Here's What Hoodline Is Hearing From Its Secret New Tipline

Here's What Hoodline Is Hearing From Its Secret New TiplinePhoto via tipster R.G.
Eric Eldon
Published on September 20, 2016

We get a lot of great stories from local people who send in tips about what’s happening around them.

We want to make it even easier to hear from you. So we’re testing out a new SMS-based tipline which allows you to text in photos and short messages about things you’re seeing as you go about your life in the city, straight from your phone.

Before we make it available to everyone, here’s a quick look at some of the happenings we’ve been hearing about during the pilot — with our commentary added. 

If you want to join the trial, email [email protected].

If you have a tip but don’t want to try this new thing out, you can always send us a message via the web form, tips {at} hoodline {dot} com email, or tweet at our @Hoodline account.

Breaking News

We caught word of some new problems — and some ongoing ones — from the tipline. 

Reader Desiree P. let us know about a bicycle-car collision yesterday evening at Turk and Franklin. "Looks like bicyclist was hit but sitting up. Helmet on ground." 

We're looking for more details. 

Reader Anonymous shared a disturbing series of photos with us of a recent mass mail theft from a Tenderloin apartment building.

The thieves didn't even bother to hide their tracks, with the mailbox doors left flapping in the wind. 

Out in the Inner Richmond, tipster Deedizzle lets us know that construction at Mountain Lake Park is making slow progress. "No idea what is going here, and never see city workers," they told us. 

We looked into the matter and found some tentative answers. "We recently completed the foundation work for the scrambling wall next to the concrete slide, and are finishing up drainage work beneath the children’s play area, wrote Levi Conover, a Rec & Park Dept. manager in a late August update. "We anticipate completion of the park late this fall."

For more background on the park and its renovation, check out this 2015 article from the Richmond District Blog.

Up in the Marina, reader Hank H. reports on some neighborhood transportation issues.

Sorry no photo but I bicycle in from the Marina to Soma each day at 655 am and ride down North Point, There is a Safeway loading dock near Powell street, Large tractor trailer trucks back in and are so large they block the sidewalk and bicycle lane, forcing me into the traffic lane while pedestrians are also forced into the street. Making it worse today a second such truck was parked blocking Northpoint westbound.

Back in March I saw a tour bus making an illegal turn from van ness onto chestnut and strike a pedestrian [Ed. pictured above]. Your busses and corporate shuttle busses are prohibited north of Lombard street. How do we keep them away?

We directed him to check with several city agencies about these issues — but let us know if you have more info. 

Down in SoMa, meanwhile, some are tired of commuting through major construction sites. 

"Never-ending construction on Folsom Street" reports Peter H. "It seems like there's been at least one lane shut down every day for at least the past four years. Will it ever end?" 

We took at what's in store for the downtown part of SoMa. The above map shows city planning permits approved (in green) and applied for (in blue) filtered to start from 2010. While projects can be cancelled or delayed, one suspects that there's going to be a lot of activity for years to come. Check out the map for yourself, here

Local Business Updates

Our secret tipsters have also been busy sharing the latest scenes from local storefronts. 

In Hayes Valley, tipster Desiree P. lets us know that the new Johnny Doughnuts location is about ready to open.  

She also let us know about a possible change at the Place Pigalle location: a construction permit has appeared in the window of the former bar.

For those not familiar, here's our coverage from June about the San Rafael-based doughnut shop's plans in the neighborhood

Up in Japantown, meanwhile, the "Dragon's Breath" liquid nitrogen dessert shop Chocolate Chair is still generating long lines, as reader R.H. reports.

The Los Angeles-based provider of the Taiwanese culinary trend opened in the city a couple years ago, and has been the focus of sharply divergent Yelp reviews ever since. 

There have been some notable changes down in Noe Valley lately. Athletic store See Jane Run announced it was closing at the end of the month, after 16 years in the neighborhood — we followed up on the tip from Marcos V. with more coverage a couple weeks ago.

Down the street, a closing/not closing situation unfolded. Video Wave, which originally opened in the Castro in 1983, moved in with Buttons Candy Bar a few years ago after it made a public call for help in finding a new location. 

Last week, thanks to further tips from Marcos V., we saw dueling signs clarify that while the candy shop host is shutting down, the video store is staying open. Here's more detail

People And Culture

Brian L. shares a poignant moment from a recent memorial service: "Sunset rose above the fogline. Mt Tam celebrating the life of a Tru San Francisco friend Tom Barquinero! Cheers!!!"

In case you missed it, the Lower Haight Art Walk the other week featured "multiple street deejays on every block of Haight street right now," as Jes W. told us. 

A new mural was on its way to Norm's Market on the corner of 20th & Bryant last week, as pictured at the top of the page and shared by tipster R.G.

And finally, comedian Robin Williams is newly remembered via a large photo at the forthcoming Smitten location at 20th and Valencia. (Update: tipster Ruth R. lets us know that the photo is by photographer Michael Jang.)

Want to be a part of our new tipline? Email [email protected].