In part of a "long-running campaign to clear his son's name ", Frank Lindh, father of noted Taliban supporter John Walker Lindh, spoke to law students at University of San Francisco on Wednesday. According to Frank, his son, now 30, "spends his days studying ancient Islamic texts and is earning a liberal arts degree at Indiana University." more ›

The musical Guy and Dolls is famous for more than just getting Marlon Brando to croon on camera. The Frank Loesser show is known as one of those musical that changed the genre when it first hit the floorboards back in 1950. Why? Well, because in this oft-lauded show about small-time gamblers and sin, each line meant something. It's not merely about chicks and geese and ducks that had better scurry (i.e., Oklahoma). Take, for example, "Adelaide's Lament", considered by arty-farty critics as "a perfect comic song." Simply put, it's one of the show's best songs -- one of the best in musical comedy, one could argue -- and sung through a psychosomatic cold, each line stuffed with delirious punchlines. more ›

Never thought you'd see a placard that read "The road to hell is paved with liberals" in Marin County? Well think again. more ›

In the middle of a conversation about roaring fires and Muir Woods' Pelican Inn with San Francisco scribe/on-air talent Beth Spotswood, she informed us that Mill Valley is "blasting the emergency sirens." (Mill Valley, by the way, performs their weekly emergency alarm test on Saturdays.) more ›

In what could be the fist bump heard around the world, majors bros Tyler Florence and Sammy Hagar have plans to open a restaurant in Marin. Dude. According to Eater, the Food Network star and former Van Halen front man will take over Mill Valley's El Paseo, which will "reopen in mid-December with an entirely new menu, new outdoor seating for that idyllic North Bay weather, artisanal hard ciders ... whitewashed brick and hardwood floors." Ty-FLo goes on to say the place will be similar "to Chez Panisse, but American rootsy, rustic." (via Eater) more ›

A Mill Valley woman has been banned from crap designer Abercrombie & Fitch's Corte Madera store after she urinated in the retail shop. It seems the rich bitch in question asked store employees if she could use the bathroom. They refused. So, after throwing a tizzy, said lady (and we use that term loosely) stole a "a 5-gallon pail from a display and adjourned to a changing room," dumped $300 worth of clothing (and we use that term loosely) into the bucket, and created a makeshift toilet of her very own. The woman -- described as tall, white, thin, blond and in her 40s -- returned to the story the following day, claiming ignorance of going No. 1. The store, however, refused to press charges. Ah, the secret underbelly of the North Bay. It is warm and sweet. more ›

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Cosco Busan Update: more ›

A body turned up on Mount Tamalpais this Sunday afternoon, and authorities (as well as your favorite rabid media outlets) are wondering: is this the body of distraught Mill Valley resident and IRS investigator, 25-year-old Veronica Ruiz? more ›

-- Crime in Choir: CIC rocks it. Hard. For reals. Big time. One of the purest sounds coming out of SF these days, really. Brave the chill and head down to Potrero Hill to check them out. You won't regret it. Pink Mountain and Science of Yarba open at this anniversary party for Frenetic Records. The music starts at 10 p.m. at Bottom of the Hill; $10. more ›

The search for Mill Valley resident, 25-year-old Veronica Ruiz, was called off today by police. She had been reported missing since Monday night after she reportedly went on a hike in the Mount Tamalpais area. Over 100 police and civilians had been looking for her since Tuesday morning. That is, until the hunt for her was called off today. Described as "despondent" since a recent break-up, according to NBC 11, Ruiz is "of Asian... more ›

By day he's an Alight Electric employee. By night? A Ford F-350 Super Duty hero. It seems that last night on the Golden Gate Bridge, John Beatty of Mill Valley saved the day, so to speak, after noticing a woman unconscious in her Jeep, moving into oncoming traffic. At around 6:50 p.m., Sylvia Durrance, 62, came to a stop while driving southbound in the No. 2 lane. She appeared lifeless, her body slumped over... more ›

Wild turkeys are taking over Marin County. more ›

After yesterday's fog-induced Cosco Busan/Bay Bridge crash -- resulting in 58,000 gallons of fuel and 8,000 gallons of "heavy-duty bunker fuel oil" spilling into the Bay -- Baker Beach, Crissy Field, China Beach, Kirby Cove, and Fort Point beaches (or "beaches" to some of you purists out there) have been closed. Large blobby slicks as big as 50 yards long and 20 yards wide have been spotted off Tiburon and near Mill Valley's Bayfront... more ›

-- They're not mad at you, they're mad at the dirt: unkempt offices at the Chronicle and elsewhere. [SFBG] more ›

-- John officially wants SF throne. So does Josh. [Laughing Squid, JW] more ›

Your Black Muslim Bakery update: the business is being liquidated in an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding (they have almost $1 million in debt) after a number of unnamed potential buyers dropped out, and the 19-year-old arrested for shooting journalist Chauncey Bailey now says (video clip) he was beaten and coerced into a false confession to the murder. The Oakland PD homicide officer assigned to the case says that's false and they have a taped confession where alleged shooter Devaundre Broussard calmly and openly discussing the facts of the case. Meanwhile, Rep. Barbara Lee is now saying she regrets having supported Your Black Muslim Bakery in the past. more ›

As promised, the San Francisco Mime Troupe performed in Dolores Park for the public last Wednesday and last weekend. It was the premier of the group's show "Making a Killing," which lampoons the current administration. We dropped by the Sunday performance; the photo above is during a charming ditty where "Condi Rice" and "Dick Cheney" were arguing over who was more popular. 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.

