Michael Johnson and Associated Press

2 weeks ago

Chicago Cubs' Christopher Morel reacts after being intercepted at first base on a throw by San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey in the sixth inning in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The struggling Chicago Cubs will be desperate to avoid a sweep in San Francisco when they end their four-game series against the Giants on Thursday afternoon.

At this point, any win for the Cubs would be welcome.

Their long misery continued late Wednesday night when the Giants' Luis Matos hit a crucial solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning and the Cubs — hampered by three outs on the bases during the game — were unable to respond in the final four innings, falling behind 4-3.

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The Cubs have now lost four games in a row and are 3-13 in their last 16 road games heading into Thursday's series finale in San Francisco. The Cubs also fell to a season low of seven games under .500 at 37-44 and remained in last place in the NL Central heading into Thursday's games.

After the series in San Francisco, the Cubs travel to Milwaukee for a three-game weekend series against the first-place Brewers, who are now 11 games ahead of the Cubs.

Big out on the bases

The Cubs trailed by one run on Wednesday night, but then put runners on first and second base with two outs in the eighth inning after Ian Happ hit a double and Christopher Morel walked.

But with Dansby Swanson at bat, the danger was averted when Giants pitcher Tyler Rogers intercepted Happ while attempting to steal third base.

“It's a risk,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said of the play. “We tried to get two guys in scoring position, but it just didn't work.”

“But base stealing is a risk. We took a risk. It didn't work.”

Swanson then returned to bat to lead off the ninth, hitting a single against Giants closer Camilo Doval. But Doval retired the next three batters, picking up his 14th save in 16 chances, and the game ended with Swanson becoming the seventh Cubs runner to walk off.

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead early in the second inning when Pete Crow-Armstrong singled to right to score Happ, but the Giants took a three-run lead on two straight home runs by Hayden Wesneski to give the Cubs the start of a bullpen game.

Michael Conforto hit a two-run homer with two outs, then David Villar followed with a solo hit that gave the Giants a 3-1 lead.

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Crow-Armstrong raced home on a single by Miguel Amaya from first base in the fourth inning to cut the Cubs lead to 3-2, and Seiya Suzuki hit his ninth home run in the fifth inning to tie the game.

But Matos hit a two-out home run to left in the fifth inning against Drew Smyly, who had been substituted for Wesneski before the inning, and lost, dropping his score to 2-5.

“It feels good to hit a home run,” Matos said through an interpreter. “I went in there looking for something to hit. He threw me a sinker. I let it go. But then he threw me the curveball and I hit it.”

The Giants' three home runs on Wednesday came from their Nos. 7, 8 and 9 batters.

“All of these guys have power,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “We talked earlier this year about having a strong lineup and feeling like you can score in every inning, especially with the power in the bottom end.”

Meanwhile, Giants starter Hayden Birdsong was called up from Triple-A Sacramento for his major league debut and allowed three runs and six hits with five strikeouts and three walks in 4 2/3 innings.

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“Super exciting, of course,” said Birdsong, 22. “My brain doesn't really know if it's excitement or nervousness, but we're just going to 'go with the flow and try to throw strikes and see what happens.'

“That's all I was thinking.”

Luke Jackson (4-1) followed with 1 1/3 scoreless innings and picked up his fourth consecutive win.

Wesneski, making his first start since May 8, allowed three runs on two hits and one walk with seven strikeouts in four innings.

Trainer room

Boy: LHP Jordan Wicks (right oblique strain) is in the early stages of his recovery and will not return until the All-Star break, according to Counsell.

Next

Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga (7-2, 2.96 ERA) will start on Thursday opposite Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (4-4, 3.24).

The first pitch is scheduled for 2:45 p.m.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — With two kids attending school from home, Simonia Clifton saw her energy bill skyrocket during the pandemic.

Clifton said her bill was “Between $75 and $100 more than usual and that just kind of made it difficult to budget, especially having lost my job from COVID and being on unemployment at the same time.”

She began cutting back elsewhere in order to cover her family’s growing energy costs, including on running heat.

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Clifton isn’t alone, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey from last July through this August, which measures the pandemic’s social and economic impact.

The ABC7 News data team analyzed the survey’s findings for San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley and found that one-fifth of households reduced or forwent basic necessities, such as food or medicine, to pay an energy bill.

App users: For a better experience, click here to view the graph in a new window.

These struggles didn’t fall equally on all residents. Race and ethnicity, education level, income, and households with children all played a factor in higher percentages.

Forty-seven percent of those who identified as Hispanic or Latino reduced or forwent basic necessities, such as food or medicine, to pay an energy bill. Thirty-seven percent of individuals surveyed who identified as Black also forwent basic necessities to pay an energy bill. More than half of those who have less than a high school education faced the same circumstances, along with almost a third of households with children under 18.

