San Francisco Chronicle Bay Area - Spoken Edition

Susan Gorin aches to fast-forward to well past next year — when she once again has a home on what is now an ashy lot.Peter Alan wants to turn the rubble of his Craftsman art studio into something meaningful. Lisa Mast longs to look out her window and see something across the street besides blackened reminders of the flames that swept through before sunrise Oct. 9.

Susan Gorin aches to fast-forward to well past next year — when she once again has a home on what is now an ashy lot.Peter Alan wants to turn the rubble of his Craftsman art studio into something meaningful. Lisa Mast longs to look out her window and see something across the street besides blackened reminders of the flames that swept through before sunrise Oct. 9.

Trump shuts up about Stormy Daniels. It’s doing him good President Trump’s public approval ratings are suddenly on the rise. He’s gone from a low of 37 percent to just shy of 42 percent in recent weeks. If this continues, it means there will be no Republican challenger to Trump in 2020. It also means that Trump’s base isn’t bothered by his revolving door of Cabinet members and senior staff, or by his difficulties with former lady friends.

The Giants will stage a “living memorial” to the late Mayor Ed Lee at their home opener Tuesday.The on-field tribute will include all the city’s living ex-mayors — Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Art Agnos, Frank Jordan, Willie Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Supervisor London Breed — along with current Mayor Mark Farrell and Lee’s widow, Anita Lee.Lee, who died of a heart attack Dec.

This is Easter Sunday and spring, a great time to stop for a moment and think about the good things of life. So let me tell you about an unlikely love story that began and ended in spring.They were both San Franciscans, born and raised in Chinatown, children of poor immigrant parents. Both went to San Francisco public schools. And they were as different as could be.Judy Yung was a professor at UC Santa Cruz when they met, an author with three college degrees including a doctorate.

A world of fun is in big trouble. The Dark Mystery may go dark, the pinball machines could stop flashing and whirring, a tiny circus may leave town, the lights could go out around the exact replica of Jeannie, the Living Half Girl, and Sinister Sal’s mad laugh could be silenced.Not only that, Frank Biafore, the Fabulous Fun Facilitator of Playland-Not-at-the-Beach, may have to get a real job.

For Jane Kim, now’s the time to talk about cleaner streets The progressive supervisor, whose successes include generating affordable housing, takes pragmatic approach to run for mayor For Jane Kim, now’s the time to talk about cleaner streets The progressive supervisor, whose successes include generating affordable housing, takes pragmatic approach to run for mayor When you’re a city supervisor, a candidate for mayor and a progressive crafting “big, bold ideas,” it’s sometimes hard to find time for lunch. So when The Chronicle asked...

Pretty much everything related to raising kids in San Francisco is too expensive. From buying a house to renting an apartment to affording groceries and child care, it all adds up. And up and up.Here’s one little idea for throwing that rare breed — children living in San Francisco — a bone. Stop charging them $14 for a round-trip cable car ride.

A group of Marin residents have purchased the last remaining locomotive of the once-famous “Crookedest Railroad in the World,” which ran from Mill Valley 8.19 winding miles to the top of Mount Tamalpais.The group’s plan is to restore the 97-year-old steam engine and to bring it back to Marin County, where it once was the pride and joy of the Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railroad.

SF happy to sue oil companies, but it’s not so eager to sell its stock When it comes to suing big oil for damages caused by global warming, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s position is clear: “It’s time for the defendants to pay for the profits that they have made on the backs of the public.” But when asked about the city’s pension fund having $560 million invested in 200 oil and coal companies, Herrera took a step back.

Lori Hoye started in the Golden State Warriors statistics department when Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin — the dynamic trio known as Run TMC — were filling up the stat sheet.Her first season with the team, 1989, was the first year the NBA required computers be used to track stats. In the ’90s, most Warriors games ended in the wrong column of the team stat that matters most: wins and losses.Now Hoye is doing stats for the NBA’s top-scoring team.

Members of the San Francisco Police Department carry breaching equipment toward the scene of a four-alarm structure fire at the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco, Calif. on Saturday, March 17, 2018. Members of the San Francisco Police Department carry breaching equipment toward the scene of a four-alarm structure fire at the North Beach neighborhood in San Francisco, Calif. on Saturday, March 17, 2018.

Mark Leno, mayoral candidate, seeks to cap long public service career As he looks ahead, the former supervisor and state legislator also looks back during a visit to the AIDS Memorial Grove Mark Leno, mayoral candidate, seeks to cap long public service career As he looks ahead, the former supervisor and state legislator also looks back during a visit to the AIDS Memorial Grove Mostly, Mark Leno focuses on one date: June 5.

Tweets of terror: Trump is getting busy at the chopping block President Trump has brought the TV reality show “The Apprentice” to the West Wing, along with its signature phrase, “You’re fired.” The latest to be ejected is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. He’s the guy who called Trump a moron last summer, so the biggest surprise is that it took this long for him to get the heave-ho via Trump’s Twitter feed.

Sunday is always my favorite day — a leisurely breakfast, a second cup of coffee, the Sunday papers, maybe a morning walk.Like a lot of people, I have mixed feelings about a walk in the city these days. The Sunday before, my companion and I had walked the streets of Washington, D.C., and marveled at how clean they were. On returning back home, it was clear how much of San Francisco was a mess, particularly downtown with its crowds of lost souls roaming filthy streets.