An unhinged 15-year-old attempted to break in to the home of an elderly woman while brandishing a terrifying gardening tool in Half Moon Bay yesterday evening. The kid, who was apparently from two towns North in Moss Beach, broke out basement windows before banging on the front door and reportedly making some threatening motions with a pitchfork. more ›

Although shooting appears to have wrapped on the upcoming surf-flick Of Men and Mavericks, Scotsman-turned-Californian-Surfer-Dude Gerard Butler is sticking around Half Moon Bay. Butler, who nearly drowned and then checked himself in to rehab for abusing painkillers, seems to have found a new addiction near the legendary surf spot: the seafood sampler from Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. more ›

A "star" of the local theater scene in Half Moon Bay who had supposedly given up a life of crime after a previous string of bank robberies in the 80s, suddenly returned to his bank-robbing ways and on Friday a judge sentenced him to 105 years to life under California's three-strikes law. John Alexander, 58, once robbed a doughnut shop in 1979 (he was armed, and caught) and in 1986 he robbed a series of 15 banks without the use of a weapon. This time, after a decade out of prison and living a quiet life, running a handyman business and acting and building sets for the community theater in Half Moon Bay, Alexander had some kind of personality breakdown, possibly induced by drug use, in which he robbed at least 10 banks in multiple counties. more ›

Tenderloin / Baseball Bat Assault: A 72-year-old man was attacked by a man in his 20s with a baseball bat around 1:25 a.m. this morning for no apparent reason. The attacker stole nothing from the victim, who was standing on the corner of Ellis and Taylor, and fled on foot. [Examiner] more ›

While Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a speech to Congress on Tuesday about democracy (which: chortle), a member of the leftist anti-war group Codepink was arrested after causing a ruckus. Half Moon Bay resident Rae Abileah interrupted the Israeli Prime Minister with a banner that read “Occupying Land Is Indefensible” and shouting, “No more occupation, stop Israel war crimes, equal rights for Palestinians, occupation is indefensible.” Actually, you can barely hear her, as Joe Garofoli points out. You can sort of hear a muffled "Stop Israeli war crimes, but only if you turn the volume up high. See for yourself more ›

Yearning to leave the city this weekend, but not stray too far from San Francisco? Want to get buzzed on some top-drawer champagne and grub? Have a rich aunt or uncle in town? Well, we've got just the thing for you: the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, along with Moet & Chandon champagne, will celebrate the resort's 10-year anniversary with a celebratory brunch (named Best Weekend Brunch buy San Francisco Magazine) on Sunday. more ›

"Miniature Pumpkins" spotted in Half Moon Bay by Troy Holden. more ›

On Monday, "hundreds of spectators' gathered in Half Moon Bay to judge the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, the annual precursor to Art & Pumpkin Festival happening on Saturday and Sunday. more ›

Holy Great Pumpkin, folks! That there on the left is one large gourd, eh? So much so, in fact, that it was awarded first prize at the annual Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival. On Saturday, Don Young of Des Moines, Iowa, beat around 80 or so contenders with the 1,658-pound, 5-feet-4 tall monstrosity above. more ›

Photos of wipeouts only fron the Maverick's Surf Contest more ›

There was no sign of Mark "Cutback" Davis or Bob "Jungle Death" Gerard in the waves off Pillar Point on Saturday, but 24 of the world's ballsiest surfers were there to test their mettle against the huge, angry swell that is the Mavericks break. When the foam cleared and the judges scorecards were tallied, it was 24-year-old Greg Long from San Clemente, SoCal that ended up taking home the title of Mavericks Big Wave champion for 2008.

Twenty-four of the world's most bitchin-ass surfers are on their way to Half Moon bay for a dangerous showdown at this year's 2008 Mavericks Surf Contest. Shore stars like Shawn Rhodes, Greg Long (San Clemente FTW), Brock Little, Randy Cone, Santa Cruz's Tyler Smith, and more will take part in tomorrow's dangerous and exhilarating surf contest. The cold waters of Half Moon Bay combined with the Pacific storm winter weather make some of "the most dangerous waves in the world." This battle of the sea is not to be missed. Dude. more ›

Huge Chunk of the Bay Bridge sitting on a beach in Half Moon Bay more ›

Huge waves hit Ocean Beach. more ›

The sands of Marin and San Mateo have officially reopened to the public. (We recommend hitting the beach in the fall. There's something luxurious about walking on the beach, bundled up in winter clothing.) What's more, 50 wild birds have been cleaned up and released at Pillar Point Yacht Harbor at Half Moon Bay. But what's worse, "the spill has cost the U.S. government $1.4 million, money spent on operations by the Coast Guard,... more ›

Oil Spill Volunteer Training 2nite. more ›

-- March, rally, die. [Bluoz, SFGate] more ›

-- 756. [SFist for links] more ›

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So, according to the LA Times, Barack Obama spent his early college years smoking dope, listening to new wave music, and taking classes in Marxist theory and gender issues. In other words, can we vote for him yet? Just the thought that he could be the first President to have ever squatted down at the "down...down...down..." part of "Rock Lobster" makes us want to vote for him. We still, however, await the first presidential candidate who could quote from Snoop and Dre. more ›

For the past few seasons, the Warriors primary marketing slogan has been, "A Great Time Out". Brimming with hope after Tuesday's trade, SFist decided to catch a game at the O-rena to find out for ourselves.

