KQED Live EventsPRX Podcast Garage EventsEvents Around the Bay AreaMember Benefits with KQED LiveVideos from KQED LiveWatch recordings of recent KQED Live events FeaturedThat's My WordAn ongoing exploration of Bay Area hip-hop history See Senior Director of TV Programming Meredith Speight’s recommendations from this month’s KQED 9 Watch recordings of recent KQED Live events Support KQED by using your donor-advised fund to make a charitable gift announced that it is shutting its doors at the end of next year with locations in East Palo Alto and the East Bay sought to offer an education to low-income communities that included supportive services for the whole family the East Palo Alto school has over 400 children with 58% receiving specialized educational services the school said the Ravenswood City School District has agreed to help relocate students East Palo Alto Vice Mayor Mark Dinan said the closure will be disruptive for students and families “I think we have component people in the Ravenswood School District — smart talented people who will be taking this on right now both for the district and for the kids and the parents and the families It’s not something that was at all expected,” Dinan said The Primary School did not give a specific reason for its closure and representatives declined to comment to KQED and we are committed to ensuring a thoughtful and supportive transition for students and families over the next year,” the school said in a statement has said it will spend $50 million over the next five years to help the affected families with the educational transition there will be investments in 529 education savings plans for all of their students to “help support their future learning.” senior manager of strategy and advancement at the Primary School said the school remains committed to the quality of education for students “We have one more year with our families and with our students and it really invigorates us and motivates us to provide them with the best year of school and programming that we possibly can,” Cook said “Help them [children and their caregivers] lay the foundations that they can build on wherever the next step in their journey is going to take them.” To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy. San Mateo County ― Caltrans has scheduled two overnight closures on U.S 101 at University Avenue in East Palo Alto Caltrans crews will be removing temporary supporting structures from the area Crews will prepare for the closure starting on Tuesday night at 10 p.m Caltrans thanks motorists for their patience with work to maintain our state’s highways East Palo Alto has long been separated and ostracized from Palo Alto. The redlined city has cultivated a distinct identity and pride of its own. (Darius Riley/Hourvoyses)KQED’s Silicon Valley Unseen is a series of photo essays original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective There’s nothing like summertime in my hometown of East Palo Alto (better known as EPA). The California weather is ideal, the whips are out and everyone lingers around longer than usual. It’s when the city feels most alive, and when I can best capture its warm vibrancy with my camera I hopped on my skateboard and mobbed through the hood I criss-crossed the new catwalk stretching above Hwy 101 — a new structure that continues to reshape the city’s infrastructure I visited  the G — another of EPA’s many sections home to my high school — where the tough roads make it hard to enjoy a smooth ride It’s the kind of place where you’re forced to slow down it’s essential to emphasize the “E” in EPA Palo Alto and East Palo Alto are two different cities in two different counties and may as well be located on two different planets directly connects Meta’s headquarters to Stanford’s campus You’d never know that there used to be hella corner stores Much of that local identity was replaced to cater to Silicon Valley’s corporate image Whenever I’d tell my peers where I was from they’d often fixate on the perception of tech companies founded in garages EPA breeds our own kind of history and innovation If Palo Alto represents the Bay Area as Silicon Valley in its most suburbanized affluence then East Palo Alto is an extension of the Yay Area’s rugged shortcomings operating in the shadows of tech’s unreachable power That contradiction is what makes EPA special and arms us with an unbreakable resilience One of East Palo Alto’s native sons, Davante Adams — an All-Pro NFL wide receiver for the Las Vegas Raiders — said it best on an episode of Pivot Podcast: “In Lion King you got Pride Rock and then you got the elephant graveyard right there on top of each other I’m not proud of stuff that contributes to the reason why it’s not the same but it is what it is and I stand on where I’m from.” That’s how I feel when I tell people I’m from East Palo Alto. Some people may never understand the roguish ways of Little Nairobi familiar corners and current state of these neighborhoods So for those who don’t know what EPA looks like here’s our beautiful “elephant graveyard,” down by the Bay’s shoreline Darius Riley is a photographer from East Palo Alto, CA. He is focused on empowering Bay Area communities through visual storytelling. More of his work can be viewed here San Mateo County ― Caltrans has rescheduled a 55-hour weekend ramp closure on northbound U.S 101 at University