Stephanie Baer

San Francisco

Deputy Breaking News Editor at The San Francisco Standard

deputy breaking news editor @sfstandard | formerly @BuzzFeedNews | hapa & Bay Area native | lover of women's soccer, art, coffee & cheese

Articles

How a Black visa worker’s mental health struggles ended with him shot dead by Tahoe police

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Stephanie Baer

Vinton Miller had never seen snow before. But by his second day of work at Palisades Tahoe, the 29-year-old Jamaican was in the thick of it. While learning how to operate a snow blower, Miller accidentally chewed up a plastic storage container. “The grin that came across his face was one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen on anyone’s face,” a former coworker said.
Video shows man firing gun at fleeing car in deadly Fisherman’s Wharf shooting

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Garrett Leahy |Stephanie Baer

The gunman in a fatal shooting near North Beach Wednesday afternoon fired his weapon at the victim’s car as he tried to drive away, video footage obtained by The Standard shows. The shooting occurred in the area of Columbus Avenue and North Point Street around 1:11 p.m., a few blocks away from Fisherman’s Wharf. The San Francisco Police Department said the suspect was inside his vehicle when he shot at another occupied vehicle and then fled the area.
Piedmont Cybertruck crash victim's dad sues driver's family

2 months ago | sfstandard.com | Max Harrison-Caldwell |Tomoki Chien |Stephanie Baer

Carl Tsukuhara, the grieving father of one of the victims, said the other victims' families have "stonewalled" him. The parents of 19-year-old Krysta Tsukahara have filed a wrongful death lawsuit after their daughter died while trapped in a burning Tesla Cybertruck after a crash in Piedmont last November.
San Francisco's Archimedes Banya reverses anti-trans policy

Mar 12, 2025 | sfstandard.com | Stephanie Baer

Archimedes Banya says it is "inclusive of all people of transgender identity” so long as gender identity “conforms to the night in question."Archimedes Banya will allow trans people at its monthly ladies-only and men-only nights, in a reversal of a recent policy that drew criticism and an investigation. The full-nude Russian bathhouse in the Bayview announced the change Wednesday.
Deadly Cybertruck crash: Teen driver was drunk, on cocaine, tox report shows

Feb 12, 2025 | sfstandard.com | Stephanie Baer

Three college students who were killed in a fiery Tesla Cybertruck crash in the East Bay last year had blood alcohol concentrations more than twice the legal limit and cocaine in their systems when they died, according to toxicology reports obtained by The Standard. The driver, 19-year-old Soren Dixon, had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.195% — more than twice the legal limit for drivers over 21 and nearly 20 times the legal limit for drivers under 21, which is 0.01%.
Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, founder of illegal crypto marketplace

Jan 21, 2025 | sfstandard.com | Stephanie Baer |Jonah Owen Lamb

President Donald Trump has pardoned the founder of an online black marketplace for selling drugs, he announced Tuesday. Ross Ulbricht, aka "Dread Pirate Roberts," was sentenced to life in prison nearly 10 years ago for creating the Silk Road, which facilitated the sales of illicit drugs like heroin and cocaine between 2011 and 2013. According to court documents in the case, the Silk Road site gave users anonymity and generated hundreds of millions in sales related to illicit items.
Fire at Moss Landing Power Plant forces evacuations, Highway 1 closure

Jan 16, 2025 | sfstandard.com | Stephanie Baer

Officials issued evacuation orders Thursday night after a fire broke out at the Moss Landing Power Plant. Monterey County officials urged residents in the area to close their windows and doors and turn off air conditioning systems "out of an abundance of caution." The natural gas-powered plant, owned by Vistra Energy, is the site of one of the largest lithium-battery storage facilities in the world. Representatives for Vistra did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday night.
Man goes overboard on Princess cruise ship ahead of SF arrival

Dec 2, 2024 | sfstandard.com | Stephanie Baer

A 72-year-old man on the Ruby Princess is believed to have gone overboard ahead of the cruise ship's arrival in San Francisco on Monday morning. Princess Cruises said in a statement that "other possibilities" have been ruled out, though the incident remains under investigation. "CCTV footage has also been extensively reviewed and the ship was searched thoroughly several times without success," the company said.
SF Waldorf School opponent forfeits girls' volleyball game over transgender suspicions

Nov 19, 2024 | sfstandard.com | Stephanie Baer |Joe Burn

A Christian school in the Central Valley forfeited a girls volleyball playoff game to San Francisco's Waldorf High School due to suspicions that a player on the local team is transgender. Julie Fagundes, academic dean at Stone Ridge Christian School in Merced, told families that the decision to withdraw from Saturday's California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) NorCal Division VI volleyball match was based on "God's Word," according to the Los Angeles Times.
This is SF's most complained-about bar, thanks to one tetchy neighbor

Sep 13, 2024 | sfstandard.com | Tomoki Chien |Stephanie Baer

You might imagine that San Francisco's most-complained-about bar is a raucous venue with club nights that thunder past 2 a.m.But the reality couldn't be further from the truth at Biergarten, where the party stops at 9 p.m. and bands rarely play. Still, the outdoor Hayes Valley bar has garnered 45 noise complaints so far this year: That's the same number of 311 calls generated by DJs Fred Again and Skrillex when they exploded into the Civic Center in front of 25,000 ravers.