Two multi-million-dollar homes in the Berkeley hills sustained heavy damage last night as a fire spread quickly from one to the other. The homes are on Miller Avenue near Keeler Avenue and Grizzly Peak Boulevard, and people in homes in the crispy-dry hills above the fire were all forced to evacuate while the blaze was brought under control. Everyone got out of the homes safely and no one was injured. more ›

You know you’re dealing with an isolated stretch of Montgomery St. when a driver can’t reach it without first leaving Montgomery St. And in an addressing quirk that must drive new workers at the North Beach post office bonkers, the northernmost apartment building on this block is actually 303 Greenwich, even though Greenwich as a cross street doesn’t exist here. After all, the only cross traffic up here on the precipitous eastern slope of Telegraph Hill is on foot. Stunning bay views, folial grandiosity, and hill-hugging construction schemes dominate this block of Montgomery, bookended by the famed Filbert and Greenwich steps. The street itself is a bi-level roadway divided by a tall center wall lined with numerous pine trees, not dissimilar to Lawton St. in Golden Gate Heights, or Arlington Ave. in the Berkeley Hills. It’s designed for neither speed nor mass amounts of auto traffic. Aesthetically, however, it’s nearly unbeatable. more ›

Total number of people pictured in this week's Swells society column: 56. more ›

OK, it was the Fourth of July yesterday, so while we normally don't post a lot of political blogs here, we'll make an exception this week, to honor the ideals this country was founded on. Our fireworks plan has varied wildly over the years, veering from a "Try and see 'em all" approach, which involved riding our motorcycle into the Berkeley Hills, "Try and see 'em at all" approach, which meant trying to find a spot of grass and a break in the fog to see them at Fisherman's Wharf, and the "Pretend you saw 'em" approach, which involved the TV. Until we really get a good subwoofer, it's not the same thing. more ›

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In the "How would Mario Savio feel?" department, Dale Gieringer of California NORML posted the following on Indybay.org: more ›

Hand brake! A truck filled with rocks and parked at the top of the Berkeley Hills rolled down a steep incline and rammed into a multi-million dollar home on Grizzly Peak Boulevard, destroying a hot tub room. A huge crane had to be called in to pull the truck out. Last we saw on KRON 4 News, a news crew was waiting to film the reaction of the people living in the house when they got home from work. Local TV journalism at its finest! This seems extreme -- in the aftermath of the mauling of an 10-year-old boy in Concord by two pit bulls, a Contra Costa supervisor is proposing legislation prohibiting parolees from owning any type of vicious dog. We're now envisioning people coming out of prison with little bichons and Malteses. And three men have been charged with murder in the shooting of a man in Oakland in the middle of a carjacking for the murder victim's flashy rims. Two of the accused had fled to Texas, where they were later caught during a routine traffic stop. more ›