Bay Briefing: The 1.5 million data points that tell us about pandemic changes – San Francisco Chronicle
Good morning, Bay Area. It’s Thursday, June 10, and San Francisco is nearing a key pandemic goal. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
SF311, San Francisco’s customer service center, processes hundreds of thousands of requests every year — from reporting graffiti to questions about registering new businesses. But the pandemic didn’t slow down residents’ calls.
The Chronicle’s data team analyzed 1.5 million San Francisco 311 calls to show how the pandemic changed city residents’ needs and complaints. This is what we found.
Coronavirus Updates
L-R, Amaan Khan, Maria Mesa, Kevin Kong, and Samah Khan, of Houston, walk in the vista point near the Golden Gate bridge completing a vacation they planned and had to cancel a year ago because of COVID-19, in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 24, 2021. Tourism has begun to pick up again in San Francisco in advance of the travel season as the city’s reopening has offered people the chance to visit with little fear of infection of COVID-19.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle
San Francisco’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign is nearing the key benchmark of 70% of eligible residents fully vaccinated — which some experts say puts the city on track to be the first in the U.S. to reach herd immunity. Kellie Hwang reports on what that would mean for the city.
• Tough return to in-person meetings: Anti-vaccine protesters stormed a Marin town hall.
• California going with honor system for post-June 15 masking rules.
• Despite unity from health officials, Bay Area school fall reopenings still have cloud of uncertainty.
• California workplaces must continue to enforce mask, safety guidelines used before vaccines.
Around the Bay
Computer Science teacher Chantel Parnell walks through the halls of Bret Harte Middle School in Oakland, Calif. Thursday, May 27, 2021. Parnell recently won Teacher of the Year for Oakland Unified School District. She piloted an all-girls computer science class at her school and brought a group of her students to present at the first-ever Future Trailblazer Challenge, hosted by Salesforce with David Beckham.
Jessica Christian / The Chronicle
• “I’ve always wanted to be in this field”: Oakland public school teacher celebrated for her rare girls-only computer science classes.
• Santa Clara: Mandatory water restrictions on the way for millions in the Bay Area.
• Singled out: Glenn Burke was open about being gay when he was an MLB outfielder for the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1970s — and resistance to his existence derailed his career. On Friday, the A’s celebrate his legacy for Pride.
• “We’re not buying it”: Oakland’s protected bike lanes on Telegraph Avenue are on the chopping block. Cyclists aren’t happy.
• Living Therapeutics: UCSF initiative to spend $250 million on training living cells to beat diseases.
• Nope, nope, nope: The Bay Area’s rattlesnake season is here. Here’s what you need to know.
• Showing support: An East Bay woman put up Pride flags to honor her daughter. After they were stolen, a neighborhood came together to help.
Chronicle Food
Patio dining at Sushi Ran in Sausalito, California, on Tuesday, June 8, 2021.
Andria Lo / Special to The Chronicle
You asked, we delivered.
As part of our Top Restaurants series, restaurant critic Soleil Ho and the Chronicle’s food team have featured the best restaurants overall in the Bay Area, as well as crucial stops for different kinds of cuisine. Now we’re choosing our top picks within different parts of the region.
See our Top Restaurants picks for the East Bay, San Francisco, Marin County and the Peninsula and South Bay.
More from Chronicle Food:
• Popular food truck market Off the Grid plots post-pandemic comeback.
• Wine of the Week: This ultra-light, botanical Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is half the price it should be.
• The fallout from the Bay Area restaurant labor shortage? Complaints of slow service and ‘Karen’ Yelp reviews.
Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown, Anna Buchmann and Kellie Hwang and sent to readers’ email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact the writers at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com, anna.buchmann@sfchronicle.com, and kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com.