App users: For a better experience, click here to view the graph in a new window.

Dennis Osmer, the executive director of the Central Coast and San Francisco Peninsula Energy Services, said the situation could become worse with the moratorium on power shutoffs ending.

“I think it adds numbers to those numbers, this is a lot worse in its effect,” he said.

Help exists. Arthur Higgins receives assistance from the low income home energy assistance program.

“The program made all of the difference in the world. It kept the power on. They made my house more energy efficient,” Higgins said.

Households with a member who lost employment income in the previous month were more than three times as likely to be unable to pay their energy bills as those without income loss.

App users: For a better experience, click here to view the graph in a new window.

Gabriela Sandoval, the director of Race & Equity Policy with The Utility Reform Network (TURN) said, “We went into the pandemic with customers owing in California about $500 million and we know that right now the big four utility company customers owe about $2 billion .”

The big four includes PG&E customers here in the Bay Area, making up approximately $900 million of that debt, according to Sandoval.

By email, a PG&E Spokesperson told ABC7 News customers who are having difficulty paying their bills can be put on a payment plan or possibly qualify for the CARE program which offers a monthly discount of 20% or more on gas and electricity. The Family Electric Rate Assistance Program offers a monthly discount of 18% on electricity only.

“It’s stunning to look at how these costs have increased and the impact on the people who can least afford it is really heartbreaking,” Osmer said.

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

Copyright © 2022 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — A San Francisco high school student who saw a great need in her Chinatown community during a time of distance learning has launched a tutoring center to help struggling students.

Ella English came up with the idea during the height of the pandemic when she was just 15 years old.

The now 17-year-old incoming senior at Lick-Wilmerding High School is spending her summer running a free, fully fledged youth camp.

It was opened with just five students.

“A lot of them are first-generation. Their parents were immigrants and, actually, a lot of them are immigrants themselves,” English explained. “So we have special groups for them where tutors come in and they can speak Chinese and we make sure they can speak Cantonese or Mandarin so they can have that bilingual teaching lesson with them.”

English originally brought her idea to the non-profit Charity Cultural Services Center (CCSC) on Commerical Street. She recruited a few friends to help tutor and, once word spread about the free services, the students kept coming.

“I like to read. There are a bunch of books over there in the back and I like to draw,” said 9-year-old Cindy Pang.

“I like that you can learn things and I like that there are fun activities to do,” said 9-year-old Leqi Li.

Today, two years into the program, there are nearly 150 students and 50 tutors and counselors.

The San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and their Families took notice last year and provided funding to help pay tutors and expand its capacity through the Summer Together Initiative. The program also partners with the San Francisco Public Library.

“I started at 15. It seems really difficult in the world just for young adults to get involved — teenagers to get involved with problems and solve problems and just work to solve problems that they see in the world,” English said. “So I think it’s taught me that if I see an issue and I’m passionate about an issue I can dive right in. I should dive right in.”

English says her inspiration comes from her mother, a Chinese refugee who fled Vietnam. She had a hard time learning the language and assimilating when she arrived in San Francisco’s Chinatown, much like many of these students.

“I think their parents are really busy. They work a lot and supporting a family as an immigrant can be really challenging,” English said. “My mom tells me about her experiences and her parents experiences and how she definitely didn’t have opportunities like this when she immigrated. She kind of just sat at home.”

CCSC made contact with the Wah Ying Social Club building owner across the street when the tutoring center started to grow. The owner provided space at no cost when it’s not in use by the Chung Ngai Dance Troup and International Wing Tsun Association North America.

“We have a dire need, especially the pandemic have heightened the need of the community. Distance-learning, as we can see, affects more low-income families — more than the people that otherwise have resources,” said Ashley Cheng, executive director of Charity Cultural Services Center. “So proud of the growth that we’ve been able to see and the impact we’ve made in the community.”

The program runs year-round. The center is always looking for more tutors to serve the growing number of students.

“If I could say one thing I’m most proud of is just the impact we’ve had on the kids,” English said. “They come to camp just beginning to see their counselors, beginning to start their lessons. They go home not wanting to leave.”

Betty Yu

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

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California Lt. gov. Eleni Kounalakis made national news on Thursday by becoming the first woman in history to sign a state measure into law. The bill she ratified, Assembly Bill 2179, extends statewide eviction protections through June for renters who have applied for a state relief program – protections that would have expired this past Thursday had action not been taken.

Feel good story? Unfortunately, no.

Seemingly lost (arguably by design) in the national fanfare over Kounalakis’ historic first is the fact that the bill she signed contained a poison pill. Embedded in its text is a preemption clause that prevents jurisdictions like San Francisco from enforcing their own local eviction moratoriums, while allowing moratoriums in some places – like Los Angeles — to survive.

