535 San Francisco Unified School District teachers will receive layoff notices this morning due to state cuts in education funding. Today's pink slip handouts stem from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget '09, which will see San Francisco schools losing around $40 million. According to CBS 5, Mayor Newsom is doing what he can, even if it's a Band-Aid solution to a longterm problem. Mayor Gavin Newsom has said he plans to ask the Board of......

Ten-year-old Mireya Zapata was reported missing from her home in the Tenderloin District at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning. She was wearing a black jacket with gold lettering that either says, "South Park" or "South Pole," black jeans, red and black sneakers with a heart print, and she was carrying a pink backback. She has a small black freckle near her mouth. She is about 5 feet tall, weighing 75 pounds. Update: Recent reports say......

Hooray! We're back with more Ed Jew news! And this time, with a vast Sunset-wing conspiracy. Former District 4 supervisor Ed Jew may have pled out of his state court civil suit ("okay, you caught me, I don't actually live here"), but his federal criminal extortion case ("a man can't get a $40,000 bubble tea once in awhile?") continues apace. In his federal case, Ed's now asked for a hearing on whether his former lawyer,......

After Carole Migden won the endorsement of the Harvey Milk Club, things were looking grim for Assemblyman Mark Leno. But today Gavin Newsom shined his megawatt charm over in Leno's direction today, endorsing his bid for a state Senate seat. According to the B.A.R., " Newsom [is] expected to publicly endorse Leno Wednesday night at the Herbst Theatre during a special screening of Pursuit of Equality..." Leno is trying to dethrone state Senator Carole......

Making her move at juuust the right time, Jackie Speier is a shoo-in to fill Tom Lantos' seat by April 8 if she gathers a majority of votes in a special, pre-primary election. But first, according to the Merc: ...Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger must issue a declaration today that would allow the 12th Congressional District race to appear on the June 3 ballot. If he waits until after today, San Mateo County would have to......

Last night, according to an SFist tipster: A few blocks in the Marina around Cervantes and Beach were shut down to traffic and residents for about an hour and a half this afternoon. Helicopters, police, and bomb squad were all present. Anyone know what was going on??? I asked the cop who was blocking the street and he said "Whatever it is, it's bad." Gee, thanks. Well, it turns out that all of the......

The 12th Annual Tết Festival Ceremony occurred yesterday all around Little Saigon in San Francisco...

Choppy footage: San Francisco Police Department via the Chron And speaking of cameras... While Chicago has seen crime rates plummet to their lowest numbers in over four decades due to the windy city's Big Brother program, San Francisco's attempt at panopticon-ish camera security is failing. Ever since the 68 city-funded cameras started rolling, our city's surveillance program has resulted in a single arrest. That was over 19 months ago. Why the lag, you ask?......

It's wet. Very wet. [SFGate] Lunching in the Financial District. (And, OMG, the most darling thing ever: an escaping escape key!) [Gridskipper]British satirist (is there any other kind?) throws down les bon mots on subprime mortgages. [Valleywag]"Love," it seems, "is the answer." [Curbed]Mecca is on deathwatch. [Eater]New Chron editor revealed: Ward E. Bushee. [SFGate]Diplo is coming, and we couldn't be more elated. Seriously. [ASD]Michael Vick's dogs--as well as this insanely hot piece of tail......

Barack's new SF HQ opens...

You guys rock. Like, for reals. Why? Because just seconds after SFist Dan reported on today's 22-Fillmore mash up, we find an image of said Muni bus stacking in our inbox. While kicking it in the Staph Infection District of San Francisco, Owen caught a partial shot of the Muni clique in action. Hot. Thanks again, Owen.......

Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's only English-language paper. Gothamist believed that a writer who wanted pre-gentrified gritty New York and ended up getting beaten up during a mugging learned his lesson.DCist followed Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Council to New Hampshire,......

As of noon today, the District 4 seat formerly occupied by Ed Jew is now empty, and the Sunset has no representation on the Board of Supervisors. Quick, everyone, now's the time to put a toxic waste dump on 26th and Wawona! (We just like saying the word "Wawona" is all.) Former acting District 4 supervisor Carmen Chu is still trying to decide if she wants the seat through November or not, and while......

Okay, okay, okay, we promise, this is our last post for today about Ed Jew (we think) -- so what happens next? Well. Newsom will now appoint a permanent replacement for Ed Jew's seat on the Board of Supes (presumably interim District 4 supervisor Carmen Chu is the leading candidate, unless Jennifer Siebel-soon-to-be-hyphenate-Newsom is living by the zoo now and wants something to do on Tuesday and Thursday nights), and that replacement will rule through......

It turns out that the man who was brutally gunned down in the Mission on Monday night recently ditched a witness protection program. Justin Lee, 40 - who was shot to death after being chased down on 26th and Mission Streets - just left the security of a safe house in another part of the state on the same day. Yikes. Going back a bit, it seems that in 2005 Lee had "taken the......

Obama '08 is coming your way. ...

