An excerpt from New York Times reporter Mike Isaac’s forthcoming book “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” reveals that in 2014 the San Francisco-based ride-hail behemoth created a $1 charge on fares called a “safe rides fee” to perform background checks on drivers. The company pocketed the nearly half a billion dollars, never using a dime to improve rider safety. New York Times

Seven women filed sexual assault lawsuits against San Francisco-based Lyft. Vice

The City may be forced to pilot eliminating cash bail as the result of a lawsuit. At a hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers warned that San Francisco is taking too long to develop an alternative to cash bail, citing the state Judicial Council report on pretrial release programs in other counties. In November 2020, state voters will decide on the fate of cash bail.

KQED | San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco played host to the factions of the Democratic Party and the progressive political movement on Friday for the Democratic National Committee summer meeting. Most presidential candidates called for unity and successively took potshots at President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, hundreds of Sunrise Movement activists outside held a sit-in, demanding that the candidates hold a debate on the climate crisis. San Francisco Examiner

In a warehouse blocks from the DNC meeting, Sen. Bernie Sanders held a town hall on college affordability for a crowd of 1,400 supporters. ABC7

Bay Area residents may get to vote on a one-cent sales tax next year for funding an array of transportation projects across the region. Suggested improvements would include an exclusive right of way for Caltrain and BART, more express freeway lanes and potentially a new BART transbay rail crossing for the Transbay Tube. It would fund up to $100 billion over 40 years for regional transit districts like BART and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, according to the coalition proposing the tax. SFGate

Passengers who took a BART survey rated the transit system’s elevators and restrooms as being cleaner between April and June. About 62% of riders expressed satisfaction with the cleanliness across stations in those months, a 2% increase over last year. Satisfaction with elevators shot up 10%, to 58.8%, compared to the same quarter of last year. BART plans to include its elevator attendant program at the Montgomery Street and Embarcadero stations this fall. San Francisco Chronicle

The Recreation and Park Department was one of 26 agencies awarded part of $4.1 million by the state government for conservation projects. $207,000 will go toward a quarter-mile pedestrian and bicycle trail connecting Visitacion Valley to John McLaren Park, and $200,500 will be used for restoring 1 acre of Garter Snake habitat at San Francisco-owned Sharp Park in Pacifica.

NBC Bay Area

As Pacific Gas & Electric Company leadership assures its 16 million customers that they won’t be on the hook for resolving the utility’s bankruptcy, their bills may significantly go up anyway. The company has requested that the state allow it to add $30 to the average electric and gas bill over the next several years to cover infrastructure safety and improvement work. Critics say the company should have paid for these projects years ago.

San Francisco Chronicle

“Shall the city overturn the law passed by the Board of Supervisors suspending the sale of electronic cigarettes that lack required FDA authorization, and adopt new regulations on the sale, manufacture, distribution and advertising of electronic cigarettes in San Francisco?”

A coalition for e-cigarette giant Juul asked a judge to order San Francisco to change the wording of the proposed voter summary for Proposition C, alleging that it's misleading. Prosecuting attorneys allege that the question incorrectly implies e-cigarettes are unauthorized. San Francisco Examiner

On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounced San Francisco-based Juul’s ballot measure to overturn The City’s ban on e-cigarettes. San Francisco Chronicle