A United Airlines flight from SFO to Frankfurt, Germany needed to make an emergency stop in Chicago on Sunday. It seems that a crew member discovered a "sticker with a threatening message in a bathroom," so the plane was diverted as a precaution. After the plane was emptied and searched, wherein nothing dangerous uncovered, the flight then continued on to Germany. more ›

Oh, and here are some tips from the NERT (National Neighborhood Emergency Response Team), care of Ed Chu of the San Francisco Fire department. It's not the most entertaining bit of footage you'll see this year, but could be the most important. (Quick quiz: how many gallons of water per person is recommended for the 72 hour period after an earthquake? Five!) more ›

Have you read Living Oprah, the greatest thing in the world, ever? Penned by a 35-year-old writer, performer, and artist living in Chicago--who doesn't give her name--for one year she will be living her life according to Oprah's edicts. Because Oprah Winfrey, as we all know by now, is Christ reborn. more ›

Bay Area filmmakers Arne Johnson and Shane King present Girls Rock! The Movie, a highly moving documentary about Portland's Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, a place for girls ages eight to eighteen to learn an instrument, form their own bands, write songs, make friends, and then perform in front of 700 people -- all in a week's time. The film is opening in seven cities today -- San Francisco, Berkeley, Portland, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle and will be opening in over thirty cities nationwide throughout this spring and summer. The filmmakers will be at all of the Embarcadero screenings today and tonight for Q&As, and Shane King will be there tomorrow at the 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. screenings. Check out this great interview with Arne and Shane over at Mental_Floss. more ›

In January we mentioned a global Monopoly board game where you could vote on which cities you want on Hasbro's latest version of the popular board game, Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition. Fun, right? Well, not for some. Hasbro recently removed the country name "Israel" after "Jerusalem" when it received complaints from pro-Palestinian groups. And then, you guessed it, Hasbro received even more heat from people online who noticed the only city without a country was Jerusalem. more ›

SFist interviews Jeff Ross, founder of Indie Fest more ›

The Chicago Tribune is, in 2008, finally getting around to dealing with the glorious, frustrating, and all-knowing voice of the commenter. This week the Tribune shut down their comment boards on all of their political news stories. What's more, the publication also yanked the Commenter's voice on a recent op-ed piece about Muslims and another story about Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich. Why? Bill Adee, associate managing editor who also oversees the online operations, "ordered the suspension of comments on politics after he noticed the number of writers unfairly trashing the candidates." But more likely, the Tribune's writers and editors are growing frustrated with seeing their pearls of journalistic wisdom adorn racist, tangential, salacious rants and lies. more ›

Choppy footage: San Francisco Police Department via the Chron more ›

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Reporting from the snow-dappled streets of Chicago, it's your American Football Spectacular preview for this Saturday night's battle at The Stick as The Queen City's feline football franchise comes to town. more ›

Starting out this week, Peck the Town Crier is celebrating his sophomore CD, Groundhog's Day by performing at Pier 23. You can hang out with this San Franciscan native from 7:30-10:30 for absolutely nothing - it's free. "Recorded at the famed Hyde St Studios in San Francisco, Groundhog’s Day blends Peck’s unique story-raps and verbiage with hand played instrumental arrangements that pull from the gambit of [great] American music..." It's a bit weird, a bit... more ›

Kids, it's time to get rocking. (Especially before the "Private Party" dry spell that is coming on. Yikes.) This week, the San Francisco music gods are offering a vast array of newbies and veterans - something that we will graciously partake of any day of the week. Now that the bets are in (okay, so no one really cast any bets - how boring is that?), you can go to Cafe du Nord, tonight,... more ›

Angela Gheorghiu, the diva, made her SF Opera debut on Wednesday evening, in Puccini's La Rondine. That she made it onstage was somewhat of an accomplishment; she just had been fired from a production in Chicago for missing rehearsals. She was attending her husband, French tenor Roberto Alagna, concert at the Met, it seems. (Alagna's claim to fame has been walking off the stage at La Scala in the middle of Aida, after being booed. His cover had to jump in, still sporting jeans, to keep the opera going.) Fittingly, they were dubbed the "Bonnie and Clyde" of the opera world before these exploits. The aforementioned are only the latest peccadilloes. (Visit the links above for more of their jaw-dropping behavior.) more ›

For both the New Orleans Saints and the 49ers, this season has suuucked. There's no worse feeling in fandom than unmet expectations. And both of the NFL's gold-helmeted teams have seen the bottom drop out of their dreams for the 2007 season. more ›

Hey, remember angry Sarah Nome, the lady who refused to move out of the Kaiser hospital in Marin for over a year, and ran up a $1.4 million bill? Well, Kaiser's 1) gotten ownership of her house in San Anselmo and 2) will be auctioning it off to pay off her tab. Kaiser was awarded the house after Nome was put in the care of the state (after her daughter refused to take her in), and has been paying the mortgage while their case against Nome was pending -- even though they haven't actually been given access to the place. The house isn't in the best of shape -- it's apparently been hit by falling trees and Nome was in a fight with her insurance to get them to pay for it -- but given the real estate market in Marin, we're guessing it'll probably move fairly quickly. more ›

Today's the day! They've finally restarted Southwest service out of SFO, so those of you who hate to schlep all the way to Oakland so you can stand in line for a non-guaranteed seat assignment can rejoice. Gavin Newsom said it was good for the environment to have Southwest at all three Bay Area airports so people can go to the airport closest to their house. We hope Gavin's taking BART or Caltrain to his Southwest flight (since flying is so green). more ›

Hey, all you singles in San Francisco/Oakland, looks like you live in the right place. Our fair city was tops in Forbes 7th Annual Best Cities for Singles Report. more ›

-- "Kim Nalley Sings Nina Simone": Local legend/songstress pays tribute to Dr. Nina Simone's brilliance, goddamn. Nalley blesses us with two sets at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. at Jazz at Pearl's; $15, $20. more ›

The next season of Top Chef is looking for a few good contestants, right here in San Francisco. Applicants that aren't able to attend can submit video profiles instead, but Sunday brings you a chance for a little face time with producers. Either way, there's paperwork to fill out. more ›

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. more ›

It's just gotten easier to travel -ist to -ist on the West Coast -- British cheapo bus service Megabus is starting up next week between the Bay Area and LA. Megabus is already in Chicago too. more ›

It is a cavalcade of giving these days at SFist! Today's present to our faithful readers: tickets for you and a friend to see new alternaband the Cribs. They're three brothers (two twins) from England, they sound kind of like Interpol, their new album "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" was produced by the singer from Franz Ferdinand, and they're at Lollapalooza in Chicago in August. more ›

The artists in We, Asian Sex Workers want to make it clear that they are not slaves or victims. They don't need to be "saved," but they would like some respect, or at the very least, sensitivity. more ›

Saturday.... in the park... wish it were the Fourth of July! (That's the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra performing the Chicago classic above). Here's your events for today: more ›

Week Around The -Ists more ›

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SFist interviews James Elkington of the Zincs, opening for The Sea and Cake at Bimbo's tonight. more ›

Drove out to China Camp State Park with Sufjan Stevens on the stereo singing about Chicago. The air sat heavy with oil from the Eucalyptus trees and salt from the Bay. more ›

Continuing a string of semi-interesting news regarding lower-cost airlines, Southwest has announced that it's starting serveice directly to and from SFO on August 26. more ›

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! more ›