A group of LGBT labor activists is launching a nationwide campaign to push unions to bargain for transgender health benefits for their members.

Pride At Work, in collaboration with the Transgender Law Center, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and the SEIU Lavender Caucus, plans to ask labor groups, including local labor councils and state labor federations, to pledge to include trans benefits in future contract negotiations.Read more »

Got a fascinating letter from a local lawyer named Richard Hurlburt, who has some thoughts on the TIC-condo conversion legislation sponsored by Sups. Scott Wiener and Mark Farrell. He writes:Read more »

Gov. Jerry Brown has finally done what the state Legislature refused for six years to do: He's eliminating the requirement that household furniture and children's cribs, car seats, and strollers be treated with toxic flame-retardant chemicals.Read more »

Got an interesting email invite: A group of the most pro-downtown, pro-landlord, conservative folks in town is holding a fundraiser for Sup. London Breed, who represents the most progressive district in the city.

Oh, and none of the members of the Host Committee lives in or has any direct connections to District Five.Read more »

Interesting letter to sfist, which typically loves the new rideshare companies like Lyft and Sidecar. The writer, apparently a cab driver, makes clear why these unlicensed cabs are a problem:Read more »

The state Senate Business, Professions, and Economic Development Committee was slated to hold a hearing Feb. 11 on Assemblymember Tom Ammiano's efforts to create a regulatory framework for medical marijuana. That's a fairly common practice when a new set of professional regulations is proposed; it's called a "sunrise" hearing, and the idea is to get all the players in the room and see what kinds of concerns they have. Read more »

The Gavster, the Lite Guv, our former mayor, has a new book out, and while I eagerly await my review copy of "Citizenville," I got to hear some of its themes on Forum. Here's what the honorable Lieutenant Governor Newsom has to say:

You've got to "lean into it."

Oh, and you need to "get into their heads."Read more »

It's not a surprise that the California Republican Party is, ahem, a bit out of step with the mainstream of the state (you see a lot of Repubs holding statewide office right now? I don't.) And of course a San Francisco woman of color who isn't a complete right-wing loon is going to have trouble running for a state party office. But what made the Chron's story on Harmeet Dhillon so amazing was this:Read more »

Not to go all gloomy on a day when it's finally not cold and the sun is out and San Francisco was just named the happiest city in America, (based on things like the number of shopping centers and cultural events), but really: Let's not all jump up and down and celebrate. This is a very happy city for people who have money; it's becoming a very anxiety-filled city for everyone else.Read more »

Jeremy Mykaels, who is featured in our story this week on Ellis Act evictions, is fighting back with his reseach and web-developer skills: He's put together a site, ellishurtsseniors.org, that details not only his story and the overall plight of tenants but lists every Ellis Act eviction involving seniors or disabled people, the address, the name and contact info. Read more »