Oh man, are you kidding? This is terrible. Not to get all tugging-the-heart strings today, but this spill is much worse than initially reported yesterday. This oil covered bird above was found at Fort Baker cove in Sausalito today. It seems that the Marin Headlands are getting crazy sloshed with oil on their shores. (The aerial shots of the spill on SFGate are jaw-dropping.) A Golden Gate National Recreation Area ranger claims that the......

We stuck it in Day Around The Bay already, but thought we would let you hash it out here in its own pad, readers. It seems that, according to the preciousness that is Dan Noyes, "the Silent Drill Platoon of the U.S. Marine Corps wasn't allowed to be filmed Sept. 11 on California Street in San Francisco for a segment of its new advertising campaign." Stefanie Coyote, executive director of the San Francisco Film......

Sounds like a cosmo-swillin' kind of event: entertaining local female writers like Beth Lisick and Kim Wong Keltner (among others) are reading from a collection of essays entitled The Bigger The Better The Tighter The Sweater, about the hilarity of body image issues. Also: gift baskets and free eyebrow waxing! The event's sponsored by Green Apple, so the reading's at the Rockit Room, one block down the street (406 Clement, x 6th). 7 p.m., free.......

Ah..it's President's Day. We don't know about you, but we love the annual President's Day parade down Market Street. Our favorites have always been the Taft Fat Mobile, the dance troop "the FDRettes," and the William Henry Harrison Tippecanoe Jazz Band. -Barack Obama Superstar to be in SF tonight for fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer. -People return home late one night, stumble around, find dead body in house. -NASA holds an Asteroid Preparation Summit......

A few photos of the threatened snowy plover birds of S.F....

Less than an hour north of the City, a lonely wedge of land juts out into the teeth of the Pacific swell. Almost completely separated from the Marin mainland by the grinding force of the San Andreas Fault (SAF), the Point Reyes Peninsula is a focal point for all kinds of natural forces.

Following up on our past posts on problems with Ocean Beach bonfires, SFist reader Owen has this to say (we added the links): The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is considering a total ban on bonfires at Ocean Beach. They spent approximately $90,000 last year cleaning up after beach fires and responding to law enforcement calls relating to them; neighbors and beach visitors have complained about hazardous litter (nails, glass, etc) on the beach,......

The Coast Guard is searching for a 22-year-old UC Santa Barbara student who was last seen on Wednesday morning with a friend, hanging out at the Sutro Baths on Ocean Beach. Shawn Attaie had been out all night drinking with a childhood friend and that morning, they reportedly snuck into a restricted area on the beach, where Attaie fell into the water. The police are still piecing together the story, but they know Attaie must have fallen in some time after 11 a.m., because his friend has a digital photo of Attaie from around that time. After Attaie fell in, the friend apparently tried to get help from other tourists, but the tourists thought he was drunk or lying and pushed him away. At that point, the friend became "uncommunicative," and went home, where his roommates managed to figure out what happened. The friend is on a suicide watch, and Attaie's family say the two men were close and they wouldn't suspect foul play. For some reason, no one notified the Coast Guard or the federal Park Police (who have jurisdiction over Sutro Baths because it's part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area) until late Thursday night -- when Attaie's father called the Coast Guard to request an update on the search and independent searchers called to report finding nothing -- only to find that that was the first they'd heard of it. Apparently everyone thought someone else had called the police. Because it was so late, the Coast Guard and the Park Police couldn't start their search until this morning. They've searched all day but found nothing. They estimate that a person could spend maybe 10 hours in the water maximum. Attaie's family and friends are hoping maybe he got himself out of the water and they just haven't managed to hook up with him yet. ...

Today's Examiner somewhat sensationally announces that "Sunset District neighbors say they are paying the price for out-of-control weekend bonfires at Ocean Beach, complaining that the rowdy parties have spilled out onto local streets and caused dozens of car break-ins and numerous acts of vandalism." Blame for this issue has been placed on the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the branch of the National Park Service responsible for Ocean Beach. As we are a resident......

It's hump day, which means it's time to start planning that trip out of the city this weekend. Last weekend, SFist had a car, so we decided to take a trip across the monument to design and engineering that is the Golden Gate Bridge, destination: Marin Headlands. Traffic was a pain getting up Van Ness to Lombard, but after that it was smooth sailing. If you don't have a car, you can make the trip on a bike, too - the entire round trip was only thirty two miles!...