Next Thursday is Valentine's Day. And the pressure is on, couples of the Bay Area, especially for those of you approaching the seven-year-itch mark. Really, this Valentine's Day could be a make-or-break kind of day. That fragile house of cards that you call a relationship can come crashing down around you like...that. In just one day. Something to think about, folks. Anyway, during next week's nationwide celebration of Saint Valentine, the last car on......

Well, this should be exciting, hateful. This Sunday at 11 a.m. at 701 Montgomery Street in San Francisco, there will be a protest over that religious sect those zany Hollywood types know and love so well. You know, the one where you can't take Prozac, or call you Jewish children, or....whatever. (For a map of the SF branch, go here.) It sounds like it will be a Sunday afternoon well-spent. Instruction are as follows:......

Why aren't you hiding under the covers yet? The city doesn't want to so much as hear you breathe come tomorrow. So, start upending those floorboards and crawling into that dank attic, or Gavin and Bevan will be coming to get you, Barbara. "We are praying for a peaceful evening, but are preparing for the worst," says Newsom. No, he's not talking about election night (heh, eh), but Halloween night. Which brings us to your......

-- Gross, sticky, exhausting, hot weather begins. But! Ride public transit for free tomorrow during a Spare the Air Day. [Examiner, SFMTA] -- Gang members, extortion, and THC.. [Bluoz] -- 12-year-old Jose Trujillo of San Leandro dies after a skateboarding accident. Sad. [Chron] -- Mick LaSalle laughs hysterically at cute, young, blonde girl's misfortune. [Chron Blogs] -- Closet-case Senator "has never been gay." He's just a guy who digs other guys, dude. [CBS5] --......

You know how the Bay Bridge is going to be closed on this Labor Day weekend? And how that means there'll be fewer car-trips into San Francisco? A reasonable person might assume that that'll mean an increased demand for public transit -- but Muni's response to that is, "reasonable people? What on Earth are those?" Not only is Muni not adjusting service levels to accommodate the bridge closure, they're actually reducing service levels on......

-- Tzssss: Golden Gate Bridge gets branded. (They won't really have billboards on the bridge, but who would want to see tasty Pizza Rolls high above, or why Sally Field stays so ramrod straight?) [Chron] -- Castro is now dead, says Perez. No, not the Castro. Although that neighborhood [insert your own joke here]. [SFBG, via PH] -- Man killed by J-Church on Thursday identified as John O'Neill, 47. RIP, dude. [Chron] -- What will......

We were skeptical about the plan to open the Panhandle DMV lot for public parking. But Lisa Zahner, the city's Divisadero Corridor Manager, reassured us that the Planning Department doesn't anticipate a rise in traffic levels, since the surrounding streets are already so busy. And in fact, traffic might improve, since drivers won't have to circle the block to find parking. Not only that, but the city's hope is that people will use the......

The Governor's annual May budget revision was rolled out yesterday. The document still shows a net operating deficit of $1.4 billion, but represents this as "major progress as compared to the $4.4 billion that was anticipated for 2007-08 at the time the Governor signed the 2006 Budget Act." The revised budget includes plans for early debt payments as well as to avoid tax hikes, and shows Arnold's intent to restrain spending growth and maint adequate reserves, among other things. Democrats are concerned, though, that it's doing so at the expense cuts social services and public transit -- which could have a direct affect on BART and other orgs....

A couple good points came out of a talk by SustainLane's Warren Karlenzig at the Commonwealth club last week. He was talking about Green Economies (sustainable) versus Grey Economies (unsustainable), and pointed out that California responded to the melting freeway by offering a day of free public transit. "What would governor of Arizona do in a similar situation: offer free gas to everyone?" Ouch. Take that, Governor Janet Napolitano! But it wasn't all Grand-Canyon-State-bashing;......

If you saw a bunch of officials rushing home to check their mailboxes yesterday, it's because yesterday was the day the results of a city survey was released. And the verdict? In most cases, San Francisco is just pretty much average, averaging a C. That's not going to get us into an Ivy League school . ...

People who ride the bus to work every day have nothing better to do than take a very long lunch -- twice -- and head over to SPUR's office to talk at length about public transit policy. Sounds like fun! There's two Muni-related and parking-related meetings coming up and open to the public (no snacks provided, but "feel free to bring a lunch"), so pencil them into your iCal now. If you're the kind......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... ...

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into......

Hey, the new MUNI T Third line is finally open! That's the new light rail route that goes (.gif) from Castro Station down Third Street, through Dogpatch, down the Bayview, past Monster Park, and all the way to Sunnydale Avenue. We decided to spend our day off today checking it out. The T-Third is running in beta from now until April 1-- it's only running on weekends and every twenty minutes (though we waited about......

