We're doing away with our weekly roundups in which we read the weeklies for you because, well, reading is hard! No, but seriously, it's usually the cover pieces that are of worthy note in either the Weekly or the Guardian, and these cover pieces are going to be judged by the average Dick and Janet on Market Street by the quality of the cover art each of their respective art departments chose. Without further ado, our new feature in which we pit the rival papers against one another and judge them by their covers. more ›

We're doing away with our weekly roundups in which we read the weeklies for you because, well, reading is hard! No, but seriously, it's usually the cover pieces that are of worthy note in either the Weekly or the Guardian, and these cover pieces are going to be judged by the average Dick and Janet on Market Street by the quality of the cover art each of their respective art departments chose. So this week we launch a new feature in which we pit the rival papers against one another and judge them by their covers. more ›

In the wake of harsh layoffs at SF Weekly, the Bay Citizen has literally saved journalism. Or one journalist, at least: the charity case online newspaper has hired Matt Smith, whose name you might recognize from many a Weekly cover. more ›

In some heart-sinking news today, SF Weekly cut some of its staff -- possibly 1/3 of it, according to the grapevine. Most notably, the Village Voice Media paper pruned such stellar talent as web editor Jake Swearingen, reporter Matt Smith, calendar editor Hiya Swanhuyser, and SFoodie's W. Blake Gray. more ›

Adding a pinch of media drama to your Wednesday, SF Weekly scribe Erin Sherbert goes after her former employer, SF Examiner, accusing the editorial staff of sexism. It seems that the last nine hires in the Ex's newsroom have been all men -- white men, to be exact. more ›

Ian S. Port over at the Weekly's All Shook Down blog put up one of those 10-song playlists they've been doing, this time a list of breakup songs to "help get Egypt President Hosni Mubarak out of office." We don't think Mubarak had a chance to check out the blog before he actually went ahead and resigned. But, anyway, as Ian S. Port says, "In politics, as in love, there sometimes comes a need for one party in a relationship to say goodbye. Adios. See ya. Get the eff outta here, dude." Among the song choices, "1,000 Times Goodbye" by Megadeth, and "Bye Bye Bye" by N*Sync. [SF Weekly] more ›

It's Wednesday, and we thought we'd save you both the ink-dusky fingers and the trouble of scanning the print weeklies yourselves, and provide you with this tidy paperless summary (with appropriate and inappropriate commentary). Now you can go ahead and use the print editions for découpage. more ›

In SF Weekly's cover story this week, Peter Jamison takes a look at the bonuses that city workers can get just for doing their jobs. It starts off with a sentence about poop though. More specifically, it starts off with Andrew Clark, an engineer with the city's largest sewage treatment facility. Clark takes pride in his job even though it smells pretty bad, so he's fairly well compensated for it with a salary that's just a tick under 6-figures. But Clark also gets an additional 7.5 percent bonus for being certified for hazardous-materials management. more ›

SF Weekly Publisher (and an all-around swell chap) Josh Fromson will leave the city's noted alt-weekly to take over at The NY Village Voice. Both SF Weekly and The Village Voice are owned by the same parent company, Village Voice Media. more ›

Weekly newspapers aren't just free gift wrap, they also contain articles and sexy back page ads. Here's what you'll find on streetcorners around town this week: more ›

It's Wednesday and thank god the weekly papers are out, because how else would you stay dry in this terrible downpour? (Seriously though - grab one of each, it's really raining out there.) Once you're somewhere dry and safe for newsprint, here's what you'll be reading assuming the ink is still legible: more ›

It's Wednesday, and the Weekly kicks things off for us this week with a grand cover article by Lauren Smiley about the ever growing band of gay nudists who have shown up on the streets of the Castro, in particular in the new plaza at 17th and Market. Lauren uses the obvious lede, "In Chinatown, it may be the Year of the Tiger, but in the Castro, it's almost always the Year of the Cock." And goes on to name names and generally discuss the trend, which is nothing new but has gained a bit more attention of late after citizens like Terry Bennett, whose family has owned Cliff's Variety Store in the Castro for 70 years, have complained. "The Castro's a place that's supposed to be for everybody, and if you're excluding the kids, that's not being accepting of everyone." Um, the Castro's never been for kids, lady, at least not since the 50s. And yes, this would be a situation where strollers and gay male libertines don't really mix. (See also our previous, slightly satirical take.) more ›

