Fifth & Mission

Breathless (non-Chronicle) headlines warned that San Francisco would be drowning in IPO millionaires in 2019. But the housing market has turned soft. Columnist Kathleen Pender and business editor Owen Thomas talk about what to expect in 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chronicle wine critic Esther Mobley shares her secrets and brings her spit bucket for a tasting session with Audrey Cooper. Plus: How California vintners are adjusting to climate change, which threatens Cabernet Sauvignon, the state’s most important grape. First published Aug. 23, 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since 1982, The Chronicle and the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund have found a novel way to keep people from becoming homeless: The Season of Sharing Fund. Audrey Cooper and Kevin Fagan chat with new SOS executive director Zev Lowe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why won't Dungeness crab be in grocery stores by Thanksgiving? Assistant food editor Tara Duggan explains the latest delays, which are linked to the health of whales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reporters Jill Tucker and Joaquin Palomino, as part of their Vanishing Violence investigation, have found that California officials' claims that juvenile halls now mostly hold serious offenders is not true. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A spike in traffic violence has claimed 27 lives so far this year. Metro editor Demian Bulwa and columnist Heather Knight talk about why San Francisco's Vision Zero plan, to eliminate traffic deaths in the city, is off track. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reporters J.D. Morris, who covers PG&E, and Kurtis Alexander, who covers California climate and environmental issues, talk with metro editor Demian Bulwa about how they work their beats as the state is hammered by wildfires and massive blackouts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reporter Lizzie Johnson and photographer Carlos Avila Gonzalez talk with editor in chief Audrey Cooper and a live audience at the Chronicle Center in San Francisco about covering wildfires — how they protect themselves, what risks they’re willing to take, what they have to know. First of two parts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a woman died on the Golden Gate Bridge in 2000, Napoleon Brown got 44 years in prison. He’s seeking a shorter sentence in light of a new law. His sister, the mayor of San Francisco, has advocated on his behalf in the past. Reporter Dominic Fracassa on the latest twists in the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Police have still made no arrests after the mass shooting at a Halloween "Mansion Party" at an Orinda Airbnb. Reporter Evan Sernoffsky talks about the victims, the possible motives and the new scrutiny on Airbnb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you recover from the worst fire in California history? A year after the Camp Fire killed 85 people and leveled a whole town, just 14 homes have been rebuilt. But there's hope, say reporter Lizzie Johnson and photographer Gabrielle Lurie, who have been spending time in the disaster area. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No. There’s no such thing. Reporters Kevin Fagan and Dominic Fracassa talk about how meth’s powerful grip on San Francisco is killing people and contributing to the city’s biggest problems, and about the latest idea to deal with it: a sobering center for addicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Editorial Page Editor John Diaz and City Hall reporter Dominic Fracassa join Audrey Cooper to talk about today’s election in San Francisco, including two races that have received national attention: the four-way battle for district attorney and Prop C, which would regulate e-cigarettes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What would you do if you suddenly found a golden treasure? Audrey Cooper interviews reporters Tara Duggan and Jason Fagone about an unbelievable tale that took more than a year to report — the story of fisherman Joe Pennisi’s secret. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the transit agency begins filling its lots with residential buildings, it’s chipping away at a perk commuters have enjoyed for years — cheap parking spaces. Rachel Swan on the battle of housing for people against housing for cars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bay Area residents needed cell service more than ever as they lost electricity and worried about wildfires. Reporter Mallory Moench joins us to talk about why cell service providers in some places failed this test, and what can be done about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lizzie Johnson talks about shadowing two firefighters, one a Cal Fire division chief and one a fire marshal from Riverside County, as they inspect the damage inflicted by the Kincade Fire and encounter a homeowner who defied the evacuation order — a dangerous move, but one that allowed him to save his house. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Ravani reports on the heroism she's been seeing at the Kincade Fire, including firefighters who used water from a swimming pool to help save three houses in Windsor. She also talks about the emotional reaction of Healdsburg residents when the power came back on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Evan Sernoffsky reports from the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa during the calm before the big windstorm that's expected to kick up Tuesday afternoon and evening. Firefighters fear the winds could cause a major flare-up in the Kincade Fire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wine critic Esther Mobley joins Audrey Cooper to talk about how California’s biggest cash crop, the $40 billion wine industry, is faring in the latest round of wildfires and power shut-offs. Fifth & Mission is updating more frequently than usual this week as we focus on the developments around Northern California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fifth & Mission is updating more frequently than usual this week as we focus on the wildfires and power shut-offs around Northern California this week. In this episode, Megan Cassidy reports from Windsor as firefighters race against the clock to establish firelines during a lull in the high winds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Megan Cassidy joins Audrey Cooper to talk about her reporting on the Kincade Fire, one of many wildfires around the Bay Area. J.D. Morris talks about the massive PG&E shut-offs in response to the weekend's major wind event — and the reactions by the public and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senior interactive developer Evan Wagstaff joins Audrey Cooper to talk about how he and his team build the tools that are some of the Chronicle's most popular features, including the California Fire Tracker and the PG&E Outage Map. