Jillian D’Onfro

Blackstone to foreclose upon Hotel Whitcomb, steward its recovery The foreclosure of the Whitcomb could pave the way for the revival of a struggling downtown neighborhood.

Reopening could *finally* be on the horizon for the beleaguered Hotel Whitcomb, which been plaguing Mid-Market for several years sfstandard.com/2025/10/02/h...

Introducing Section 415, our Bay Area sports podcast The twice-weekly show builds on The Standard’s sports reporting, giving fans fresh access and insider perspectives.

BIG NEWS, sports fans! ⚾️🏈🏀 @sfstandard.com is launching a new podcast called Section 415 that builds on the sports team's incisive reporting & brings you exclusive interviews with the people shaping games. Check it out: sfstandard.com/2025/10/01/i...

morning commute on Muni: short woman asks tall man standing behind her if her latest dye covered all her grey hairs. “Yes, m’am, not a single silver strand showing” 🥲

SFPD’s longest-serving detective is watching his special victims unit plummet The SVU has lost nearly half its detectives in six years. Tony Flores, the SFPD’s longest-serving detective, is still on the front lines — making up for lost staff and keeping victims’ cases alive.

Gutting story about SFPD’s longest-serving detective and the city’s struggles to staff its SVU sfstandard.com/2025/09/30/s...

Tech Bro 2.0: The new Silicon Valley archetype dominating the AI age

sfstandard.com/2025/09/29/t...

We Become Locals By Becoming Regulars San Francisco relies on its many transplants getting to know its restaurants, service workers, and bartenders.

"...The other essential component of being a local: You have to look people in the eye. You have to take out your headphones and remove your sunglasses. You have to be present in your life, and in the lives of those around you." - Garrett Schlichte
sf.eater.com/dining-out/2...

Baggu made transit merch for a store opening. BART had no idea. The transit agency was “surprised to see our logo” on gear from the SF-based fashion brand.

UPDATE: I talked to some folks in line at the opening and Baggu finally weighed in: sfstandard.com/2025/09/25/b...

Baggu made transit merch for a store opening. BART had no idea. The transit agency was “surprised to see our logo” on gear from the SF-based fashion brand.

Popular shop Baggu is celebrating its new Mission store opening today with BART merch. This was surprising news to the transit agency 🙃

sfstandard.com/2025/09/25/b...

Empty and ‘haunted’ Union Square hotel finds new buyer The beleaguered Union Square hotel sold at auction for a major discount on its total debt.

Scooplet: A hotel right near the cablecar turnaround on Powell Street just sold at auction, meaning that guests will yet again be able to hang with Lilllian Hellman's ghost sfstandard.com/2025/09/26/s...

Exclusive: Uniqlo considers a return to downtown S.F. four years after closing flagship store “San Francisco is an important market for Uniqlo and we are very excited about the idea of opening back up,” a Uniqlo executive wrote to the city in an email obtained by the Chronicle.

Great scoop by The Chron: Uniqlo is considering returning to downtown SF

www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/u...

Love this from tonight’s Power Play newsletter re: Manny’s supervisor campaign fundraising haul:

“‘Right now, I’m just trying to be gracious,’ said Yekutiel, adding that he asked three of his exes to donate.
New T-shirt idea: Exes for Manny!”

sfstandard.com/newsletters/...

‘The heartbeat here is gone’: Two more restaurants leaving downtown S.F. mall New closures will leave just three chain restaurants in the food concourse of San Francisco’s largest mall.

New closures will leave just three chain restaurants in the food concourse of San Francisco’s largest mall.

Stop trying to make ‘Lower Hayes’ happen! Mid-Market can be great A group of office brokers kicked off a lively debate last week by trying to rebrand the down-on-its-luck neighborhood into something it’s not.

