A pileup on westbound 24 is right now causing a huge, long traffic mess getting onto the Caldecott Tunnel. This all happened around 11:30. One of the tunnels had to be closed down to deal with the accident and caused the backup. At this time, it's not clear when things are going to be back to normal. We've also had reports that MUNI was having problems downtown this morning. Best part of a problem downtown is that it affects every MUNI train so everybody is screwed. Nothing like shared misery. We don't know much about it other than it occurred between Civic Center and Montgomery but we'll bring word when he know what happened. more ›

A Stanford graduate student missing for five days was found dead in the trunk of her car in Santa Rosa, in what authorities are saying looks like a suicide. She was an PhD candidate in electrical engineering with two degrees from MIT and held several patents in the field of digital imaging. Her grieving parents only learned of her death when reporters contacted them. more ›

Can you believe it's been fifteen years since the fire in the Oakland hills? On Sunday, October 20, 1991, a fire that had been smoldering near the Caldecott Tunnel burst out of control, jumping highway 24 (as pictured here) and burning down a swath of houses in Montclair, Rockridge, and the Berkeley hills, with fire-generated winds up to 50 mph. The fire burned right up to the famed Claremont Hotel, but the crews managed to get the fire controlled just in time to save the hotel. 25 people were killed, 150 people injured, and 3000 houses were destroyed. more ›

like ten million spoons, when what you need is a knife. more ›