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Laurie J. Flynn

Jeff Chavez and his girlfriend have made their home in a makeshift tent on Skid Row for the past five years. Every two weeks, the couple decamp to make way for street cleaning.

Life on L.A.’s Skid Row: ‘The state has been negligent’

Approved ballot measures and billions of dollars promise to succeed where previous efforts have failed. But for many homeless people in Los Angeles and across California, life goes on — unchanged

Dec 4, 2018
Some of the many vacant stores in San Francisco.

Closed for Business

Empty storefronts in S.F. are signs of retail change, lazy landlords and frustrating bureaucracy

Oct 15, 2018
Under the glow of LED light arrays, Plenty’s crops grow on 20-foot-tall towers inside a climate-controlled facility in South San Francisco.

Growing Up

It’s like no farm you’ve ever seen: plants growing up vertical towers in a building the size of a Walmart. Is Plenty the future of produce?

May 10, 2018
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf remains popular despite a tragic fire, a police scandal, the pending departure of the Raiders and Warriors and a municipal strike.

Trial by Fire

Libby Schaaf's term as Oakland Mayor has been marred by the Ghost Ship fire, police scandals and a municipal strike. Still, she's likely to be re-elected.

Mar 21, 2018
Tech company workers line up to board a commuter bus from San Francisco to Silicon Valley. The tech industry’s workforce is overwhelmingly male.

The Roots of Sexism in Silicon Valley

The steady drumbeat of cases of harassment and mistreatment of female employees in Silicon Valley has grown louder and louder in recent months.

Oct 10, 2017
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