• The San Francisco Zoo was the victim of a phoned-in threat incident Monday — it's being characterized as a "swatting" incident though it's not clear that any major police response occurred — which led to 400 or so zoo guests being told to shelter-in-place while the grounds were swept by police. The incident apparently follows similar incidents at other zoos around the country. [KRON4]
• A wildfire broke out around 11:30 am in Yolo County, near the border with Solano County, which possibly caused by flames that escaped a prescribed burn, and it has grown to over 360 acres. It's called the Putah Fire, and according to Cal Fire it is 15% contained. [Cal Fire / Chronicle]
• Prop D, the "Overpaid CEO Tax," has been officially declared a failure as of the latest vote tally at 4 pm Monday, with the "No" votes now at 53.6%. Mayor Daniel Lurie put out a statement celebrating the measure's failure, saying, "I am grateful to every voter who waded through another ballot fight featuring two confusing, competing measures and made their voice heard. Voters recognize that our recovery depends on creating opportunity through jobs, thriving small businesses, and attracting investment—not making it harder for employers to grow here." [SFist]
• Steve Hilton's lead over Tom Steyer in the governor's race primary has narrowed just over 200,000 votes, with around 83% of the vote now counted. [NBC News]

National:

• Let the Republican cries of election rigging begin/continue! Progressive candidate for Los Angeles mayor Nithya Raman was declared the second-place vote-getter in the primary, edging out Republican candidate and former reality TV figure Spencer Pratt by about three percentage points. [New York Times]
• New York Knicks fans naturally booed President Trump's appearance at the sold-out Game 3 tonight at Madison Square Garden. [CNN]
• Fired 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, who had been with the broadcast for 37 years, went pretty scorched earth in an interview with the Times' The Interview podcast over the weekend, saying in no uncertain terms that Bari Weiss should be fired and "television is not her thing." [New York Times]

Video:

• In case you missed it over the weekend, the one and only Lizzo was in town, performing Saturday at Genentech's 50th anniversary Genentech Gives Back Concert, and she took a trip up to the Castro Saturday and gave patrons at the Lookout a thrill with a little impromptu lip sync performance you can see below.

Top image: Photo by Anthony Sebbo

Following reports that the Pentagon had raised its counterintelligence threat assessment for Israel to “critical,” Meta said an Israeli spyware firm was caught targeting a small group of WhatsApp users in a spear-phishing campaign.

Meta says an Israeli spyware vendor, NSO Group, has been targeting WhatsApp users in a new spear-phishing campaign that the company says violates a court order from last year barring the firm from going after its platform, as the New York Times reports.

In a blog post Monday, Meta said it plans to ask the court to hold NSO in contempt, after detecting malicious links tied to the company’s tools being sent to fewer than 10 users, primarily in Jordan and Lebanon. The attempts did not succeed and were flagged after users reported suspicious activity.

According to Meta, the campaign used deceptive links designed to push victims off WhatsApp to external sites, similar to earlier one-click phishing operations linked to NSO. The company also said it identified test accounts and groups associated with the activity and took them down. Meta pointed back to its permanent injunction and prior federal ruling that found NSO violated hacking laws, following a years-long case tied to spyware targeting roughly 1,400 WhatsApp accounts.

NSO Group, which is best known for its Pegasus spyware and has faced U.S. sanctions, was ordered last year to pay damages in the case before the figure was later reduced. Meta also said it is sharing indicators of compromise to help users detect similar targeting across platforms and reiterated that WhatsApp messages remain end-to-end encrypted.

The incident comes after the Defense Intelligence Agency raised Israel’s counterintelligence threat assessment to its highest level, “critical,” according to current and former U.S. officials, as NBC News reported Friday. The designation reflects concerns among US defense officials that Israeli intelligence activity has expanded in ways they view as increasingly focused on monitoring senior American policymakers and internal discussions around the Iran conflict.

Officials said that while the assessment does not appear to affect day-to-day intelligence sharing between the two countries, they’re emphasizing that extra caution is needed during travel and high-level meetings as tensions rise between the US and Israel over strategy in the Middle East, particularly around Iran and Lebanon.

Related: Meta Wins Antitrust Battle, Does Not Have to Spin Off Instagram or WhatsApp

Following rumors about a pending IPO filing, and following the announcement of an IPO filing by competitor Anthropic, OpenAI has confirmed that it has made its confidential pre-IPO filing with the SEC.

