SF Daily Brief for November 8, 2026

This is SF Daily Brief for Sunday, November 8, 2026. Here is the day's news from San Francisco. We start with City Hall. San Francisco got $7 million to expand its innovation team, and the Standard reports that Mayor Daniel Lurie just fired most of it.

The innovation office has lost its director, the chief who oversaw it, and most of its staff, all in less than a year. The city had received that $7 million to expand the team. The funding was for expansion. The transit system also saw record numbers.

The Valkyries championship parade helped Muni and BART break records, too. Muni logged just over 600,000 trips on Wednesday, its busiest single day since the pandemic, as fans rode to the Valkyries championship parade. SFMTA communications director Parisa Safarzadeh gave that figure. BART also set a single-day post-pandemic ridership record that day.

Both records came on the day of the parade. The parade was a championship celebration for the Valkyries. The Golden State Warriors have player news. Big man Kristaps Porziņģis said in a statement Friday that lingering health issues will keep him away from the NBA indefinitely.

He said he wants to find a solution that makes sense on a trade or buyout. NBC Bay Area reports that the Warriors and Porziņģis are expected to explore trade options over the next few months. The statement was about his health. In city politics, Mayor Daniel Lurie gains power and loses excuses.

Mission Local reports that political analysts say the passage of three measures amending the city charter gives the mayor more power and fewer excuses. Those analysts describe the outcome as a risky move for the mayor. All three measures amend the city charter. Election results are still being counted.

San Francisco's city-owned bank measure pulled ahead Thursday night. Proposition B, which would create the structure for a public bank in San Francisco, pulled ahead in Thursday's tally with a lead of more than 5,000 votes, its widest margin so far. Yes on B consultant Daniel Anderson said it was too early to declare victory with ballots still being counted. The lead is more than 5,000 votes.

In music, Macklemore claims Chase Center refuses to host his Free Palestine tour. Macklemore said in an Instagram post that Chase Center and eight other arenas refused to book dates for his Free Palestine tour once operators learned the shows were benefits for Palestine, KRON4 reported. The venues he named include Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center and three arenas in Los Angeles. He named those venues in the post.

Election maps show the split. The story of San Francisco's November election is told in seven maps. Seven maps of San Francisco's November election show how the city and the state divided on the Sunset Dunes measure, the race to replace Nancy Pelosi and state measures on billionaires and voting rights. The maps cover both city and state contests.

In honors, Nancy Pelosi is set to receive a special honor at the Castro Theatre. She will receive this year's Legends Award from The Academy, an LGBTQ+ social club, at the Castro Theatre on Nov. 22. It will be her first appearance after the election, about two months before Scott Wiener takes her seat in Congress.

The event is at the Castro Theatre. The Standard also looks at history. San Francisco nearly sent a gay politician to Congress in 1987, and Scott Wiener will finish the mission. The Standard reports that Wiener's path from a closeted New Jersey teenager to congressman-elect tracks a generation of struggle and halting progress in San Francisco politics.

In 1987, the city came close to sending an openly gay politician to Congress. Wiener is now congressman-elect. That is the brief for Sunday, November 8, 2026. Thank you for listening today.

We will be back tomorrow. For the full written brief, go online to sfdailybrief.com.