Award-winning actress and singer Bea Arthur, best known for culture-shifting characters in sitcoms, “The Golden Girls” and “Maude,” rarely gave interviews. She preferred to keep her life private. She never went into show business seeking fame. She spent decades in live theater before landing “Maude” at age 49.

On her first trip to San Francisco from Latvia, Agnese Dzenide walked into the San Francisco Botanical Garden expecting quiet paths and plants. While wandering she heard music playing. Dzenide had stumbled onto the final day of Flower Piano.

Josephine, a sporty eight-year-old girl, without a care in the world, is jogging in Golden Gate Park with her father at dawn. She races ahead to show her athletic dad what she can do and abruptly, comes upon a man following a female jogger into a public restroom.

In the documentary, “Harvest,” co-directors Natalie Baszile and her daughter, Hyacinth Parker, let the four brothers tell and show the story of family farm life in rural Louisiana, revealing complexities, struggles, tragedy, resilience and togetherness.

Due to state law and the efforts of California State Sen. Scott Wiener, the proposed housing development to replace the Safeway on La Playa Street with a new store and 562 units of housing has been “streamlined,” restricting the input to city officials from the residents of that neighborhood.

The Outer Sunset was still asleep on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 19 – except for the vendors setting up their tents along the Great Highway. Within the hour, the aroma of street food wafted through the air, the first band took the stage and the street crowded with Sunset locals perusing the strip of the Great Highway and Taraval Street filled with art, music, food and their neighbors.

Speaking with both long-time readers and folks who are just discovering the papers is always a joy of mine, and of our team. It is so valuable to hear your insight into the community and your thoughts on the publications. We appreciate everyone who comes to say “hi,” and are especially grateful for those who buy a tote bag or coffee mug to support the work we’re doing to help ensure this community resource will stay free for years to come.

As the candidates enter the final stretch, with mail-in ballots being sent out in early October, our team followed Wiener around to see what a day on the campaign trail looks like at this pivotal moment.

As the candidates enter the final stretch, with mail-in ballots being sent out in early October, our team followed Chan around to see what a day on the campaign trail looks like at this pivotal moment.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, representing San Francisco, has worked overtime to weaken and limit the CEQA, a state law that requires state and local government agencies to analyze the potential environmental effects of proposed projects and to inform decision-makers and the public about those effects. CEQA also mandates the identification of ways to avoid or lessen environmental damage and the consideration of alternatives to projects. CEQA provides environmental safeguards for the protection of our communities.

Poetry by Campbell Simmons, Richmond District native.

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.

Send up to three photos of your pet to Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com for consideration for “Pet Pix.” Please include your pet’s name.

Send up to three photos of your pet to Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com for consideration for “Pet Pix.” Please include your pet’s name.

Cartoon by Ralph Lane.

Cartoon by Paul Kilduff.

The Inner Sunset offers many resources to explore art, crafts, music and more. Create a masterpiece or simply enjoy some screen-free time at these neighborhood places.

No City government should gamble our precious, essential public resources on running a risky "Public Bank." Not now, not in the future, no matter how hard elected officials campaign promoting it.

For decades, San Francisco’s west side was treated as the City’s quieter real estate bet: foggy residential blocks, family-run businesses, immigrant commercial corridors and rows of single-family homes that felt comparatively attainable by local standards. That old assumption is losing ground. In the Richmond and Sunset districts, limited housing supply, larger remodels, changing retail corridors and pressure for new housing along transit routes are altering both neighborhood identity and property values.

Tillage, a coworking space, is nearing its 11th month operating in the Inner Sunset District.

Taraval Street has always matched the energy from the people who live around it – bakeries and coffee counters open early, and this stretch of Parkside keeps a slower pace than much of the City. Among the longtime neighborhood favorites, enters the newest arrival: Welcome Coffee & Goods, which found its home at 425 Taraval St., near 14th Avenue. The shop is both a place to order a coffee and a place to dig through the racks for vintage clothing. As the sign outside states, “Come for the coffee, stay for the goods.”

Recent police activity in the Sunset District.

Proposition G on November’s ballot is for the Upper Great Highway, the scenic roadway near Ocean Beach where generations of San Franciscans have traveled to the Cliff House, V.A. Hospital, the San Francisco Zoo and numerous other points north and south.

September used to be the month I returned to school after being released in the middle of June. That’s gone with the wind. San Francisco public schools opened up for business on Monday, Aug. 17, two weeks before Labor Day. My Napa grandsons, Emmett and Brooks (16 and 12) reported for academic duty in their schools on Aug. 10. Naturally, football practice began even before that.

Shane Curnyn and Josh Lowe left the East Coast separately, chasing the same vision: a city dense enough to support an architecture practice and an ocean close enough to surf before work. Fifteen years after founding Juniper Architecture, the two principals run their firm in a former motorcycle repair shop on Balboa Street, blocks away from their favorite surf spot near the Cliff House.

