Joel Umanzor

Downtown San Francisco carnival kicks off at Civic Center

The four-day event on a one block stretch of Fulton Street includes a booth for carnival food, a Ferris wheel and a number of spinning rides.

Locals say there has been minimal improvement in the past year, pointing to crowds at Market Street corners notorious for drug dealing.

The soundtrack has a calming effect on the city’s open-air drug use scene, users say.

San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department filed the plans to install chess tables, pingpong tables and skateboarding fixtures on Monday.

Douglas Liu used to be on the lam from federal charges. Now he’s working to end the drug crisis, one lost soul at a time. 