An excellent free activity to take the kids to this month (once the rain dies down), as the San Francisco Zoo will offer free admission to kids 11 and under for the entire month of January.

The pesky rainstorms that have characterized every single day of 2026 so far are expected to finally clear up and end sometime around midnight tonight. And then we are likely looking at dry weather for the rest of the week, and likely the weekend too. So this may be a good time to point out that the San Francisco Zoo is offering free admission to kids 11 and under for the entire month of January, as KRON4 reports, and the deal remains in effect through Saturday, January 31.

“This is a great opportunity to enjoy the Zoo, be outdoors and see amazing animals if you haven’t visited in a while,” interim SF Zoo co-CEO Cassandra Costello said in a press release. “We’re here 365 days a year, and what’s great is that every visit you’ll see something different, from our giraffes having breakfast or wolverines wrestling in snow. It’s a lot of fun, especially for kids.”

Looking at the zoo’s announcement on free January admission for kids, we see that it applies only to kids under 11 (and actually requires the child to be “between 2 years – 11 years old.”) And if you buy your tickets online, you’ll still have to pay the $1 service fee for the “free” kids’ ticket.

But if you walk right up to the box office and buy your tickets there, those kids’ tickets will indeed be absolutely free. Each adult admission ticket ($26 for SF residents, $29 for non-residents) allows for five free kids’ admission tickets.

And this may be your first chance to meet the SF Zoo’s new male gorilla Cecil, who made his debut here in mid-October. But realize there have a couple tragic losses at the zoo lately; a 34-year-old male red-bellied lemur named Eno, and a 19-year-old male Magellanic penguin named Freckles were both euthanized at the zoo last week. Both had exceeded their expected life spans, and both suffered from incurable chronic diseases.

Related: This Whole Panda Thing at the SF Zoo Appears to Be In Jeopardy, as Major Zoo Donor Revolts [SFist]

Image: Melissa S via Yelp

New Year's Eve may be known as "amateur night," but the professionals at Muni are also on the clock that evening — and they're giving it up for free.

"We wish all San Francisco residents and visitors a happy and safe New Year," redundantly-titled San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin said in a statement.

"During the celebrations enjoy yourself, but don't drink and drive. Muni will be available for free to get you around the city and back on New Year's Eve," he says.

This is the 16th year in a row that Muni's offered free NYE rides, they say, this year from 8 p.m. on Thursday, December 31, to 5 a.m. on Friday, January 1.

Though last year the transit agency was able to do this with the financial support of Comcast Spotlight and 76, this year, the MTA says, 76 is on their own in bankrolling your free ride.

Here's how it works: Don't tap your Clipper Card, and don't try to give the driver money. Don't buy a Muni Mobile pass, you don't need it. And if you're catching Muni Metro at a station, all fare gates will be set to fare-free, so you can just walk in like you own the place. (Basically, you will be riding like all those people you bitch about the other 364 days of the year.)

Oh, and speaking of Muni Metro, the construction project that closed the system's evening subway service will be suspended on NYE, so you can ride the system as you did in the good old days, underground through downtown.

Other Muni changes for NYE, according to their site:

• Muni Metro service between West Portal and Embarcadero stations will be extended to 4 a.m. and until 2:15 a.m. to 4th and King streets
• Service on the F Market historic streetcar line will be provided by buses after 4 p.m.
• Service on the Cable Cars will be provided by buses after approximately 8 p.m.
• The 5 Fulton, 14 Mission, 22 Fillmore, 24 Divisadero, 38 Geary, 90 and 91 Owl and the L and N Owl bus routes will run Extra Owl service from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
• There will be extra 1-California service between Drumm Street and Presidio Avenue from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

One thing to be aware of if you're taking transit around the city that night is SF's city-sponsored fireworks show from a barge just off the Embarcadero and south of the Ferry Building. The rockets are set to go off at midnight, so the MTA warns that delays in the area are expected from approximately 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

If you're trying to take transit somewhere Muni doesn't go, other agencies are extending their service hours, too. Caltrain will also be free from 8 p.m. on, and will run four post-midnight trains, departing San Francisco at 12:45 a.m., 1:15 a.m., 1:45 a.m. and 2:15 a.m., or when full.

