Nate Booth and German Gladkov maintain scooters at Skip, one of 12 companies applying for permits to rent out scooters in S.F. Taking over streets, sidewalks and Snapchat stories, electric scooters have become a symbol of San Francisco in 2018. When startups began dumping scooters on the streets, it triggered outrage from residents who saw them blocking sidewalks and doorways and praise from some commuters who welcomed another way to get through the city’s clogged streets.

Scoot of San Francisco submitted an application in June 2018 to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to deploy stand-up scooters. Here's what one looks like. Ridecell of San Francisco submitted an application in June 2018 to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to deploy stand-up scooters. Here's what one looks like. Razor of Cerritos, Calif., submitted an application in June 2018 to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to deploy stand-up scooters.

Kristina Gonzalez run the Little Robles preschool at her home in San Francisco. Kristina Gonzalez reads a book to students Zane (left) and Luca at her Little Robles preschool that she runs in her San Francisco home. Want to start a preschool at home? Wonderschool can help Working as a preschool therapist, Kristina Gonzalez found she enjoyed the classroom time the most.

Today’s column is inspired by a reader who wants to know whether he should split his assets among several brokerage firms to stay below the $500,000 limit set by the Securities Investor Protection Corp. “I am told that investments in financial houses such as Fidelity, Vanguard, etc. are insured up to $500,000. These days it is easy to exceed the amount especially in retirement vehicles,” wrote Jerry Fisher of Menlo Park.

Jordan Sendar (left) and Phil Dokas work in Flickr’s new offices in S.F. SmugMug didn’t open the S.F. office to avoid Mountain View’s proposed head tax, but to accommodate newly acquired Flickr. SmugMug has called Mountain View home for more than a decade, since it moved out of the founders’ family home.

John Lasseter, Pixar’s first animator and the creative spark behind the Emeryville animation studio’s early rise, knew the company would need a sequel. “In cinema history, there are times when a collection of artists come together and make some films. It’s just a magical time, and great stuff is done. And rarely, if ever, that golden age lasts beyond that original group,” Lasseter told The Chronicle in 2010. “Either they split up, like a band .

Tesla repeatedly interfered with the rights of its Fremont factory workers to unionize, labor lawyers said Monday in a National Labor Relations Board trial, while an attorney representing the automaker slammed the entire proceeding as an “informercial” for union efforts to organize the plant.

Pacific Gas & Electric expects to record a “significant liability for losses” associated with the 2017 Northern California wildfires, the utility said Monday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The gig economy isn’t just for Uber drivers and TaskRabbit furniture assemblers. San Francisco startup Wonolo — short for “work now locally” — has created an on-demand marketplace for workers to find hourly jobs in warehouses, factories, distribution centers, stores and other sites. “Staffing has been an industry that lacks innovation,” said A.J. Brustein, co-founder and chief operating officer. “It’s very targeted towards clients, not workers.

Lyft is pushing hard to get more people to share rides, as well as expanding its connections with public transit and releasing a streamlined new app for passengers. “We’re making a really strong commitment about shared rides,” said Joseph Okpaku, vice president of government relations, in an interview. In the 17 metropolitan areas where Lyft lets riders going the same direction split costs, about 35 percent of its rides are shared.