Bay area

Margaret Keane, the Bay Area artist best known for her paintings of woeful and “big-eyed” subjects — works that she famously reclaimed from her ex-husband who for many years passed them off as his own — died on June 26 at her home in Napa. She was 94 years old. The cause of death was heart failure, according to Robert Brown, Keane’s former manager and executive director of Keane Eyes, the gallery space in San Francisco dedicated to her work that opened in the late 1980s. “She was a trailblazer in many ways, even though she appeared a very meek and humble woman,” said Brown, who began representing her as an artist in the late 1980s. “When you looked at her paintings, she was able to express a power … and that’s what the world came to know and love.” Keane’s portraits of teary, “waif-like” subjects — most of whom were children who seemed to carry with them the weight of the world’s sorrows — became a sensation across the Bay Area in the 1960s and inspired the 2014 film, “Big … [Read more...] about Margaret Keane, Bay Area artist who painted ‘big eyes’ and outed her husband as a plagiarist, dies at 94

Sky-high gas prices and problems plaguing air travel aren’t stopping Californians from celebrating the Independence Day holiday and their freedom from COVID restrictions that have kept most travelers at home for the past two years. Millions of Californians are taking to the highways and skies to celebrate Independence Day — many for the first since the pandemic arrived, travel observers say. And they can expect congestion at airports, on highways and at their destinations. According to AAA, which issues forecasts for major holidays, the number of Americans traveling more than 50 miles from home for the holiday is the second highest since 2000 and nearly as high as 2019. About 47.9 million people are expected to travel nationwide, according to AAA. In California, 5.4 million people are expected to travel for Independence Day, said Aldo Vazquez, an AAA spokeswoman for the Western U.S. Despite record-high gas prices — averaging $6.27 in California on Friday, according to … [Read more...] about Bay Area July 4 travel: Why flying or driving this weekend may be no holiday

Bay Area-based telemedicine companies that provide reproductive health services are experiencing a spike in demand for contraception since the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion last Friday. In its 5-4 ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade, the court said its reasoning only applied to abortion. But in a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas signaled that other constitutional rights, including the right to contraception, may be legally vulnerable. The potential threat has led to reports of women stockpiling emergency contraception pills . In response, pharmacies, such as Amazon and Rite Aid, have placed caps on the number of packs that customers can buy at one time. Favor, a San Mateo-based telemedicine company that provides birth control pills, vaginal rings and emergency contraception to an estimated 240,000 users across the country, saw emergency contraception purchases soar more than 5,000% last Friday, said Stephanie Swartz, senior director of … [Read more...] about The repeal of abortion rights sparked an online run on contraception. Bay Area telehealth companies are trying to keep up

Some 20,000 pandemic-related deaths in California may be missing from the states official COVID mortality toll. An Oakland couple’s anniverary trip to Europe shows how COVID still has the power to upend plans and spoil vacations. A large study of more than 60,000 people tested for the coronavirus in San Francisco found intriguing shifts in COVID-19 symptoms over three different surges. Latest updates: Bay Area COVID cases hit a plateau for now The number of new coronavirus cases in the Bay Area appears to have temporarily leveled off, according to state data Wednesday analyzed by The Chronicle. The region is averaging a little over 51 confirmed daily cases per 100,000 residents, marking a slight decrease from the 55 per 100,000 reported a week earlier. San Francisco, which is once again leading the state with most infections relative to its population, is reporting 57 cases per 100,000 residents, compared to 62 last Monday. Other Bay Area counties are reporting … [Read more...] about COVID in California: Pfizer submits vaccine application for children under 5 to FDA

A small group of alleged members of the Proud Boys, a far-right political group, disrupted a drag show being held at a bar in Northern California Thursday night. The members were filmed harassing patrons from outside and attempting to forcefully enter the bar. NOW | This is Woodland, CA. A drag show was canceled after safety concerns but after enough people turned out, organizers held a scaled down version. Then this group showed up. [Warning: There’s explicit language in this video] @kcranews pic.twitter.com/KA8B0ceg7z — KCRA Lee Anne Denyer (@KCRALeeAnne) July 1, 2022 Videos and photos circulating on social media show a group of about 10 men, some wearing bandanas and sunglasses that concealed their faces, standing across the street from The Mojo Lounge in Woodland and yelling at patrons inside. Event organizers told local TV stations that Thursday's show had been canceled initially due to threats circulating online, but after an outpouring of support from the … [Read more...] about Alleged Proud Boys members disrupt Northern California drag show event