Since the Merc's Tim Kawakami couldn't make it, we figured we'd step in for Saturday's game against the Cavaliers. This team now has new hope, and SFist was eager to see if there was a new buzz to go with it.

Our audit considered 11 different categories: parking, Oraclelization, concessions, personnel, entertainment, the crowd, new players, visuals/lighting, the seats, music/sound, and the game itself. Each category was ranked from 1 to 10, with 10 being Pac Bell/SBC/ATT park and 1 being, well, Candlestick.

Josh Wolf's Ninth Circuit appeal is officially dead, and it looks like he's stuck in jail for the next 18 months -- unless he wants to turn over his video footage. And in other grand jury contempt of court news, an animal rights activist is scheduled to stay silent before the federal grand jury today, and the LA Times laments the fate of Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada. more ›

The 36th annual Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival kicked off Saturday morning to much fanfare and a crapload of pumpkins and pumpkin paraphenalia. Several blocks of the fog-shrouded farming community-cum-tourist giftshop's Main Street were closed to cars and packed with vendor booths and festival-goers.

-Three fires raged in Rockridge last night and police think it's all due to arson. What the hell is going on in Oakland these days? -Former HP head honcho, CEO Carly Fiorina, can't understand why she was fired and replaced by a bunch of people who just got indicted. We would imagine that would kind of hurt, but we're also pretty sure all the millions she got as a buy out would probably ease some of that pain. more ›

--Zephyr Realty's not going to sell TICs where protected people (seniors, disabled) were Ellis Acted out anymore. more ›

Sweet Sally Jesus, it's twue! it's twue! Devil's Slide is once again open to through traffic. And they said it couldn't be done.

By 4:30 a.m. when we rolled the SFist news Bronco up to the Montara entrance of the slide hoping to be one of the first to pass through the reopened roadway, all the gates were down and the road crews already gone. Only two CHPs, a KRON car, and a photographer from the Half Moon Bay Review gave evidence to the fact that this morning was special. (In fact, Caltrans opened the Slide to the public last night at about 10:00 p.m. Let-down.) All the glam and glitz happened yesterday, in a secret ceremony, for the priveleged, behind barricades, far away from the unwashed masses. They probably needed the extra elbow room for all that back patting they were doing.

Here's a riddle. You invite a fisherman, his lobbyist, and his sales channel, ie. a fishmonger and a restaurateur, and what do you get? Not an all knives out fight, for sure. More like hugs and kisses, and lots and lots of fish knowledge. The congregation of the above-mentioned people was assembled to discuss sustainable seafood at the invite of the Slow Food convivium of the Russian River. From the Latin: con (with, together), and vivium (to live), that's much warmer than "chapter" or "group." It's all a big family. Maybe they all came down from West Sonoma in the same minivan. more ›

The Russian River Slow Food movement comes down to San Francisco this Sunday for a Sustainable Seafood Salon, that is a panel discussion on the issues of sustainability in fishing in the Northern California coast. You guys remember we narrowly escaped having no local wild salmon on our plates this year, and it is only one example of fishing going awry. more ›

Aw, you know we love a good cliff rescue story. A man walking too close to the edge of the cliff in Half Moon Bay was successfully pulled up about 80 feet on Thursday afternoon. Did you hear a loud bang right after the spelling bee ended last night (around 10:20 p.m.) in the Mission? There was a major water main break at 20th and Valencia. Expect hipsters to look a bit scruffier tomorrow! And dude, don't block the box! A truck didn't manage to pull all the way through the railroad tracks by the Oakland Coliseum and got hit by an oncoming train. The driver got his rear wheels over the tracks but the back 10-15 feet were still over the tracks; he honked his horn but the person in front of him couldn't move up any further. The driver was uninjured but the empty truck trailer didn't come out looking so good. Railway officials repeat their warnings that if it doesn't look like you have enough room to clear the tracks, don't cross 'em. more ›

The SF Zoo is mourning the death of Pogo, one of the oldest gorillas at the zoo, who had been suffering declining health over the past few years. Pogo seems to have been subjected to a fair amount of anthropomorphism, in the way that only happens with loved animals -- she liked to read National Geographic (but the zookeepers didn't show her nature videos, because they thought they were too violent), loved to dress up, and they called her a "woman's libber" for her assertive nature. Pogo never bred ("she doesn't like boy gorillas"), but loved babies, and was found in her cage Wednesday morning, clutching a baby doll. In Hakuna Matata news, though, while there was another mysterious death at the zoo over the weekend (of a black swan), two baby giraffes were born. The circle of life! more ›