Avenue in East Palo Alto originally scheduled for December 20-23 The work is scheduled to be carried out from Friday The northbound University Avenue off-ramp will be closed to the traveling public to allow construction crews to perform ramp realignment work and ADA improvements over the weekend Motorists are encouraged to exit the East Palo Alto off-ramp to Donohoe Street to access University Avenue by turning left at Donohoe Street onto southbound University Avenue To fund tenant rental assistance and other specified housing purposes such as affordable home ownership protecting residents from displacement or homelessness shall the initiative measure requiring funds raised by the existing 2.5% tax on gross receipts (that cannot be passed on to tenants) when renting certain types of rental units which raises approximately $1.45 million annually Initiative Measure – prepared by citizens through review and signature gathering The current code imposes a 2.5% tax on gross receipts from residential rental units including landlords demonstrating financial hardship apartments rented to people with federal assistance vouchers new rental construction for the first three years and accessory dwelling units.The amendment does not change the tax rate.It assures that the money will not be used for general governmental purposes.At least 30% of the funds must be used for tenant rental assistance.No more than 20% of the funds may be used for staff and overhead costs to administer the tax.The remaining revenue may be used or protect residents from displacement or homelessness.A new subsection is added to ensure that the council shall periodically review housing policy and related issues to determine how and to what extent the city should fund such programs What the Description MeansThe measure is meant to limit the use of money generated by a currently existing 2.5% tax on certain rental units to fund rental assistance and other specified housing purposes and prevent the money from being used for general governmental purposes Arguments in FavorThe current 2.5% tax is levied on rental revenue for residential landlords former organizing director of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo CountyAntonio Lopez Costs Associated With This MeasureNone noted   By: YIMBY Team 5:00 am on January 2 A new affordable housing project celebrated its inauguration at its project site located at 965 Weeks Street in East Palo Alto The project proposal included the development of a new affordable housing complex comprised of four structures offering 136 residential units David Baker Architects is responsible for the designs 965 Weeks Street Construction Team via Blach Construction The project site spans an area of 2.61 acres and supporters gathered to celebrate the inauguration of the a new affordable housing complex in East Palo Alto the affordable housing development is a multi-family residential development that provides 136 residential units as affordable housing Beam Signing Ceremony via Blach Construction The project will yield a total built-up area spanning 236,000 square feet providing affordable housing units ranging from studios to four-bedroom apartments within four structures Onsite amenities will include a community room with kitchen an after-school learning center for resident children laundry room and on-site office space for supportive staff The complex will also offer a five-level parking garage with 218 stalls In a press released shared with SFYIMBY.com property management is provided by MidPen Property Management MidPen Services will offer free onsite services to residents The project broke ground earlier in 2024. Colibri Commons is expected to open in Summer 2025. Interested prospective residents may visit the website to join the interest list Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates Like YIMBY on Facebook Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews ga('send', 'event', ‘Robert ‘Becker, 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/desktop-ad.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); ADVERTISEMENT ga('send', 'event', 'SF YIMBY', 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/sfyimbyadnews.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); ga('send', 'event', 'SF YIMBY', 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/sf-yimby-dot-com-graphic.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); Follow on Instagram © COPYRIGHT New York YIMBY LLC San Mateo County ― Caltrans has rescheduled a 55-hour weekend ramp closure on northbound U.S 101 at University Avenue in East Palo Alto originally scheduled for December 13 -16 East Palo Alto’s City Council approved a scaled-back expansion plan for the shoreline Ravenswood Business District (RBD) on December 17th While the plan remains substantial in size and impact it now includes a majority of our policy recommendations to protect Baylands ecosystems The original proposal called for 4.5 million square feet of new office space—a scale that threatened to displace residents and impede future sea level rise adaptation City studies revealed alarming potential impacts: an 82% increase in traffic in some areas displacement threats to 25% of current residents.  