Good news! The FTA says that building a Central Subway would be a great idea. The FTA, whose local website hasn't been updated in about a year, evaluated project justification, mobilitiy improvements, and land use; and they gave the project a "medium-high" to "high" rating in those categories. They're also supposed to rate alternatives analysis and local financial commitment, but those criteria aren't mentioned in Muni's chipper press release. Once category that doesn't appear......

Want to hear and participate in a thought-provoking discussion about planning regional transportation? Tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. you can head on down to SPUR's (a.k.a. the San Francisco Planning + Research Association) office at 312 Sutter St. (@ Grant), 5th floor. While open to the public, it will cost you $5 if you're not a member (membership details can be found here). The discussion will involve regional social justice, transit, walking, and bicycling advocates, and is coordinated by the Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC), in an effort to influence the next Regional Transportation Plan....

--Local photog Thomas Hawk gets assaulted for taking pictures -- again. [Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection, via the SFist tips line. update: From last year! Sorry! Keep those tips fresh, folks!] --C.W. Nevius didn't start the fire. [The Chron.] --Republicans busted by SF State for stomping on Muslim flags with the word "Allah" written on them are now suing. Oh, that's rich. [CBS 5.] --You thought Ed Jew Borderline was awesome? If that was Madonna,......

A hearing was held with the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Economic Development Committee yesterday to discuss the whole Healthy Saturday's issue. On one side, biker enthusiasts and anti-carites. On the other side: advocates for the disabled and various friends of DeDe (FODs). At the end of the debate, Supervisor, main sponsor, and recall victim Jake McG, decided to postpone the vote until next week. The reason for a delay in the decision was because Gavin wanted to hold a sit-down with people on both sides to hammer out some sort of compromise. ...

We know that by its nature, this topic will invite enthusiastic commenting. Please behave yourselves, remember our commenting policy, and for crying out loud, don't act stupid. In two weeks, Healthy Saturday comes on a Monday! April 9, City Hall, 1pm: those party animals on the Land Use and Economic Development Committee will be throwing a sure-to-be-fun public hearing about a six-month study on opening up more of Golden Gate Park to pedestrians on the......

It's all about sex and land use around here in San Francisco, as kink.com (probably NSFW) moves into the Mission Armory and gets the official not-very-welcome wagon greeting from fifty community members yesterday, who braved the rain to protest the online porn industry. Much to the protestors' chagrin, though, it turns out kink.com has already moved in and started filming, and they didn't need to get permission from anyone to do so. The Armory's got......

Last week's winner, the San Jose Metro. Gary Singh infiltrates a ladies' drinking circle, while Chuck Reed goes drinking with the Merc News. Do note, Gavin Newsom, that Reed only drank two bottled waters the entire night. Cover article: Making Redwood City fun again (land use edition). Italian food in Los Gatos. Lemon trees in winter. Women chanters. A review of the Justin Timberlake show. And the Straight Dope: are the magnetic poles going to......

There's something vaguely weird in reviewing a movie that came out in 1936 (Who is this young rising star Clark Gable? He's going to go far!), but we had a great time at the kickoff screening for the Balboa Theater's ever-popular Reel SF series, where the theater presents classic movies set in San Francisco. San Francisco is the famous disaster movie about the 1906 earthquake, and tells the story of a local hothead (Clark Gable) running for the Board of Supervisors. (Really! We're not making that up! Our favorite part of the movie, next to the earthquake, was the excellent election rally they held in what would have been District 3 if they'd had district elections back in 1906, where the candidate gives a boring speech about land use, announces, "free beer for everyone!", and then gets in a fight. We see a remake for District 6 with Chris Daly in the lead!) The hothead's in love with a showgirl (Jeannette MacDonald), who sings that famous "San Francisco/Open your Golden Gate" song they use now to kick off screenings at the Castro, over and over and over. Spencer Tracy is in the movie too, playing a priest. The Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) screenplay translates remarkably well into the modern day (what? Conflict between downtown corporate interests and the supervisor looking out for the little guy?) and everyone in the audience had a thoroughly good time. The Balboa is screening San Francisco tonight and tomorrow in tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Big Quake, and the Tuesday the 18th screening will be preceded by vintage fillms (some in 3-D) from 1906, live performances, and a "special surprise guest." Go check out San Francisco's Gone With The Wind yourself, and like us, spend the next day vainly trying to get "San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate" out of your head. San Francisco, showing 12:45, 4:45, 7:00 p.m. tonight Special Tuesday earthquake centennial screening: 7:00 p.m. Balboa Theater 3630 Balboa (between 37th and 38th Avenues)....

