news
Ten Things to Watch at City Hall This Spring
From the library budget to the parking reform vote, the agenda items that will actually matter.
Issue 12 · Winter 2026 — Cover Story
The Last Public Library
For six decades the Franklin Street branch stood at the corner of the city's poorest census tract and its most hopeful block. Next month, it closes.
Read the storyThe Winter Issue
In this issue
Nine stories from the city desk — news, investigations, opinion, and culture.
culture
The Zine That Covered a Zoning War
For three years, a photocopied quarterly was the only outlet reporting the rezoning of the warehouse district. Its archive is a civic treasure.
opinion
In Defense of Slow Council Meetings
Speed is the enemy of scrutiny. What we lose when we demand efficiency from the people who hold the gavel.
investigations
The Landfill Next Door
The county has spent twenty years saying the landfill is 'at capacity.' The permit documents tell a different story.
news
How the Budget Meeting Actually Works
It looks like tedium. It is governance. A field guide to the ninety minutes that decide a billion dollars.
culture
A Block-by-Block Field Guide to the Waterfront
The port that built this city is quietly becoming a park. A walking tour of the twelve blocks where the change is visible.
opinion
The Mayor's Empty Promise on Sidewalks
Three years, eight hundred thousand dollars, and the same broken curb. We should stop pretending the program is working.
investigations
Rent, Rules, and the Ruling on 4th Street
A 2019 ordinance was supposed to make rents predictable. A loophole the size of a parking lot kept them climbing.
news
What the New Transit Map Doesn't Show
The redesigned system map promises clarity. Residents of the east corridor say it erases their routes entirely.