The body of 68-year-old Robert Slivoski was found near the intersection of Polk Street and Pacific Avenue in Russian Hill early last Thursday morning. SFPD officers responding to reports of a deceased person in the area arrived to find the body was already decomposing. Although the medical examiner's office had not yet determined the cause and time of death as of this morning, SFPD has ruled the case a homicide. more ›

"Lombard Street" by Bob Horowitz. more ›

SFist reader Andrew Nossiter writes to us about an incident of illegal soda hawking on Saturday. He explains: "Hansen's Soda has setup an illegal street promotion at the corner of Lombard and Leavenworth (the bottom of the crooked street), with a smokey grill and a huge crowd of tourists. They don't have any permits, the people who actually live in the neighborhood are upset, and the police and fire department are here. They claim that they only want to serve locals, so why did they come to the city's most popular TOURIST spot, I wonder?" more ›

A scene from the pilot of Alcatraz - being filmed on Filbert Street, between Hyde and Leavenworth today - will result in some street closures today and pseudo-gunfire. more ›

The man accused of killing Russian Hill "socialite" Kathleen Horan pleaded not guilty to charges today. The former convict, arrested on Nov. 5 at Sutro Park in the Outer Richmond, "denied charges of murder, attempted rape, robbery and burglary." Just prior to the killing, Holland "had been released from prison earlier this year after serving 11 years of a 13-year-sentence for attempted murder in Fresno County." Holland, who sits in jail without bail, is due back in court on Dec. 8. [BCN/KTVU] more ›

Gary Scott Holland, 43, was arrested in connection with the October 29 bludgeoning murder of Kathleen "Kate" Horan. District Attorney Kamala Harris labeled Holland, currently being held at the psychiatric ward of the San Francisco Jail, a "true predator." How so? Using residual fears stemming from September's San Bruno blast, Holland allegedly "went knocking on doors posing as a gas worker" until he found a victim more ›

Oh fun. Late this morning, a big ol'd truck rammed into a telephone pole, sending a gaggle of tourists into a photo-snapping frenzy. more ›

On viscous news days such as today, we reach into our inbox to see what readers have on their minds. Here's something: more ›

Sleep easy, San Francisco. Mayor Gavin Newsom has, at last, sold his Russian Hill bachelor pad. On the market for over a month, the spacious and too tastefully decorated penthouse condo, if you recall, had trouble finding a buyer. Today, the apartment is in escrow. While the asking price was a cool $2.995 million, the sales price has yet to be revealed. Anyway, congrats, unidentified buyer. Also, all together now: oh, if those walls could talk. more ›

A month after being on the market -- with an initial asking price of $3,200,000 -- Mayor Gavin Newsom's penthouse condo at 1101 Green Street #2001 has plummeted in price. According to SocketSite, the asking price for his 1,693 square foot one-bedroom bachelor pad has been reduced to a mere $2,995,000. more ›

San Francisco's Toilet Torcher is making national headlines. (Also, AP is calling him or her the "Toilet Torcher," to which SFist will take full credit, thank you. Ha ha.) And for some it's positively vexing. Scott Johnson, a 57-year-old contractor who was working on apartment building renovations in Russian Hill, describes the immolations as "an outrage." more ›

We were beginning to think we our favorite arsonist hung up his bic. Not so. According to reports, it seems the Toilet Torcher has struck again, this time at "3:50 on Sunday morning," setting ablaze a porta-potty at on the 2000 block of Broadway. Since November, portable toilets have fell victim to someone or some persons setting the plastic outhouses on fire. So far no one has been injured. [Inset poop joke here] more ›

The porta-potty arsonist has struck again, this time at at the 1200 block of Washington Street during the wee hours this morning, according to reports. No was was injured, no arrests have been made. (Are there really, THAT many porta-potties in Russian Hill? Seems an unusual amount of kindle for this guy to burn.) more ›

The Toilet Torcher strikes again! This time he or she has claimed their 15th porta-potty since November. The portable outhouse went up in flames last night at Union and Franklin Streets. This time, however, a nearby car was damaged by the flames. Toilet Torcher, we demand you to reveal yourself to us! Why are you igniting the crappers of Russian Hill? Political statement? Stink mischief? Frank Chu-esque lucidity? Really, who are you? more ›