Comparison photos of Clement Street and Funston Avenue 96 years apart.

As San Francisco students head back to school, families across the City are getting ready for a new year. Over the past few weeks, I’ve met families at backpack giveaways in the Sunset and Chinatown, and it’s been great to see how excited so many kids are to get back into the classroom.

Now that the 2026 legislative session has come to a close, I’m taking a moment to reflect on the work we’ve done together, and on the issues I hear about every day from neighbors across the City. When I go to Sacramento, I bring those conversations with me. Whether it’s concerns about public safety, the rising cost of living, access to healthcare or the well-being of our families and seniors, my goal is to turn those concerns into meaningful action.

On a Sunday morning last month, a crowd gathered on Irving Street in the Inner Sunset, carrying bags of clothing and dragging lamps, broken chairs, mixers and toasters.

After graduating from art school at the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland (now called Atlantic Technological University Galway), Kathy Rose O’Regan wasn’t sure what she would do with her degree in fine art printmaking.

Recent police activity in the Richmond District.

Trees are an important part of what makes the Sunset District such a special place to live. They bring greenery to our residential streets, provide habitat for birds and wildlife and make our neighborhoods more beautiful.

Neighbors living around St. Ignatius College Preparatory School on 37th Avenue responded to a court-ordered Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) recently published by the San Francisco Planning Department, pointing out what they see as flaws and inconsistencies in it.

Along Judah Street in the Outer Sunset, steps away from the ocean, lies an unassuming establishment near the corner of 39th Avenue. This cozy spot has been a fan favorite to locals in the Sunset District since it first opened five years ago.

Proposition G provides a practical middle ground by restoring weekday access to the roadway for commuters, working parents and daily traffic, while preserving full weekend and holiday car-free closures for coastal recreation.

The goal should be simple: more families should be able to attend a good public school close to home, while preserving meaningful choices like language immersion and specialized program.

I aways turn to soup for the evening supper. An easy to prepare, creamy vegetable soup made without adding any cream is my go-to recipe. I have a few favorite creamy soups. However, this is one of the easiest and quickest ones to make. The fresh corn available now is another reason to prepare this soup. So, if you are hungry and want a nourishing and fast dish, this recipe is for you!

Comparison photos of Irving Street and 25th Avenue 75 years apart.

Last December, San Francisco experienced a massive blackout that impacted the majority of the City and left us in the darkness for hours, and – for parts of San Francisco – for days. This impacted our street and traffic lights, causing autonomous vehicles (AVs) to stop in place, jamming up intersections and blocking emergency response vehicles.

Chikako Kuramoto’s mother packed her a bento box every morning, kindergarten through high school, on a street of small family-run shops in Mitaka, a suburb of Tokyo, where everyone knew each other.

Monthanus Ratanapakdee is challenging Stephen Sherrill for his seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 2, an area that includes the Presidio, Laurel Heights and a chunk of the Richmond District.

Advocates of restoring the status quo on the former Upper Great Highway are hailing a court victory that will allow a proposition to do so on the November ballot.

On Thursday, S.F. Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled a package of reforms aimed at San Francisco’s “rent emergency,” combining six proposed ordinances with $31 million in new funding. The mayor’s office cited data from Apartment List showing the median rent in San Francisco has climbed 25.6% over the past year, faster than any other major city in the country in 2026. The rise in rents has been mirrored by a rise in evictions, with more than 1,000 notices already filed this year, putting the City on pace for its highest eviction total in nearly a decade and roughly a quarter of those filings tied to nonpayment of rent.

In a time where big corporations are the immediate answer for aesthetic needs, Shlomit and David Heller keep things local with the Beauty Network. The two have been providing beauty services for the past 40 years and continue to offer guidance to those who inquire.

At this year’s Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park, internationally known artists like Charlie xcx, The Strokes, Djo and The xx performed, but the real heart of the festival was found in the local artists, businesses and community groups working to make the festival possible and locally-oriented.

Green dollars may replace new tree leaves for property owners developing lots smaller than 50,000 square feet, if legislation going before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is passed that will give them this option.

Things to do on San Francisco’s west side in September 2026.

More than 100 people filled the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) board meeting this evening after rallying outside district headquarters, demanding a public process before any decision is made about 741 30th Ave., the Outer Richmond property that has housed The Richmond Neighborhood Center since 1980. The crowd gathered days after the district told the center it would release a request for proposals (RFP) to gauge developer interest in the site.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)  is thanking Richmond District neighbors as one of the area’s largest infrastructure upgrades in generations reaches a major milestone. The Geary Boulevard Sewer and Water Improvements Phase 2 project is now 80 percent complete and remains ahead of schedule.

In this column, I will share local rental market updates and practical advice for apartment seekers each month. To begin, let’s look at what current rent prices look like and what renters can expect during their search.