San Francisco has a hot theater scene, but that doesn't mean the rest of the Bay Area doesn't sizzle as well. more ›

A 26 year old man in Mill Valley called in a bomb threat to Walgreens because he was upset about how long his prescription was taking. Unfortunately, the person who answered the phone recognized his voice and called the cops -- but not before the Walgreens was evacuated and thoroughly inspected by a police dog. That can't have sped matters along with the caller's prescription. more ›

, opening on Friday at the Embarcadero Center (and at the Sequoia in Mill Valley). more ›

Because Spike & Mike don't hold the monopoly on sick and twisted. more ›

Boom! The San Jose federal building was evacuated for three hours yesterday afternoon after a federal employee found a suspicious-looking backpack-like object outside the building near South First Street with a note on it that said "boom." The bomb squad detonated the bag, which contained a metal box that made a loud crack (audio of the crack! Go Merc News!) heard through downtown. more ›

These aren't your garden-variety "my first sexual experience" or "the day I came out to my parents" solo shows. more ›

OK mountain bikers, it's raining this weekend, and that means most of the trails out there are muck. Yeah, sure, some trails like the Bobcat and Miwok trails in the Marin Headlands , the Mitchell Canyon and Deer Flat roads on Mt. Diablo, and the North Peak Access Road up Montara Mountain are probably still rideable, but beyond that, the trails are just too fragile for responsible riding right now. more ›

San Francisco seems a little darker this week, with the passing of former Chronicle photo editor Bob McLeod this Monday. more ›

To update you on where we're at on the two biggest crime stories in town: the Chron fronts a frightening photo montage of the teenager who allegedly killed Pamela Vitale (check it out on the newsstands -- yikes!!), and acquaintances say he kind of began a downward spiral after his older sister was killed in a car crash. And Lashaun/Lashuan Harris (spellings vary), the woman who threw her kids off Pier 7, reportedly told her cousin that she was going to feed her children to the sharks and left the house. The cousin tried to stop her but couldn't. Harris had apparently been saying this for some time, and other family members thought she would never do anything to hurt her children. Her family had been trying to get custody of the children, but had been denied. The VIllage People cop who got busted for crack failed to show up for his arraignment in Daly City, and a warrant's been issued. Hey, have you checked out the YMCA? And third graders in Mill Valley are happy again, after their classroom pet turtle, Myrtle, was anonymously returned after disappearing a few days ago. The principal isn't talking, but they think the turtle was returned by the turtlenapper's parents. The children are philosophical about not learning the identity of the thief, saying the teacher had "made a deal," which made sense because if they knew who did it, "a lot of people would be mad at him or her." The children then went back to encouraging Myrtle to eat the snails in her terrarium. "Go for the snail! Go for the snail!" more ›

Aw, come on -- Greg was a U.S. attorney! The man who confessed to killing his 5-month-pregnant girlfriend and their two daughters, and then set their house on fire pled not guilty to all charges. He had previously been convicted of domestic violence against the same woman in 2002, and completed (but did poorly) in an anger-management type class. When the police arrived at the scene, they found the man watching the fire, smoking a cigarette. What is it with people torturing bunnies? The House Rabbit Society in Mill Valley is now looking after a pet rabbit named (ironically enough) Phoenix that was set on fire in Vallejo. The humane society has contacted the juvenile they believe did it. In more positive news, a woman in Oakland with her 4-year-old twins in her car successfully fought off a carjacker yesterday morning. The man jumped in her car as she was strapping her twins into their car seats and tried to make off with the car. The woman managed to pull the key from the ignition, hit the panic button in the car, and in the struggle for the steering wheel, steered the car up on a traffic island, all while shrieking at the top of her lungs for help. The carjacker then grabbed her purse and ran out of the car. She and the boys are fine, but a little shaken. Cops called her actions "heroic." more ›

On a hot tip, SFist has learned that Bay Area rock legend Les Claypool (of Primus fame) will be presenting his new project, "Electric Apricot," for what we think is the first time ever at Mill Valley's Sweetwater Saloon tonight. Word on the street is that Les won't be playing bass, but drums! Tickets are $12, and the show starts at 8:30 with opening set by Gaby La La. more ›