“There is no policy rationale for overriding local eviction protections in San Francisco, etc., while allowing other cities to protect their renters,” State Sen. Scott Wiener D-San Francisco and Assembly Member Phil Ting D-San Francisco, both of whom voted against the bill, said in a joint statement this week. “We shouldn’t be playing favorites by allowing some cities to protect their renters while prohibiting other cities from doing so. Cities must have the ability to protect their residents from eviction and homelessness.”

San Francisco is a city known for its political excesses. Trying to help its residents from being tossed into the street amid a deadly pandemic that continues to cause chaos in the global economy, however, isn’t one of them. And arbitrarily stripping the city of its ability to do so reeks of an ugly backroom deal.

Data compiled by The Chronicle show that nearly 21,500 households in San Francisco County were behind on rent as of February. Collectively, these households owe nearly $199 million.

More than $5 billion in federal funds has been made available to make the households whose back rent stems from COVID — and the landlords they owe — whole. But the state rental relief program charged with distributing most of these funds has been clouded by bureaucratic failures. Upwards of a year after California began accepting applications, not even half of the more than 507,000 households who have applied for the program have received aid. Those numbers don’t include more recent applications sitting on desks, waiting for the machinery behind this program to process them.

This is why flexible local eviction moratoriums remain so essential. And yet California didn’t just eliminate the ability of places like San Francisco to protect its residents, it cut off new relief applications as of March 31 – even as it actively pursues funding sources to expand the program’s pot. The state requested an additional $1.9 billion in federal funds last November, money that it is still seeking. And legislators recently passed a law to streamline the relief process to make it easier to quality.

It still wasn’t easy enough. In the wake of the bill’s signing, many lawmakers expressed concern that non-English speakers and some other groups had struggled to navigate the process and had been left behind.

We urge these and other lawmakers to take stock of the system’s failures and aggressively move to remedy them — before a wave of evictions swells the ranks of the state’s homeless population.

It’s not as if California lacks the capability to put money in people’s pockets in a hurry. gov. Newsom is lobbying for an $11 billion rebate that would give $400 debit cards to car owners — including electric vehicle owners — to combat the rising costs of gas. Payments could conceivably go out as soon as July. That Tesla owners could see direct relief from a momentary gas price hike, as thousands of struggling renters are thrown out of their homes due to bureaucratic bungling, is an injustice that can’t be allowed to occur.

Landlords are right to insist that tenants can’t be allowed to forgo rent payments in perpetuity. Blanket eviction moratoriums have to end eventually. The quickest and most ethical way to get to this place, however, is for California to more efficiently use the massive pot of funds at its disposal to make those with COVID debt whole. If we’re prepared to clear the way to put cash in the pockets of Tesla owners, we can do the same for those at risk of eviction and homelessness.

This commentary is from The Chronicle’s editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.

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He’s perhaps best known for his adorable rooftop dance moves while playing a chimney sweep in Mary Poppins, but Dick Van Dyke hasn’t quietly retired since his breakthrough role in 1964.

In fact, the 95-year-old has been caught doing all sorts of good deeds over the years.

His newest friendliness? Last week, the actor showed up at the Malibu Community Labor Exchange in Los Angeles – and began handing out money to job seekers queuing outside the nonprofit.

Hats to one of the good guys: Dick Van Dyke, 95, distributes bundles of money to the needy in Malibu https://t.co/ObsWGnXwQq via @MailOnline

– Susan Bernstein (@VelvetBarstool) March 31, 2021

Helping others has been an important part of Van Dyke’s life for decades. He is known for volunteering at The Midnight Mission animal shelter in LA for over 20 years. He was also a spokesperson for the Cell Therapy Foundation and the National Reye’s Syndrome Foundation.

Last time we shared the good news about this Hollywood legend? It was supposed to feature Van Dyke dancing with real wife Arlene Silver in the happiest music video ever for bluegrass group Dustbowl Revival.

Oh, and then there was the time he pampered the guests of a Santa Monica Denny’s with an impromptu performance of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with his a cappella group Vantastix.

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The secret to aging gracefully? It seems like it’s just one step out of Van Dyke’s shoes by giving to others and dancing and singing whenever we can.

For proof, just watch this video of Van Dyke dancing in a department store.

Few things are better than 93 year old Dick Van Dyke dancing in a department store ………… pic.twitter.com/Pk5NwBebc3

– Boomsday Device (@BoomsdayDevice) August 19, 2019

The beloved star quipped, “This rule that you have to behave at your age? – I just don’t buy it. “

SHARE the practically perfect good news with friends on social media …

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