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 A mountain lion ran into a high school in San Mateo County on Wednesday morning, and a “swift-acting” custodian trapped it in a classroom from where it was later safely removed, officials said. The Sheriff’s Office was notified around 8:23 a.m. that a mountain lion, which officials described as an emaciated, young male cub, had entered the school and was being contained in a classroom, where it was hiding under the teacher’s desk, officials said. Wildlife officers with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife were at the school through the afternoon, working to safely remove the animal from the classroom in order to take it to the Oakland Zoo for a health assessment, said Ken Paglia, a spokesperson for CDFW. Officers sedated the mountain lion and transported it to the zoo’s veterinary hospital, where a team of vets performed an examination. The cub had a “badly … [Read more...] about Young mountain lion gets detention after entering Pescadero High School

A man was shot and killed Thursday in San Francisco, according to police. Officers from the Police Department’s Northern Station responded to a reported shooting on the 400 Block of Rose Street Thursday around 9:16 p.m., officials said. When they arrived, they found a 20-year-old victim suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Paramedics on the scene rendered aid to the victim and he was transported to a local hospital, but he later died as a result of his injuries. The SFPD Homicide Unit is currently investigating the alleged shooting. There was no known suspect as of Friday afternoon. Jordan Parker (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] . Twitter: @jparkerwrites . … [Read more...] about San Francisco shooting leaves man dead

Back in March of 2022, California Gov. Gavin Newsom pitched the idea of a gas rebate for vehicle owners as well as three months of free public transportation in the state. On Thursday, Newsom signed the finalized annual budget — one that opts for direct cash payments of up to $350 rather than a gas rebate or temporary public transit relief for Californians. The former change, that cash payments would no longer be tied to vehicle ownership, has been public knowledge for a few days. The loss of the latter proposal, which Newsom had floated in March at a cost of $750 million, has garnered less attention. Spokespeople for Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon as well as the governor's office confirmed to SFGATE that the final budget won't provide three months of free public transit fares anymore. H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for California's Department of Finance, said that the direct cash payments can go toward paying for public transit. "The final agreement providing direct … [Read more...] about Gavin Newsom’s free California public transit plan quietly axed from budget

A San Francisco video game-focused tech company has laid off hundreds of employees just weeks after its CEO reportedly told employees no such layoffs were imminent. Unity, the company in question, doesn't produce any video games itself, but provides the game engine that underpins many popular titles including “Genshin Impact” and “Pokémon Go.” The company confirmed to Protocol that it would be laying off around 4% of its staff, or slightly more than 200 staffers. "As part of a continued planning process where we regularly assess our resourcing levels against our company priorities, we decided to realign some of our resources to better drive focus and support our long-term growth,” a Unity spokesperson said in a media statement. “This resulted in some hard decisions that impacted approximately 4% of all Unity workforce. We are grateful for the contributions of those leaving Unity and we are supporting them through this difficult transition." Employees are receiving … [Read more...] about San Francisco gaming tech company Unity lays off hundreds weeks after CEO reportedly suggested no imminent layoffs

A nonprofit San Francisco Department of Public Works hired to clean up the Tenderloin and manage public bathrooms has had a contract terminated and another not renewed after a series of allegations that some of its workers sold drugs, slept on the job, harassed residents and generally failed to carry out their duties. The organization, the Mission Neighborhood Centers, has filed a lawsuit alleging that the decision was baseless and that the cancellation of the contract will have catastrophic consequences for nearly 100 workers, many of whom are trying to get their lives back on track after being in jail or homeless. The lawsuit focuses on a nearly $1.9 million contract Mission Neighborhood Centers was awarded last November. The year-long contract, part of a larger project to clean up the Tenderloin, provided “job training, employment, and workforce development opportunities to formerly incarcerated parolees and at-risk local residents who are eligible to work, but face … [Read more...] about S.F. fires nonprofit hired to clean Tenderloin amid allegations its workers sold drugs, harassed residents