Peter Hartlaub thinks our favorite thinspiration, Keira Knightley, is overrated. Well, then. [SFGate] Iraqi war critics' darling Cindy Sheehan moves to the Mission District. Congrats on the hip new digs, Cynthia. [FCJ] Big-cat attack victims "lay low." Hmm. [Examiner] Raiders lose it. Again. [Oakland Tribune] Three - three! - people murdered in Oakland within 12 hours. Ack. [CoCo Times] Oakland fuzz feared Your Black Muslim Bakery? [Oakland Tribune] Beth has a new drinking-binge buddy?......

Former District 4 SF Supervisor, rumored florist with a flair, __________ resident, charming fibber, and triple-threat criminal fatal optimist Edmund "Ed" Jew takes this year's title for Loosest Screw of 2007. Congrats, Ed! Velvet unicorns, tiny faeries, Quickly SNAFUs, chocolate sprinkles, My Little Pony, a San Francisco address, the 4th dimension, Jodie Foster's affection - you were as crazy as you wanted to be in 2007. Thank us? Oh no, Ed Jew!: thank you.......

Further proof that the Richmond is where it's at - unless, of course, you like dry bath towels - last night the good folks in the OR witnessed a reportedly "green" light show in the sky during the storm. (Here in SOMA at SFist HQ, we saw a few dangerous puddle formations. Terrifying.) In our comments section, which we implore you to use liberally, a few readers chimed in on last night's electric action:......

After a federal judge blocked "a key provision of a new city program providing basic health care to uninsured residents, City Attorney Dennis Herrera is scheduled to petition the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today for an emergency stay pending appeal to help SF maintain the "Healthy San Francisco" program. The program, which would help uninsured San Franciscans receive health care, was scheduled to begin on January 2, 2008. According to CBS 5: U.S.......

Torontoist discovered their city's most ridiculous holiday lights setup, with 80,000 lights and two––two!––synchronized music routines. Naturally, they snagged a video. Chicago tragically loses one of its most recognizable neighborhood icons, the pigeon man of Lincoln Square. LAPD leaves body in car at crash scene, then tows it. Massachusetts plus mullet equals PR mayhem. Londonist sleeps in a Haunted plague pit. UC Berkeley students strip naked and race through campus, NSFW floppiness ensues. Phillyist......

Well, for those of you dying to know what the feds got when they raided erstwhile District 4 supervisor and criminal defendant Ed Jew's house, the records have been unsealed! From Ed's house, $10,000 in cash in $100 bills and some computers. More intriguingly, though, you may remember that the feds also raided Ed's buddy Robert Chan's house (though he was referred to by the mellifluous name "Co-Conspirator No. 1" at the time). Not only......

Alas. We hit the 100th murder mark over the weekend. And this big 1-0-0, as you know, is not a cause for celebration. Early Saturday morning at around 5 a.m., Jose Alberto Chel Camara, 21, and Jaiber Nah Carballo, 20 were shot and killed on 18th Street and South Van Ness. (The assailants were "described as two men in their 20s, but it was unclear whether one or both were the shooters" and no......

Goodbye, Ed Jew's attorney Steven Gruel! The revolving door that is beleaguered former District 4 Supervisor Ed Jew's legal team spins once again, depositing the pugnacious Mr. Gruel on the street and leaving the team's latest addition Stuart Hanlon (hired to replace Bill Fazio in the state criminal case) in charge of all of Ed's legal matters. Gruel, as you may recall, was handling Ed's case on the city ethics charges and the federal racketeering......

No, not Frank Chu -- although a Gav versus a crazy would be most fascinating, indeed -- Carmen Chu. Let's back up a bit here: In her first hickory-bold move since taking over for he who shall remain nameless, Chu decided to chip away at the homeless problem in the Sunset. Chu, according to the Examiner, "publicly demanded that several city departments come up with a specific plan to address her west side district’s homeless......

A photo of the FiDi at night with holiday lighting...

This was the scene the other day on everybody's favorite piece of landfill, San Francisco's Marina District. Larger version here Of course SUPER-visor Chris Daly took action to keep Segways off of our sidewalks about a half decade ago, but our law doesn't appear to stop folks from just driving around in bike lanes. (It doesn't seem to stop people from riding on sidewalks either, but oh well.) Anyway, you'll be seeing these things in......

Stepping out of his black Chevy Tahoe SUV, smashingly dressed, and fully aware that the media would bombard him beforehand, former glory Barry Bonds acted like a punk today after arriving at the U.S District Courthouse to make his plea this morning. Oh, and that plea of fibbing under oath to a federal grand jury regarding his steroids use? Not guilty. Ta-da. Basically, he came, said that he didn't do it, had a bond......

Today's Chron Bay Area section takes a break from covering the plight of lungless salamanders in Korea (why is this in the Bay Area section? Yes, yes, we know, it's because Cal researchers are researching them -- we're asking the question in a more philosophical sense.) to report that: oh no! Ed Jew's state criminal trial has been postponed again, to at least April 08. To justify the request for a further delay, Ed Jew's......

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is calling all ye Bay Area residents to spare the air tonight by refraining from lighting a fire or using other wood burning appliances. (Does that mean no Duraflames, you ask? Yes. Yes, it does.) The morning forecast, it seems, predicted unhealthy PM (particulate matter) concentrations. And we have no idea what that means exactly. But in lieu of a cozy fire, we suggest putting on the......