SamTrans will also be free from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., and will run its "regular non-school day service" on New Year's Eve.

BART won't be free, but as previously reported, will run until 3 a.m. on January 1. Just remember that they're running on a "skip-stop" schedule, during which certain trains will skip either the Embarcadero or Montgomery BART stops.

Related: Prepare To Get Turnt: BART To Run Until 3 AM New Year's Day

Tomorrow, December 30, at Super Duper's eight Bay Area locations, they're giving away free burgers, fries, and soft-serve to the first 100 people through the door, just to celebrate New Year's, or something. This is the same thing the chain has been doing every April on their anniversary (Super Duper Day), causing lines of people to show up for their share of free stuff. But this is the first time we can recall them doing this in December.

Super Duper announced the giveaway via Facebook, declaring this a Super Duper Year after their Zagat rating as the Best Burger in San Francisco, and their (we'd say controversial) rating by SF Business Times readers as the best burger as well.

So, assuming you do not have a job that needs you tomorrow afternoon, you can get in line before 3 p.m. to try to be one of the first 100 through the door at any of the locations below, which will be handing out free mini-burgers (those are the single-patty, 4 oz. burgers) between 3 and 4 p.m., as well as fries and Straus Creamery ice cream.

These are the chain's five cityside locations:

Castro
2304 Market (at 16th St.)

Metreon
783 Mission (at Fourth St.)

Financial District
98 Mission (at Spear)

Downtown
721 Market (at Third St.)

Marina
2200 Chestnut (at Pierce)

You can also now find them Mill Valley, Novato, and San Jose.

Previously: Does Super Duper Really Make The Bay Area's Best Burger? (The Answer Is No.)

Fantastic, amazing news for every single SFist reader who's commented (or just thought) "I miss Brock": You can now read his sterling prose, on lovely high-quality stock, for free.

SFist's former editor Brock Keeling left us (we miss him too!) for 7x7 Magazine, a glossy publication that's been celebrating "the best of San Francisco" since 2001. (Disclosure: this reporter presently freelances for 7x7's online edition, but they didn't ask me to write this post.)

SFist has gently ribbed 7x7 in the distant past, but since SFist's former style editor Chloe Harris bought the publication earlier this year, we've found a lot less to grouse about.

The publication routinely offers free subscriptions, and now is apparently the season, as a post on their site today says that you can sign up for a gratis subscription until Sunday at midnight. All you need to do is live in the Bay Area and fill out a form, and you'll have Brock and his colleagues in your mailbox in no time.

Since it's July 11th, 7-Eleven will celebrate their name by offering parched folks such as yourself a free 7.11-ounce Slurpee today from 11am-7pm. While we're more of a regular Cherry Slurpee kinda guy, flavors over the years have expanded into such cavity-creating flavors as Dr. Pepper, Crystal Light, Purple Berry Cherry Fanta, and Banana Chocolate Pie. Most flavors, by the way, are kosher save for the Piña Colada, Twizzler Strawberry, Tropicana Grape Wild Strawberry and Monster Black flavors.

Find your nearest 7-Eleven here and let the brain freezing commence.

Hippie ice cream purveyors Ben & Jerry's will hand out free scoops of ice cream today. Why? Because it's Free Cone Day. Head over to your nearest Ben & Jerry's outlet for a free ice cream cone. You can choose from a variety of kooky signature flavors, including vanilla, chocolate, or Lady Gaga's Breast Milk Nut Chew (that's a flavor, right?). Or whatever. And, for your convenience, here's a map of the Ben & Jerry's outposts in San Francisco:

They're pimping their Greek Yogurt hardcore since it's all the rage right now, so give it a shot. Check with your local shop for more info. Enjoy!

Some say yes. Many say no. According to an op-ed piece in Thursday's Chronicle, the good-intentioned plan, sparked by Supervisor David Campos, stands as "an appealing idea that City Hall is all but certain to adopt." While the plan would help kids get to school, ease parents' drop-off schedules, and possibly alleviate traffic congestion, it would also add another $4 million to $7.9 million dent "for the under-funded transit system facing a $23 million deficit."