It turns out BART wasn't the only transit system having problems this week, MUNI was too. First up was the M which had problems when a tree was knocked over and onto one of those powerlines at Randolph and Byxbee streets. The trouble started last night and continued on until this morning when the power was finally restored. We remember back when we rode the N Judah and it seemed like everytime it rained, some branch knocked down a powerline, usually right by our stop. We also remember really hating it when that happened. ...

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. ...

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! Total number of problems fixed: 139. Breakdown by region: San Francisco -- 70 (29 street repairs, 23 park fixes, 7 public transportation fixes, 11 signs). East Bay -- 44 (21 street, 14 park, 5 signs, 4 public transit). South Bay -- 16, North Bay 9. Number......

Torontoist visits the site of a new Frank Gehry structure, stalks "the elusive Bahamas streetcar", and watches Tom Green get surgery. Phillyist rejoices in the Phillies' wild card chances, mourns the injuries sustained by Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse, and goes pirate on our asses. SFist notes that Guns and Roses were in town, that San Franciscans are taking over reality TV, and that the San Francisco Chronicle's skills of original nomenclature could use some......

This just in ... the Glen Park BART station was shut down approximately an hour ago due to police activity, according to SF Gate. Seriously, it was not the "police activity" as described in the link above, it was just another suspicious package. We're always intrigued when we hear the announcements about "police activity on the BART system," because it could mean so many things, though we are so often disappointed because it usually turns......

Listen up, because SFist has a scoop for you. Our hometown boys in Two Gallants are heading out on a fall tour with Langhorne Slim and fellow San Franciscans Trainwreck Riders, starting in September and culminating with two nights at Bottom of the Hill on October 21st and 22nd. Two Gallants are supporting their sophomore release what the toll tells; you can still get it if you haven't already gotten it. Watch Trainwreck Riders rock......

It's so much fun to complain about public transportation that we sometimes forget it's almost just as fun to take it (well, sometimes, anyways.) Here's two events that'll bring a bright ding-ding to your day. Tonight: NewMindSpace, an interactive public art group (one of whose founders writes for our Canadian cousin Torontoist), has put on bubble-blowing parties in New York, an Easter Egg hunt in Toronto, and a pillow fight in New York's Union......

Breaking the law, breaking the law We -ist folks love us some crime, and no misdemeanor is too petty for a post on any of our sites. This week, join us for a rogues' gallery of miscreants major, minor, and alleged. Gothamist gets us started with "Law & Order", muppet style. Oh, you know what isn't a crime? Taking pictures on the MTA. So, why are cops stopping photographers? In other Gotham crime, a......

We're a couple of bucks richer today, as today's Spare The Air day means free rides all day on Bay Area public transit. Fare boxes and gates will be deactivated, so just get on and take your free rides any time today. Sure, Muni will be hot and crowded as hell itself, but at least today we won't be paying for it. Even SFist Jon's refraining from his usual earth-killing self-absorption and staying off the......

One of our readers just forwarded along an email announcing the creation of a new political animal in town -- not the Green Party, not the Democratic Party (and the press release seems to assume without saying that it's certainly not the Republican Party), but the SF Party Party. Check out their leader, Crash, to your right. The motto is: "Like the Green Party.... without that funny smell. ....Like the Democratic Party without all that......

The best roommate we ever had had a surefire (ha) way to summon a malingering Muni -- all he'd do was light a fresh cigarette and, like magic, the tardiest of busses would appear. Since then, our former roommate has quit smoking, and now Muni has, too, as yesterday the Board of Supervisors approved legislation banning smoking at all public transit stops in the City. Introduced by Fiona Ma (who knew she was still......

There was a holdup at the Millbrae station this morning due to a bomb threat on a Caltrain train, the second day in a row there was a bomb threat. For whatever reason, though, this bomb threat hasn't made the news. The only way we heard what happened was by calling the BART Police. Anyways, here is our account of getting stuck in the suck....

SFist welcomes its new East Bay commentator: Matthew Newton...

So, Gavin's been pretty chatty about Muni lately, hasn't he? First up, he's alleging that some cable car operators are stealing fares, "because on three occasions he rode the cable cars and handed over his $5 cash fare but never received the required receipt." He's also brought up hiring more fare inspectors, which we hope is not the same thing as the once proposed plan to allow Muni drivers to make fare citations. The Mayor's......

Whether or not you enjoy Barbara Boxer's senatorial antics, there's no denying she's a master of making grandiose gestures without actually committing to any specific action. Fer instance, she sent out some emails to constituents the other day about how she's eager to reduce our dependence on oil and improve mass transit and stuff. She offers a "summary of steps necessary," without actually explaining how she's going to make any of these things happen:......

The Examiner reports that new Muni transportation director Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr. (we love that name -- doesn't he sound like the guy who should be on the $7 bill or something?) wil become San Francisco's highest paid official when he takes over the position next year. His base pay will be $298,000, but he has eligibility for up to "$337,000 when all compensation is taken into account." We got excited hearing that last......