Young whippersnapper, Santa Cruz resident 18-year-old Matthew Rosenberg, called his mom on Monday to tell her he had "tripped, broke his leg and was lost" in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He was half right. What he didn't tell her was that he was also bombed out of his mind on hallucinogenic mushrooms and a wee bit of acid. Oh yeah, and that he didn't break his leg. An expensive rescue effort ensued, and Rosenberg......

Mr. Brock, While I appreciate your coverage of the spray situation I don't appreciate the stereotyping and blatant prejudice against people who become ill from being around cologne.(chemicals, paint, new carpeting car exhaust etc etc) ...

Today a major setback struck the final solution, if you will, against the light brown apple moth. Superior Court Judge Paul Burdick ruled that "aerial pesticide sprays must halt over Santa Cruz County until agricultural officials do a full environmental review of their anti-pest program." Even California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, after chitchating with lawmakers and environmentalists, put his foot down, saying that "the state would suspend all aerial sprays across the state until Aug.......

Perhaps due to the many squares of acid or complete the lack of sex, we don't remember UC Santa Cruz demigods coming down so hard on 4/20. But SFBG's crusty-but-benign (and victorious!) Bruce Brugman has word that UCSC officials have pulled a Bevan Dufty, more or less shutting down the campus this Sunday, 4/20, on the sacred day where people get baked. Really, really, reeeeeaaally baked. University of Santa Cruz Executive Chancellor David Kilger's......

MUSIC: Late '90s Santa Cruz band the Huxtables headline a night of "fun rock" tunes. Take, for example, the song their dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons, "Dungeon Master," which they had to revise after the latest edition of the game was released. Talk about staying true to your deliciously dorky roots. (For a more in-depth explanation of this adorable geek-rock song, go here.) Alt-country band the Bitter Sweets and Two If by Sea open......

An update on today's story about a UC Santa Cruz faculty member whose home was invaded by, according to local media outlets, members of the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty animal rights group: the animal rights group claims zero responsibility for last night's attack. We just made contacted with a member of the reportedly elusive SHAC7. They told us the following: No--we are not responsible. In fact, the only knowledge we have of the whole......

Pro-life animal rights group Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty is being accused of taking part in a break in of a UC Santa Cruz faculty member, whose research using animals "sheds light on the causes of breast cancer and neurological diseases," and attacking a man at the residence. According to Santa Cruz Sentinel: Santa Cruz police reported that six people wearing bandanas tried to break into a Westside home ["Westside rules!" -- SFist] just before......

Somehow this news story managed to slip past our radar last week, but the Gate published a story on how our wonderful state of California will be spraying the Bay Area with pesticides this summer. In an effort to eliminate the light brown apple moth (aww. Aren't they so cute?), an insect potentially disastrous for farming in California, the state agricultural department will be spraying an insecticide known as Checkmate over urban areas, according to......

Surely looking to turn us all into latter-career, Catalina-vacationing Natalie Woods, it looks like the rain will fall down (and wake our dreams) and won't stop until god knows when. Flooding, high winds, high tides, airport delays, glacial weather, and mass hysteria are all expected to bring us some mid-winter cheer. Santa Cruz will be getting the brunt of it, or so says the radar, so grab your spot at Pergolesi early and hold......

Yesterday's near perfect weather is now but a sepia-toned memory. Reports of a strange, icy substance, often referred to as "snow," is falling on Mount Diablo, Mount Hamilton in Santa Clara County, Mount Hamilton, and (any minute now) Mount Tam. It's also blanketing the eerie Santa Cruz Mountains, resulting in the closure of Highway 9. It looks like many of you will have to take Highway 17. If you dare. Oh, and be sure......

Twenty-four of the world's most bitchin-ass surfers are on their way to Half Moon bay for a dangerous showdown at this year's 2008 Mavericks Surf Contest. Shore stars like Shawn Rhodes, Greg Long (San Clemente FTW), Brock Little, Randy Cone, Santa Cruz's Tyler Smith, and more will take part in tomorrow's dangerous and exhilarating surf contest. The cold waters of Half Moon Bay combined with the Pacific storm winter weather make some of "the most dangerous waves in the world." This battle of the sea is not to be missed. Dude....

The recently-released website post-consumer.com is addressed to “anyone who has played or attended an indie rock show in Santa Cruz between 1999-2004.” We did! We were there! We remember the tall, handsome fellow with incongruous Ugg boots and a microphone on a stick who recorded shows in every bar, basement, living room and attic during the golden years of Santa Cruz indie rock! And now you can be there, too – Nicholas Taplin’s hoard......

CBS5 recently uncovered Caltrans secret pet cemetery -- somewhere along eerie Highway 9 in the Santa Cruz mountains -- where they simply bag, tag, and toss little fluffy over a cliff. Gross. Caltrans, it seems, is supposed to notify the pets' owners or take them to local pounds or an SPCA. But don't. The best part of Anna Werner's investigation, though, is the discovery of pet remains stuffed into orange trash bags labeled with......

Today, the Oakland City Council voted to ban smoking in "ATM lines, parks and other public places," which is smurfy, health-conscious, makes the bitch behind you at the ATM line stops her self-righteous fake coughing, will result in animated birds singing on your shoulders, etcetera. And although we understand that it's a private establishment, this always brings to mind the fact that we can no longer smoke at Denny's. One should still, always, and......

-- 19-year-old lad from Felton -- a fascinating, frightening place -- calls cops after his weed gets pinched. Which he was trying to sell in downtown Santa Cruz. And doesn't get arrested. [Chron] -- Same-sex marriage bill OK'd, ready to be TKO'd by Arnold. [Chron] -- Obama in SF! [Examiner, via BCN] -- Boom! Bomb threat forces Southwest Airlines jet back to Oakland Airport. [CBS5] -- Hsu caught, in hospital after falling down on...train......