Urging for a kids-ride-free Muni, the Chronicle said the following:

Lining up the funds is major worry. Muni has $1.4 million from low-income student program with another $4 million possible from regional transit funds. The balance might be squeezed from other public sources and private donations.

Also, any money spent to subsidize student fares would come at the expense of other Muni projects that add bus seats, vehicles and more service. Though the free youth rides are billed as a trial program, it would be nearly impossible to cancel once it got under way.

That's why a good idea needs to treated carefully. There may be reasonable tweaks to consider. Students could be restricted to school hours and weekdays as they are in cities with similar plans. Free rides could be restricted to needy students only. These rules, however, could be hard to enforce and overly complicated, factors that Campos says argue for 24/7 free rides for youths.

On balance, the concept is a positive one and worth trying. There are 36,000 daily riders under 18, and several thousand more could be coaxed out of cars if the plan swung into place.

That's a win for convenience, schools, traffic congestion and social disparities. Now it's up to transit planners to find both the money and the operating rules that will make the program a success. It's a challenge the city can and should meet.

Pretty nifty, right? Not so much, said Supervisor Scott Wiener via his Facebook page:

I respectfully disagree with the Chronicle on this. While free Muni for youth sounds good, saddling Muni with another $8.5 million annual obligation -- when Muni currently lacks the funds to maintain its system and has a structural deficit of about $150 million -- doesn't make sense. Although this is technically a 2-year trial program, there's no way Muni will be able to take this back after 2 years. It is very likely to become permanent. In addition, if we're going to do it, there's no reason to provide free Muni to kids who aren't low income.

Adding to the nay column is esteemed blogger Akit from Akit's Complaint Department. (Side note: if anyone at City Hall wants to make public transit better for all San Franciscans, it would be wise to follow Akit religiously... or, better yet, give him a job.) He responded to the Chronicle's piece thusly:

One of the major problems is just the cost of running such a program. The Chronicle estimates the cost to be at least $4 million to as high as $7.9 million (let's just say eight). That's a lot of money for an agency that's been bleeding in the red ever since Nat Ford ruined the agency and took a nice 300K+ "up yours" package when he was fired. Four million, if properly spent, can be used for something better for EVERYONE, and not just for the kids.

Another pressing issue is future conduct by riders. Akit goes on to point out:

One bigger concern I have is conduct. Here's my two big issues:

1) Remember the "Spare the Air" program gave out free transit rides for everyone? It was a success for keeping the air cleaner and more people taking public transit, but it caused a bunch of other problems from transit agencies. People decided to take public transit to just get off at the next stop just because it was "free," this meant delays on transit lines because people are too lazy to just walk to the next stop. For BART, they hated it; youth passengers caused mayhem on the system and turned into a roving hangout (including homeless folks); it reached such a boiling point that BART decided at the next future "Spare the Air" to make people pay for their rides.

2) If Muni gives rides for "free" to the youth, it just lets them barge through the back door of buses and steal the seats from the rest of the honest people who boards through the front door.

Before you take off for the holidays, remember that come New Year's Eve, you can ride Muni for free. For free? For free. Muni travel, including cable cars, is free of charge from 8 p.m. New Year's Eve until 6 a.m. New Year's Day. And who in their sane mind would want to ride Muni on New Year's Eve? Not us. Because we don't like harrowing train and/or bus rides. But many of you will have to rely on San Francisco's semi-reliable public transportation, so... have at it.

Muni New Year's Eve details:

• Muni travel, including cable cars, is free from 8 p.m. New Year's Eve until 6 a.m. New Year's Day.


• Customers are encouraged to use the Metro to get into and out of the Downtown area.


• Additional Metro service from 8 p.m. to 2:15 a.m. from West Portal to Caltrain and until 4 a.m. from Embarcadero to West Portal Station.


• J, K, L, M, and N Metro lines are operating on their regular weekday schedule, until shortly before 1 a.m.


• Owl service: Extra service on Muni Owl Lines (1 to 5 a.m service): 5 Fulton, 14 Mission, 22 Fillmore, 24 Divisadero, 38 Geary, 90 Owl, 91 Owl, and L and N Owl motor coach service. Frequency will be shortened from 30 to 15 minutes.


