Remember how the city is supposedly facing yet more budget problems? Well, that hasn't stopped the Gavster from doing some spending. Budgets shmudgets....

Here we have le Gav looking lover-ly while kicking it with some tired Ethel Merman tranny (excuse me, fabulous "Ethel Merman impersonator") in Jesse McKinley's stellar New York Times article about our personality-littered mayoral race. (And while a very interesting piece, why Rita's or Jeremy's brilliant coverage and point of views aren't mentioned is beyond any and all logic. We're just saying is all. We digress.) Almost all of the usual and self-consciously zany......

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally completed, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist watches......

Do you guys think it's true that Gavin Newsom refused to do anything with Conan O'Brien when Conan was in town last week because his feelings were hurt by Conan's jokes about him? If so, that is so lame! (Also, you can just scratch SFist off the Gavin Newsom party invite list right now.) So the official story is that Mayor Newsom didn't show up for NBC's Conan celebration day last Wednesday because Newsom......

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. ...

You know that crazy idea Jake McGoldrick had for instituting tolls in downtown San Francisco as a way of easing congestion? And you know how it was quickly dismissed as yet another string of things that makes San Francisco what it is-- completely nutty? Well, New York's Mayor Mike Bloomberg just came up with the same proposal to ease congestion in New York. ...

With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay......

We really dread to be doing this, again, but here it is, your recap of the reaction to Gavin's admission that he's seeking counseling for booze. Or, as the NY Post puts it, "S.F. Sex Mayor In Booze RX." You know, we used to joke with our fellow -ists about how exciting our Mayor is compared to their boring, dreary Mayors (Gothamist's biggest scandal concerning Bloomberg was that he has bad fashion sense) but we're kind of over it. ...

It's the return of our column where we compile all the attacks and defenses of Gavin Newsom in one handy place! This week it's all attacks, though. Send your Newsom defenses here! (or post 'em in the comments.) So... who's on this week's list? Let's bring 'em out! --Aaron Peskin and Ross Mirkarimi!: Luke Thomas at Fog City Journal reports that Supervisors Peskin and Mirkarimi decided to take advantage of Gavin Newsom's much-touted "open door......

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Yahoo CFO Susan Decker said that Google has the dominating market share in Internet search, and it's no longer Yahoo's goal to be number 1 in the field. Last week, after Yahoo's share price dropped when the company's profits failed to reach analyst's expectations, Chairman Terry Semel conceded in an interview with SFGate, "Frankly, Google has done a better job than us." Bloggers are talking about Decker's comments......

Duane Baughman, you're our big winner! The political consultant is getting $15,000 to resolve the lawsuit that Supervisor (and newly-announced candidate for assessor/recorder, courtesy of the Sentinel) Gerardo Sandoval filed against him for those anonymous flyers sent out in the 2004 supervisors' race. Sandoval also, through gritted teeth, issued the following statement:

I regret pursuing this matter against Democratic political consultant Duane Baughman in the courts, and for any personal and professional trouble this may have caused him. We have settled the matter, and I consider it closed.

This settlement is proof that this was never about money. It was always about vindication in a public arena. Supervisor Sandoval has expressed his sincere regret to me personally about this entire matter. I consider the matter now closed, and I am happy to get back to the business of electing Democrats around the country.

Well, Randy Shaw apparently got the news that the Gavster's strategists are looking into the possibility of running for the Democratic nomination for the gubenatorial race next year. He writes in Beyond Chron: The prospect of a tossup primary followed by an easy general election victory is no doubt what is motivating the Newsom camp to look closely at the race. The Mayor’s ambitions for higher office have been no secret, and if he......

Our super-secret SFist sources have notified us that Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, repping the eleven for the Excelsior, is holding a rally today at noon, on the steps of City Hall. Why's he holding a rally?, you ask. Is he that worked up about line-item veto power over the MUNI budget? Well, no. So when Sandoval was running for reelection to the Board of Supes, someone anonymously started putting out flyers calling him anti-Semitic. (Sandoval made some unfortunate statements back in 2001.) Sandoval handily won District 11, but was so upset about the anonymous mailers that he sued. Funny, that First Amendment. So Duane Baughman, the political consultant whose clients put out the flyers (and who's now working with Mayor Bloomberg in NY), claimed that Sandoval's lawsuit inpinged on his First Amendment rights to call anyone a Nazi that he wants -- and he won. So, under California law, Sandoval is now on the hook for Baughman's legal fees, to the tune of $143K. Sandoval is now saying he might have to sell his house to pay. So Sandoval's holding a rally today to bring people's attention to the issue of anonymous mailers -- he's never figured out who paid for the flyers, but he suspects it's Don Fisher from the Gap -- and to protest the fees being assessed against him. It sounds like the whole progressive gang's gonna be there! And -- dare we hope? Maybe even Chris Daly? Oh, you better believe we're checking this one out. ...

