Justin Beck is live at City Hall covering today's SEIU occupation. So far there are an estimated hundred or so protesters inside, one brandishing a bullhorn to shout and chant stuff. Supervisors Eric Mar and David Campos have shouted into the bullhorn. Others might too. Cops are at the scene and reportedly "concerned about the noise level." It's all very exciting. (Not season finale of RuPaul's Drag Race exciting, but thrilling nevertheless.) Anyway, we'll keep an eye on the scene. If you'd like to watch it live, visit Justin Beck's UStream or view it below. more ›

Of the 2,100 Muni drivers currently employed by the SF MTA, some 900 or so are unavailable for work on any given day due to sick leave, long-term leave, or days off. The Examiner reports that only 58% of workers, about 1,225, are available most days to cover the 1,300+ runs, and that Muni is ending a year-long hiring freeze and is about to take on 120 new drivers in the next six months. But would Muni need to make so many new hires if their workforce were better managed (and healthier)? With 345 people out sick each day, something might be up there -- though Muni recently instituted a policy requiring a doctor's note in order to take a sick day, which is probably an indicator that people have been abusing the sick leave thing for a while. more ›

OK. Here we go. Jennifer Siebel Newsom is in labor. Gavin Newsom, via Twitter, says: more ›

23rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Labor and Community Breakfast this morning at the San Francisco Hilton more ›

A photo of the FiDi at night with holiday lighting more ›

Chenery House owner, colorful San Francisco ad man, and entrepreneur Bob Pritikin bought Hitler's globe this week for a cool $100,000. The globe, snatched fom Hitler's desk in the ruins of his Eagle's Nest retreat, was found by WWII U.S. soldier John Barsamian and put up for auction this week in San Francisco. Now, before you go labeling Pritiklin an anti-Semite, this man is character -- a true collector and unique hoarder. His home... more ›

From your SFist editor's district supervisor's blog: A day before the polls open, local reporters already started writing their Election winners and losers stories. While I won’t make any big predictions, I am confident in calling this season the biggest win for me… Saturday morning at 5:51, Grace Eolen blessed us with her arrival. Sarah had a brief but exciting labor and mother, baby, and proud big brother are doing great. Oh wow, she's... more ›

Oh is it a voting day or something? It totally sneaked up on us! It still feels like Monday today. Actually it also feels like October. Anyway, you should probably vote yes on A and no on H, because that's what everyone else is doing. Prop A will protect The Mt Soledad National War Memorial and do something to the air force? and will transform some colleges. Also, Aristotle endorsed it it. more ›

No, no -- not these freshly-scrubbed little blessings
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Aw. This kind of sucks. School teacher Margaret Pavese got slapped with a misdemeanor charge for causing the 47+-acre Lick fire that erupted on Labor Day Weekend. more ›

One day we're planning a going-away party there, and then -- ta-da! -- it's gone. Wired workers' favorite watering hole and one of the last dive's around the Eastern SOMA area, the Eagle Drift-In Lounge was a good place for cheap booze, comfy booth seating, playing a game of darts, or to catch our favorite pregnant smoking bartender making a drink, waiting for that call from CPS. more ›

Labor Day may mark the end of summer for most, but for TV fans, it's the beginning of the Fall TV season that really signals the end of summer and its often crappy TV offerings. Instead, we've got the return of OLD crappy shows and new (possibly) crappy shows to look forward to. Like tonight, when Fox jumps the gun on all the other networks with its Fall season premieres of "Prison Break" and "K-Ville." more ›

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and several smiles as well as lots of cash were raised by some plucky urban ironing. London is apparently full of lies and whales: one of these things is true. We leave that up to you to figure out. more ›

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...And that's not even the curviest part! A car chase that started in Marin County around 3:00 a.m. Monday morning ended abruptly when the driver, speeding at around 75 mph over the Golden Gate Bridge, overshot the turn from Doyle Drive onto Lombard Street and flipped over. A open fifth of Hennessey was found in the car, and the passengers are in SF General with non-fatal injuries. more ›

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. more ›

Since our trimethyldioxypurist is on the road for Labor Day, we're stepping in on the caffeine beat to pass along some sad news: Peet's Coffee founder Alfred Peet died earlier this week (Wednesday) in Oregon. more ›

We had a good time going through the recipes and eating stories in Street Food, the new book by wunderkind Tom Kine - that is, when we got over the insane jealousy. He got a book contract to travel for three months and eat all he could! How do we get something like that? We're excited to try his takes on bolani (Afghan flat bread) and Kadu (roast pumpkin paste), which he got from Bilal, who runs a stall at the Kaiser Farmer's Market in Oakland. Kine even includes party ideas at the end...fun! more ›

Last week's winner, the Bay Guardian. We should totally put needle disposal boxes in Golden Gate Park. Also, C.W. Nevius says that Newsom called him and yelled at him for 45 minutes after he wrote his first article on the issue. We'd put that call on mute. Gentrification is destroying Polk Street. City contractors still use sweatshop labor. Annalee Newitz has mice. Sonic Reducer's still at the Guardian. Cover article: Local bands to watch. You've got your whisky swillers, your barefoot folksters, your hip-hoppers, and some fey whimsy. And read Marke B's column and show him not everyone's away for Burning Man! more ›

You know how the Bay Bridge is going to be closed on this Labor Day weekend? And how that means there'll be fewer car-trips into San Francisco? A reasonable person might assume that that'll mean an increased demand for public transit -- but Muni's response to that is, "reasonable people? What on Earth are those?" more ›

A warm spell is rolling into the Bay Area -- so it's time for our perennial post complaining about how much we haaaaaaate it when it's hot. Bring back the fog! Bring back the fog! more ›

-- Paranoia, feeding faux stories, and NYT's Laura Albert (AKA Miss Leroy) article. Depressing is right, Rita. [CultureBlog] more ›

Well, first the MediaNews conglomerate moves the Oakland Tribune from its iconic downtown Oakland tower (at left) and then they take away recognition of the Tribune's Newspaper Guild labor union. more ›

-- Michelangelo Antonioni dies; Mick LaSalle suspects Eric Rohmer will fade to black next. [Chron blogs] more ›

Wow, sorry all the news we're posting today is such a downer, but San Jose is reeling from the news of the brutal sexual assault and murder of Sany San, a recent Cambodian immigrant who had survived the Khmer Rouge. more ›

An Alameda County judge has ordered Waste Management to start picking up the garbage again. more ›

When he's not busy getting impeached or whatever for indecent exposure, Aaron Peskin's trying to fix Muni. And SPUR, the urban-planny folks, are grateful: they're encouraging everyone to give Aaron's amendments a thumbs-up. You can read it in loathsome .doc format here, or as a Google Document here -- but honestly, you don't want to read either, since it's about a billion pages long. more ›

Just some random news items on the wire: more ›

Who ya got? The cowboy or the samurai? That's the question posed by the Asian-American Theater Company's Cowboy v. Samurai, a story about two Asian-American cowboys in Montana who fall in love with the same Korean-American new girl in town. Our Gothamist cousins liked it when it played in New York. 2 p.m. at the Thick House (1695 18th Street, x Arkansas), $20. more ›