It's going to be a blockbuster year for tech IPOs, and likely we will see some more on-paper centimillionaires and billionaires minted in San Francisco as a result.

Following a rumor a couple weeks back that OpenAI was preparing to file its IPO paperwork with the Securities Exchange Commission, the company confirmed Monday that the filing has been made.

"We recently submitted a confidential S-1. We expect it to leak so we're just announcing it," OpenAI said in a release on its company blog. "We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best."

OpenAI is currently valued at $852 billion, and a recent funding round valued competitor Anthropic at $965 billion, so the race is now on with both companies vying for further cash infusions from public stock offerings. Anthropic filed its S-1 paperwork a week ago today.

Both companies' IPOs will arrive in the wake of Elon Musk's SpaceX, the parent company of AI competitor xAI, as well as the far larger satellite enterprise Starlink. SpaceX's IPO is expected to happen Friday, in what is being called the biggest IPO in history.

The trio of stocks, once they are all public, will test the public's and Wall Street's appetite for and confidence in AI stocks and Elon Musk's businesses in general.

A public-facing document regarding OpenAI's IPO will come after they receive feedback from regulators about the confidential filing, which contains financial information and details about future investment plans.

Previously: Like OpenAI, Anthropic Makes SEC Filing Ahead of Possible IPO

Top image: Photo by Zac Wolff

Though she won't officially start her tenure as SF Symphony Music Director until next year, Elim Chan conducted her first two concerts at Davies Symphony Hall over the weekend in her capacity as Music Director Designate.

The search lights were out, the bars were stocked with Hendrick's gin and plenty of wine, and the block of Grove Street outside Davies Symphony Hall was closed down for a fairly lavish party Friday night to welcome newly named SF Symphony Music Director Elim Chan.

As we reported three weeks ago, Chan is set to be the first-ever female music director of the orchestra, and her hiring marks a new era for the San Francisco Symphony, which will be led by an up-and-coming star of the classical music world who is not yet 40 years old.

Chan took the stage Friday wearing an embroidered black coat over a black tulle skirt, and animatedly conducted a program she said she had selected for its aquatic themes. The evening began with Wagner's Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, which was followed by Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été — a seven-part song cycle which was sung by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, in what Chan described as a "bucket list" collaboration.

The two women gave each other mututal honors, with Cooke singing a brief encore composed by the late Michael Tilson Thomas, based on the Rilke poem Widening Circle. Before the encore, Cooke said that when she last sang the Berlioz piece on that stage, Thomas had leaned down and kissed the hem of Cooke's skirt, so she returned the gesture by kissing Chan's skirt.

The program's second half was the melodically complex and wistful La Mer by Debussy, whom Chan described as one of her favorite composers. The piece, which is filled with crescendoing waves and the sounds of both a roiling ocean and tranquil seas, as well as sounds that conjure seabirds and other creatures of the water, is a workout for all sections of the orchestra, but in particular the woodwind and brass sections.

In a gesture that is perhaps telling of her generous spirit, Chan, when she was handed a massive bouquet of flowers at the conclusion of the piece, pulled out a particularly large pink flower to give to the first-chair violinist, and proceeded to pull out stems to hand each of the section leaders.

"I’m definitely feeling a lot of love," Chan said to the audience earlier in the night, not long after she was greeted with a standing ovation when she first took to the stage.

The celebration continued at the reception outside, with a jazz quartet playing at one end of the street, and Latin jazz ensemble playing at the other. Food stations doled out warm pretzels covered in cheese sauce, empanadas, popcorn, spring rolls, and doughnuts, and symphony fans huddled in groups to discuss what they'd heard and seen.

As Chronicle critic Joshua Kosman wrote of Chan in a review of a past performance as guest conductor, "Chan … projects a degree of physical authority from the podium that is rare to witness." And her passion was well on display Friday, particularly as she led the orchestra in the Debussy piece, which she clearly loves.

Chan will return to Davies in late October, conducting a program anchored by Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, and Bay Area composer John Adams's Doctor Atomic Symphony — a condensed instrumental version of his 2005 opera about the Nuclear Age. The latter will be a debut for the SF Symphony, and the program will also include another debut, Magnificat by contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.

Her official tenure as Music Director will begin in September 2027.

