Among NBC's lineup of must-see-free TV this past couple seasons — oh, don't you "OMG, Smash" us — the most useless, America's Got Talent, will hold auditions in San Francisco's Civic Center this weekend. Who should audition? Those of you with sad background stories (make something up; NBC doesn't care either way) and some talent involving singing or dancing or dancing and singing. Simon Cowell, who produces America's Got Talent, has the following advice for acts auditioning: 1) Be original, 2) don't be boring, 3) Stand out from the crowd, and 4) be fearless. more ›

The Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco Network Ministries, and the general public will gather tonight to honor those who died while homeless. The memorial will happen at 5:30 p.m. at Civic Center Plaza across from City Hall. "The memorial is traditionally held on the winter solstice because, according to organizers, it represents the coldest, darkest time for the homeless population," notes BCN. more ›

Unfortunately for fans of snow, steep streets and bone-shattering aerial maneuvers, the city's original urban snowsports competition never did get to return to Fillmore street after the Pac Heights crowd booted all the unruly ski and snowboard enthusiasts off their stoops and in to some kind of extreme sports festival inside the fences of AT&T Park. But today we have news that fans of snowboards and railings will once again have a free public event where they can watch athletes attempt to injure themselves on the city's streets. Behold: The Downtown Throwdown, an urban snowboarding, rail jam competition, happening Saturday in Civic Center Plaza. more ›

SFist contributor Nicole Harvey sends word that these Ed Lee Voter Fraud flyers, "were literally (literally!) on every pole in Civic Center and environs this morning." Not including the ones that had been haphazardly tossed to the ground, presumably by an Ed Lee supporter. more ›

We heard rumblings of this a few weeks back, but after arrests at Occupy San Jose and protests coming to a head in Oakland, members of Occupy SF in the city hope to unite the various Bay Area Occupy factions at one central and highly visible location in the next week and a half. As one prominent member of Occupy SF told KCBS, the local group plans to join up with members from Occupy San Jose and Occupy Oakland to bring a new occupation to Mayor Ed Lee's doorstep at City Hall. more ›

Please be advised that there will be a Public Safety Exercise taking place in the Civic Center area starting at around 10:30am Friday morning. "There will be emergency vehicles in the area and potential traffic delays. This exercise should last less than 60 minutes," notes AlertSF. more ›

After much awaited suspense and buzz, the Please Touch Garden in Civic Center is finally opening up to the public. And better still, the launch party is tonight at Swig! more ›

During Monday night's (now regularly occurring) protest/party at the BART Civic Center station, at least 40 people were pinched by the fuzz during the melee. What initially started out as a rally to decry to SFPD shooting death of Charles Hill on July 3, and then a protest to blast BART for censoring cell phone service, has now turned into a comparatively festive recurring "BART Mondays" at Civic Center. more ›

Police closed Civic Center BART station due to protests. According to SF Appeal, "All the protesters have left the BART platform, which remains closed. Roberts says BART police confirmed that no arrests were made, and that the decision to close the station was made "because of safety." more ›

A 51-year-old woman sits in the hospital "battling life-threatening injuries" after plummeting from a 15 - 20 feet wall surrounding the Civic Center BART station. The incident happened on Thursday a little before rush hour. For unknown reasons,woman was apparently "standing on a high wall surrounding the Civic Center BART station when she lost her balance." more ›

Citing "quicker bus service" as the main reason, a portion of McAllister Street between Hyde and Market will go into two-way traffic mode "after previously only allowing westbound traffic." The change will go into effect on Thursday morning. more ›

Two good Samaritans were stabbed a little before 7 p.m. Thursday evening in the city's Mid-Market area after coming to the defense of a woman. "The suspect, a man in his 50s, got into an argument with a 43-year-old woman and then punched her in the face," reports Bay City News. "When the two men, ages 37 and 47, came to the woman's defense, the suspect took out a folding knife and stabbed them both and then ran away." more ›

For those in the Civic Center area, stop through the Plaza and take a gander at the Women's World Cup final game -- USA versus Japan -- on the big jumbotron screen, happening as we speak. (SFist wrote about the screenings last week but neglected to remind you about today's big final screening.) more ›

A group called No Justice, No Bart will hold a rally to protest Sunday's officer-involved shooting of Charles Hill, 45, a man with no fixed address. If you recall, two BART cops responded to reports of a "wobbly drunk" caucasian man in "tie-dye and military fatigues" at Civic Center around 9:45 p.m, but the confrontation was over in less than a minute when one of the officers shot the suspect in the torso. This most recent shooting, of course, brings to mind Oscar Grant, a now-canonized East Bay man famously shot and killed by Johannes Mehserle on New Year's Day 2009. more ›

