As with the Mayoral and Sheriff's races, yesterday's contest for the District Attorney's office left a clear frontrunner but not a clear majority. Current interim DA George Gascón leads the contest after the first round with just over 42% of the vote. The closest contenders, UC Berkeley Criminal Justice scholar David Onek and Alameda County prosecutor Sharmin Bock trail behind with 23% and 21% respectively. more ›

Police chief-turned-District Attorney Gascón hasn't done a whole lot worth mentioning since our dreamy former Mayor put him in the DA's office. (Actually, up until this point, it's what he hasn't done that has made headlines.) Today, with less than a month to go before the city decides whether or not he gets to keep his post, Gascón's office has announced a pilot program designed to keep chronically absent 9th graders in school. more ›

Interim Police Chief Jeff Godown announced yesterday that the case involving the shooting of Mechthild Schröer, the German elementary school headmaster who was killed by a stray bullet as the result of a gang-related dispute in Union Square last August, was resubmitted to the District Attorney last month with more evidence. The D.A. is still deciding whether there's enough evidence to file charges against the two to five suspects who were involved. A suspect who had initially been arrested last year had later been released due to lack of a murder weapon. more ›

We already got the campaign finance numbers on the folks who are gunnin' for the Mayor's office, but who's been asking for handouts on their way to the DA's office? Former member of Newsom's Office of Criminal Justice and a big advocate of the city's CompStat system, David Onek leads the pack with about $160 grand in the bank, but only a third of that actually came from Bay Area Donors according to the Examiner. The rest is from his generous pals in Washington D.C. more ›

Just ten days after former Police Chief George Gascon was sworn in as the interim District Attorney, a lawyer at the Public Defenders Office is considering asking him to step aside from the high-profile officer-involved shooting of Randal Dunklin, the man in a wheelchair who stabbed an officer, on January 4. more ›

Although now registered as “decline-to-state,” former SFPD Police Chief / interim District Attorney George Gascon was once registered as a Republican. Believe it. SF Bay Guardian, who reports on the gruesome details, says, "a January 10 Los Angeles Times article...revealed that in 2008, Gascon described himself to the L.A. Times 'as a longtime Republican.' " Let the pitchfork and torch gathering commence! more ›

In a surprise move, Gavin Newsom appointed SFPD Police Chief George Gascon to District Attorney on Sunday after Board of Supervisors President David Chiu rejected the left vacant by Attorney General Kamala Harris. According to SF Weekly, who broke the story, "Gascon -- who has a law degree and, for that matter, ran a car dealership, too -- will be taking over an office mired in scandal and with a reputation for underperformance." more ›

We're biased. We love us some Kamala Harris. She's pretty. She has the loveliest hair we've seen since we last looked into a mirror. She will temporarily stop an interview to give the proper pronunciation if the reporter fucks up her name. And, arguably, she's been a might fine DA. (Aside: You can sign up for a new SFist commenter account here.) While Harris has been criticized for being a bit of a softy (i.e., she refuses to take part in state-sanction murders in order to appease the Nancy Graces of the world), Harris scored a major endorsement today from a tough-on-crime kind of guy. more ›

A bumpy road lies ahead for D.A. Kamala Harris, who just kicked off her bid for State Attorney General. It seems the focal point of her campaign, a rehabilitaion program for low-level narcotics offenders confidently titled Back on Track, is coming under fire. According to a recent report, the District Attorney's program "trained illegal immigrants for jobs they couldn't legally hold." One grim example, the LA Times points out, was an illegal immigrant / cocaine dealer who attacked, mugged, and fractured the skull of onetime resident Amanda Kiefer. After getting arrested, the culprit, Alexander Izaguirre, "avoided prison when he was picked for a jobs program run by San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris ...In effect, Harris' office had been allowing Izaguirre and other illegal immigrants to stay out of prison by training them for jobs they cannot legally hold." more ›

Barack's new SF HQ opens more ›

Obama '08 is coming your way. more ›

Anyway, the real story here is that it's an uninteresting race, but that that shouldn't matter. With Gavin Newsom running unopposed in the minds of many a San Franciscan, the city sheriff having no serious challengers, and the district attorney running unopposed, we can see why. And according to Alex Clemens in today's Examiner (AP), "[w[]"ithout a good fight at hand, a lot of people are worried that many San Franciscans will opt out of the process and just go to work instead." (That what they want you to believe, man! Wheels within wheels.) more ›

After telling the public that he wanted his day in court as soon as possible -- similar to telling the public that he lived in SF, among other massive fibs -- Jew won a seven-week (!) delay for his trial start date. As always, whatever works best for you, Ed. more ›

This weekend, both the Chron and the Ex had big stories about Gavin's community court idea. Oh, wonky, earnest Gavin, how we missed you. Anyways, the thing about both stories is that we actually have community courts already set up. In fact, we've been praised for our community court program. So, then, why all the hullabaloo? And what is the proverbial what because as we could all attest, it's not like they appear to be making a difference? more ›

ith fare evasion and it's effect on MUNI's budget being one of last week's big stories, we thought we'd ask our MUNI driver what the what is about all things MUNI fares. And remember, if you have any questions you'd like answered, send them to editor@sfist.com more ›

Kamala Harris addresses the Immigrant Resources Fair more ›

It's a mishmash of random news items about -- the District 6 election! This week's episode: Everybody Hates Odds And Ends. more ›

The retrial of Gwen Araujo's killers is under way, and the defense is trying a somewhat different tack this time. more ›

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SFist knows that some good movies have been shot in the city. But damned if they ever seem to run them on TV. At least, not on the basic cable we're set up with. more ›