That's right, with all the crazy purchases, consolidation and boost in VC capital in the tech sector, a lot of folks are wondering if the boom is back. Of course, at SFist, this can only mean one thing -- a wave of BizDev and Marketing types who know nothing about tech flooding the city in another gold-rush disaster. Yeesh. Hopefully this time, the nerds can keep ahold of the reins, and keep pushing the......

So as it rains so hard, we stare out the window and we wonder, with a little sigh in the heart -- what is our plucky broken-hearted former first lady Kimberly Guilfoyle doing these days? Is she happy? Is she sad? Is she bundled up in a parka in the cold, cold city of New York? Well! Ask and ye shall receive. Making like a Gawker again, we turn to the Post's Page Six -- which reports that the soon-to-be-former Mrs. Newsom was making some heavy-duty eye contact and lingering into the night with a certain special someone! At a Court TV party for Catherine Crier's book about Scott Peterson, no less! So who could it be? Mayor Bloomberg? Mark Geragos? Robert Blake? Gothamist's adorable publisher Jake? No! You guessed wrong! It's MICHAEL BOLTON!!! ....maybe it's the hair? (Hey Kimberly: if he says he loves you -- he lied.) ...

After being blamed for the re-election of W., made a virtual pariah in the Democratic Party, and befriended by Angelina Jolie all for letting a few gay people marry, you would think that the Gavster would go quietly into that good night on the issue. After all, there’s nothing the Democratic Party hates more than some Democrat standing on principles and scaring off all those Red State types. Turns out he’s not going quietly. In fact, he has been pumping up both the jams and the volume on the issue. In the past week, he gave a speech at Harvard where he called out his fellow Democrats and yesterday, totally dissed New York Mayor Bloomberg over Hizzoner’s little problem with the issue....

OK, so we jumped the gun on Britney Spears's pregnancy, but maybe her non-gravid state is for the best, as it's now rumored that her marriage to Kevin Federline is disintegrating after only five months of nuptial bliss. We here at SFist don't want to get ourselves in the middle of anything (ha!), but we can't help but think of our favorite recently single public figure, The Mayor Himself (we love to look at......

DCist forwarded us an article from Roll Call (paid subscription required) entitled "Q: Where Is Nancy Pelosi Not a San Francisco Liberal? A: San Francisco." We love it when DC politics realizes that, like, there's a whole country out there! Really! And it's full of constituents! Not all of whom like their elected representatives! Of course, this information is basically a re-hash of the same arguments surrounding her accension to House Minority Leader. San......

You might not have been able to tell but we here at SFist have some mixed feelings about the Newsom breakup. On the one hand, there's been an increase in single female staff members showing up at SFist's headquarters with hopeful expressions. On the other, what are we going to do without Kimber? Those lips, that horsey smile. Dreamy. It seems like it was just yesterday she stood on the steps of City Hall,......

He's (almost) Miss World, can't look us in the eye -- Hizzoner Newsom announced that he was nominated but did not win in the online World Mayor 2004 contest. (That Giacometti-like figure to your left is the prestigious World Mayor award -- they could call it the Wonkie). Newsom put on his best Susan Lucci face, stating through his spokesperson that "To even be mentioned in a competition like this is a great honor," (and claimed not even to have known the competition was underway. "What, the Oscars? They give out prizes for good acting now?") ...

Medical marijuana finds its way back to the Supreme Court. Man, you just can't kill that weed!...

New York Times finally gets hip to Berkeley proposition....

"The New Kennedys?" I hope this means Da Mayor won't be gunned down or implicated in a rape or murder. Or marry Arnold Schwarzenegger (although, if Gavin had his way, they could). Still, it doesn't really help what few 'man of the people' credentials one may have as a politician to be splayed out on a rug in the Getty mansion in a scene reminiscent of a soft-porn flick. Guess you gotta pay for all that hair product somehow....