With her pet pooch resting on her shoulder, Kaili Oteri over at SF Metblogs had an unfortunate encounter at a local cafe over the weekend while waiting in line. It seems some "foul man-pile" verbally assaulted her because her dog was in her arms at coffee joint. Having your best friend at a cafe, it seems, it against the law. "It’s the law',' screamed the cranky man. '"Are you above the law? I’ll call......

Photo by Darwin Bell/Flickr Round and round they go. Arf! (To check out all of Darwin Bell's photos, which we strongly suggest doing, go here.)......

Yes, Paris Hilton is a noted admirer of the species -- which then lead to their astounding popularity among Daly City teenage girls, at least according to an unofficial SFist survey conducted at the Serramonte Center on Saturday -- but that's hardly the dogs' fault. See, the Marin Human society needs your help. This last Friday they took in over 750 dogs, most of them Chihuahuas, according to CBS 5, found at an Arizona......

Another public display of commemorative prose, folks. What with this plus the animals trying to escape from the zoo, you'd think the end is nigh, a big earthquake is on its way, or Aunt Flo has come for an extended visit. While mincing down Third Street to AT&T Park to catch some tasty waves, we came across the most darling bouquet of fresh flowers, above, lying on the sidewalk. While trying to steal them, we......

It’s early on a Saturday afternoon, and we’ve somehow found our way to Paris. OK, we’re not in Paris. Rather, we’re poking around mellow South Park between 2nd, 3rd, Brannan, and Bryant Sts., where arrondissement 94107’s narrow ellipse of green space merely feels a bit Parisian. The scene in the park is, for the most part, typical and ephemeral: young parents with their kids at the playground, couples chatting on benches or picnicking at tables, dogs and their attendant humans. Falling leaves pepper the ground with muted autumn color. South Park’s twist on the familiar neighborhood park theme, however, is the regular presence of down-and-out’ers at its west end. Nobody seems to demonize the two or three unshowered men hanging about, and while we’re not interested in joining them for a game of checkers or anything, it seems to be a case of no harm, no foul – at least on this afternoon....

So are we! Since this is the perfect time of the year to make a donation, we thought we'd help out those animal lovers among us by providing a list of local animal-related charities and nonprofits that can use a little (or alotta) support. PAWS (Pets are Wonderful Support) - Donate or volunteer for this fabulous organization which helps low-income persons with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses keep and take care of their companion animals. Rocket......

-- Explanation for last night's brief Bay Bridge light outage. [Oakland Tribune] -- Need a home in the Mission? And you're a web ninja and/or hacker? And a bit of an arsonist? Well, then you're in luck! [CraigsList] -- Police are on the lookout for a former South Bay man, Christopher Melvin Holland, for a 1983 rape and murder. [SFGate] -- Oakland environmental group claims that iPhones contain reproductive toxins. And yet, we still......

SFist Mihi runs with the canines! There's nothing like a celebrity appearance at a film festival, and Sunday night at the Roxie Theatre, the crowd went wild when it was announced that two of the wiener dogs who star in "Wiener Takes All: A Dogumentary" were in attendence. The Doc Fest crowd started oohing and ahhing and craning their necks as if Paris freaking Hilton herself had dropped by. Apparently, competitive wiener dog racing is......

So many characteristics contribute to Pacific Heights’ identity: affluence on eager display, giant square parks, commanding views, boutique shopping, dogs! dogs! dogs! But, one element up here is continually overlooked. Of course, we’re talking about portable latrines on sidewalks. With home construction such a constant in this district, and with so many laborers needing to “tend to personal business” throughout the long workday, it’s no wonder Pacific Heights walkways are lined with blue or turquoise fiberglass toilets. Jackson St. between Pierce and Scott, where three of the nine buildings on the block are currently undergoing some sort of makeover, and where each construction site features its own port-o-let, demonstrates our point as well as any in the area....

A reader that wished to remain anonymous took this pic of a sign affixed to a tree on Chattanooga St. in lovely Noe Valley, where there are dogs (and children) aplenty. The text, for those who have trouble making it out, reads: "Hi Neighbor, need your help. We have soaped in disinfected the area around this tree to free it from the stench of dog urine . . ."...

-- 19-year-old lad from Felton -- a fascinating, frightening place -- calls cops after his weed gets pinched. Which he was trying to sell in downtown Santa Cruz. And doesn't get arrested. [Chron] -- Same-sex marriage bill OK'd, ready to be TKO'd by Arnold. [Chron] -- Obama in SF! [Examiner, via BCN] -- Boom! Bomb threat forces Southwest Airlines jet back to Oakland Airport. [CBS5] -- Hsu caught, in hospital after falling down on...train......

More blotter-type news today -- sorry they're kind of downers. First up, remember May Zhou, the Stanford graduate student who was found dead in her car trunk in Santa Rosa? Well, her father remains convinced it was not a suicide, and cites a private autopsy report he's commissioned that shows blunt force trauma injuries. The offical police report, by contrast, showed no trauma injuries but did indicate toxic levels of Benadryl in her system. Zhou's......

