It seems that over 1,000 custodial artists have gone on strike as of this morning at some of Silicon Valley's most prestigious hi-tech companies, including Cisco Systems and Apple, livid over a new contract. Accordng to the Mercury News: Garcia said the proposal did not "do enough" to correct a system that makes workers wait 2 1/2 years to become eligible for health care benefits. For new hires, the waiting period for health care......

Don't F*** with a Falcon Mommy San Francisco is home to the cinema's most famous falcon, but San Jose has us beat when it comes to bird-of-prey reality TV. The City of San Jose, along with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group (motto: "Birds of Prey Know They're Cool"), has a webcam pointed at a falcon family living at San Jose's City Hall. Now we can enjoy the full nerdy-ness of birding ("why......

Thieves calling themselves "the Rippers" are snatching purses from women in San Jose parking lots. The men, it seems, are targeting are Asian, reports CBS 5. The San Jose Police suspects a ring--usually involving two to three men who pounce on a women while she is walking through a well-lit parking lot--have committed over 21 acts of violence since November. ...

Do you remember what happened October 1st, 1991 at the Oakland Coliseum? It was George Michael's last concert in the Bay Area. It has been 17 years since the Bay Area last hosted the international pop star! Not much has changed: back then we were amidst the Gulf War and Clinton was seeking the Democratic nomination. Sound familiar? Very. George Michael will be bringing his smash 25 LIVE tour to North American Arenas in the......

Mills High School English teacher David Lista, 35, of Belmont has admitted to filming underage girls using the bathroom at the high school where he taught. it seems he was arrested yesterday afternoon after a Mills technology coordinator came across Lista's cinematic restroom work while checking the school computer server. Police then searched Lista's home, which turned up a "small amount" of methamphetamine as well. Ouch. But this wasn't the first time Lista's alleged......

Alas, it was not a good weekend for cyclists of the Bay Area. The sheriff's deputy that accidentally crashed into three cyclists in Cupertinio over the weekend -- a collision that killed Olympic hopeful 31-year-old Kristy Gough of Oakland (the third-fastest, non-professional women's triathlete in the world); and 30-year-old Matt Peterson of San Francisco -- has been identified as 27-year-old James Council. A deputy at the West Valley Patrol Division of Santa Clara County,......

hen we last wrote about the San Jose Sharks, we were wondering where the hell captain Patrick Marleau's game went. It looks like he found it around the trade deadline (more on that below), and has been on a pretty decent stretch since then. As have the Sharks....

In more pink slip sadness today, San Jose Mercury News (owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group) eliminated 50 jobs. Fifteen newsroom employees and 19 employees from "other parts of the paper" were let go today. Citing a loss of advertising revenue because to the evil Internet, this most recent workforce slashing represents "a cut of about 5 percent" of the over Merc staff. On the flip side, two editors received promotions: Barbara J. Marshman, associate......

Photo: Jim Herd Mating season, it's on. This wild turkey was found inside the city limits of San Jose. Who knew?......

Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier sues City Hall over wheelchair ramplessness. [Curbed]Beth Spotswoodle [sic] hits up SFO's gay night. [SFGate]Valleywag 's happy hour watering hole, Moose's, comes to an end. Might we suggest the St. Regis or Ginger's Trois as a replacement? No? Okay. [Valleywag]In a staunch effort to remain dull, San Jose kills "Little Saigon." Again. [Mercury News]Gay celebrity babies outed. [The Sword]......

Awhile back, Greg wrote that he didn't want The N Judah Chronicles to become the "let's all talk about people getting hurt and killed blog." Alas, the injury count seems to have gone up a tick today; Muni reports: There is no Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) service on the J-Church line between 16th and Church streets and San Jose and Ocean avenues due to an injury accident between an LRV and a pickup truck at......

Billion-dollar expansion work at Mineta San Jose International Airport came to a halt this morning after a 28-year-old construction worker's arms were severed below his elbows in an accident. Yikes. According to NBC 11, "the 28-year-old construction worker somehow became entangled in the equipment that drives long posts into the ground with quick movements, the San Jose Mercury News reported." It appears that the accident involved pile driving work for "a new roadway just......

Ten-year-old Mireya Zapata was reported missing from her home in the Tenderloin District at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning. She was wearing a black jacket with gold lettering that either says, "South Park" or "South Pole," black jeans, red and black sneakers with a heart print, and she was carrying a pink backback. She has a small black freckle near her mouth. She is about 5 feet tall, weighing 75 pounds. Update: Recent reports say......

Just outside of her Montclair home, Laura Belkin, 58, was stuck and killed by a hit-and-run driver this morning as she was getting her mail on the 5900 block of Zinn Drive off Snake Road in the Oakland hills. According to the Gate: Police are searching for the driver of a dark, late 1990s to early 2000s sport utility vehicle, possibly similar in style to a Toyota 4-Runner, Banks said. If any East Bay......

