SFist Blotter

Boom! The San Jose federal building was evacuated for three hours yesterday afternoon after a federal employee found a suspicious-looking backpack-like object outside the building near South First Street with a note on it that said "boom." The bomb squad detonated the bag, which contained a metal box that made a loud crack (audio of the crack! Go Merc News!) heard through downtown.

After an almost two-day search, firefighters finally found the body of a Mill Valley man caught in a mudslide in his own backyard. 73-year-old Walter Guthrie, a landscape architect, was trying to clear his drainage culvert when the hill behind his house gave way, killing him. He had been buried under 12 feet of mud. They're still trying to dig his body out, but have been hampered by the heaviness of the mud.

And, after almost 24 hours of negotiation, the Berkeley police successfully persuaded a man who said he was the Messiah to surrender peacefully. The manwas standing on the street, saying that he was God and the Messiah, and threatened to kill anyone who tried to enter his house (on Fifth Street near Virginia). The police are not releasing any information about him other than his age and first name, in case he's mentally ill.