It's Wednesday, and we at SFist are going to revive a long-ago feature in which we tirelessly read, and summarize, the stories of note in this week's alt-weeklies. We like to be service-y like that, you see, because we love you, and we respect your distaste for ink-stained fingers. more ›

What you have here folks is #7 on their list of 'Top 8 Songs to Listen to During the Next Earthquake,' Carole King's classic 'I Feel the Earth Move.' more ›

Rainbow Groceries, the preferred supermarket for white progressives and artisan ilk, gets the piss taken out of it via SF Weekly's Michael Leaverton. It is, without exaggeration, one of the best things we've read all year. It transcends the average anti-hippie rant into something sublime. Behold: more ›

Looks like the folks at SF Bay Guardian can expect payment from SF Weekly -- at least so declares the state appeals court. According to KRON 4, "In a 3-0 ruling on Wednesday, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said there was convincing evidence that the Bay Guardian, an alternative weekly, had suffered damages because of SF Weekly's 'predatory pricing scheme.'" In 2008, if you recall, a San Francisco Superior Court jury awarded the alt-weekly a $21 million damage award. "Bruce Brugmann, editor and publisher of the Bay Guardian, says the two newspapers are in settlement talks." more ›

We really must draw your attention to today's Weekly, in which Lauren Smiley pens a thoughtful profile of Thomas Bruso, a.k.a. Epic Beard Man. One choice quote: "Bruso is not one to walk away from a challenge — just ask the North Beach cops who drove up to where he was yelling obscenities at cars on Columbus Avenue one day, and billy-clubbed and pepper-sprayed the 6-foot-1, 225-pound hulk until he cracked up and cried." [SF Weekly] more ›

Despite being ordered by a court to hand over half of its revenue to SF Bay Guardian for illegally selling ads below cost, SF Weekly is not -- not! -- going out of business. OK?! more ›

On Tuesday, San Francisco court commissioner granted SF Bay Guardian "half of SF Weekly’s current and future advertising revenue "in a move that could seriously damage the Weekly’s ability to stay in business," reports former New Times Media alt-weekly East Bay Express. more ›

We know it's a shit time for media in general, and we're all chasing after the same few advertising dollars, but the latest issue of SF Weekly, with the glossy purple cover and the terrific cover story by Ashley Harrell? Kind of skinny, no? We don't mean to get all up in their shit, and they do have seven full-page ads in the issue — and it ain't like the Guardian or 7x7 haven't also been in the pin-thin club of late — but we're just sayin. We don't want to see you waste away to nothing... we're just sayin. more ›

For those of you following the SF Weekly/VVM versus San Francisco Bay Guardian fight -- which one, you ask? the one about money, whether or not San Francisco is the worst run city in the U.S., and/or take your pick -- you simply must tune in to tomorrow's KQED "Forum". While you should always tune in to "Forum" (it's a great show overall, and Michael Krasny's voice soothes the soul), tomorrow SF Weekly scribes Benjamin Wachs and Joe Eskenazi, and SF Bay Guardian editor Tim Redmond go head to head to discuss, among other things, how much San Francisco spends per capita and the overall state of San Francisco. more ›

Here's a morsel of alt weekly-vs.-alt weekly news to fill your belly: last Tuesday local alt weekly SF Bay Guardian was "granted its motion to intercept the income of the SF Weekly." The Weekly, if you recall, were branded as a bunch of predatory pricing hooligans against the Guardian in 2008, with the latter publication receiving a $21 million settlement. more ›

A "polarizing" figure in the SF food community, Meredith Brody was a memorable one during her tenure at SF Weekly. Yesterday, Eater tell us, Brody parted ways with SF Weekly. more ›