Yesterday afternoon at City Hall, hundreds of cab drivers staged a protest and threatened to strike if the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency didn't give them face time to discuss critical issues. KTVU reports: "Representing many of the city's cab companies, including Luxor, Yellow Cab Cooperative and Green, the drivers were protesting a 5 percent credit card processing fee, implementation of electronic waybills and lack of SFMTA benefits, especially since the Taxi Commission merged with the SFMTA in March 2009." more ›

The Farmers Market at Civic Center, the only San Francisco outdoor market to sell live chickens, voluntarily decided to ban the sale of all live poultry come May 27. Why? Due to pressure stemming from a lawsuit by kooky animal rights advocacy group LGBT Compassion. SF Appeal reports: "The move is voluntary, according to a woman who answered the Heart of the City Farmers Market telephone and identified herself only as Kate." more ›

We know you can never be too careful in these crazy times we live in, but the enormity of the reaction yesterday to an abandoned backpack near Civic Center -- that apparently no one bothered even to open? -- strikes us a bit, in hindsight, like an overreaction. The Chron informs us that 45-year-old Garfield Smith allegedly told some workers at a flower shop at 499 Polk that the backpack he was dropping off there was "set to explode." Riddle us this: Would a successful terrorist have been quite so brazen or forthcoming with his warnings? more ›

After this morning's bomb scare, the Civic Center has reopened. Because it's been blown to oblivion. Ha! No, not really. The suspicious package was detonated by the SFPD bomb squad. But wouldn't that be crazy if the Civic Center had blown to bits? Nothing but a silent wasteland. All smoldering and The Road-like. With only charred syringes and a few tranny eyelashes remaining. Randy Shaw's nefarious dreams of Tenderloin dominance mercifully destroyed in a matter of seconds. Yeah, that would be nuts. Anyway, the issue, according to AlertSF, has now been resolved. more ›

People are already lined up outside Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to catch Britney Spears' free mini-concert for Good Morning America. Although she was supposed to perform in the Castro, Spears changed locations due to concerns over the weather. People are already lined up outside the theater to catch the pop singer in action, some of them since late last night. Behold: more ›

"Force Push" by Bhautik Joshi. more ›

In the words of Boys II Men (perhaps it was your graduating class song?), "It's so hard to say goodbye," but the time has come. You were warned about this day back in December. "Three Heads, Six Arms," which had resided at Civic Center for the better part of 2010, is heading back to China tomorrow. more ›

Start saying your goodbyes to the awesome (or awesomely ugly, if you prefer) "Three Heads, Six Arms" statue at Civic Center plaza, because the behemoth work by Zhang Huan will be packing up and leaving town next Spring according to NBC Bay Area. Please don't all rush at once to climb on it for a photo opportunity though, we're fairly certain that China would like it back without too many footprints. (And also: you shouldn't be climbing on artwork anyway. For shame!) more ›

Last Thursday, the Independent Arts & Media launched the San Francisco Arts Market, an open-air marketplace for local artists and businesses to sell their hand-crafted wares, including ceramics, clothing, jewelry, literature, music, paintings, photography, and wood-carvings. more ›

It looks like things got a bit out of hand during an attempted arrest at Sunday's S.F. Gay Pride festivities. Shot by fckjulien1000 near the Orpheum Theater, the title of this video is "Police beating girls at GayPride 2010 (San Fransisco)," which, as some members in the crowd audibly attest, seems to be the case. more ›

The party at Civic Center following the 2010 San Francisco Pride Parade was packed. And hot. And breer-soaked loads of fun. Everyone from little babies rolling in the grass to elderly men displaying wrinkled private bits were out and about having fun. Although, sadly, your editor fell victim to a pickpocket midway through the festivities -- tip: always keep your wallet in a carryall bag during crowded events! -- thus forcing us to leave prematurely to cancel debit/credit cards, the post-parade party looked like resounding success. more ›

USA wins soccer match on Wednesday, June 23. San Francisco reacts with excitement. more ›

On Wednesday, SFist wondered about this installation at Civic Center. Turns out is an exhibit called "Keeping Our Promise," a kid-cutout visual representation of the "433 abused or neglected San Francisco children who entered state care in 2009." The exhibit will raise awareness for National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The cutouts were prepared by San Francisco CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a non-profit organization that uses community volunteers to advocate for the rights of abused and neglected children in foster care. (Side note: we're told that 20% of the state of California’s foster children come from San Francisco). more ›

Some sort of Children of the Corn-ish installation, perhaps? more ›