SFist Sam was kind enough to take a picture for WRTW for us -- isn't it gorgeous? Thanks, SFist Sam! Last week's winner, the SF Weekly: Tributes to the dearly departed PUNI, including a hilarious letter from the NextBus people that we know SFist MattyMatt will enjoy. New section called "Sucka Free City," with a profile of Killing My Lobster. Where will illegal indoor smokers go now that Sherlock's Haven is closing? Cover: land use......

We're so excited! We've never actually known someone we've written about in the Political Junkie column before! Usual Suspects is reporting that 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goolett Place is abuzzzzzzzz with the word that GavNew's going to appoint Phil Ting to Mabel Teng's former assessor/recorder position. Phil's the current executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, but we actually know Phil because he and your Junkie were in a Mandarin Chinese class together at a jointly-shared institute of higher education! Your Junkie was hung over through a large number of those classes but nonetheless remembers that Phil was always very attentive and had good pronunciation. (Who knew he had all that real estate experience?) Could Newsom be appointing Phil (who we've always thought of as progressive) to try and forestall Sandoval in the November 2006 assessor's election? Is Newsom trying to get Phil out of the way for the District 4 run that Phil was going to make? Is Newsom trying to get Building Inspection Commission Phil out of trouble with the land use crowd? Or is Newsom trying to make sure that Chris Daly doesn't appoint public-power Phil to the PUC board when Newsom goes on vacation? So many things to think about! Especially since everyone else in our Chinese class just went to medical school or something. If the rumors are true -- congratulations, Phil! We can't think of a nicer person to sign San Franciscans' marriage licenses. ...

Ah, yes, the City of Berkeley. You might have thought back room dealing and hiding documents and meetings from public review was just a San Francisco thing, but Berkeley has its share of underhanded dealings, too. Apparently, in a legal settlement over expansion of the UC campus by over 2 million square between the city of Berkeley and the school, an agreement was signed that tried to prevent both sides from discussing the deal......

...until we become the next Mrs. Gavin Newsom, that is! Last week's winner goes first, and that's the East Bay Express. A cartoon strip illustrating the cartoonist's dreams (flying on a magic carpet with stewardesses). A gadfly in Emeryville. Are teachers prepared to teach Ethnic Studies at Berkeley High? Cover story: the man who may have been framed as the East Bay 580 sniper. Hey -- just 'cause a guy's got a meth lab doesn't mean he also shoots at passing cars! The restaurant reviewer writes up brief reviews of crappy restaurants he went to (complaints: too-sweet vinaigrette, too many kabobs). And a Michael Jackson v. Prince mashup dance party: ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma ma coo sa. And here we are with the Bay Guardian. Look, we're not going to pretty it up for you this week: Great Scott, this is a boring issue. Land use issues over a building that the Chronicle was in – in 1924. Raising PG&E franchise fees. Cover article: Man unjustly fired by the juvie courts for complaining about overtime. Schools need cash. Why is hip-hop not angrier about politics? A genderqueer choreographer. Latino queercore punk. We cannot move this issue into the recycle bin fast enough. The SF Weekly and the pick of the week after the jump. ...

Well, he wasn't wearing a t-shirt to promote his new rap album, but, like Ron Artest, Chris Daly ain't sorry. Well, that's not entirely fair. At yesterday's unprecendented censure motion hearings before the San Francisco Board of Supes, Daly, before the session began, offered a "flat-out, heartfelt" apology to Michaela Alioto-Pier in response to her claims that he had loomed over her (Alioto-Pier is in a wheelchair) and made her feel threatened. However, Daly declined to apologize to the public for telling them where to get off (at the stop marked "F") at the contentious land use committee meeting two weeks ago. ...

We've been dying to use that title for weeks now!) All of you who make that trendy organic soap, sales should be skyrocketing through your thatched roofs with all the mouth-washing-out that's underway in our fair city! First, Heather Hiles, then Chris Daly, then H. Brown, and then Chris Daly again! Oh, our tender ears! In our most recent foray into asterisk-land, remember Daly's performance at the two-unit TIC land use committee meeting last week? Well, the "f*** off" outburst to the members of the public in attendance at the meeting has prompted Michaela Alioto-Pier to propose a censure motion against Daly....

In a special Political Junkie/Housing Bubbles double posting, San Francisco politics and our real estate crunch meet at their usual flash point of tenants' rights groups. With a special appearance by Angry Supervisor Daly! The Land Use Committee of the Board of Supervisors met yesterday, to discuss whether the city should put caps on the number of owner-occupied two-unit buildings that can be converted from tenancies in common to condos. Chris Daly says no, claiming......