Eight-story buildings abutting the Bay Trail and wetlands could have increased bird collisions and produced shading and human activity that harm wildlife and critical wetlands habitat Overbuilt development also risked impeding sustainable sea level rise solutions We remain concerned about the inevitable impacts of so much growth on this small community and important shoreline However we’re proud to have played a role in shaping a plan that better balances growth Thank you to everyone who supported this effort and will perhaps become involved on issues that resonate with you Sign up for our electronic communications and keep in touch with current issues involving our local environment your support is critical to our local environment Sierra Club® and "Explore, enjoy and protect the planet"® are registered trademarks of the Sierra Club. © Sierra Club 2025.The Sierra Club Seal is a registered copyright Folks like you are the backbone of the movement to ensure wildlife and wild places are protected clean air and water are accessible to all and devastating effects of climate change are fought This helps residents with low incomes remain in their community and lays the groundwork for a more stable and affordable future This loan to EPACANDO expands on SFF’s work to support using ADUs to help address the Bay Area’s affordable housing crisis Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker East Palo Alto Police Officer Wendy Venegas reviews footage from her body camera in her police vehicle after responding to a call in East Palo Alto on Sept fficer Wendy Venegas spoke softly in Spanish to the 14-year-old standing on the side of a narrow residential road in East Palo Alto The girl’s face was puffy from crying as she quietly explained what had happened The girl said her father had caught her and her boyfriend “doing stuff” that morning and her dad had either struck or pushed the boy the police had arrived to interview all three of them But when it came time to turn this incident into a report Venegas would have help from a new assistant: a cutting-edge artificial intelligence tool called Draft One a small working-class city that can feel a world away from its Silicon Valley neighbors is among a handful of California departments that have started to use or test the AI-powered software developed by Axon an industry leader in body cameras and tasers Axon said the program can help officers produce more objective reports in less time But as more agencies adopt these kinds of tools some experts wonder if they give artificial intelligence too big a part in the criminal justice system “We forget that that document plays a really central role in decisions that change people’s lives,” said Andrew Ferguson, a criminal law professor at American University Washington College of Law who wrote the first law review article on AI-assisted police reports From documenting the details of complex homicides to recording the basics of a stolen bicycle police reports have been at the heart of police work “They actually are kind of the building block of the criminal justice system because they are the official sort of memorialization of what happened judges make bail decisions and people make decisions about their own defense based — at least in part — on what is on this initial piece of paper “If part of that is being shaped by AI it raises some real concerns about whether we can rely on it,” Ferguson said The potential for error or bias introduced by AI is still being studied law enforcement leaders have an understandable desire to improve efficiency Axon is marketing its Draft One tool as a force multiplier, which is attractive to many police departments struggling to recruit and retain officers, a crisis that many in law enforcement say was exacerbated by the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests 20% below their targeted force numbers,” Axon founder Rick Smith said on an August earnings call with shareholders “And so that’s where we’re hearing this sort of magical feedback 25% of my officers’ day from writing reports in my force power overnight.’” East Palo Alto Chief Jeff Liu said his agency isn’t immune to these staffing concerns The department is budgeted for 36 sworn officers but he’s currently short eight positions He doesn’t see Draft One as a turn-key solution but hopes it can help officers spend more time on the streets “If this AI is going to speed up the reports, but without compromising accuracy, I think it’s a win,” he said. East Palo Alto’s contract shows Draft One costs the city about $70 per body camera per month or about $40,000 per year Liu said while he doesn’t write many reports these days, he does use Chat GPT to draft social media posts and even condolence letters, which he then customizes in his own voice. Working with the popular AI chatbot made him more open to Draft One, he said. Draft One uses the same underlying AI as Chat GPT but departmental data is stored on a secure government cloud service developed by Microsoft Axon is not the only company that offers this service. Truleo — a company that uses AI to analyze vast swaths of bodycam footage to make sure officers are acting professionally — offers a similar report-writing program but it hasn’t been marketed or adopted as widely as Axon’s Draft One Ian White said that in his department’s first month of testing Draft One officers said it saved them about 50 hours overall reports written with Draft One were produced in eight minutes while those not using the software took 23 minutes But the