Yesterday evening around the time protesters were supposedly going to rally on the Civic Center BART platform, cell phone service from Civic Center to the transbay tube was cut off as part of what BART spokesman Jim Allison called "a larger strategy" used to prevent the possible demonstration. As the SFAppeal reports this afternoon, while that move may not have been illegal according to FCC regulations, it's at least highly suspect to some. more ›

We noted it in the Day Around the Bay last week (via SF Appeal), but some of you radio fans may have noticed that Pirate Cat Radio (89.7 FM) has completely disappeared off the airwaves and are now operating web-only. SF Weekly picks up the story this week, and reports on the $10,000 fine that's been slapped on the unlicensed station, despite their having operated openly, under the FCC's nose, for years -- using a loophole in the commission's rules regarding unlicensed stations "during wartime," which technically, one could argue, we're in now. 28-year-old station head Daniel K. Roberts is hoping for some donations to help cover this fine, and to help the station keep operating in its current web-only incarnation. more ›