Elim Chan will be the San Francisco Symphony’s first woman music director. She becomes music director-designate next month and takes the post fully in September 2027.

More than 400 Planned Parenthood Mar Monte clinicians and nurses voted to form a union with SEIU Local 521, organizers said. The unit aims to protect staffing and patient care amid funding uncertainty.

PAUSD associate superintendent Dr. Guillermo Lopez accepted an offer to be Azusa Unified’s next superintendent and will depart June 30, pending a June 16 board vote.

Pleasanton’s Alternate Response Unit won an Alameda County EMS award after hundreds of evaluations and a drop in student psychiatric holds.

Napa police are investigating the death of a 13‑month‑old girl after she was taken to Queen of the Valley and pronounced dead. Detectives are asking the public for tips.

Scott Sanborn bought 88 Kearny last year; now investors are circling the FiDi tower.

Beijing‑born Cotti Coffee is opening two San Francisco locations, including a Financial District site at 99 Drumm Street. The fast‑growing chain uses heavy promotions and app‑first ordering.

With downtown vacancy still a problem, Sacramento is weighing San Francisco’s Vacant to Vibrant pop-up model — free rent, grants and city help — as a quick test of what might revive retail. The idea is simple but not cheap.

A fatal crash at the Bay Bridge toll plaza shut lanes and snarled the Thursday morning commute. CHP investigators are on scene.

San Francisco switched on an AI whale‑detection network this week to warn ships when whales enter busy lanes, a move officials say could cut deadly ship strikes. The rollout follows an unusual spike in gray whale strandings in the Bay Area.

Full liquor licenses in San Francisco have tumbled from roughly $250K in 2022 to near $100K today, a shift that could lower the barrier for new openings while wiping out sellers' gains.

A draft budget for 2026–27 leaves East Palo Alto with an estimated $4.7M general‑fund gap, pushing staff to recommend reserve draws and spending limits.

SB Energy plans a confidential U.S. IPO after raising more than $1.8 billion to build power and data‑center campuses that support AI infrastructure.