You have all heard me say it before, but small businesses are the backbone of our neighborhoods. They are where we find community and gather for celebrations. We rely on them for everyday essentials, delicious meals, special treats, local artisan products and so much more. Which is why I have been working to find ways to both protect and support our small businesses and neighborhood commercial corridors.
Cartoon by Paul Kilduff.
It was Thomas Jefferson who declared in an Aug. 4, 1801, letter: “Politics, like religion, hold up the torches of martyrdom to the reformers of error.” Oh, how we need in Washington, D.C. those “reformers of error.” Instead, we have a government of men and women (I mean you, Attorney General Pam Bondi) which creates fear among most of the governed.
Now through Jan. 4, the Garden’s trees, plants and ponds will serve as a backdrop for more than a million lights, creative art installations and musical accompaniment. Visitors will walk a one-mile trail of lights carpeting the meadows and strung from the branches of trees, highlighting the beauty of nature in winter. Hot cocoa and other seasonal fare will be available to set the holiday mood.
Sunset Dunes isn’t a park. It’s a monument to privilege and denial, built on the suffering of Sunset families, disabled residents, and endangered wildlife.
What a mess Edgardo left this district. Mayor Lurie is trying, and I believe doing a great job: consistently bringing new businesses and supporting existing ones, supporting the working-class, blue-collar workers. It is not easy considering the idiocy of the state legislature (Wiener). We will see how the new Sunset District supervisor appointee fairs. At least he’s a native.
It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Claude, our beloved albino alligator, has passed away at the age of 30. Claude was an iconic California Academy of Sciences resident who many visitors formed deep connections with during his 17 year tenure.
A lifelong resident of the Sunset, Wong has been a member of the City College Board of Trustees for five years and currently advocates for San Francisco’s children and families through his work at the Children’s Council of San Francisco. He has served in the California Army National Guard since 2009.
The young man sat hunched over on the West Portal Avenue sidewalk. Faceless. Nameless. Knees pulled up to his chest, he was covered with a tattered blanket and had a handwritten sign resting against him: “Pray that I can conquer my demons.”
To submit photos for consideration in the Photos of the Month online gallery, send three jpegs to Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com by the 15th of the month. (If possible, send pictures resized to 150 dpi, 6″ wide.)
What decides a home’s value? Why do two nearly identical homes in two close-by towns have a $300,000 difference in their selling prices? Why did the house across the street linger on the market with price reductions while the one on the next block sold in three days over the asking price?
Down the long slope from busy 19th Avenue in Stern Grove, hidden behind a stand of redwoods, is the Trocadero Inn, perhaps the oldest standing structure in southwest San Francisco, a beautiful gabled building with wrap-around porch, decorative shingles and a central tower.
The 55-acre San Francisco Botanical Garden will transform into a festive wonderland from Nov. 21 through Jan. 4, 2026, with more than one million twinkling lights in various attractions.
Steve Peletz, 65, underplays his high-risk activities. He has been scuba diving for more than 40 years. He joins marine biologists on expeditions in remote, exotic waters off the coast of Costa Rica, Columbia, Mexico and the Galápagos Islands. As a volunteer “citizen scientist,” his task is usually to tag different types of sharks so they can be tracked.
Larry Letofsky has been making pottery in his Outer Sunset garage for 30 years. At first, his house, where he has lived since 1974, appears to be like any other. A closer look, however, reveals an artist’s sanctuary, accompanied by a mural painted on the front porch of a pair of hands shaping a piece of clay.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 