Although the National Transportation Safety Board has yet to release its report on the causes of last year's crash, today the pilot of the Cosco Busan, John Joseph Cota of Petaluma, was charged in federal court. The feds, it seems, found him in violation of two federal laws when he accidentally steered the container ship into the Bay Bridge on November 9 2007, which then released 53,000 gallons of oil into the bay. According......

No more salmon in Muir Woods? ...

Anonymous souces involved with the federal invstigation disclose information about drugs. ...

Cosco Busan Update: ...

Oh, those crazy hot-tubbing, wife-swapping, Al Qaeda-loving Marin County folk. It seems that now they're scalping their own children in an effort to tidy up the remaining Cosco Busan oil spill disaster. Students from Larkspur's Marin Primary and Middle School have willing lopped off locks of hair from their nubile heads, then donating said hair to Eco-Cuts, "a program designed by Marin Primary to help in the cleanup effort triggered by the Nov. 7......

What a pretty name for a barge, yes? Morning fog, it seems, has temporarily delayed the investigation into yesterday's Richmond-San Rafael Bridge fender bender. Last night, while being guided by tugboats, the Cascade smacked into the east piling of the western span of the bridge. This comes on the heels of the Cosco Busan oil spill, which happened after the container ship rammed into the Oakland Bay Bridge. Read more about yesterday's non-harrowing incident......

In a Spearsian like maneuver, looking to trump both the recent storm and the Dhaliwal brothers, oil spill made a comeback this morning. It seems that a crane fell off of a san Francisco pier a little before 10 a.m. this morning, spilling "an unknown amount" of oil into the Bay. According to the Gate, "[t]he crane was on a sliding rail system at a dry dock at Pier 70 when it suddenly tilted......

S.F. files against the Cosco Busan...

Like the bad ass she is, occasional San Francisco resident and current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has written to the "Homeland Security Department's inspector general requesting an investigation of preparation for and response to last month's oil spill in San Francisco Bay," according to CBS 5. In a wordy missive to Inspector General Skinner, she fired off over a dozen issues she wants taken care of right-quick. A couple of points she needs to......

Just what's up with our least favorite oil spill dilemma, you ask? Let's find out: -- After 29 years of military service, Coast Guard Captain William Uberti will retire after the oil-spill SNAFU is over and done with. According to the Examiner, "Uberti was the region's sector commander when a container ship sideswiped the Bay Bridge in dense fog, dumping 58,000 gallons of thick bunker fuel into the bay." Uberti was soon replaced after......

Photo of a sexy photo shoot in front of a beach closed because of the oil spill...

An update on news about the oil spill ...

-- Should MUNI boss Nate Ford get a raise? Gavin says sure. [N Judah Chronicles] -- Starting the holiday season later to get shoppers in the stores? Genius! [Tim] -- "Joe Alioto-Veronese doesn't belong on the same stage as Leno or Migden." Heh. [SFBG] -- Your Street on YourStreet. [The Snitch] -- And finally, a (used?) condom on a MUNI seat. [What I'm Seeing] -- Oakland Tribune editor succumbs to cancer. [Oakland Tribune] --......

Phillyist prepared to party by doing the hustle, lighting the lights, shopping up a storm, and... visiting Khrushchev? LAist continues to cover the Hollywood Writers Strike with visiting guest "strikers" such as KT Tunstall and Presidential candidate John Edwards. To celebrate Veteran's Day, they visited a Civil War reenactment and to celebrate Geography Week, they asked all the Los Angeles City Councilmembers about the districts they represent finding that LA's 180+ official neighborhoods are......

-- Bonds' final, fatal backlash continues. (I wonder how he spent his day today? Ugh.) [SFGate, SF Examiner, FCJ , SFBG, The Snitch]...

The sands of Marin and San Mateo have officially reopened to the public. (We recommend hitting the beach in the fall. There's something luxurious about walking on the beach, bundled up in winter clothing.) What's more, 50 wild birds have been cleaned up and released at Pillar Point Yacht Harbor at Half Moon Bay. But what's worse, "the spill has cost the U.S. government $1.4 million, money spent on operations by the Coast Guard,......

Mayor Gavin Newsom had the gall -- the gall! -- to defend his Hawaiian sojourn , saying "I was gone Friday and Saturday...and one of the most remarkable things that’s happened in the last century is the ability to communicate with people in real time and engage in a dialogue and discussion and coordination and collaboration, without necessarily being physically in the same room." And you know what? Good for you, Mayor man. No,......

The kind folks over at Doc's Clock are hosting a fundraiser tomorrow night from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. to benefit Baykeeper. One hundred percent of the sales of Radeberger, Chimay Blue, Anchor Liberty (and more to be announced) will go to oil spill clean-up efforts. What a great excuse to down a couple (few) Chimays while playing a little shuffleboard. Oil Spill Response Fundraiser Doc's Clock Friday, November 16 6 pm - 2 am......

Golden Gate Park saw an Overwhelming Response from Oil Spill Volunteers last night. ...

After screwing up mandated drug tests and failing to report the severity of the oil spill in a timely fashion, as of this morning Coast Guard Captain William Uberti is out. And an experienced specialist in oil SNAFUs, Capt. Paul Gugg, is in. According to the Chronicle, Gugg, 49, has "has crafted spill regulations and response plans in Washington, D.C., and helped design emergency tactics after the catastrophic 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska."......

Lawyers for all concerned now on the Busan...

Photo of our Governor's briefing on Treasure Island yeasterday...

Poring over Entertaining the other night, because our pulverized sleeping aid refused to kick in, we got so excited after reading "Bouillabaisse for Twelve to Sixteen". But now any plans of having said bouillabaisse party must be put on hold. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suspended all fishing and crab hunting until the first of December. You hear that? Dungeness crab season won't happen this month. There's nothing you can do about it expect curl up......

So...ugh. Birds died, gastronomic seasons were delayed. What's more, it hasn't even been a week, and already some of your favorite local and national politicos are personalizing the spill, more than ready to point old, spotty white fingers elsewhere. (RIP, acts of God.) How very helpful. Except not really. Anyway, oil-spill points of interest that happened over the weekend: -- ^&*#%^&*#!: Crab season delayed. -- "Something went terribly wrong," obvious'd Senator Barbara Boxer (Can......

Well spun, Dianne. Looking to use the oil spill to get some much needed face time -- perfect for balancing out other less savory images of the Senator -- Dianne Feinstein flew to San Francisco yesterday to put her foot down about the Bay Area's "disturbing lack of readiness" to the oil spill. "It's pretty clear cities around the bay should have been brought in faster than they were," she said, according to the......

After a few days of obsessively keeping up with reports of the oil spill clean-up efforts, we gathered up our oldest, least fashionable, and/or most mishapen clothes, along with a pair of rubber gloves and trash bags, and set out for Ocean Beach today. It turns out our old Doc Martens are oil-resistant -- we just might have to invest in some new soles for those disaster-ready babies. Check out more photos and details after......

A photo of beaches affected and unaffected by the recent oil spill...

Photos from GreenFest 2007...

What started out yesterday morning as a PG-13, innocent little fender bender has now turned into our very own R-rated environmental disaster. Smashing. Here's a summary of today's oil spill-related chaos, followed by volunteering and clean-up information. -- Today Gavin Newsom sent down word from wherever he's recovering from his hangover -- we kid. sort of -- that SF will get litigious on the agency or persons responsible for the 58,000 gallons of oil......

Photo of one of the dead birds killed by our oil spill...