Photo of a new fire pit at Ocean Beach...

Who doesn't love a weekend jaunt to Carmel? Well, those of us who can afford it, anyway. What's more, those of us who can tolerate its cloying horror. John Vlahides, co-founder and executive editor at 71 Miles, knows better. 71 Miles -- an extraordinarily useful local travel site (at last!) for those of us living in the Bay Area (i.e., not tourists) who want to know more about hitting up the greater Bay Area,......

Your Black Muslim Bakery update: the business is being liquidated in an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding (they have almost $1 million in debt) after a number of unnamed potential buyers dropped out, and the 19-year-old arrested for shooting journalist Chauncey Bailey now says (video clip) he was beaten and coerced into a false confession to the murder. The Oakland PD homicide officer assigned to the case says that's false and they have a taped confession where......

Since dogs on Muni has been such a topic of heated conversation lately, we asked our Muni Driver for his thoughts....

You have questions, we have answers....

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi's come out swinging at the lackadaisical response from Mayor Gavin Newsom on the state of Golden Gate Park, after public outcry that the city was more concerned about two dogs getting bitten by a coyote than it's been about the public safety and cleanliness issues created by homeless encampments and rampant IV drug use. (While Golden Gate Park isn't in any particular district is is District 1 (see comment), Ross's District 5......

Photo of dog aggression in San Francisco's Alta Plaza park....

The SFPD arrested the guy who murdered the anti-crime activist in the Haight, Joe Konopka, in an S&M session gone wrong. They believe Konopka, who was found handcuffed, choked to death on plastic covering his face. After Konopka died, the murderer took his laptop, jewelry, and cell phone before fleeing the scene. Does anyone know what happened at 16th and South Van Ness Wednesday night? We walked by there around 9 p.m. and there were......

As reported on the animal-loving SFGate/Chon, two leashed dogs were attacked by two coyotes (No, not them!) on Saturday morning on a trail near Speedway Meadow. Yikes, is right. So be careful out there in the park. An attack hasn't been reported here in well over ten years, but still, watch out while relaxing or working out in Golden Gate. And for God’s sake, if you live near the park, keep your cat(s) indoors. They......

We were so relieved when we ran into SFist Jim yesterday at the SF Symphony Dolores Park concert, because we knew his pictures would be so much better than ours! (His gorgeous shot is above; all we had on our camera were some blurry pictures of dog butts.) It was a gorgeous day and the section of Dolores Park in the nook by 20th Street was comfortably filled with sweet toddlers, well-behaved dogs, and......

Banner week for SFist as the site's new editor introduced himself -- hooray for Brock! While the NY Times weighed in on SF's mayoral race, only SFist had the (insert tongue firmly into cheek) hard-hitting latest on candidate/activist Josh Wolf. Coverage of a protest vs. gentrification spawned a fantastic debate amongst SFist's readers. Finally, from the sublime to the ridiculous: video of a man that confused a Board of Supes meeting with "open mic......

Hey, SFist Krissy already told you about this, but we're going to remind! Go to the Benefit to Save Internet Radio at the Bottom of the Hill tonight. Bagel Radio Ted and SoMa FM Elise from SoMa FM are picking the tunes, and a bunch of favorite local bands will play too. 1233 17th St (x Connecticut), 6 p.m., and $3 (but give more). Other events: --The Fillmore Jazz Festival continues all day today (10-6)......

--Doesn't that MUNI car look gorgeous? [Picture by DottieBoBottie from the SFist Flickr stream.] --No fireworks in Oakland this July 4. [Chron] --Enigmatic rock-tosser and Democratic presidential contender Mike Gravel was at Pride this weekend. [1115, via a tipster at Planet Out.] --The SFPD wants a raise. [ABC 7.] --Why aren't Oakland city politics as entertaining as SF? [Trib.] --Lotsa people on BART last Sunday [BART website.] --New dogs patiently waiting at parking meters!......

OMFG there totally just a street fair in the Haight! Did you know it was coming? Muni apparently did not, as the bus arrangement were decidedly last-minute. (Either that, or Muni simply didn't care/wasn't capable of doing any better ... but that couldn't be the case, could it?) Check out the above video of the 33, taken in the evening when things were winding down. A couple things of note: - Those buses sure......

Week Around The -Ists...

We are deeply, deeply regretful that the cityblog format had not been launched back in 2001 and 2002, when we were totally obsessed with the Diane Whipple dog mauling case. For those of you not here at the time, that was the case where a rugby lacrosse coach was killed by two fighting dogs kept as pets in a Pacific Heights apartment by two really loopy local lawyers, Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller -- and......

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA......

--The dude who got shot yesterday isn't cooperating with the cops. --David Halberstam's attorney blames the J-School driver for Halberstam's fatal car accident. --A second gas leak in SF this afternoon? This one in Nob Hill. --There was a fire at 1 a.m. this morning on Natoma (between Mission and S. Van Ness) and 14th Street. --A Santa Cruz councilmember has issued an apology for making sexual comments to a female police officer on a......