Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Meet the trolls leading Newsom’s online anti-MAGA war

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Aug 21

Newsom’s trolls: Meet the soldiers leading the governor’s anti-MAGA meme war

sfstandard.com/2025/08/21/n...

Izzy Gardon and Brandon Richards are leading a social media blitz against Trump and his allies.

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Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Aug 18

July/August pie updates. I am getting better!

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Aug 18

I admittedly skipped July because life is 🤪 right now so I present two pies for August.

A peach pie with my BEST crust to date and a blueberry pie that, despite my forgetting the egg wash and skipping a few baking steps, was by far more popular. Proving looks are not everything!

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Aug 18

I admittedly skipped July because life is 🤪 right now so I present two pies for August.

A peach pie with my BEST crust to date and a blueberry pie that, despite my forgetting the egg wash and skipping a few baking steps, was by far more popular. Proving looks are not everything!

Prop. A explainer: Why is Joel Engardio facing a recall?

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Aug 14

Engardio recall ballots are sent to 50,000 Sunset voters. What to know about Prop. A / ✍️ @lihanlihan.bsky.social

sfstandard.com/2025/08/14/r...

The effort to remove the supervisor from office began with his support for Prop. K, which closed the Great Highway to cars and ignited a political firestorm on the west side.

A massive US measles outbreak has slowed but the start of the school year brings renewed risk of spread | CNN

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Reposted by Hannah Wiley

CNN @cnn.com · Aug 6

The start of the school year in the United States poses new threats for the spread of measles amid a record-breaking year for cases and lagging vaccination rates.

Texas hasn’t reported a new outbreak-related measles case in nearly a month — a hopeful sign that one of the largest outbreaks the United States has seen in decades is starting to slow. But the measle...

www.cnn.com

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Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Aug 5

ICYMI: Lurie spends big bucks on private consultants to bolster public image

sfstandard.com/2025/08/01/s...

SF mayor pays $350K his own money on army of consultants

Mayor Daniel Lurie continues to pay a team of consultants to help craft his public image after his campaign shattered election spending records.

Landmark or old building? Downtown SF site’s demolition sparks political fight

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Aug 4

Coffee landmark or old building? Downtown site’s demolition sparks political fight / ✍️ @lihanlihan.bsky.social

sfstandard.com/2025/08/04/c...

The city is pushing forward with plans to demolish an old coffee roastery and warehouse to make room for a new fire station next to a huge high-rise building. Local preservationists are outraged.

SF mayor pays $350K his own money on army of consultants

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Aug 1

SF Mayor Daniel Lurie won election after dumping $9.5 million of his own money into the race.

Now in office, new records show he continues to spend big bucks on private consultants to bolster his public image.

sfstandard.com/2025/08/01/s...

Mayor Daniel Lurie continues to pay a team of consultants to help craft his public image after his campaign shattered election spending records.

How people are weaponizing state systems: ‘We file liens that crush their credit’

Reposted by Hannah Wiley

Stuart Leavenworth @sleavenworth.bsky.social · Jul 30

Across the country, antigovernment “sovereign citizens” are flooding states and counties with liens, alleging government officials owe them money or property, a tactic the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service have identified as a form of “paper terrorism.”

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Financing statements — meant to record legitimate business liens — are now a vehicle for conspiracy-laced claims, trillion-dollar demands and vendettas against politicians, businesses and public emplo...

www.latimes.com

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Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 25

As Texas eyes redistricting, Newsom pledges to fight fire with fire

“Everything is at stake if we are not successful next year in taking back the House of Representatives,” the governor said Friday.

sfstandard.com/2025/07/25/n...

Newsom wants California to fight Texas for congressional power in 2026

The two states have entered an all-out redistricting battle to determine which party takes control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 election. “Everything is at stake if we are not succ...

Opinion | Three things San Francisco Democrats can learn from Mamdani’s win in NYC

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Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 25

Opinion: Three things San Francisco Democrats can learn from Mamdani’s win in NYC

sfstandard.com/opinion/2025...

