Speaking of cool postage stamps -- Remember when Bay Area Reporter talked about an effort that's underway to get San Francisco artist Jim Leff's stamp memorializing Harvey Milk made into an official U.S. postage stamp? more ›

If you want to get your holiday gifts or cards to relatives and loved ones by Christmas, today would be the day to head to your nearest post office, where it's certain to be the busiest day of the snail mail year. If you can't make it today, it'll cost you: "Priority mail can be sent Tuesday and express mail on Wednesday and still make it in time for the holiday." List of post offices in San Francisco. [Appeal] more ›

Facing a nearly $7 billion potential loss this fiscal year, The United States Postal Service selected 677 branches nationwide for either closure or consolidation, including more than a couple dozen in the Bay Area. Threatened post offices in San Francisco are the Civic Center P.O. Box Unit, the Federal Building, and the McLaren branches. Thanks to electronic communication, mail volume decreased by 9.5 billion pieces last year and is expected to fall by 28 billion pieces this year. more ›

Unidentified Women On Horseback In Golden Gate Park, October 29, 1934 San Francisco Public Library Historical Photograph Collection We’re all for citizenship and all—we would even consider ourselves to be citizenship geeks. We love voting (of course) and jury duty (jury opportunity, we like to call it). We love the Post Office and even the DMV (especially those the traces of the Eisenhower era that remain here and there in those temples of citizenship…... more ›

What we want to know is, what did we pay an extra $60 for? Has anyone out there actually missed a trip or had to reschedule one due to the current passport chaos? Please share. more ›

From the SFist Tips line: yet another daytime shooting yesterday, this time at 23rd and South Van Ness around 1:45 p.m, by the post office, and fatal. In a particularly brazen act, the shooters then drove by the SFPD Ingleside Station to drop off the body about an hour and a half later. You'll all be pleased to hear that the cops did at least manage to catch the person driving the car. more ›

You know you’re dealing with an isolated stretch of Montgomery St. when a driver can’t reach it without first leaving Montgomery St. And in an addressing quirk that must drive new workers at the North Beach post office bonkers, the northernmost apartment building on this block is actually 303 Greenwich, even though Greenwich as a cross street doesn’t exist here. After all, the only cross traffic up here on the precipitous eastern slope of Telegraph Hill is on foot. Stunning bay views, folial grandiosity, and hill-hugging construction schemes dominate this block of Montgomery, bookended by the famed Filbert and Greenwich steps. The street itself is a bi-level roadway divided by a tall center wall lined with numerous pine trees, not dissimilar to Lawton St. in Golden Gate Heights, or Arlington Ave. in the Berkeley Hills. It’s designed for neither speed nor mass amounts of auto traffic. Aesthetically, however, it’s nearly unbeatable. more ›

The reason? The post office was so bad at getting packages and letters back to stations like the one at 23rd and Van Ness after an atttempted delivery and leaving a notice that it just decided to stop even trying. Now all of the Mission's packages go back to the Postal Annex. What fun that is for folks without cars in the Mission. more ›

--They took away the hazmat license of the company whose truck blew up the Macarthur Maze. We can't really disagree with that. more ›

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend... more ›

Well, they're just doing what you were going to do anyways -- a political consultant in Fremont has filed a complaint after learning that postal workers tossed "tens of thousands" of her No On Measure K(against protecting Coyote Hills) and No On Measure L (against a utility tax) mailers to be sent to the zip code 94538 as "undeliverable." (Also, some mailers for City Council candidate Bill Harrison, and some Pennysavers.) The consultant claims her mailers were just fine, and the post office has launched an investigation. more ›

It keeps the post office busy -- the District 6 election! This week's episode: Everybody Hates A Spending Cap. more ›

Tonight we're staying up late late late for the Late Night Picture Show at the Clay (2261 Fillmore). more ›

Man, if you want to go drag-racing, don't kill members of a royal family -- the 18-year-old suspect burst into tears after a judge in San Mateo County refused to lower her bail from $3 million. The DA was unmoved, saying, "Highway 101 is not a video game and it's not a racetrack." That's right -- that's what 280 is. more ›

Bummer! The organizers for this weekend's Bay To Breakers race have announced that it's banning "large quantities" of alcohol. Organizers assured participants that "It's OK if people want to bring a personal supply,” but kegs, big collections of bottles at checkpoints, and the running tiki bar are out. Organizers claim it has nothing to do with policing your life, it's just that the cops say that the drinking slows down the race and by gum, they're going to have the streets reopened to general traffic by noon on Sunday. They mean it, too: If you're not past the "Footstock" site by 11:30, you're going to be sent to the Polo Fields and not permitted to finish the race this year. more ›