Hey, everyone loves a list, right? Especially those ranking institutions of higher learning. The yearly U.S. News & World Report list is out -- any wagers on how local schools did? And, really, how much would it affect your choices? We remember mulling the 1991 list saying "can't get in there, can't get in there, nope, not there either . . ." But it's still fun to see how stuff measures up, we suppose. Unshockingly, Stanford University was high on the list, reaching No. 4 this year, undoubtedly driving the next generation of Azia Kims....

Last week's winner, the San Jose Metro: Gary Singh wants the San Jose flea market to move to City Hall. Folks moving from city to city to run for office -- hey, at least they actually move into the city they want to represent down in the South Bay. Ed Jew, take a note! Cover: yay the environment, reduce your carbon footprint by buying a Prius. There's a gymnastics meet on the Olympics circuit this......

Last week's winner, the SF Weekly: What? MORE letters about Rainbow? Matt Smith threatens to derail Newsom's gubernatorial campaign if he doesn't do something about parking. Rape awareness campaigns in the Castro. Cover article: a man who went through the SF court program designed to assist the mentally ill homeless. Ha! We like the headline "Fresno? Fres Yes!" A locally-written musical about San Francisco life. This picture of the dancing Starbucks baristas is excellent. Meredith......

The SFPD arrested the guy who murdered the anti-crime activist in the Haight, Joe Konopka, in an S&M session gone wrong. They believe Konopka, who was found handcuffed, choked to death on plastic covering his face. After Konopka died, the murderer took his laptop, jewelry, and cell phone before fleeing the scene. Does anyone know what happened at 16th and South Van Ness Wednesday night? We walked by there around 9 p.m. and there were......

Santa Cruz's Shauna Noland had a new partner on "So You Think You Can Dance," and he must have been a lucky charm as they did not need to "dance for their lives" this week. We're thrilled. On "Pirate Master" Nessa continued her flirting with fellow pirates who were open to it. Sean and Jupiter were not, and deemed her conniving, vowing to have her cast adrift at the next...casting adrift ceremony? During the treasure......

On "America's Got Talent" a local dance troupe called Hot Pink Feathers failed to impress the judges with their Carnaval-inspired gyrations. See the YouTube clip above for a sample. Santa Cruz dancer Shauna Noland was voted into the bottom three on "So You Think You Can Dance," but "danced for her life" and was kept around for another week by the judges. For some reason, our TiVo forgot to record "American Inventor" last week......

There were a lot of locals in the world of reality TV this week! "America's Got Talent" included an audition from an East Bay music teacher named Michael Strelo-Smith. He had an OK voice, but he was kind of boring. He swears he can sing anything and everything, but so far we are unimpressed. "Last Comic Standing" continued its trend of finding comedians who have been around for years, and presenting them as new......

--It's the 100th anniversary of the Santa Cruz boardwalk! --They've more or less decided on the next school superintendent for San Francisco. He's going to face a possible strike by the teachers when he gets here. --Pictures of this weekend's bike messenger competitions. --The Unofficial Stanford blog has (unconfirmed) pictures of fake classmate Azia Kim. --Cafe Trieste denizens find housing for a mentally ill regular. --Is Gavin's blue tie back????? --Help a cat hit......

So Newsweek's come out with its rankings of "the top public high schools in the country," and the Bay Area has 9 10 schools in the top 300: Magnet school Lowell High in SF topped the list at 57, and Monta Vista in Cupertino came in second (85). The rest of your schools: Mission San Jose in Fremont (140), Burlingame High School (196), Mountain View High School (213), Andrew P. Hill in San Jose......

--The dude who got shot yesterday isn't cooperating with the cops. --David Halberstam's attorney blames the J-School driver for Halberstam's fatal car accident. --A second gas leak in SF this afternoon? This one in Nob Hill. --There was a fire at 1 a.m. this morning on Natoma (between Mission and S. Van Ness) and 14th Street. --A Santa Cruz councilmember has issued an apology for making sexual comments to a female police officer on a......

In artist Paul Madonna's weekly comic series All Over Coffee, San Francisco architecture—and coffee—seem to be the main characters. Beautifully technical drawings of SF scenes, combined with disembodied voices that almost feel like the city's collective consciousness, give an ethereal quality to the pieces. You can catch All Over Coffee every Sunday in the Pink section of the Chronicle, and it's archived online as well. Paul also updates his web site every Monday with a new free cartoon. This month, there are several ways you can get to know Paul and his work a little better. • Tonight from 7 to 10 pm at 312 Valencia @ 14th street, there is a Book Release Party for Paul's collection of past to present work from All Over Coffee. You can also buy the book at a discounted price from City Lights Books. ...

Running a little late today! Here's today's story of awesomeness! You know Project Prom, the protest where teenage girls dress in prom dresses and combat boots to support safe cosmetics in Union Square? (We' might be getting some pictures of it, and if you have any, tag 'em SFist on Flickr!) Well, one girl was at Tuesday's protest in a silver prom dress, tiara, and boots when a group of three guys raced by and......

Here's todays wrap up of the news...

Here's todays wrap up of the news...

Several days ago, two falcons, George & Gracie moved from their tony climes in lower Market and set up shop on the Bay Bridge where they just recently laid some eggs. This, said bird officials, is not good. The reason is pretty simple enough: it's not a great place to raise kids. We mean, the views maybe great but it's not the safest neighborhood and hasn't been a trendy place to live since the early 90's. Actually, it's not a safe place to live because it's really hard for the baby falcons to learn how to fly because the winds are too strong. So today, crack members of the UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group went up a tower in the Bay Bridge and rescued the eggs. ...