THE DEATH OF THE CITY BY THE BAY – OVERNIGHT:  San Francisco was, until recently, seen as one of the nation's gems.  The city by the bay, the elegant town sung about by Judy Garland and Tony Bennett, a symbol of rebirth after the 1906 earthquake, a place known to thousands of GI's on their way to the Pacific theater in World War II.  But that is not the city we see today, after years of leftist leadership and ruin.  It is so sad.  From Fox Business: 

Walgreens said Tuesday that it will be closing another five San Francisco locations, citing the ongoing rampant theft plaguing the city.

"Due to ongoing organized retail crime, we have made the difficult decision to close five stores across San Francisco," a Walgreens spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement. "Each store will transfer prescriptions to a nearby Walgreens location within a mile radius and we expect to place the stores’ team members in other nearby locations."

"Organized retail crime continues to be a challenge facing retailers across San Francisco, and we are not immune to that," the spokesperson continued. "Retail theft across our San Francisco stores has continued to increase in the past few months to five times our chain average. During this time to help combat this issue, we increased our investments in security measures in stores across the city to 46 times our chain average in an effort to provide a safe environment."

The stores closing in the coming weeks are at 2250 Ocean Ave, 4645 Mission Street, 745 Clement Street, 300 Gough Street and 3400 Cesar Chavez Street.

Walgreens has shuttered at least 10 of its stores in the city since the beginning of 2019, according to the San Francisco Gate.

Over the summer, the California Retailers Association reported that San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento have some of the highest organized retail crime in the nation. 

Critics blame a referendum California passed in 2014, which downgraded theft of property to a misdemeanor as long as its value is $950 or less. 

COMMENT:  San Francisco also has a Soros-funded ultra-progressive D.A., a sure formula for increased crime.  And the city is plagued by homeless vagrants.

It's hard to see how the city can get out of its mess, especially since the state of California is governed by the same mentality that laid San Francisco low. 

The city needs to have new, practical government.  And a crusading newspaper, to the right of Karl Marx, would also help.  Neither is in prospect. 

October 12,  2021