--What with all the excitement about the arrest warrant for Ed Jew, we didn't get a chance to tell you about how just about 50 miles away, the Santa Clara DA's office had to drop the charges they brought against the now-former mayor of San Jose. (Overzealous.) --GASP!!! The Oakland Zoo's about to get two pandas!!!! --Sex for grades? --John McCain, Bill Richardson, and Barack Obama were in the area today. --Hybrids aren't clogging......

So we've finally recovered from the mayhem that goes along with grabbing up calendars at Pendragon Books on January 1 (our haul -- the Alex Ross Mythology wall calendar, the Anne Taintor 2006 Engagement Calendar and the Black Ball 2006 wall calendar -- cost all of $10, or about 1/4 of what we'd have paid if we hadn't braved the sale. The bruises were worth it!) and are now ready to face the world......

We want a panda! We want a panda! Our cries to Gavin to pick us up one when he was in China went unheeded -- and now we've been stymied again! Oakland City Councilman-at-large Henry Chang has reluctantly admitted that he didn't actually manage to get the Bay Area a panda by Christmas this year, like he'd previously promised. So it turns out Chang isn't anywhere close to raising the $8-10 million he needs to build an adequate panda enclosure for the Oakland Zoo -- apparently corporate sponsors were distracted by the tsunami and Katrina this year, and the Oakland China Wildlife Preservation Foundation's big fundraising dinner at the Oakland Arena didn't net nearly as much money as they thought it would. Chang promises he's still working on it, though. Chang couldn't raise money for a panda bear in the Bay Area? We're the folks who spontaneously raised $24,000 for ducks and $120,000 for a bichon! Maybe part of the problem is that the link on the panda foundation's online donation page is broken. Come on, Henry -- help us help you! There's panda bears at stake here! Excellently-photoshopped picture of Oakland panda from Henry Chang's website. Gratuitous picture of DCist's own Tai Shan (Butterstick) with his mommy from the Weekly Reader. ...

Oakland and SF Zoo elephant news...

Look, Jen, look! Oakland city counsel member Henry Chang announced yesterday that, after six years of wheedling, the Bay Area is officially getting a pair of pandas for the Oakland Zoo. ...

Oakland one step closer to dream of Giant Pandas....

things are getting hella cute at a lot of Bay Area zoos!...