Around the plaza outside of the San Francisco Federal Building at 7th and Mission, the neighbors are getting pissed. After the government suits head home at 5 p.m, the plaza that was originally intended for wholesome community uses becomes a ghost town haunted by dealers and defecators. Or as Nina Gruen, a resident of the SoMa Grand residences next door (who also happens to be an urban-development consultant) put it to the AP: "I've seen many things that I wish I hadn't... It's a very depressing walk." more ›

At about 12:51 p.m. today, a man reportedly approached a U.S. marshal outside the SF Federal Building at Golden Gate and Larkin, made anti-government statements, said his backpack contained explosives, and left the scene. more ›

In compiling his list of the top 10 in new SF architecture for the aughts, Chronicle architecture critic John King makes the glaring omission of the Morphosis-designed Federal Building at 7th and Mission. Say what you will about it, but we think it's an innovative and gorgeous piece of architecture, and a game-changer in green office-tower design. Back in November, Curbed listed the building as their #4 of the decade, and just in March of this year, King himself called it "San Francisco's coolest building." more ›

Terrific news, everyone! CNN has obtained a copy of a report being delivered to Congress this morning detailing how undercover agents managed to sneak bomb-making components into ten "Level IV" federal office buildings in four different, unnamed U.S. cities (including, quite possibly, our own). The agents then went ahead and assembled the bombs in restrooms and trotted about the buildings' offices with the improvised devices in their briefcases, unbeknownst to all concerned. more ›

One of the federal buildings in the Tenderloin is thoughtlessly tagged with some thoughtful graffiti. According to livinintheloin: more ›

While not all of us are fortunate enough to zip around in swank Aston Martins, or have sleek Tesla waiting for us on the horizon, the "bus of the future" is the next best thing. Well, almost. more ›

Our friends over at Curbed posted this interesting nugget of news, reporting that the new Federal building doesn't qualify for LEED certification. Holy schnikes! more ›

Oh, Ed. Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed, Ed. This does not seem speedy like you promised. Then again, you promised a lot of things. Sigh. After yesterday's whopping indictment by a federal grand jury, "[s]uspended San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in the city today to expanded federal charges of mail fraud, bribery and extortion," according to the Examiner. Outside the Federal Building courthouse this morning, Jew's attorney said,... more ›

Photo of a woman trying to get in the Federal Building despite the presence Code Pink protesters more ›

with this one for his own blog -- the Chronicle Local News Blog gleefully reports that, at Sunday's Celebrity All-Star game at AT&T Park, former college baseball player Mayor Gavin Newsom: more ›

We don't even know where to start with this news item -- we had to read the article like three times before we figured it out. Who has a -war protest in San Francisco??? more ›

Some organization we've never heard of and could probably care the less about, the American Institute of Architects, put together a list of the Top 25 Bestest Buildings in San Francisco. Look for attendant show on VH-1 featuring snarky comments from Hal Sparks, Ian Michael Black, and Rachel Harris. more ›

-You know what $250 bucks at a fundraiser gets you for lunch? A lunch box of sushi. That's it. For $250 bucks, we'd want kobe beef in gold infused soy sauce in a bed of rare Nepalese quail. On the other hand, you did get to listen to Hillary. more ›

Oy vey, we just got word from John over at the Legal Reader that there's yet another bomb scare in The City, this time at City Hall. Add it up with the bomb scares in the BART stations, and that makes, what, four in two weeks? Maybe somebody was late to a meeting and called it in, or just wanted to go home early. more ›

Hey, looks like it runs in the administration! Sister-site DCist is at ground zero for the inauguration festivities. Take a moment to peruse their special inauguration coverage -- including a bit that a little birdie forwarded them from local blogger Scaramouche. Mike Grass, DCist co-editor, points up their local access: more ›

Tune into KALW 91.7 next Tuesday at 1 p.m. to hear San Francisco's first female fire chief and first female police chief (pictured at left) speaking with SFist political reporter crush Adriel Hampton through the Commonwealth Club Broadcasts series (or stream it live now). Slippery criminals! A bank robbery suspect waiting to be interviewed by the FBI pried open a screen in the Federal Building in Oakland and then casually walked out past the U.S. Marshals office and out of custody. We hope he was whistling as he did it. The FBI re-caught the guy at the San Leandro BART station. And the Los Gatos police have made an arrest for murder in a missing persons case that's been unsolved for three years. The victim had gone out drinking in June 2001, met two guys at a bar, and then disappeared. The police finally solved the case when, about two years after the disappearance, someone living nearby contacted the authorities and said she'd found a rug matching the description of a rug missing from the victim's house. The police were able to trace fibers from the rug to the murder suspect. more ›

The major event of the day will be a march put on by Not In Our Name, and will start at Powell and Market streets at 5pm. Smaller, direct-action protests will be flaring up downtown starting this morning and continuing through the day. Offices at 450 Golden Gate, the Phillip Burton Federal Building, were warned yesterday by building management that: more ›