Anyone who's interested in San Francisco history must see this movie. Director and MacArthur genius grant recipient Stanley Nelson (who previously directed the Emmy-award-winning The Murder of Emmett Till) has put together a sensitive and thoughtful history of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple that stays away from the usual pat explanations of the situation (as Nelson said in the post-screening Q&A, the story of "900 crazy people drinking Kool-Aid in the jungle") to outline a story that's even more disturbing when you realize how almost-acceptable the situation was that Jones created. As you can see in the picture at the left, Jim Jones was tight in San Francisco local politics, and was considered a key part of George Moscone's (short-lived) mayoral triumph in 1977. Peoples Temple promoted a religious doctrine of interracial brotherhood, responsibility for the poor, and a socialist utopia in which everyone looked out for everyone else. Doesn't sound so bad, does it? Peoples Temple also participated in a number of progressive social movements, attending rallies and organizing get-out-the-vote campaigns, and as a result, Jim Jones was awarded a seat on the board of the San Francisco Housing Authority (!!!) before he fled for Guyana, killed a state congressman, and orchestrated the mass suicide of over 900 people. Our mouth kept dropping open at the footage that Nelson had obtained -- interviews with Jones's childhood acquaintances (all of whom agreed he was a weird little dude, torturing and killing cats so he could hold funerals for them), sermons by Jones at his Fillmore/Geary temple (now the post office next to the Fillmore Theater, where the downtown-bound 38 Geary stop is), footage of followers seeing Guyana for the first time, and the most chillingly, live film of the final days in Jonestown and the fateful visit by Congressman Leo Ryan (and a very young Jackie Speier) and tape recordings of Jim Jones urging people to "drink faster, faster, faster." Dude, we were freaked out. Interviews with survivors, Intersection for the Arts, and Jim Jones Jr. at the Q&A, after the jump. more ›

We don't know who is the U.S. Postal Services equivalent of Mr. Ford, but here is our open letter nonetheless. more ›

It's like the 49 Mile Drive, only with squealing tires! Around midnight Saturday morning, cops reported to a double shooting on Mission and 18th Street, only to see a Honda peeling away. The cops put on the woo-oooh woo-oooh sirens and set chase, but lost him near Alameda and Utah. Other cops then found him and chased the guy all the way down to SoMA, where the suspect crashed the car at Fourth and Bryant. At that point, a cop tried to grab the guy, but the guy then took off, dragging the cop for a block, and trying to shake the cop off by slamming into various other cars and barricades. The cop managed to get free under a 80 overpass, at which point the car sped off to the Loin, where he ran into five other cars and a cop cruiser. Other cops then joined in, and finally, the suspect crashed for good at Pacific and Webster. Remarkably, no one was seriously hurt, including the two guys that the car driver shot. Dramatic photos here! more ›

Any other "Law and Order" fans reminded of the show's episode entitled Fluency upon reading about the fake Tamiflu seized at a South San Francisco post office? more ›

The 70s! A decade of stagflation and Republican corruption! Or a number span covering some mighty temperate climates! Or a solid C on the grading scale! But for you, faithful voter, the 70s are the numbers we're up to for this round of the state propositions! As always, SFist is here for you, providing vastly oversimplified explanations of the propositions so you can go to the ballot box more poorly informed than you were when you started! Okay, here's your executive summary. Progressives: Nix The First Six (out of 8). Schwarzenegger supporters: Have a 70's party (uh, except for 79 and 80). And those of you who hate special elections: Vote no on everything. That'll teach 'em! For those of you who want to actually know what the propositions are about (what are you, some kind of Commie freak?), proceed to after the jump. Don't forget to vote on Nov. 8! more ›

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Last week's winner, the East Bay Express: They didn't make the drop at our usual pick-up spot today, so we're stuck with the web version (which is always so much less satisfying). Bottom Feeder addresses SFist Jon's concerns about Pombo's vulnerability and the Shirek post office! Maybe SFist Jon should also start looking into the Alameda County supervisors' race, which is Bottom Feeder's third topic. Vote no on 80! Like we have any idea what any of these propositions even are yet! (80 = power plants). Don Perata's private investigator. Oakland's favorite Idol, LaToya. And getting baked at the Chabot Center planetarium (the music of Moby is featured). The SF Weekly: Hee hee! PUNI says Google buys SF! And renames Gavin G-New! Hee! And MUNI's renamed G-Cruiser! Hee hee! A totally fascinating story about this attorney who busts cults, grew up in a upper-crust family with a closeted father, and annoys San Anselmo residents with his large left-wing signs. Movie critic doesn't like 24 Hours on Craigslist. Make it stop, we can't bear the Meredith Brody. Soup in Noe Valley. Clap Your Hands Say Pitchfork. Cover article: hip-hop blogs. And -- yoikes -- check out Savage Love's collection of letters about the man who thinks he might have been raped. The Guardian and the pick of the week after the jump! (Sorry, we had Metro distribution problems again.) more ›

It’s the kind of thing that's supposed to be bang-bang: local congressperson gets congress to vote on the naming of local post office after local hero and congress votes yes because nobody really cares what a post office is named. It happens so frequently and so easily that nobody can remember when anybody last raised a stink. So congresswoman Barbara Lee tried to get the Berkeley Post office named after long-time councilwoman, activist, and Berkeley icon Maudelle Shirek, only to see it get denied. The reason? Because that Maudelle? She hates America. more ›

Whether you're filing for an extension at the last minute, biting the bullet and paying them now, or just saying "F**k it, it's cash under the table from here on out," you're probably about as mad at the government of these United States as you'll be all year. The bastards! Taking your hard earned money to support a war! Alternately: The bastards! Taking your hard earned money to support Cadillac-driving welfare queens! more ›

Hey! You! Did you just turn 18? Did you just move? Are you 20,000 loud? Are you going to vote or die? Well, here's your chance -- today's the last day to register for the November 2 election. Embrace your elderly, non-Urban-Outfitters-cool status and exercise your franchise rights! more ›

The Los Gatos post office was evacuated yesterday after 14 postal workers and one customer became mysteriously ill. more ›