Our guest Day-Around-the-Bay aggregator Chris Daly pointed you to this cover piece about Theresa Sparks in the new issue of SF Weekly last night, but having just read it ourselves during a long F-Market trip last night, we thought we'd encourage you again. It's a compelling profile by Lauren Smiley of the woman who could be our next District 6 Supervisor (should she officially decide to run), and the main photo by Frank Gaglione (at right) makes Sparks look downright Lorraine Bracco-ish, no? more ›

A new piece by Lauren Smiley in SF Weekly chronicles the demise/transitioning of our local public access TV org, Access SF. The upshot is that Comcast doesn't cover operating expenses anymore, and the City can only pony up a fraction of what the station has been used to running on, providing us with such programs as "If the Christ Returned Today" (tonight at 7 p.m.), "Atheist Viewpoint," (today at 12:30 p.m.), "Tranny Talk TV," "Ace in Your Face," and our favorite nudist 9/11 conspiracy discussion group, "My Naked Truth." The producers of many of these shows are, shall we say, of a generation for whom YouTube is still a confusing and frightening world of flashes and buttons. They are currently in a bit of an uproar over a proposal by the kids at BAVC (Bay Area Video Coalition) to take over and run the city's two public access channels on a YouTube/Current TV model, in which everyone shoots and edits their shit on their own equipment, uploads it to a site, and a minimal staff keeps the channel schedules rolling. more ›

The man who has spent his local political career championing the rights of the Tenderloin poor, the SRO-dwelling, and the owners of property more likely to be made of cardboard than of concrete, Supervisor Chris Daly is facing further scrutiny by the SF Appeal and Chron yet being defended by the Weekly this week -- all relating to the recent revelation of the purchase of not one but two homes in Fairfield, far afield of the district Daly represents. This of course follows on much e-ink already spilt and spread around in the past week on this subject, which is obvious fodder for Daly's detractors and brings forth a flood of eager defenders. more ›

Not sure if any of you caught this story in the Weekly this week, but just in case you didn't, and just in case you have kids, make sure to train them in the fine art of screaming as a molester deterrent. more ›

Anna McCarthy at the Weekly's All Shook Down blog has this fun review of Saturday's Air Guitar Championship at The Independent. The event was a two-day regional spectacular in which winners move on to become finalists in D.C. on August 7th. Friday night's champion was a guy named Awesome with huge hair and a red beard, and on Saturday Jello Biafra (of Dead Kennedys fame) showed up to be a celebrity guest judge and apparently fell into the much hated Simon Cowell critic role. Boone's was a sponsor, so much of the pink stuff was drunk, and the winner, who went by the name of Cold Steel Renegate, was said to have brought air tears to at least one eye. more ›

The Weekly's big undersized Summer in the City issue is out, and in it they're offering up a few suggestions of stuff to do on the cheap (under $15), including heading over to the Paramount in Oakland for their Friday classic movie series (next up, Creature from the Black Lagoon on July 10th), or going to the Academy of Sciences for their $10 nightlife events. But we were especially glad to be reminded of Audium, the "sound-space continuum" designed by electronic music composer Stan Shaff. It's a deeply 70s space tucked away in an assuming building at 1616 Bush, featuring 169 speakers and a bunch of chairs arranged in a circle. Audience members are immersed, with the lights off, in a sound sculpture in which a custom-composed piece of music seems to move around the room as it is played. The place was funded by an NEA grant in the early 70s, and is still presided over every Friday and Saturday by Shaff himself, who is 79 years old and just premiered a new composition this past October, "Audium 9." more ›

You've probably noticed that there are a great many "service animals" on Muni and elsewhere these days, and this is due in large part to the laxness with which the City's policy on service dogs is enforced, and due to the fear of legal reprisals on the part of Muni drivers, landlords and others who don't want to end up in federal court on discrimination charges. SF Weekly's Joe Eskanazi takes a thorough look this week at the dicey issue of service dogs and the many and sundry pets masquerading as service animals on public transportation and in SROs all over town. more ›