Previously: SF Symphony Names Its First-Ever Female Music Director, Elim Chan

SF General Hospital received its steepest fine on record from Cal/OSHA, which found the hospital did not take the proper measures to prevent violent workplace incidents prior to the fatal stabbing of a social worker in December.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health has fined San Francisco General Hospital a record $130,500 for seven workplace-violence-prevention violations, six deemed serious. The fine follows the fatal stabbing of 51-year-old UCSF social worker Alberto Rangel at Ward 86, the hospital’s HIV clinic, in December, as the Chronicle reports.

As SFist reported in December, a patient, Wilfredo Tortolero-Arriechi, now 35, entered the clinic holding a kitchen knife and allegedly stabbed Rangel multiple times in the neck and shoulder while Rangel attempted to de-escalate the situation and escort him out. Rangel died two days later.

In January, Tortolero-Arriechi pleaded not guilty to the fatal stabbing, and his attorney claimed he was suffering a mental health crisis at the time.

SFist reported last week that Rangel’s husband, Stuart Moulder, announced plans to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. According to KQED, Nick Casper, an attorney for Moulder, pointed to similarities between the report’s findings and workplace-safety issues Cal/OSHA identified after a nurse was attacked at the hospital in 2019. The previous incident resulted in a $26,660 state fine. This latest penalty is reportedly the largest Cal/OSHA has imposed on SF General.

“The findings really paint a picture of two specific-but-related failures,” Casper said. “There were longstanding systemic deficiencies involving security, training, coordination and workplace violence prevention. And there were specific failures about appropriately responding to a known and escalating threat posed by this patient.”

The agency’s investigation identified 77 separate safety failures, including inadequate security staffing, poor coordination between hospital staff, security personnel, and law enforcement, and the lack of a clear threat-management plan for potentially violent patients, per the Chronicle.

According to the report, hospital officials failed to effectively restrict access to the clinic, screen for weapons, communicate threat information to staff, or ensure that security personnel monitored Wilfredo Jose Tortolero-Arriechi after learning he was headed to the facility. Inspectors also cited broken surveillance cameras, inconsistent security coverage, insufficient staff training, and the absence of procedures for reporting and responding to violent threats.

KQED reports that following the stabbing, the Department of Public Health says it added security staff, launched a threat-management team, installed metal detectors, and implemented other safety measures. City officials have also committed $15 million annually, along with $7.5 million in one-time infrastructure funding, toward healthcare worker safety improvements across the department.

Previously: Husband of Social Worker Killed at SF General Hospital to File Lawsuit Against City

Image: Exterior view of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital  and Trauma Center building - San Francisco, California, USA - May 26,  2024 (Getty Images)

A stolen SUV that was speeding and driving recklessly on the streets of East Oakland Monday reportedly crashed into an Oakland Police Department SUV, killing two passengers in the stolen vehicle and injuring an Oakland officer.

The crash happened around 11:10 am Monday, as Bay Area News Group reports, in the area of East 12th Street and 29th Avenue.

The incident began with an Oakland Housing Authority police officer seeing a Chevy Tahoe SUV driving recklessly on East 12th Street. The officer turned on his emergency lights and attempted a traffic stop, as NBC Bay Area reports, but the suspect vehicle took off at a high rate of speed.

In accordance with OHAPD policy, the officer turned off his lights and did not pursue the fleeing vehicle.

Moments later, as the allegedly stolen SUV was speeding down East 12th Street, it rammed into the Oakland Police Department vehicle. The officers in the OPD SUV were not involved in the call regarding the stolen vehicle, and just happened to be on patrol in the area.

Per Bay Area News Group, the SUV proceeded about a quarter block further before the vehicle flipped overa and landed on its side, killing two of the occupants.

"The two men who died were thrown from the vehicle," the news group reports. "One of them ended up on the center median underneath elevated BART tracks. The other ended up on the pavement in front of the crashed SUV."

Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the SUV allegedly tried to flee on foot before he was apprehended by the OHAPD officer who had initially spotted the speeding vehicle.

It was unclear whether the suspect required hospitalization, per the news group, and the condition of the injured OPD officer is not known at this time.

KTVU was on the scene following the crash, and the investigation has reportedly shut down East 12th Street in both directions between 25th and 30th avenues.

This is a developing story.

Top image via Getty Images

At his final World Wide Developers Conference as Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook unveiled a slate of new AI features Monday, including a standalone Siri chatbot app, based on models Apple created in collaboration with Google.

The centerpiece of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s announcement Monday was a rebuilt Siri, which Apple describes as an “entirely new version” of its voice assistant, as the Associated Press reports. The updated Siri is more conversational, can customize its speaking style, and now has a standalone app that stores past conversations across Apple devices, according to the Verge.