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the second time this month, PG&E is preparing to preemptively cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in a bid to prevent wildfires. Reporters J.D. Morris and Mallory Moench tell us what to expect and answer key questions about how people are coping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Cabanatuan talks about the slow road to sports betting in California. A third of states now allow it, but not the Golden State, where it will take cooperation between gambling interests, as well as consent from state lawmakers and the voters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The San Francisco Chronicle arts writer joins Audrey Cooper in a chat about his new column exploring the Bay Area’s vibrant scene, what he learned from drag shows and how to be a supporter of the arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Northern California residents marking the 30th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake were shaken anew this week by a couple of big jolts. Reporter Peter Fimrite joins Demian Bulwa to talk quake science, why we can't predict the Big One, and ShakeAlert, the new earthquake early-warning system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Connor Letourneau joins Audrey Cooper to talk about what it’s like to cover the Golden State Warriors. They discuss what Steph Curry’s really like, how things will be different for the team at the Chase Center, and the “Connor Letourneau Curse.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The power is out in huge parts of Northern California as Pacific Gas & Electric Co. makes good on its threats to turn off electricity lines to an estimated 2.3 million people. Across the region, officials and residents have scrambled to respond, with mixed results. As the utility struggles to get out accurate information to those affected, residents prepare for a days-long outage. But questions remain: Why did the Bay Area seem so ill prepared to deal with what could become the new normal? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hundreds of thousands of people — not just those in wooded areas — could be affected as PG&E prepares to shut off power in an attempt to prevent wildfires in this week's dry and windy weather. Reporter J.D. Morris on how we got here and what you need to know. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a rare good-news crime story, reporters Jill Tucker, Evan Sernoffsky and Joaquin Palomino have been tracking historic drops in crime among teens. They talk about that and their investigation into the surge of kids tried in adult courts in the past two decades — under policies now seen as too severe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Culture Desk Reporter Ryan Kost spent four days wandering the Bay Area to explore future flood zones, areas that scientists expect to be swallowed up by rising sea levels. He tells Audrey Cooper about what he learned there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bay Area is a quirky place. And The Chronicle is launching an effort to explore all of those quirks that make us hella Bay. Sarah Feldberg joins Audrey Cooper to debut the Culture Desk, a new coverage focus that will explore everything from wealth to sex to health and parenting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heather Knight and Kevin Fagan join Demian Bulwa to talk about the infamous boulders on Clinton Park alley, which have become a symbol for San Francisco's inability to provide basic services for its homeless population or to enforce laws when street behavior turns dark and violent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transportation reporter Rachel Swan talks about BART's plan for fare gates that scofflaws might find harder to hurdle or squeeze through, and the agency's frustration over trying to prevent suicides. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The San Francisco Chronicle's restaurant critic talks with Audrey Cooper about how she wants to challenge readers to think about where they dine and how that intersects with politics and influences local culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political reporter Joe Garofoli and editorial page editor John Diaz join Demian Bulwa to talk about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that the House of Representatives will open an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Will her strategy of waiting pay off? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reporter Trisha Thadani talks about The Chronicle series "Broken Care," which explores breakdowns in the way San Francisco aids its most vulnerable residents — those who are homeless, addicted and mentally ill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a photo of a desperate, homeless heroin addict ran in The Chronicle, the man's brother — with help from reporter Kevin Fagan — launched an effort to find and help him. Incredibly, he succeeded, but the story ended in tragedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much of the Bay Area's new housing is in distant San Joaquin County. Reporter J.K. Dineen talks about the environmental impact of that. Plus: Rachel Swan on California falling short of its emissions goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Urban design critic John King on why we need to start planning now to prepare the Bay Area for the impacts of sea level rise — and why the development of vulnerable spots like Treasure Island is still taking place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Washington correspondent Tal Kopan on the growing divide between President Trump's denial of climate change and California's effort to do something about it. Part of the cooperative Climate Week media project. See sfchronicle.com/climatechallenge for more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the San Francisco Symphony opens its final season under Michael Tilson Thomas, classical music critic Joshua Kosman talks about the longtime conductor's legacy, and advises first-time symphony-goers to relax. Come as you are. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Cal Fire bulldozer operator reported to the Ferguson Fire last summer to protect his community. It was his last call. Lizzie Johnson on the remarkable recovery operation that ensued as his friends and family grappled with their loss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Mateo has a plan to house police officers who've become super-commuters because they can't afford the sky-high prices in that city. Reporter J.K. Dineen explains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reporter Megan Cassidy on the scene in the Alameda County courthouse as Max Harris is acquitted on 36 charges of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the 2016 warehouse fire. The jury hung on charges for master tenant Derick Almena. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A wealthy couple buys a big new mansion in Hillsborough. Is it their dream home? Nope. It’s a teardown. Reporter Matthias Gafni on the latest stunner in Bay Area housing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Educators who want ethnic studies taught statewide in California schools are getting pushback from critics who say they support the idea in principle, but that the proposed teaching guidelines push racially divisive themes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode first published July 29, photographers Gabrielle Lurie and Jessica Christian discuss photographing homelessness during the Chronicle's 24-hour project. They talk about the challenges of photographing for 24 hours straight, keeping safe on the streets and making moving imagery under tough circumstances. We also learn about Jessica’s subject “Shorty,” and how he lives as a disabled homeless man on the streets of San Francisco. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a region that has nearly every type of cuisine, good barbecue restaurants have been hard to find. That seems to be changing with an explosion of pop-ups and even some brick-and-mortars springing up in unexpected places. Can they thrive in the Bay? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices