Interactive Art Installations to Light Up Central Market Corridor

San Francisco’s Market Street will be lit up this evening with new art installations aimed at sparking imagination and public interaction in the Central Market neighborhood.

The art installations, located on Market Street between Fifth and Seventh streets, are part of the Light Up Central Market project that will be unveiled at an event scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at The Hall located at 1028 Market St. The official flipping of the switch will then take place at 7:30 p.m.

In addition to the Light Up Central Market project, art projects that are part of the Living Innovation Zones, managed by the San Francisco Planning Department, the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation, and the San Francisco Arts Commission, will also be unveiled.

Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement today, “The city is supporting the arts by creating affordable spaces for artists to showcase their work.”

Lee said the Living Innovation Zone is part of the city’s efforts to transform the Central Market neighborhood into “a vibrant hub for the community with new jobs, new homes, world-class small businesses and thriving community-oriented arts organizations.”

The Light Up Central Market project illuminates six site-specific projects, including the building facade of the non-profit Luggage Store Gallery and a 10-by-24-foot interactive bench.

Four murals by artists Clare Rojas, Jenny Sharaf, Mark Bode and OSGEMEOS, are also part of the Light Up Central Market project.

The interactive and illuminated bench, titled Block by Block, stacks, swings, pivots and can be reconfigured in numerous ways.

Block by Block is expected to remain on the sidewalk for one year. The public is encouraged to use the structure, composed of wood and illuminated plastic blocks, in whichever way they choose.

Visitors to central Market Street will also see art installations from the Central Market Showcase, a selection of prototypes that were first unveiled during the Market Street Prototyping Festival in April.

San Francisco planning director John Rahaim said, “The city recognizes the vital role that art plays in strengthening community.”

Rahaim said, “When the city partners on projects such as these, we are taking a position that art is a legitimate public purpose.”

Prototypes that will remain on temporary exhibit on Market Street include an interactive, rotating public seating installation, a public ping-pong table and an outdoor urban exercise path along Market Street.

Man Suspected in Sacramento Homicide In Custody After Showing Up at SF General Hospital

A man who arrived at a San Francisco hospital with a gunshot wound on Monday night was initially believed to be shot in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, but police said today he was instead a suspect in a Sacramento homicide and has been taken into custody.

The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, arrived at San Francisco General Hospital shortly before 10 p.m. Monday with gunshot wounds to the elbow and knee, according to police.

The man told police officers that he had been shot in San Francisco, but refused to provide further information, police said.

On Tuesday, San Francisco police said that officers initially heard gunfire at the intersection of Golden Gate Avenue and Jones Street and that shell casings and blood drops were found there, police said.

Police said today though that it does not appear that the victim was shot in the Tenderloin, but instead may have been injured in Sacramento during the commission of a homicide there.

San Francisco police said that Sacramento police officers responded to San Francisco General Hospital and took custody of the individual.

According to a statement released by Sacramento police on Tuesday, officers received a report around 10:55 p.m. Monday of a man who had been shot near the 2300 block of Laramie Lane in Sacramento.

Sacramento police said the shooting was reported a full hour after San Francisco police said the suspect was reported at San Francisco General Hospital.

Sacramento police said officers arrived at the scene on Laramie Lane and found a man in his early 20s suffering from a gunshot wound to his upper body.

The victim was transported to a hospital, where he died of his injuries, police said.

Sacramento police said the suspect, who suffered a gunshot wound that does not appear to be life-threatening, was detained at San Francisco General Hospital and may be in his late teens.

Sacramento police detectives said they believe that one or more suspects approached one or more victims on foot as they were standing near an apartment building on Laramie Lane.

The suspect or suspects then fled immediately after the shooting, according to Sacramento police.

Sacramento police said detectives do not believe the shooting was random and are not yet ruling out the possibility that it was gang-related.

A motive for the homicide remains under investigation.

The Sacramento Police Department is urging anyone with information about the homicide to contact Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP or to text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) by entering SACTIP followed by the tip information.

Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Food Stamp Applicants Sue Alameda County Over Alleged Delay in Processing Applications

Three food stamp applicants sued Alameda County in federal court in San Francisco Tuesday, alleging the county is breaking the law and harming people in need by delaying determination of eligibility for the aid program.

The lawsuit claims that in the past year, the county was late in processing 19.4 percent of food stamp applications by either a 30-day deadline for regular applications or a 3-day deadline for emergency applications.

The county’s current backlog is 10,697 pending applications, according to the lawsuit.

“As a result, needy Alameda County residents are facing undernutrition and hunger, homelessness and serious health risks,” the lawsuit claims.

The suit asks for a court order requiring the county to meet the deadlines. It also seeks to be certified as a class action on behalf of all current and future applicants in the county.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Donald Lilley of Livermore, Jarvis Johnson of Oakland and Daniel Mallory of Berkeley.

The defendants include Alameda County, the Board of Supervisors, the county Social Services Agency, and agency Director Lori Cox.

Social Services Agency spokeswoman Sylvia Soublet said agency officials had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.

The federally funded food stamp program, begun in 1964 and now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aids people with low income or no income in purchasing food.

It is administered through the states, and in California the program operation is delegated to county governments. The state program is known as CalFresh. Most states, including California, now provide the aid through Electronic Benefit Transfer cards rather than the original paper stamps.

Alameda County provided CalFresh benefits to 123,126 people as of January, according to the agency’s website.

The lawsuit says that Lilley, who is disabled and is receiving county general assistance benefits, has been waiting 52 days for his CalFresh application to be processed.

“There have been days when he does not have enough to eat and he has experienced health problems due to poor nutrition,” the lawsuit says.

Johnson, who is disabled, and Mallory, who is unemployed, submitted emergency applications and had waited eight days and 25 days respectively without receiving benefits at the time the lawsuit was filed.

The 30-day deadline for processing regular applications is a federal requirement and the 3-day deadline for processing emergency applications is a state mandate. Federal law sets a 7-day deadline for responding to emergency applications, but allows states to adopt a shorter time frame.

The lawsuit says figures from the California Department of Social Services show that Alameda County ranked worst of the state’s 58 counties in timely processing of regular applications between August 2014 and July 2015.

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge James Donato of San Francisco.