Engadget reports that the new Siri can also analyze what’s displayed on a device’s screen or camera, allowing it to identify objects, answer questions about images, analyze receipts, and perform actions based on what users are viewing.

On Macs, users can reportedly highlight content and ask Siri to complete contextual tasks such as adding calendar events, conducting searches, or surfacing additional information. Apple also announced new AI-powered writing tools that can generate drafts, proofread documents, and adjust tone based on the intended audience.

Additional AI features include new image-editing tools in Photos, expanded text-to-image generation capabilities, Safari features that can organize tabs and monitor websites for changes, and natural-language Shortcuts that allow users to create automations without coding, as the Verge reports.

The new Siri is reportedly built on its Foundation Models, developed in collaboration with Google and powered in part by Gemini technology. During Monday's keynote, Apple officials emphasized privacy, saying tasks will either be processed directly on users’ devices or through its Private Cloud Compute system.

Siri AI is available to developers now and is expected to enter public beta testing later this year, though availability will initially be limited in some regions and languages.

The announcement follows Apple’s well documented struggles to deliver new AI features, including those unveiled at last year’s conference, and comes after the company recently agreed to a $250 million settlement in a lawsuit alleging it misled consumers about the availability and performance of Apple Intelligence features.

As SFist reported last August, in an effort to step up its failed AI game, Apple announced plans for a new tabletop AI robot "companion" as well as a home security system, with the latter expected to launch sometime this year, but there have been no further updates.

Cook announced in April that he was transitioning from CEO to executive chairman of Apple's board of directors in July. John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, will take over as CEO in September.

Previously: Apple Names New CEO, John Ternus, With Tim Cook Set to Step Down This Summer

Image: Apple

A man and a woman were reportedly shot and critically injured Monday morning in what police are calling an isolated incident at a Kaiser medical office building in San Jose.

The shooting reportedly took place around 10 am Monday at Kaiser Permanente's medical offices at 5755 Cottle Road in San Jose. A man and a woman were shot, according to San Jose police, and both suffered life-threatening injuries.

As KTVU reports, Kaiser subsequently issued a shelter-in-place order which was lifted around noon.

The shooting took place in an area between an outpatient psychiatric facility and an opthamology clinic, according to ABC 7.

Lisa Cohn, whose husband works at the medical facility as a surgeon, tells ABC 7, "He said that he heard screaming and a SWAT team of police came in all through the building and moved them away from the windows and into a center area of the Kaiser Permanente ophthalmology facility."

Police said this was an "isolated incident," and per KTVU, chopper footage showed police escorting people out of the building.

It's not clear if a suspect is in custody, and no suspect information has been shared yet by police.

This is a developing story.

Top image: Photo via Google Street View

Former Vice President Kamala Harris could have a serious uphill climb, even within her own party and among Democratic donors, should she decide to run for president once again in 2028.

ABC News surveyed 15 top donors and Democratic politicos, and just judging from the responses, Kamala should have some serious doubts about her viability as a presidential candidate going forward. And what she probably should have done was run for governor of California.

That would have been Willie Brown's advice, as he tells ABC News now, and he says he was "surprised" Harris declined to pursue the governor's office, because now she's at a disadvantage compared to her likely rival in the 2028 race, Gavin Newsom.

"I would have advised her to be elected governor, so that she would be in the same identical position, if not better than for electability nationally than Newsom," Brown says. "If she was in the category of being on January 8, 2027, the governor of California, the dialogue would be about her candidacy, not about anybody else's."

Brown adds, "When you embrace somebody for the job [of President], you really want to embrace a winner, and Newsom would be what you would have to say at the moment is a winner."

One anonymous fundraiser who raised money for Harris's 2024 campaign tells ABC News, "I think the electorate is going to be extremely hungry for a new, fresh, younger voice with a different perspective, and who can effectively articulate an agenda for the future. ... I don't believe that Kamala is the right person for this moment by any stretch of your imagination."

And an anonymous Democratic donor who gave to Harris's 2020 campaign is even more forthright, saying, "I really have not heard anybody say that they want her to run. In fact, it's the opposite."

Should Newsom and Harris end up in primary fight together, they can likely expect deep-pocketed donors, especially those in California, to be splitting up their money, and Newsom could hold a heavy advantage not being the "most recent loser," as Brown puts it.

Other politicos sound a bit more supportive, speaking to ABC News, though another points out that voters' "Biden fatigue," and Harris's association with Biden, could still harm her as a candidate.

