The sunken treasure found in Lake Merritt by a group of Oakland schoolchildren back in March has found its rightful owner. According to Oakland police, the two sacks of jewelry, coins, medallions and silverware have been identified by an anonymous owner, meaning the kids from St. Paul's Episcopal School in Oakland won't be able to pawn it all off to fund an elaborate middle school production of The Music Man or what have you. more ›

A group of sixth graders from St. Paul's Episcopal School in Oakland experienced a little bit of magic and intrigue during a day of volunteer work yesterday. The students were out cleaning up the shoreline at Lake Merritt Thursday when they discovered two canvas sacks sunken in a few feet of water and laden with antique jewelry, gold and silver chains, watches, foreign coins and other precious metal items. more ›

A small yet jovial splinter group from the Occupy movement emerged in the glacial waters of Lake Merritt over the weekend. Calling themselves Aquapy Lake Merritt, the group built a large raft, armed it with supplies, and anchored in the middle of the small Oakland lake. They raised a pink and black banner declaring themselves and today's Port of Oakland closure. With shocking clarity, participant Colin Dodsworth, 28, explained to Oakland North the reason for the floaty protest, saying, "People have gotten really apathetic and turned off by typical protests...it's important to do creative, exciting things that will get people talking." more ›

A woman on her way home was robbed and sexually assaulted in the Lake Merritt area on Tuesday night. According to reports, police describe the suspect as "a black man in his 20s who is about 5 feet 8 inches tall." No arrests have been made. Anyone with information about the incident should call 510-238-3641. [SF Appeal] more ›

Oakland police are warning women around Lake Merritt about two recent assaults. On Sunday evening, two women were robbed and sexually assaulted "in relatively secluded areas." Both attacks happened within hours of each other. more ›

Yesterday, an Oakland woman called 911 late afternoon and informed the dispatcher that she had just drowned her 16-month-old son in their bathtub at their "nice, well-kept" Lake Merritt.apartment. According to the Chronicle, "when police and paramedics arrived at the family's apartment on the 1100 block of Third Avenue, they found the child dead, Holmgren said. The mother had injuries 'consistent with somebody who possibly tried to hurt themselves.'" Yes, this is depressing as... more ›

What would Batman and Robin think? With its chic industrial/gothic design, the new “market hall” style Whole Foods that opened recently near Lake Merritt in Oakland certainly could be used for a set on the next Batman flick. more ›

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Last Saturday, a fight broke out at the "Hyphy High School Bash" at the Marin County Corte Madera Recreation Center. The police raced to the scene upon hearing reports of gunshots and a Golden Gate Transit bus being blocked on Tamalpais Drive by 80 teenagers. They couldn't confirm whether shots had been fired, but someone had sprayed pepper spray into the crowd and around the same time, someone broke into a nearby elementary school. Hilariously, the Marin Independent Journal describes hyphy as "a music and dance expression that grew out of the Bay Area hip-hop scene," and one Corte Madera parent says "It's really ironic. We live in Marin, and I feel safer sending my daughter to San Francisco." Ooooh, not dangerous San Francisco! Hyphy hyphy hyphy hyphy (or, as they call it in Marin, "a music and dance expression"). more ›

--Left in SF asks progressives to play nice in the Migden-Leno race. Hilariously, Chris Daly refuses, twice. more ›

--Love the San Jose public library -- just don't the San Jose public library. more ›

Besides the homicide rate, Oakland residents' quality of life continues to be impaired by wasteful immigrants flocking to the shores of Lake Merritt - the Canada geese, also causing trouble in Richmond, as reported recently by the East Bay Express. The Lake Merritt geese population produces an estimated ton of fecal matter a day. The geese have also been sighted exhibiting aggressive pedestrian behavior not unlike that of Oakland's human residents, known for holding up vehicular traffic by slowly crossing major thoroughfares in the middle of the street. more ›

The cops have arrested a man wanted for slipping Rohypnol into a woman's drink at a bar located on the 200 block of Castro Street in Mountain View. The woman, who had drunk an unattended drink at the bar, came to as she was being assaulted by a "chubby" white man in his 20s in the backseat of a car. The man was arrested without incident at a San Jose Sharks game. You know how when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail? Yesterday, the SFPD blew up yet another "supicious package" they thought was a bomb. The streets around Post and Taylor were blocked off for about two hours as the package was blown up. The cops are still investigating whether it was a real bomb or not. And the Lake Merritt Bakery and Restaurant in Oakland will be closed as its owners recover from a two-alarm blaze Thursday morning. The fire started on the roof, and they think it might have been electrical. The owners are going to repair the place, and then they're hoping to open 24 hours a day. (We're always in favor of more 24 hour places in the area!) The owners hope that the remaining roof rafters will be strong enough to hold up its iconic red MERRITT sign. more ›

? No joke, it's happening. Remember when we passed Proposition DD, a $198 million dollar bond measure for our parks? Guess we shoulda read the fine print, because part of what we approved is a "Master Plan" for Lake Merritt which calls for the removal of nearly 300 trees, as the Oakland Tribune reported this past Sunday. (The online version of the article appears truncated at this time--nice job, Trib.) more ›

Here at SFist, we like to highlight local bloggers who are at the top of their game. But sometimes we also like to use this column to show our support to kids who are new to the neighborhood. So even though this guy has only written one post (though it has gotten 46 comments so far), we want to encourage him to keep cranking away at his site. more ›

Your intrepid junkie takes the lower deck of the Emperor Norton to report on some news from the Oakland City Council: city councilman Danny Wan, who represents Oakland's District 3 (Grand Lake and Chinatown), has announced his resignation from the council, stating that he couldn't afford to stay on as a city councilmember and also support his aging parents. Wan was one of three Asian-Americans council members, and the only member who was openly gay (out of 8). Wan emigrated from Taiwan at an early age (we can't find any biographical information about him online), attended Cal and UCLA Law School, and was first appointed to the City Council in 2000. He then was elected in 2002 to a four-year position. His legislative highlights include sponsoring a bond to restore Lake Merritt, passing laws requiring city publications to be printed in languages other than English, and his efforts to have Oakland recognize same-sex marriage licenses from SF (which was stymied only when the Supreme Court found them unconstitutional). We're sad to see him go (and feel slightly shamed by his Asian street cred on the elder respect thing). more ›