SFist Blotter

A man in Novato is irritated by the excessive Christmas decorations of his neighbor. The house features 90,000 lights, wise men, baby Jesuses, Santa Clauses flying over the manger, and a pointy-eared Elvis impersonater named "Elfis" who sings "Blue Christmas," and the large number of people driving by and parking on the street (as well as the extremely loud generator used to power the lights) are driving him mad. This festivity, known as The Christmas House, has gone on for 15 years, and, he notes, after the Christmas decorations come down, the neighbor starts decorating for Easter.

....Who's breaking into houses in the tony Piedmont area -- and leaving behind a calling card Beanie Baby toy on local porches and yards? Police were baffled. Residents feared a stalker -- including one man who found about three dozen Beanie Babies on his lawn. The man set up a security camera -- and reviewing the footage the next day, he discovered that the criminal was.... his cat Gertie. Gertie's been locked inside in the evenings, and no further Beanie Baby incidents have been reported. Where did the Beanie Babies come from? ("They're not going into Toys R Us, and they're not ordering them off the Internet," says Gertie's owner.) Turns out Gertie's neighbor (a former mayor of Piedmont) keeps a bag of Beanie Babies in his garage. The former mayor, though, claims the Beanie Babies Gertie was bringing around weren't his, even though there's an open window in the garage that Gertie might have been able to get into.

At top, Picture in the Chron of the Christmas House from last year, by Shelley Eades. At bottom, a picture of a kitten (not Gertie) with a Beanie Baby.