Harris's camp issued a statement to ABC News saying, "The Vice President is grateful to the supporters who have stood with her. Right now, as Americans look for leadership in the fight against the rollback of their fundamental rights and freedoms — including the Supreme Court's devastating gutting of the Voting Rights Act — she is focused on electing Democrats up and down the ballot in the midterms and building up state parties for the critical fights ahead."

Harris will be delivering a keynote address at a major Democratic fundraising gala in Louisiana in August, during which she is expected to focus on the Voting Rights Act and strategies for counteracting the Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais.

Previously: Kamala Harris Says 'I'm Thinking About It' With Regard to 2028 Run

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

All eyes will be on SFUSD Superintendent Maria Su and two other school figures from Chicago and Virginia who are set to speak before a GOP-led committee in DC this week on “inappropriate content” and “legal abuses” in public schools.

Maria Su, superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District, is headed to testify Wednesday morning before the House Committee on Education and Workforce, in a hearing focused on “parental rights,” classroom content, and alleged legal abuses in K–12 schools. As the Chronicle reports, the session, set to begin at 7:15 am PDT, is chaired by Representative Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) and will also feature superintendents from Chicago and Loudoun County, Virginia.

Su is likely to face pointed questioning on issues including transgender student policies, locker room access, sexual health curriculum, pronoun use, and parent notification rules. The hearing reportedly comes as Republican lawmakers intensify scrutiny of school districts in Democratic-led cities, with a focus on policies they argue limit parental oversight.

In written remarks submitted ahead of the hearing, Su emphasizes SFUSD’s focus on academic outcomes alongside student well-being, saying schools must be safe and inclusive for learning to occur. According to the Chronicle, Su writes that the district serves all students regardless of background and works to create environments free from harassment, bullying, and discrimination.

Su’s statement also highlights San Francisco’s history of LGBTQ rights and diversity, noting the district’s efforts to incorporate that history into education. At the same time, she underscores core academic goals including third-grade literacy, eighth-grade math, and college and career readiness, and describes parents as essential partners with defined rights to information, participation, and opt-out provisions in areas such as reproductive health instruction.

Su adds that SFUSD has recently updated curriculum, improved operations, strengthened its financial position, and begun work on its enrollment system, while acknowledging ongoing challenges ahead.

The Chronicle reports that Su is being represented by the City Attorney’s Office, and either San Francisco, the county, or both will be required to cover the costs associated with travel and legal support for the hearing.

A recent Supreme Court decision, Mahmoud v. Taylor, reportedly added new precedent allowing parents to opt their children out of instruction that conflicts with their religious beliefs, in a case involving LGBTQ-themed books in an Alabama elementary school. Legal experts say the ruling leaves unclear how schools are expected to implement it, and critics argue it could give individual families broader influence over classroom content based on religious objections — an issue that is expected to surface during Wednesday’s hearing.

Su is the latest Bay Area K–12 leader to appear before the same committee, following Berkeley Unified Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel’s testimony in May 2024 at a hearing focused on antisemitism in schools, as SFist reported previously. That session drew national attention, though Morthel faced relatively limited scrutiny compared to the New York City schools chancellor, who became the primary focus, per the Chronicle.

The format will reportedly give each superintendent a five-minute opening statement, followed by rounds of five-minute questioning from committee members, with no fixed end time. The Chronicle notes that experts and local officials expect aggressive questioning on politically charged education issues, and say the hearing may hinge on whether witnesses directly engage with lawmakers or attempt to avoid rhetorical traps.

SF Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman said the hearing is likely to be performative at points, and that Su will need to balance defending district policies with avoiding exchanges that could escalate into viral or politically damaging moments.

Related: Berkeley Schools Superintendent Called to Testify Before Congressional Committee Over Antisemitism Claims

Image: SFUSD/Facebook

We're having an early kickoff to fire season this year and/or there is no distinct fire "season" anymore, with an offshore wind event expected to raise wildfire risks across Northern California this week.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Sacramento Valley starting Wednesday morning, and they are warning of elevated fire risks in much of the North Bay as well due to an incoming wind event.

Winds are expected to be blowing out of the north and northeast Wednesday evening into Thursday, with low humidity expected particularly in the Napa Valley and Sacramento region. Gusts of 30 to 45 miles per hour are expected in parts of Northern California, leading to the elevated wildfire risk.