first independent study of the Draft One software published this week in The Journal of Experimental Criminology did not corroborate the time savings that White and others reported Researchers at the University of South Carolina did a randomized controlled trial with a New Hampshire police department over the past year which found officers who used Draft One didn’t write reports any faster than those in the control group said he can’t yet draw conclusions about why there were no time-savings — he and his colleagues are still looking into that — but he said the results surprised him He also cautioned against giving his findings too much weight about one outcome at one point in time,” Adams said His team is still researching whether there could be other benefits like accuracy or completeness If technology like Draft One can produce better-written reports “maybe they get returned for editing or revision less [often] and so you could maybe see systemic savings.” Officer Venegas in East Palo Alto said the program helps her overcome writer’s block She can just push the Draft One button on her computer and a narrative based on the audio transcript of her bodycam footage appears within seconds “When you don’t know what words you’re trying to write that’s exactly what I was thinking!’ That’s the best,” she said Draft One is also changing the way she works in the field Because the report is based on the audio transcript Venegas said she will purposefully talk about what is happening during an incident The mirror is broken,’” Venegas said Axon product designer Noah Spitzer-Williams said this was one of the most surprising and fascinating side-effects of the software: it incentivizes officers to be more verbal overall even talking into their camera’s microphone to provide context — like the parole status of a subject or whether a weapon has been reported before arriving at a scene — so the audio transcript contains key details that Draft One puts in the report the officer is asking more questions,” Spitzer-Williams said “They’re echoing back statements like You’re giving me consent to search your backpack.’” Spitzer-Williams said this also helps community relations because officers are explaining what they’re doing and why But research by the American Civil Liberties Union shows the ways officers’ real-time narration has also been used to manipulate evidence A common example is when officers shout “stop resisting” to justify use of force even when the individual is complying Axon’s Spitzer-Williams said he doesn’t believe Draft One will make this “real concern” any worse Spitzer-Williams also pointed to an Axon study that found reports written by the software tended to use less biased language than reports written by officers Back in a conference room at the East Palo Alto Police Department responded to a call for service involving a minor and a domestic disturbance.’” like who was speaking and who was related to whom “Sometimes it makes small mistakes like that,” Venegas said Some in the criminal justice sector said these seemingly small mistakes point to bigger questions of authorship which can become critical in the adjudication process a policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation said he’s concerned these reports are “going to destroy the ability to cross-examine officers Because if an officer is caught in a lie on the stand Ian White of the Campbell Police Department which has been using the software since May said his department’s policy ensures officers take responsibility for authoring the reports produced by Draft One Even if an officer “screwed up” and an error was introduced into the report it should be easily resolvable by reviewing what he called the “gold standard” of evidence: the bodycam video “There’s error in any human activity,” White said He thinks AI will make things more accurate San Mateo County Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Baum who has been talking with East Palo Alto and San Mateo police departments about their shift toward AI-assisted reports said her office is cautiously optimistic about the new program don’t capture everything that happens during an incident if someone’s under the influence of drugs or alcohol if there’s injuries,” Baum said “this is not coming through from an audio recording of the body camera.” Officers need to remain very engaged in the process of writing these reports so they don’t leave something out — particularly information that shows a person might be innocent which prosecutors have a duty to turn over Axon has also built a number of safeguards into the application to ensure that an officer goes through the report in detail to proofread it and make sure it’s accurate Officer Venegas demonstrated how each paragraph of the report includes comments that need to be resolved before she can move the report out of Draft One and into the departmental system said is “arguably the most important,” given the potential ramifications of each report “I acknowledge that this report was generated using Draft One by Axon,” Venegas read aloud “And that I further acknowledge that I have viewed the report in detail and believe it to be an accurate representation of my recollection of the reported events I’m willing to testify to the accuracy of this report.” This story is a collaboration between KQED, The Guardian US, and the California Newsroom