GUARDIAN CLEAN SLATE
Our clip-out guide to take to the polls for the June 3 election. Read our full endorsements at www.tinyurl.com/SFBGJune2014Endorsements
GOVERNOR: Jerry Brown
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: Gavin Newsom
SECRETARY OF STATE: Derek Cressman
CONTROLLER: Betty Yee
TREASURER: John Chiang
ATTORNEY GENERAL: Kamala Harris
INSURANCE COMMISSIONER: Dave Jones
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS: Tom Torlakson
BOARD OF EQUALIZATION: Fiona Ma
ASSEMBLY, DISTRICT 17: David Campos
ASSEMBLY, DISTRICT 19: Phil Ting
PROPOSITION 41: Yes
PROPOSITION 42: Yes
SF PROPOSITION B: Yes
SF SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE: Daniel Flores
CONGRESS, DISTRICT 12: Nancy Pelosi
CONGRESS, DISTRICT 13: Barbara Lee
CONGRESS, DISTRICT 14: Jackie Speier
MELTING ICE
Family members of federal immigration detainees gathered in downtown San Francisco May 23, calling for the release of three asylum seekers who’ve been detained in Texas for months. Joined by San Francisco Organizing Project activists and other supporters, they rallied outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, and spoke about how tough it’s been to be separated from their loved ones. One detainee, Guatemalan refugee Ricardo Ivan Martinez, who previously lived in San Francisco with his wife and daughter, received death threats after reporting a rape to U.S. Border Patrol. Yeni and Dariela Escobar-Pereira, sisters from Honduras, fled from violence and are now being detained; their mom, a San Francisco resident, is worried sick. The detainees “have been subjected to the ‘hielera’ or the ‘ice box’,” according to a statement issued by faith groups lending support, “where detainees are placed in a cold room for hours and even days with little clothing.”
OCEAN PROTEST LAYDOWN
The best way to become environmentally conscious is to start young. 850 Marin students, grades 2-7, spent the better part of a day last week cleaning up Ocean Beach. After, the students laid down to form a Western Grebe plucking a fish out of the ocean, with the words “Only One Ocean” above it, for an aerial photo. Western Grebe populations are in decline, the California Coastal Commission said. There’s nothing more inspiring than young people doing something to save the world.
INTERSECTION HALTED
In the latest blow to San Francisco’s arts community, one of our oldest alternative art spaces, Intersection for the Arts, has halted its programming and laid off key staff.
“Our financial situation is deeply challenged,” wrote Board of Directors Chair Yancy Widmer in a post on Intersection for the Arts’ website (www.theintersection.org),
“and it has become apparent that the current business model is no longer sustainable.”
“With the specific shifts in the economy and culture of San Francisco, it has been increasingly difficult to operate and sustain a community-based nonprofit arts organization like Intersection,” ousted program directors Kevin B. Chen, Rebeka Rodriguez and Sean San Jose wrote in a joint statement.”
The decades-old studio and artists space will lay off most of its staff and program directors by the end of the month, and will no longer produce its own arts programming.
HOT OPERA
The San Francisco Opera‘s frisky summer season is upon us — this little sister to its annual cavalcade of spectacle is the perfect opportunity to dip your toes into the world of grand song and drama. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s milestone musical Showboat (pictured) kicks the series off June 1, with La Traviata (June 11) and Madama Butterfly (June 15) following close behind. www.sfopera.org
DEFENESTRATION TOSSED
Enjoy it in its final weeks: Artist Brian Goggin’s iconic installation at San Francisco’s former Hugo Hotel at Sixth Street and Howard, “Defenestration” — the one with all the furniture climbing out of the building’s windows — is scheduled to be dismantled June 3. According to Laughing Squid, Goggin is preparing to sell the beloved furniture at the Varnish Fine Art Gallery. (www.varnishfineart.com)