Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate and Jerry Brown revealed today that $400 million in refunds are heading to California consumers who were "victimized by market manipulation and exorbitant prices during the energy crisis of 2000-2001." TheAG's offices notes: "During the energy crisis, Enron, Sempra and other energy companies created phony energy shortages, blackouts and record high energy prices. As a result, California's two largest utilities, PG&E and Southern California Edison, became insolvent, forcing the state to spend billions of dollars for huge amounts of emergency power to keep the lights on." [via CA Dept. of Justice] more ›

-New 49ers plan to include new ways of getting to the area. The plan is also geared to be more for Bayview than the 49ers. more ›

Before we begin, we'd like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of James Kim. We are not, by any means, trying to discount that tragedy by juxtaposing posts about the Kims with more light-hearted posts. It's the nature of doing a compilation such as this one: we're trying to give a full slice of the goings-on in the Ist-a-Verse: the good, the bad, and the ugly. more ›

The weeks starts out right when a sucker punch on the field lands Chicagoist in the middle of a Sox/Cubs throwdown and the fists continue to fly in the comments. Despite suburban resident Ms. Pinney's best little try no books will be banned anytime soon and the El is really really gross. more ›

DCist helps us make more sense of the world this week. Posts like this concert review are the reason for Scott Stapp. DCist also enumerates the reasons for playing ultimate frisbee, Condi's tight buns, their love of a local convenience store, and their jealousy of a person in Seattle calling the city. more ›

Earlier this week kissy couples were wading through roses and red tissue paper deeper than an east coast snow dump and singles shook a tiny, lonely fist (no ring!) at it all. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Valentine's season is in the can, finally. more ›

Last week, the Giants asked the city assessor's office to reassess the Ballpark at 24 Willie Mays Plaza for tax purposes. The point being the Giants are claiming that their four year old park is already starting to get a little less shiny and a little less new and therefore the Giants should pay less money in taxes. Currently, the Giants pay $4 million a year in property taxes plus another $6 million or so in payroll, parking and other taxes, but those rates are based on rates established when the park was brand spanking new. For those of you who are able to actually buy something here, you'll know that reassessing property is a perfectly legitimate thing to do. Economists can also vouch for the fact that stadiums often depreciate in price, as they get older, although four years of a state-of-the-art ballpark might be pushing it. Also pushing it is the idea that any property in California can depreciate since there's no such thing as property values going down. more ›

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