We gobble the various food sections up each Wednesday. Here are our favorite food section nibbles from today's offerings. SF Chronicle: Sweet date action. We highly recommend the bacon wrapped dates for easy and fun party eats.......

Here's todays sports news...

The 12th Annual Tết Festival Ceremony occurred yesterday all around Little Saigon in San Francisco...

It wouldn't be SFist if it weren't rife with errors and bipolarity-tinged posts. But we got word of an especially egregious error we made today--something, we're ashamed to admit, we never knew. From the SFist inbox: Re: Starbucks post, it is Geary Boulevard west of Gough, Geary Street east of Franklin. Thanks. Now, we know how to correctly pronounce "Noe," "Gough," and "Montandon." We know to always pretend that the SF Green/Progressive Party is......

It nice to see that the farming and ranching traditions of Livermore's past live on to this day. You see, seven men were nabbed this past Sunday in connection with a cockfighting ring on the 4000 block of North Livermore Avenue. Ick. Busted while a fowl fight was in progress, officers arrested three gentlemen from Alameda, two blokes from Livermore, one from San Jose, and another from Las Vegas. Police officers also uncovered "300......

Tiger attack victim, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr., was mourned last night at the Five Wounds Portuguese National Church in San Jose by hundreds of loved ones. His altar was decorated with a flowers, including Raiders logo. It seems Sousa was an Oakland Raiders fan, reportedly wearing a Marcus Allen Raiders jersey the day he was killed at SF Zoo. According to the Gate, some of Carlos' "friends showed up at the funeral wearing 'In......

Delay, delay, dealy in the deadly tiger case...

We apologize for the scant hockey writing lately, but this Fishmonger has been stuck in the Bermuda Triangle that lurks in the background of San Jose's logo, on a futile quest to find Patrick Marleau's game. The Sharks captain's season of misery continues apace, and we're halfway through the 2007-2008 season....

The morbidly curious, a smattering of animal enthusiasts, and, of course, the media will line up to get into the SF Zoo when it reopens to the public at 10 a.m. tomorrow. In addition to a Tatiana-free environment, zoo visitors will also notice a few other changes. For instances, new signs reminding visitors that they are "guests in the [animals]" and not to "tap on glass, throw anything into the exhibit, make excessive noise, tease......

Another mauling, y'all. This time in San Jose. A toddler, 20-month-old Anna Leigh Cinco, and her grandmother, 48-year-old Elizabeth Cinco, were sent to the hospital with serious wounds after being mauled by the family dog. A pitbull (according to the Gate, via AP) or a boxer-mix (according to CBS 5) attacked the infant on her chin, and left bite marks on the neck, ear and right leg of the grandmother. Ouchie. It seems that......

Update: The murdered teen has been identified as Carlos Sousa, Jr. As the investigation continues into Christmas Day's gruesome tiger attack at the SF Zoo, it turns out that the guy killed by Tatiana the tiger was a 17-year-old boy from San Jose. Unidentified at this point, and currently stuck with the moniker "John Doe 116," it seems that he also knew the tiger's two other victims, 19- and 23-year-old brothers from San Jose. The......

The South Bay gets it. California's High Speed Rail Authority picked the Pacheco Pass as the future route for the 200-mph train that will help you get from SF to LA in record time. According to SFGate, "without a vote, the authority accepted its staff's recommendation last month to run trains from the San Joaquin Valley to the Bay Area over Pacheco Pass, east of Gilroy." Well then. After a four-hour meeting with Mayor......

Never having to drive through this again? Sob. The East Bay and South Bay (more or less) are vying to be one of the destination points that will send travelers from SF to LA in 2½ hours. (Can you imagine? You're watch HSM and HSM2 on your iPhone and -- poof! -- you're kicking it in LA!) Over 700 miles of track would be devoted to getting you from SF to LA in record......

Why, it's take-your-kid-to-the-symphony day on Sunday (Saturday in San Jose), featuring a performance of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. And here's a little claymation preview: It's so darling, isn't it? Hopefully it'll be as much a blast as the opera for families. More after the jump!...

-- In the 3600 block of Waterbury Court way down in San Jose last night, a double shooting left one man critically injured and another man dead. According to CBS 5, "no arrests have been made and no description of the suspect or suspects was immediately available." -- 17-year-old Rosie Blanckenburg left home on her bicycle for Berkeley High at 8 a.m. yesterday morning, and never showed up for class. According to SFGate, "a......

We're not one to laugh at church vandalism. Ever. But the following story in today's Mercury News is goddamn hilarious. And hilariously bad. Los Gatos police believe the suspects who scrawled swastikas and anti-gay messages on two churches and a pharmacy last weekend probably live in town, and investigators are hoping someone will turn them in. In some ways ... the vandal - or vandals - who hit St. Mary's Catholic Church, United Methodist......