Locals weigh in —

We’re about to go Orange Tier — what that means — We’ve come along way since the dark months of winter, when San Francisco (and the rest of the county) hit record-high Covid-19 hospitalizations and we entered a second shutdown. In the city, the rates of Covid infections are currently down 10 times from those bleak weeks around the holidays. …

Things we did in early March 2020 that are now unfathomable — A year ago, our lives changed in small ways and major ways when the pandemic became real to us and the Bay Area shut down. …

Check back daily to read how your neighbors are faring — A year ago, I scrapped The Bold Italic’s entire editorial calendar. I had dozens of article drafts in my inbox that reflected a bustling and energetic Bay Area — a reported story about a new alcohol-free bar opening, a first-person essay about an experience at a kink club, and so…

A San Francisco costume designer inspires us to upgrade our drab face coverings of 2020 — This story is part of The Bold Italic’s Mask Envy series, where we showcase San Franciscans’ pandemic creativity and spotlight the coolest masks spotted around the city. Have a look you want to submit? Email info@thebolditalic.com. At this point, we’re all face mask veterans — truly, we’ve sampled the full…

ICU rates have improved enough to open back up slightly, but we’re not totally in the clear yet — It’s been a long six weeks since California entered its second full-on shutdown of the pandemic meant to get us through the holidays and their aftermath. As expected, this time turned out to be the darkest yet with regional ICU rates hitting scary low levels. …

The city also opened its first mass vaccination site — Welcome news for our city’s small businesses (and the rest of us): San Francisco Mayor London Breed gave a hint today that the city could reopen soon if the Covid-19 infection rate continues at its current rate or declines. The Bay Area has been in a second shelter-in-place for…

Pro boxer Karim Mayfield was arrested for weed as a teen. Now, he owns his own cannabis shop. — When Karim Mayfield was just 18 years old, he had a run-in with San Francisco cops, who arrested him and his friends for possessing weed. Those marijuana charges nearly derailed his life, with a criminal record making it difficult to find a job. Given the state of the free-flowing, legal…

The 22-year-old from California blew the country away — Today’s inauguration was a star-studded affair: a glowing Jennifer Lopez, a regal Lady Gaga, and a denim-wearing Garth Brooks all performed as part of the ceremonies in Washington, D.C., to usher in the Biden-Harris administration. …