When we first got wind that former San Francisco Mayor / current Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom moved to Marin, our first thought was, "Oh God, which town?" Everything in Marin, you see, hinges upon which town one dwells. Corte Madera is middle class by Marin standards. Tiburon is new money. Mill Valley is for Beth Spotswood. Novato is the black sheep. Sausalito is for glass beach art. San Rafael is where the county jail is. And Strawberry Village is where one can find a Strawberry shake at In-N-Out. So, where does someone as chiseled and powerful as Newsom call home? According to Matier & Ross, Newsom and his clan have moved to the city of Ross. more ›

The real cool heads at Bay City News followed up on yesterday's apocalypse scare about the flock of birds that suddenly turned up dead last weekend outside of Geyserville. It turns out it has nothing to do with the world coming to an end. more ›

The latest incident in a recent series of mass avian deaths has landed right in our backyard in the North Bay. According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, more than 100 birds were found dead just South of Geyserville along Highway 101 on Saturday afternoon. Authorities, none of whom sound like ornithologists, say all of the birds appeared to be the same species - small with brown and black feathers - and that most of the bodies found on and around the roadway appeared to intact. None of the birds had been shot. more ›

Members of a local Tea Party group the North Bay Patriots have started gathering the necessary tin hat materials after deciding that PG&E's new SmartMeters are "a threat to public health, personal privacy and consumers' budgets." According to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, a gathering of the group in Cotati saw a few radio hosts and conservative bloggers speaking out against the wireless meters which allow the power company to monitor power consumption remotely. Take for instance, radio host and holistic health educator Jeffry Fawcett, who claimed a smart meter "allows PG&E to literally look inside your house." Which: sure the technology allows PG&E to peer in to the tiny part of your house that is a meter keeping track of how much power you've used, but that hardly sounds more intrusive than a technician wandering around your yard looking for your power meter. more ›

Three women, ages 37, 77 and 34, have disappeared since January 10. The locations are "approximately 60 miles apart if you take Highway 1 straight up from Pt. Reyes to Calzadero." Sleuth Beth Spotswood has a theory that this might be the work of a serial killer. Which, of course, we hope isn't the case. more ›

Doing something pretty much all of our friends whose hippie parents did to them back in the day, a Marin couple was arrested for allowing a 13-year-old boy to drive them home in order to avoid another DUI. more ›

The North Bay had a characteristically macabre Monday night. Last night at a little before 8:30 p.m., a woman was walking near Water Street near the Petaluma River when a sketchy man approached her from behind, then robbed and stabbed her in the face. Ouch. According to CBS 5, "[t]he suspect is a heavyset white male adult, about 50 years old and clean-shaven with dark hair. He was wearing a plaid shirt and blue jeans ... Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Petaluma police at 707-778-4372." more ›

The above image -- showing just how large scale Saturday's national Prop 8 protest will look -- is from the flyer used to promote the big event. All of the demonstrations start at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow unless noted otherwise. more ›

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 ›

What a perfect meeting of past, present, and future glories. Former Santana guitarist/now-and-forever Journey member Neal Schon is coming back to the North Bay (where he grew up and leaned how to strum) to help launch the first-ever Gibson Robot Guitar. Just what is the Gibson Robot Guitar, you ask? We have no idea. But let's go to the press release to find out! more ›

Why, we've been so preoccupied with murder right down the street from SFist, we forgot that the rest of the Bay Area is also littered with shootings and bloody tomfoolery. Forgive us, won't you? Ahem: Two employees of Bill's Friendly were shot last night during a botched robbery attempt. One of the store's employees was killed, the other taken to a nearby hospital. (At right: the lone gunman's fierce image.) Another shooting in the... more ›

We always love it when Drew Altizer sends over his latest A-list pictures for us to peruse! Here's a memento of Drew's trip up to the North Bay last week, to San Anselmo to see Robin Wright Penn at the launch of the EcoMom Alliance, about encouraging mothers to take social action. (More pictures from the event here.) more ›

This woman of-a-certain-age sporting a colander as a hat (why not?) came to us from reader Josh. At first we were like, whatever, but it seems he snapped this while taking the bus from Marin down to SF this morning. Well then! We thought that the North Bay was either cult-leader crazy or simply sane. We didn't know public displays of middling insanity were allowed up there. Nice to know that they are. more ›

Here's the recap of the news more ›

That big storm that was supposed to hit yesterday is finally here. Which you could probably guess by the fact it's looking a little crappy out there-- it's grey, slightly cold, windy, and rain drops are falling on our heads. The storm is actually, as of this minute, pounding the North Bay and is about to pound San Francisco. more ›