Mamdani may not be the savior the left craves, but his win has important lessons for San Francisco's Democrats

Bracing for the ICE storm: SF immigrants go underground

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 23

‘God is the only one who can stop him’: Fearing Trump and ICE, SF immigrants go underground

sfstandard.com/2025/07/23/s...

Empty shops, workers staying home, and some even self-deporting. This isn’t the calm before the storm, but an anxious scramble — a collective rush to bar the doors, board up the windows, and get the h...

‘It’s insulting’: LA Times owner stuns staff with plans to go public

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Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 23

‘It’s insulting’: LA Times owner stuns staff with plans to go public

www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

Inside the newspaper, the announcement landed with a thud.

www.politico.com

Judge Challenges Trump Administration in Hearing on Harvard Funding

Reposted by Hannah Wiley

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Jul 21

A federal judge grilled a Trump administration lawyer during a crucial hearing on a lawsuit brought by Harvard University over the government’s decision to cancel billions of dollars in federal funds for the school.

In a courtroom in Boston on Monday, a lawyer for Harvard called the Trump administration’s case against the school “cooked up.”

trib.al

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Reposted by Hannah Wiley

Politico @politico.com · Jul 19

2028 hopefuls aren't waiting for the DNC to set the presidential calendar; they’re testing the waters for themselves in South Carolina.

Democrats in South Carolina are barely pretending they're not already running for president

A whole lot of 2028 Democratic hopefuls seem to be visiting the state.

www.politico.com

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Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 18

ICYMI: ‘A Ponzi scheme’: Lawmakers skewer leaders of disgraced parks nonprofit

sfstandard.com/2025/07/17/s...

Lawmakers grill leaders of disgraced SF parks nonprofit

Supervisors are probing the former leadership of the Parks Alliance, a once-influential nonprofit that closed in June after allegations of financial misconduct.

SF nonprofit went from $125M gift to fight for survival

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 17

Darkened dreams: How a nonprofit for the blind squandered a $125 million windfall

sfstandard.com/2025/07/17/l...

A mysterious $125M gift transformed the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually impaired. A decade later, layoffs, protests, and financial losses leave the nonprofit fighting to survive.

SF's budget battle is done. Who won and who lost?

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 16

City Hall’s ‘incredibly hard’ budget is done. Here are the winners and losers

sfstandard.com/2025/07/16/s...

The Board of Supervisors approved Mayor Daniel Lurie’s budget. Progressive Board of Supervisor member Jackie Fielder was the sole “no” vote.

SF mayor, supervisors reach compromise on citywide shelter plan

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 16

Under pressure from Lurie, citywide homeless shelters go from mandate to suggestion / ✍️ @lihanlihan.bsky.social

sfstandard.com/2025/07/16/s...

The original bill mandated that each supervisorial district approve at least one homeless shelter by mid-2026, but faced pushback from Mayor Daniel Lurie.

San Francisco balances on thin blue line with Trump ICE arrests

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 15

San Francisco balances on thin blue line with Trump ICE arrests sfstandard.com/2025/07/15/s...

Violent clashes involving federal agents have raised difficulty questions inside the SFPD and City Hall.

City warned official about ethics breach with former employer

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 15

City attorneys warned commissioner about potential ethics breach. She ignored them

sfstandard.com/2025/07/15/s...

Planning Commissioner Kathrin Moore approved multiple projects for her former employer, architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, despite being warned by city attorneys that her votes could violat...

The new rules of SF's drug markets

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Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 11

The new rules of SF’s drug markets / ✍️ David Sjostedt

"It’s past San Francisco’s bedtime. The buses have mostly stopped running, and the skyline has dimmed. But many of the city’s drug dealers are just clocking in for work."

sfstandard.com/2025/07/11/s...

Despite a highly publicized crackdown over the past two years, the illegal drug market lives on.

The GavTracker: Will Newsom run for president in 2028?

Hannah Wiley @hannahcwiley.bsky.social · Jul 8

Introducing the GavTracker: Our non-scientific Gavin Newsom presidential forecaster sfstandard.com/2025/07/08/n...

Today we launch the GavTracker, a tool to track whether the ambitious California governor appears more or less likely to launch a bid for the White House in 2028.