Just when you thought the Toilet Torcher was a match striking terror to stay stuck in the halcyon days of 2008, he or she leaps into 2009 with aplomb. See, just this morning for the 13th time since November 2008, someone set a porta-potty on fire during the wee hours of the morning. The fire was reported at around 3:20 a.m. close to the intersection of Van Ness Avenue and Greenwich Street. It was put out by firefighters who arrived on the scene. No one was injured. more ›

One person was killed after a two-alarm fire torched an apartment building in San Francisco's Russian Hill neighborhood this afternoon. The blaze, reported at 11:52 a.m., sparked on the second floor and spread to the third floor. It required seventy-five firefighters to fight the inferno, and was put out about an hour later. In addition to the one death, another person was sent to St. Francis Memorial Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and a pet cat cannot be found. (NBC 3) more ›

"If you want to sell your car, call Jeff," said a sign tacked to a Russian Hill phone pole this weekend. There's a phone number attached, but here's what's weird: a little Googling reveals a rogue's gallery attached to that number. According to one page, it's transitional housing on 9th Street. According to another, it's a publisher on Clement. And Google's cache reveals a slew of Craigslist postings for psychics from Albany, Flagstaff, and Anchorage. more ›

We don't usually read the Op Ed pages of the Chronicle, because it's always either rehashed columnists from other papers or something like "give birth control pills to deer in Point Reyes" -- but can you believe it? The Chron actually got someone local to write about a local issue today -- if we're going to build out the MUNI underground, why not actually build it out and have a subway that runs to Fisherman's Wharf? more ›

It’s the dead of San Francisco winter and 46 degrees — 46 degrees! — but that’s not stopping certain hardy residents of the sizable apartment structure at 1214 Polk from opening their windows and drying their laundry au naturale. We’re impressed. 46 degrees in San Francisco, particularly along this gusty urban corridor between Bush and Sutter, feels like autumn in the Yukon. This is the southern edge of Polk’s transitional zone, where it emerges from the sleazy chic of “nitespots” like Vertigo and Blur and slowly crawls toward more prim territory northward up into Russian Hill. The upstairs residences on this block are decidedly ordinary, but there’s a dichotomy at work between, for example, the stained glasswork at O’Reilly’s Holy Grail and the $5 haircuts and $20 facials across the road at the International College of Cosmetology II. Of course, Polk St. has always been known as one of San Francisco’s more diverse business thoroughfares. more ›

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Yeah, we could hardly believe the headline ourselves. Do people have no shame? more ›

Exploring San Francisco through the lens of city blocks, Blocker is a weekly series by Charles Hodgkins. Look for it on SFist each Wednesday, around the lunching hour. more ›

Photo of six kids in a huge stroller in Civic Center more ›

Photo of s sign prohibiting photography in Russian Hill more ›

Hey, tomorrow's Saturday. You were going to have a few stiff ones anyway, right? May as well have them at the John Barleycorn. From 1-5 p.m. tomorrow there will be a free BBQ at this the historic pub more ›

Here's todays news more ›

Quick -- which one of those pictures above is of Valencia Street in SF and which is of Williamsburg in Brooklyn? more ›

Those of us you who live or work near the Nob Hill/Russian Hill/Chinatown area are conveniently located near the biggest-bang-for-your-buck yoga in town. Yogic Motion's intro offer of $20 for 30 days of unlimited yoga is impossible to resist and a very smart tactic. "Everyone can go to the ATM and withdraw a twenty," explained Yogic Motion owner Brian Monnier. And for that $20 you can do yoga every day for a month. Then you will be hopelessly hooked. And hey, we gotta giveaway too. Start off your new year right and enter to win a free month of unlimited classes at Yogic Motion. more ›

We know the frustration of driving around the block, constantly searching for a parking spot. We're guessing we’re not the only SFister who occasionally has to drive (for work) that may sometimes feel this way. Been there, done that. It’s likely not news to anyone, and we hope we don’t receive angry comments telling us we shouldn't be driving at all in our fair city. more ›

Ever since the Examiner has been bought by religious arch-conservative Philip Anschutz, everyone has been waiting to see how the Examiner would fit it's publisher's political views into a free daily in the most liberal city in America. Sometimes they manage to do it (sort of) but every once in awhile, the veil is lifted as it were and the Examiner goes a little nutty. Like today. For their main editorial, they implore San Francisco to honor economist Milton Friedman. more ›