A turkey flew into the principal's office of Novato High yesterday. The office manager called 911, thinking it was a bomb. The turkey, which was as tall as the office desks, ran around for a bit and then settled down in someone's office. The high school called the local animal control, which came over to release the bird and reported it was uninjured. Turkeys apparently fly into a lot of things in the North Bay, but don't worry -- "Turkeys are not a threat to humans." more ›

Welcome to the first post for Bay Area Wanderer, a new SFist feature in which each week we bring you a quick snapshot story from somewhere in the Bay Area. We'll go somewhere, take a picture, and tell you a tale. Simple. more ›

The Chron's got the wrapup of the results from this year's problem-solving Chronicle Watch reports -- from October 2005-October 2006. We've got a wrap-up of the wrap-up, right here! more ›

This week we go a little mental. more ›

Hey, isn't it a bit early for horror and blood? more ›

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 dude dressed up as Batman shows up at Schwarzenegger fundraisers. more ›

Time when newspapers only meant two things to dogs – either they were laid out flat in the kitchen or rolled up in the palm of someone’s hand. Neither use was particularly attractive. more ›

Tired of squishy socks? You and the rest of the Bay Area -- today's wet weather makes it 25 days of rain in a 30-day month, making March 2006 the rainiest March in San Francisco since the meteorologists started keeping track. The previous wettest SF March was back in 1904, with a mere 23 days of rain. And if SF gets more than half an inch of rain today (looking outside our window, seems pretty likely), we'll also break the record for the most amount of rainfall in March (previous record set in 1983), with over 9 inches of water falling from the sky this month. Oakland has also set a record for March with 21 days of rain this month. Their previous March record was back in 1980, with 20 days of rain. (Wonder why it didn't rain so much in Oakland back in 1904?) And the rain in San Jose today should tie that city's previous March record of 21 days of rain in 1981. No stats were given for Marin, but a mudslide in Sausalito and flood warnings for the North Bay have them on edge too. The rain's predicted to keep coming down for through next week. more ›

We neglect the North Bay sometimes, but it's not for lack of love -- it's just that we're not sure what the heck people DO up there sometimes. Whetever it is, it sounds classy; like the art exhibit at Roshambo Winery in Healdsburg, wherever that is. Todd Barricklow (ceramics) and William Smith (prints and drawings) from the Killing Time Studios will be showing off their work at a reception from 5pm to 8pm this Saturday. more ›

As if a burning truck full of beer wasn't enough, the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transit Comission has just released numbers showing that local commutes are taking 4% longer than before, and ranked the area's top 10 traffic jams. (It's a .pdf, but you're probably used to waiting for things by now!) So here's your top 10: 1) 80 into the city in the mornings; 2) 580 westbound through Livermore in the a.m; 3) 580 going back to Livermore in the afternoon; 4) 80/101 in SF to the bridge in the afternoon; 5) 92 across the San Mateo in the p.m., 6) Highway 4 going west in the afternoon; 7) 101 South from the North Bay to 580 in the morning; 8) 101 N in Marin to 580 in the afternoon, 9) 101 N from 280 into Santa Clara in the morning; and 10) 80 eastbound in the p.m. from Treasure Island into Oakland. We really like how they rank these like the American Top 40 -- 80 west in the morning is number 1 for the FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR! Cracking the top 10 for the first time! The San Mateo Bridge at number 5! 101 in Marin (8)! 101 in Santa Clara (9)! 80 E. past Treasure Island (10)! Bumped from last year's top 10: the Caldecott, 880 N in the afternoon, 101 S from SF to Palo Alto in the afternoon, and 580 in the evening! Sixth-ranked Highway 4 starts backing up by 5:30 a.m.! (Yikes!) On the bright side, everyone says this must be a sign that the economy is picking up. Picture of westbound 80 to the bridge from the Oakland Tribune more ›

First of all -- congrats to the EBX and the Weekly for winning 2005 AltWeekly awards! (The North Bay Bohemian in Sonoma won some awards too.) The EBX won an honorable mention for their article about la Nuestra Familia and Matt Smith came in second in the political column category for three articles about building politics. more ›

Once it's finished later this year, Octavia Boulevard -- that eastern-edge-of-the-Castro strip where once squatted a disused offramp -- will be a sort of lasting, permanent demonstration of SF's long-held disdain for urban interstates, as well as an ecologically friendly memorial to what was once a divisive highway. Meanwhile, The SF Arts Commission, The Black Rock Arts Foundation, and David Best are scurrying to erect a new structure on nearby Hayes Green that in a few months, if all goes according to plan, will leave the city with absolutely no discernable evidence of its ever having existed at all. more ›

of it have fallen on the north bay! Noooooooooooooooo! Quick, buy an umbrella, and if you have time, learn how to use it! Board up the windows! Dig up the canoe! more ›