Wind gusts in Sonoma and Napa counties are expected to peak around 25 miles per hour, but could be stronger at higher elevations.

PG&E has not yet announced any public safety power shutoffs (PSPS), but the utility is warning that some shutoffs may occur on Wednesday, as the Chronicle reports.

Exact addresses that can expect power shutoffs will receive notifications perhaps later today or on Tuesday.

In its seven-day PSPS forecast, PG&E says that shutoffs are possible Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday across eight NorCal counties: Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, and Yolo.

PG&E has routinely performed these targeted shutoffs since 2019, when the PSPS protocal began in the wake of the deadly Camp Fire in November 2018. In 2021, after PG&E faced criminal charges stemming from the fire, a federal judge imposed strict guidance over when power shutoffs must occur, in order to decrease wildfire risk from sparking power lines.

This year has already seen one PSPS event in mid-May, when power was cut for pockets of PG&E customers in 15 counties, with 4,700 customers affected in all.

Typically these shutoffs, which often coincide with offshore wind events like the Diablo winds, tend to occur later in the summer and in the fall, when wildfire risk tends to be greatest from dry ground conditions as well.

Photo by Jaredd Craig

The Golden State Valkyries welcomed a face familiar to Bay Area college sports fans by signing former Stanford center Nadia Fingall to a rest-of-season contract on Sunday. The team also waived forward Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda in a corresponding move.

The Mercury News reports that Fingall was named Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention as a senior while being second on the Cardinal with a career-high 5.7 rebounds per game. Standing at 6-foot-4 center, Fingall's young career has also included leading Spanish squads to two Liga Femenina de Baloncensto titles and two Supercopa de España championships. In 2024, she was named Supercopa de España tournament MVP.

A native of New Jersey, Fingall will become the second former Stanford Cardinal to join the Valkyries in short succession after the team signed Stanford freshman Ashten Prechtel to an injury hardship contract in early May. Once that contract expired, the Valkyries subsequently opted to retain Prechtel with a player development deal.

Fingall's most recent play came for Casademont Zaragoza, where the Mercury News notes she averaged 8.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and a 44.7 field goal percentage in 19 games.

The move to acquire Fingall arrives amidst a solid start to the Valkyries' sophomore season, with the team currently sitting at a record of 6-5. It also follows a nail-biting loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday night despite a career-high 27 points from new Valkyries forward Gabby Williams.

Related: Golden State Valkyries Win Home Opener Against Mercury 95-79, Salaün Shines

Image: Nadia Fingall in action during Euroleague Women Final on April 19, 2026 in Zaragoza, Spain. (Photo by Borja B. Hojas/Getty Images)

The death of San Francisco firefighter Ken Jones has renewed calls to reform Blue Shield, the city's designated insurance provider. The late firefighter’s battle to treat his stage 4 lung cancer first gained attention in January, with advocates now blaming delays in care for his premature passing.

According to NBC Bay Area, Jones died on Saturday from lung cancer following a public, four-month battle with his health insurance provider after Blue Shield of California denied the medical treatment requested by Jones’ oncologist on two separate occasions.

In a quote, former SFFD chief Jeanine Nicholson, a close friend to Jones for decades, voiced her belief that Blue Shield bears responsibility in Jones' death.

“I believe, wholeheartedly, that they expedited his death,” Nicholson said. “They should be ashamed.”

She also noted that it was Jones who drove her to medical appointments for six months after Nicholson was diagnosed with breast cancer over a decade ago.

The case of Ken Jones first sparked outcry earlier this year with news that the ailing former firefighter's efforts to get Blue Cross to cover treatments for his lung cancer recommended by his oncologist had twice been denied. Dr. Matthew Gubens, Jones’ oncologist, told NBC Bay Area that delays in obtaining approval for treatments likely cost his patient time he didn't have to spare.

“The time spent trying to get approval of a regimen that I requested, [Ken] lost ground – tumors are growing, pain is increasing, his appetite is going down,” Gubens explained.

The only silver lining is the possibility Jones' plight will lead to necessary changes.

Last month, Blue Shield confirmed they will assign "dedicated care managers" to help clients with complex claims, reports ABC 7. The cause is also being championed by non-profit watchdog group Protect Our Benefits, who confirmed on Monday that they plan to meet with Blue Shield to press for updates while working to secure additional reforms.

Related: Retired SF Firefighter Denied Cancer Treatment, Causing City to Question Blue Shield Health Plan

Image: GoFundMe

Image via U.S. Geological Survey