Way back in 2010 things weren't looking that great for 16th Street stalwart Adobe Bookshop, and it's only gotten worse. We'd heard in January that owner Andrew McKinley was going to try to turn it into some kind of co-op, and there was an event there in which at least one reader sounded alarm bells about the Mission, and San Francisco in general, becoming "a suburb of Silicon Valley." Well, now the rumor is that Jack Spade, the men's line from Kate Spade, is dying to move into the space, and this week McKinley was served his final eviction notice.

The "Retail for Lease" sign has been up on the building for a few months now, and the Jack Spade deal remains unconfirmed.

It's a very, very sad thing for the Mission, and the loss of the eccentric, cozy 25-year-old used bookstore will be felt deeply through the local literary scene. McKinley cultivated an odd salon of sorts around the couch at the front, and businesses like this simply aren't easy to find anymore as San Francisco becomes ever more a nexus of artisan charcuterie and four-dollar coffee. But, alas, we're not sure anything can be done now, and McKinley perhaps should have gone the crowd-sourcing route a year or two ago, if he really wanted to save the place.

[Uptown Almanac]

In the twee, crispy-haired words of Expose, "Season change/Feelings change." And with that we learn that one must accept change no matter what the cost, because it's not up to you, hearts break, or...something like that. But change our Wikipedia? Oh oh. This will certainly test our tolerance for change. And perhaps yours.

The image from Centernetworks, above, could be either a new overall format, some sort of mobile version, or just a figment of someone's imagination as the next Wikipedia we know and love. According to Allen Stern:

A friend showed me this really weird look-in on Wikipedia -- could this be the new version of Wikipedia? It's certainly not listed on the "Skin" page inside of the user preferences but it is live. I sure hope it's not as it's pretty ugly (not that the current site isn't also ugly) and has lost all of the Wikipedia branding. Perhaps it's a lighter mobile version? This is all I have for now - will continue to investigate.

For Allen's screenshot of the possibly new Wikipeida in its entirety--"a REAL screenshot," one that he made himself inside of Wikipedia, we're told--follow the jump. And brace yourselves.

The man accused of assaulting and kidnapping Elie Wiesel -- attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment, battery, stalking, elder abuse and hate crimes, to be exact -- changed his not guilty plea to one of insanity today. Earlier this year, if you recall, Eric Hunt, 23, stalked and dragged the Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor from an elevator at the Argent Hotel (recently re-branded Westin San Francisco Market Street, even though it's totally located on Third Street) and then assaulted him.

Diagnosed as bi-polar, and having already offered his mea culpa to Wiesel, today's third plea change makes sense. Sort of. According to Bay City News (via SF Examiner), Hunt "dropped his original insanity plea and simply pleaded not guilty this summer as his defense lawyer tried unsuccessfully to get the case moved to a court for mentally ill offenders." Held in a psychiatric hospital since February, his trial starts in March '08.

Also, skinny slip of a thing, isn't he? (His top simply hangs off him!) Not the Russel Crowe in Romper Stomper type we had imagined.


Image credit: AP Photo / Mike Derer