even bigger Thanksgiving spike. We’re in a dynamic situation where the cases in a holiday spike after December go beyond an already record spike after Thanksgiving. Post Thanksgiving In the weeks after that On Holiday, we’ve seen cases increase by about 70%. Now we’ve seen our post-holiday increase increase by about 28%. “

Colfax said the city has an average of 280 new cases a day, roughly the same case rate after Thanksgiving.

As cases rise, hospitalizations are increasing, and as of Tuesday, 249 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized in SF, compared with 114 at the peak of the summer surge in July, Colfax said.

“We have to work to smooth that curve,” said Colfax. “We have to turn that around.”

According to Colfax, vaccines are a key tool in containing the virus. The city is keen to expand its vaccine delivery infrastructure and will open locations across the city as the vaccine supply increases. The city has focused on vaccinating health workers and residents of qualified care facilities, and this week the San Francisco Health Network will be vaccinating people 65 and over at its 14 locations, including the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital begin Laguna Honda Hospital. More than 14,000 people aged 65 and over are cared for by the San Francisco Health Network. The network offers health care regardless of immigration status or lack of insurance.

Colfax found that 95% of the population in San Francisco has health insurance – mostly through Kaiser, Sutter Health, and UCSF – and those residents should check with their providers for information about vaccines.

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Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, is shown in a 2019 file photo. Cardinal Tagle virtually delivered the annual Trócaire / St. Patrick’s College fasting lecture March 9, 2021. (CNS photo / Eloisa Lopez, Reuters)

March 10, 2021
Sarah Mac Donald
Catholic intelligence service

DUBLIN – Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, leader of the Vatican Evangelizing Church, has expressed concern over the “kidnapping” of religion by populist leaders who are sowing division and taking advantage of the anger of those who feel excluded.

Speaking after giving the 2021 Trócaire / St. Patrick’s College Maynooth, annual fasting lecture on March 9th on “Caring for the Human Family and Our Common Home,” the Filipino prelate warned, “In today’s world, the sense of division, and growing unfortunately religion is sometimes used to further divide Even within the same religious affiliation there are divisions. “

Referring to the recent rise of populist leaders, Cardinal Tagle described the phenomenon as “the return of powerful big bosses,” some of whom are “hijacking religion”.

These so-called populist leaders know where the pockets of angry people are and they present themselves as the messiah, he said. They use religion as a “convenient way” to find followers, he added.

The President of Caritas Internationalis noted that in the encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” Pope Francis devoted several paragraphs to the question of populist leaders who claim that they are defending the people when in fact they are defending a certain group.

Speaking of Zoom from Rome, the cardinal stressed, “We must carefully examine why these leaders are getting followers. Why are they becoming popular?”

He suggested that the pandemic could exacerbate the marginalization of people such as the poor and migrants, and that is why Caritas Internationalis had issued two documents calling for better access to COVID-19 vaccines for the global south.

“I hope this pandemic will teach us the lesson that we are truly connected to one another and to the earth and that what happens in one part of the world can have a universal impact. I hope that we will grow accountable to others become.” he said.

Cardinal Tagle, a close associate of Pope Francis, said that while the pandemic could limit the practice of the faith, it could also “lead to pastoral creativity, especially within families”.

Speaking to the Catholic intelligence service, the Filipino prelate realized that the pandemic had caused “a lot of suffering”.

The Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples admitted: “For us in the Church it is part of the suffering of wanting to provide pastoral help and pastoral guidance, but we cannot do it as we are used to.”

However, it set the pandemic restrictions on worship related to the suffering of Christians who were excluded from the practice of their faith. He said he was inspired by Japan’s “hidden Christians”.

Cardinal Tagle recalled how they had kept their faith alive for 200 years and highlighted how Japan outlawed Christianity in the 17th century. When it reopened its doors to Christianity in the 19th century, the French missionaries who went to Nagasaki were surprised to discover Christians who had survived all those years without church structures.

“Amidst constraints, it is the families, the lay people, especially the mothers and grandmothers, who have passed the faith on. They have been creative,” said the cardinal.

He acknowledged that the pandemic had disrupted congregational life and the usual way of church services and catechetical education due to the restricted mobility, and said this provided an opportunity to identify those aspects of Christian life and church life which we “disregarded” adequately, “including” the role of the family in teaching the faith and forming families in the social doctrines of the Church. “

“In the past, the transmission of the faith, the teaching of prayer and the catechism happened in the home. It was the parents or grandparents who did it.” However, with the development of specialized ministries such as religious education and catechists, this had declined.

“With the lockdown, children could not be brought to Sunday school, and catechists and teachers could not do their usual work. Are parents able to establish their families, children, grandchildren and one another in faith and mission?” he asked.

“I think the pandemic has opened up opportunities for us, but it has also become a mirror that shows us where we have been weak in terms of Christian education.”

“This pandemic has led many churches and dioceses to rethink our usual ways of mission and pastoral engagement. Even here at the Vatican we are invited to reflect on what we call” normal “common ways to see how we can respond more appropriately to the changing situation. “The mission doesn’t stop, he said, and the question is,” How do we do this in a changed situation? “

Cardinal Tagle said his reflection on Lent in Trócaire was an attempt to bring together the themes of Pope Francis’ encyclicals “Laudato Si” on concern for our common home and “Fratelli Tutti”, the call for universal social friendship.

“We see a close connection between the two encyclicals,” said the cardinal, noting Pope Francis’ warning that “the deterioration in the ecology of our common home goes hand in hand with the deterioration in human relations. Disregard for people is also manifested in our disregard our common home, which is God’s gift to us all. “

He pointed out that many economic or political decisions are affecting the survival of the earth today. “The irresponsible use of creation now not only prevents the passing on of a livable, habitable world to future generations, but also violates a key element of church social teaching, namely that the goods of the earth are for everyone and must be shared by everyone.”

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