After more than two and a half years, the IRS has awarded 501(c)3 nonprofit status to the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial local news organization that publishes online at sfpublicpress.org and quarterly in a newspaper. (Here’s the announcement from the SF Public Press.) The ruling allows the Public Press to directly accept tax-deductible donations from individuals, and elevates the organization to the same legal status as NPR, the Associated Press and the Center for Investigative Reporting, among many others. It enables the startup news organization to solicit more grants from foundations.