• Extra Owl service is subject to change, based on operating conditions.


• The San Francisco 311 Customer Service Center, is open all night, as usual, for travel assistance.


• The F Market and Wharves service will be provided by motor coaches after approximately 4 p.m. There will be reroutes only if necessary.

"But can I also ride BART for free," you ask? No. What, are you high? Of course not. However, BART will have extended hours at the turn of 2012. So at least there's that. BART notes: "BART service normally ends around midnight, but on Saturday, December 31, 2011, BART trains will continue to run until around 3 am Sunday, January 1, 2012. Trains will run at their normal intervals during the extended hours. For example, if your train arrives at your favorite station at 11 pm, it will also arrive 12 am, 1 am, 2 am and 3 am."

Is Mary Jane an outdated term? Oh well, we like saying it, at least in blog post headlines. FunCheapSF, always the first to know about such fun events as these, informs us that Medithrive, a local medical marijuana dispensary who is celebrating its second birthday today, is giving away "adult goody bags" to registered users with valid prescriptions.

Patients will receive a free top shelf sample, Jolly Lolly medicated confetti, and an edible of your choosing from either Auntie Dolores, Bliss, Cannabis Kitchen or Chocowaska with no purchase necessary.

So, if you have one of those handy cards, sign up for a membership today. Although, be forewarned that their product is pricier than other facilities.

Good times ahead!

Today, June 3, is National Doughnut Day. If pressed, one can get a free sweet treat at your nearest Dunkin Donut or Krispy Kreme. Or, better yet, you can get a free donut at Dynamo Donuts, the city's finest purveyors of circular treats, which you can find at 2760 24th Street, between Hampshire and York.

How did National Doughnut Day start, exactly? Good question. Your answer: National Doughnut Day was created in 1938 by the Salvation Army "to honor the women who served donuts to soldiers during World War I" and those affected by the Great Depression. Wikipedia has more:

Soon after the US entrance into World War I in 1917, the Salvation Army sent a fact-finding mission to France. The mission concluded that "huts" that could serve baked goods, provide writing supplies and stamps, and provide a clothes-mending service, would serve the needs of US enlisted men. Six staff members per hut should include four female volunteers who could "mother" the boys. (The canteens/social centres that were established by the Salvation Army in the United States near army training centers were called "huts".)

About 250 Salvation Army volunteers went to France. Because of the difficulties of providing freshly baked goods from huts established in abandoned buildings near to the front lines, two Salvation Army volunteers (Ensign Margaret Sheldon and Adjutant Helen Purviance) came up with the idea of providing doughnuts. These are reported to have been an "instant hit", and "soon many soldiers were visiting Salvation Army huts". Margaret Sheldon wrote of one busy day "Today I made 22 pies, 300 doughnuts, 700 cups of coffee."

This year's free concert series at Stern Grove promises to have almost something for everyone. Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, San Francisco Symphony, English Beat, and Neko Case (!), just to name a few, will perform. Check out the entire lineup:

JUNE 19
Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings
Ben L'Oncle Soul

JUNE 26, 2011
Jazz Mafia Story
Featuring Chali 2Na

JULY 3, 2011
Neko Case
The Dodos

JULY 10
Afrocubism
Pellejo Seco

JULY 17
The English Beat
My First Earthquake

JULY 24
SF Symphony

JULY 31
SF Ballet
Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director

AUGUST 7
Aaron Neville
Quinn Deveaux and the Blue Beat Review

AUGUST 14
Javier Limon and Buika
Luisa Maita

AUGUST 21
SF Opera

Visit sterngrove.org for more details.

Sorry for the last minute notice, but those who are already in the Union Square area could still benefit from this tip provided by FuncheapSF. Emporio Rulli Il Caffé, the Italian pastry, cafe, and wine bar located at the Stockton and Post corner of Union Square wants your participation in celebrating Italy's 150th year of unification by singing "Happy Birthday, Italia!" and enjoying some cake.

Included at the bottom of the invite in small type is the note that there will be free Prosecco donated by Lorenzo Scarpone. Even better, Buon Compleanno, Italia!