Skip to Content

Joel Rosenblatt

Joel covers the forces in San Francisco — money, business, personalities, local law, and politics — that bind the city and pull it apart. He most recently worked for Bloomberg News reporting on state and federal courts.

Previously, he covered the crime beat for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was a freelancer in New York City. Before that, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal. He was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, studied public policy at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and has a Masters degree from Columbia Journalism School.

Jackie Fielder will return to City Hall ‘clear-eyed’ and ‘eager to serve’

During her leave of absence, the D9 supervisor largely missed the budget fight, but will find herself navigating equally complex situations

June 23, 2026

Dressed as ‘Wizard of Oz’ characters, protesters sought an audience with Mayor Lurie

Dorothy and friends tried to talk to the man behind the curtain and ask him to have a heart, a brain, and some courage

June 18, 2026

The phone-freein’ Bob Dylan

One of the last deviceless places in the Bay Area was a concert at the Greek Theatre

June 16, 2026

Do look back: Inside the famously tetchy 1965 Bob Dylan press conference in San Francisco

Robert Zagone remembers arranging the singer’s confrontational group interview with members of the local press corps, a handful of poets, and some high school journalist

June 10, 2026

The Nati is coming: Switzerland’s ‘golden’ World Cup team travels to Levi’s Stadium

Preparing for the biggest game in the world at the Swiss consulate

June 3, 2026

The mayor says his reduced budget will maintain the city’s social safety net. Advocates disagree

The fight continues to ensure a $16.9 billion city budget doesn’t leave working families, immigrants, LGBTQ+ residents, and others out in the cold

June 2, 2026

Update: Hearing on Lurie’s testimony is postponed as man charged with assault arrives hours late

Tony Phillips will now appear before a judge on June 5 to address the March confrontation with the mayor’s bodyguard in the Tenderloin

May 29, 2026

Judge to decide if Mayor Lurie appears in person as a witness to Tenderloin fight

The lawyer for Tony Phillips, the man accused of assaulting Lurie’s bodyguard, wants the mayor to take the stand; DA doesn’t want a ‘media spectacle’

May 29, 2026

SFUSD is extending the school year by five days. That is, if kids actually show up

To make up for days lost to the teachers’ strike, administrators are trying to convince students to give up a week of summer break

May 27, 2026

How many people are actually being brought to the new RESET sobering center?

The mayor boasted of ‘dozens and dozens’ in the first 24 hours; the sheriff’s office cites 320 in two and a half weeks. Yet many of the center’s chairs appear empty

May 21, 2026