Passive-aggressive temper tantrum risking citizen safety? Deft decision to save time and money not prosecuting lesser crimes? Open invitation for anarchistic bedlam? We'll see. After a $1.9 million pruning of his budget, Costa County District Attorney Robert Kochly announced this week that "he would no longer prosecute a host of misdemeanor crimes." Said crimes he will no longer prosecute include burglary, shoplifting, reckless driving, pot smoking, and other misdemeanors. Why? Because his office no longer has the money or staff to try so many low-level cases. As a result of budget-related layoffs, according to SFGate, "there will only be 72 prosecutors in an office with an authorized strength of 100." more ›

Starting sometime in April, library books will be available at Contra Costa County BART stations via "ATM style lending machines." A new program called Library-a-Go-Go, along with the Contra Costa County Library, will allow BART riders to simply swipe a card, select a book, wait for said book choice to drop, and then return the book after the rider is finished reading their literary gem. The machines will "hold around 400 popular and best-selling titles, both fiction and nonfiction, and will be accessible during Bart hours." more ›

Oh shit. more ›

• On Friday night at around 11:30 p.m., the intersection of Leavenworth and O'Farrell played host to a shooting. It seems that shots were fired from one car into another, leaving two males seriously injured. No deaths, no arrests. Not to be outdone, Hyde and Turk set the stage for a stabbing on Sunday, 2:20 a.m. The victim was rushed to SFGH. Again: no death, no arrests.
• San Mateo saw its first homicide since 2006. A TGI Friday's employee found the dead body of their manager this morning inside the local chain. Located at 3101 El Camino Real across from the Hillsdale Shopping Center, detectives aren't exactly sure what happened. Although Marji Fields--a regular of the fine-dining establishment--tells the Gate that over the last month they have witnessed "'horrible altercations happening with a lot of the younger crowd...[t]he 20- and 21-year-olds, they come in and they get real stupid." Tell me about it, Marji.
• Speaking of rapscallions, be careful how you answer the next time one of them tries to bum a smoke off you. Over in Contra Costa County this morning, a teenager allegedly shot a Bay Point man twice after the victim refused to give the teen a cancer stick. Charming. The victim, a man in his 40s, is listed in stable condition.

Starting today, eight Bay Area shelters are offering free spaying/neutering to pit bull owners. Although a few shelters, such as the East Bay SPCA offer the free service year-round, the organizers of Bay Area Pit Fix Week are hoping that by offering spaying/neutering this week, the lives of thousands of pit bulls (and the people they otherwise might maul if not for being fixed) will be spared. more ›

Because you can't go home. One of our guilty pleasures during storms is sitting around and looking at live traffic updates to keep track of the mayhem. We snapped this screenshot just now. Accidents and incidents literally every minute? We'd be glad we're taking MUNI except that it's closed at Market at 3rd... more ›

While not on par with Christmas Day tsunamis, this storm is pretty nifty, huh? Golden Gate transit buses have stopped, power has been knocked out to hundreds -- yes, hundreds! - of thousands of people, and surely snow is falling really hard atop a mountain somewhere. more ›

Here's todays sports news more ›

According to CBS 5 (interrupting us right in the middle of The People's Court, no less!) "East Contra Costa County residents are being evacuated from an area near the unincorporated town of Knightsen because of a possible explosive device found inside of a residential motor home." Motor homes and explosive devices? Who could've imagined!? Anyway, that's all the info posted so far. We'll update as soon as more info becomes available. Update: Taken (again!)... more ›

Why, we've been so preoccupied with murder right down the street from SFist, we forgot that the rest of the Bay Area is also littered with shootings and bloody tomfoolery. Forgive us, won't you? Ahem: Two employees of Bill's Friendly were shot last night during a botched robbery attempt. One of the store's employees was killed, the other taken to a nearby hospital. (At right: the lone gunman's fierce image.) Another shooting in the... more ›

A manhunt is underway right now at Contra Costa College, searching for a man who shot a Contra Costa College student police cadet three times at close range a little before 1 p.m. today. "The victim was in critical condition when he was taken to John Muir Medical Center...[and] has since been stabilized and has gone into surgery," according to CBS 5. more ›

