Farnoush Amiri Interview (Unedited)

EJ 1

Emily Judem Interview Part 1

Emily Judem Interview Part 2

(Read by KQED's Mina Kim)

MUNI riders will now be able to pay fares on their smartphones, with a new app unveiled today.

Muni Mobile allows riders to buy their ticket, choose when to activate it, and then flash the ticket to a driver.

The app is available for single or multi-ride tickets, and can be used on bus, rail, and cable cars.

Ed Reiskin [[RISS-kin]] is the agency's director.

[["It will make it that much easier for all the folks who don't have Clipper cards to still be able to avail themselves of modern technology to make it easier for them to get on our vehicles."]]

Reiskin [[RISS-kin]] says riders won't be able to swipe their phones on a card reader, yet. That could be a future option, as Muni develops the app.

SF Muni

(Read by KQED's Mina Kim)

San Francisco broke ground today on a major renovation of its popular -- but aging -- science and nature museum for kids.

The Randall Museum, in the Corona Heights neighborhood, is getting an 8 million dollar face lift.

Phil Ginsburg is with San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department:

[["As the denser and denser our city gets, the more important it is that we give our kids and our families an opportunity to connect with nature, to understand the environmental history of San Francisco and the world around us."]]

Ginsburg says several hundred thousand people visit the free museum every year.

The museum is in a temporary location in the Mission.

It's expected to reopen in early 2017, with science labs, a new live-animal room and its popular train exhibit.

I'm Mina Kim, KQED news.


Randall Museum

(Read by KQED's Mina Kim)	

         San Francisco's second largest park will get a pedestrian walkway and bike path. 

	The ground-breaking for the 7 million dollar project took place yesterday [[Monday]].

	It will convert two lanes of a busy four-lane street that runs through McLaren Park. 

	Phil Ginsburg with the city's Recreation and Park Department says the project will make the open space ... between the Excelsior and Visitacion Valley neighborhoods ... safer and more peaceful. 

	 
	[[It's just not particularly welcoming to have a major thoroughfare through the middle of a park.]] 

	The park project could be completed as early as next fall.


San Francisco Streetscape

Santa Rosa public high school students will be able to study Latino history and culture in a new curriculum rolling out next year [[2016]]. The move comes after Latino activists pushed the district to teach courses relevant to it's majority Latino student population.

KQED's Jayda McClendon reports:

Sonoma County's largest school district is working with teachers to create the new ethnic studies curriculum.

A Latino community organization called North Bay Organizing Project is behind the proposal.

Community organizer Karym Sanchez says the goal is keeping students engaged in school.

[["I definitely think it's a step towards having a curriculum that reflects the community of Sonoma County, where we're predominately Latino's."]]

The board has yet to decide whether courses will be an elective or graduation requirement.

A pilot program is expected to begin next Fall.

I'm Jayda McClendon, KQED News.