A group of office brokers kicked off a lively debate last week by trying to rebrand Mid-Market to "Lower Hayes." Here's what small businesses and other neighborhood stakeholders think ➡️ sfstandard.com/2025/09/24/m... co-reported with @kevinvnguyen.bsky.social

Shopify pulls website template after food influencer Molly Baz calls it a 'sicko AI version' of her Shopify did not comment on whether AI was used to create the template. AI image generation has sparked concerns about dupes among some creators.

yiiiiiiikes

www.businessinsider.com/shopify-pull... i

San Francisco is getting a bunny cafe www.instagram.com/bunnycafesan...

I’ve Written About Loads of Scams. This One Almost Got Me.

"I’ve Written About Loads of Scams. This One Almost Got Me." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/n...

Disgraced San Francisco nonprofit boss sues for lost wages Kyra Worthy alleges she never received her final paycheck.

sfstandard.com/2025/09/22/d...

That was by far the biggest earthquake I’ve ever personally felt in the Bay Area. Wild! bsky.app/profile/eart...

i think this is probably news to everyone except real estate brokers and the folks they're trying to lease to 😅

Tech firm moves into Elon Musk’s former X HQ in Mid-Market — now being marketed as ‘Lower Hayes’ The company, which focuses on vehicle automation, joins a handful of new tech firms coming to San Francisco’s Mid-Market area, which has seen an uptick of interest from young startups.

Today in audacious neighborhood rebrands... www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article...

VOTE: Who’s got the best Gap moves? You decide Pick which dancers should perform inside the Breathing Room set at Gap HQ. Voting closes Sept. 22.

I’m obSESSed with all the entries to the @sfstandard.com dance contest — vote for your favorite!! sfstandard.com/2025/09/18/v...

Sunnyvale, tech’s ultimate industry town, is booming Timing is everything in real estate, and this unassuming South Bay city is having its moment.

Compared to folks in SF, "Sunnyvale developers have a much simpler axiom: We have built it, and they have come." sfstandard.com/2025/09/18/s... @kevinvnguyen.bsky.social reporting on the Silicon Valley city that's both boring and booming:

Omg just had to miss not one but *two* BART trains in a row at Embarcadero because they were packed to the gills 😭 We’re so back (at least on Tuesdays sfstandard.com/2025/03/25/i...)

How an Albino Alligator Became an Obsession Inside an AI Giant A coincidence of naming has sparked a bizarre but intense connection between a chatbot and a San Francisco gator

"Anthropic’s San Francisco headquarters is crawling with stuffed albino alligators. You’ll find them on desks, at reception and inside a vending machine." www.wsj.com/lifestyle/wo...

Waymo receives permit to operate at SFO The move comes a few weeks after San Jose’s main airport gave a permit to the robotaxi company.

Waymo is coming to SFO 🚨 sfstandard.com/2025/09/16/w...

How San Francisco became the ultimate ‘996 City’ The city’s “Great Lock In” means grinding for at least 12 hours, six days a week, and making sure everyone knows about it.

"996 may be over as soon as it started. So when 007 inevitably sweeps San Francisco — you heard it here first." @ryajetha.bsky.social reports:

sfstandard.com/2025/09/16/s...

A photograph of a person with creepy makeup holding a handmade sign that says "Hail Destroyer of America" with a picture of Peter Thiel

Picture of a protest sign that features Peter Thiel holding a suitcase of money that says "They get rich. We get surveillance, abductions, & genocide"

Some amazing photos of protestors in this story about Peter Thiel's antichrist talk in SF sfstandard.com/2025/09/16/p...

Shuttered teahouse The Center resurrects as Gather SF Gather SF wants to build a new third space for tea and wellness events.

Remember The Center, the beloved Lower Haight teahouse and events space which closed in June? Former staff and volunteers are bringing it back! sfstandard.com/2025/09/16/t...

Griffin Gaffney on what happens when you get hit by a car in San Francisco The Standard’s CEO tells the story of a near-death experience — and the endless complications that followed.

Harrowing, horrific and beautifully written story by @griffgaff.bsky.social about the wild aftermath of his near-death experience earlier this year sfstandard.com/opinion/2025...

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