Harry Ramsay, a former Contra Costa County sheriff who served in the mid 1970s, went missing the other day after leaving his house on foot, and no one has heard back from the 85-year-old man. According to the the Chronicle, he has "mild dementia and vision problem" -- just like us. more ›

-- The jarring, devastating, Lohanesque Midgen-behind-the-wheel 911 tapes will shock you. Only not so much. [Chron] more ›

The Denver Biz Times is reporting that Denver-based MediaNews Group -- the owner of the Alameda Newspaper Group (which includes the Oakland Tribune) and the Contra Costa Times, will be reducing staff in its NoCal operations. more ›

-- Temporary victory is ours: Giants 8, Brewers 0. [Chron, Examiner] more ›

--One person is dead after a Caltrain hit a car in Palo Alto this afternoon. [CBS 5, Merc News.] more ›

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And the Bay Area dominates your reality TV scene YET AGAIN!!! Danville's own Evan O'Dorney, sponsored by the proud-as-punch Contra Costa Times, wins this year's spelling bee on the word "serrefine," which is not a brand of drinking water but rather, is a small set of forceps used for clamping blood vessels. more ›

A truck filled with 60 cows tipped over in Contra Costa County yesterday. Ha! Despite our most diligent efforts, we are unable to find any pictures from the scene, so we're going with the "Cow Crossing" sign you see to your left. more ›

--It's too darn hot. (SFist expresses no opinion about whether to pitch the woo with your baby tonight.) more ›

Students at Cal protest the store Bear Basics for selling shirts they found offensive. The shirts in question said "Rutgers Nappy-Headed Ho Basketball Team." A manager was asked to stop selling the shirt and refused, so the students organized a protest for the next day. The manager's boss intervened and pulled the shirt before the store opened the next day, but when the students came by a few days later, they found two other shirts offensive so they planned a protest this Wednesday. Eight shirts were ultimately taken off the shelves. more ›

Han Shin showed up in court in Contra Costa County yesterday to plead not guilty to the charges that he tried to run over an ex's roommate with his car in San Ramon. He smiled and wished the judge a good day. Meanwhile, the authorities also arrested an Oakland man who's been stalking Schwarzenegger. more ›

We gobble the various food sections up each Wednesday. These are our favorite tidbits from today's offerings: more ›

-Thanks for coming, Queen Mary 2. -Santa Clara City Council is expected to vote for a study, just a study, on a new stadium for the Niners. more ›

So we're reading this morning in the Chronicle about the "Frozen Bun Run" on Bethel Island in Contra Costa County, where fun-loving polar bears go water-skiing on the Sacramento River every New Year's Day. And here's the paragraphs that caught our eye: more ›

Two small plane crashes -- one into a tank of raw sewage in Gilroy, and another onto Highway 4 in Contra Costa County. The Highway 4 crash involved a pilot who misjudged the location of the landing runway in the low cloud cover Thursday, and tied up traffic for miles. They're still investigating the Gilroy crash; investigators got a later start because they had to drain and disinfect the tank before it was safe to go in. more ›

So what's going on with this whole newspaper lawsuit and injunction thingy we mentioned earlier? Well, sit right back, grab a beer, and listen up because this is super-exciting stuff. more ›

-Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata proposes health care for all workers in California. more ›

You know what hasn't been done yet? Barry Bonds' contract. In fact, while everyone is saying it's a done deal, it's not quite done, meaning that the i's haven't been dotted and the t's haven't been crossed and Barry Lamar's John Henry has not yet been put on a piece of paper. more ›

We gobble the various food sections up each Wednesday. These are our favorite tidbits from today's offerings: SF Chronicle Stanford alum and local food writer Janet Fletcher gives three quickie menus--that’s 90 minutes if you have sharp knives and decent kitchen skills--to entertain during the holidays. We may try out Linda Furiya’s Five-Spice Persimmon Cake for a holiday party we’re attending this Sunday. It sounds sweet with a little spice and will feed sixteen people.Sad pizza news: Nicky’s Pizzeria Rustica is closing. No more square shaped Tuscan style pizza for Russian swillers. (SFist Ced was so there on October 12th of this year.)

Contra Costa ( CoCo ) Times Prime Rib 101 shows the differing cheffie opinions on how to prep and cook one of our fave types of red meat. We agree with the author and favor a garlic/herb rub that seems to guarantee delish results. Wine lovers, time to sign up for a wine club. more ›