The state Assembly voted against fishermen who rip off shark fins and toss the still-barely-living sea creatures back into the ocean. "AB376 bans the sale, trade or possession of shark fins, a delicacy that costs hundreds of dollars per pound and is used to create a soup popular among Asians," reports KTVU. "The Assembly approved the bill 60-8." Although the extinction of these sharks pose a threat to underwater ecosystems, some have decried the shark fin ban as an assault on Asian cultural cuisine. Namely, both Mayor Ed Lee and mayoral candidate Sen. Leland Yee champion the destruction of our endangered shark population for soup. more ›

You'll recall how State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma was looking to define what a "rave" was so that she could write a bill that would ban raves from occurring on public property? Well, now she sounds like she's backing off a bit, saying she won't move forward with the Anti-Raves Act of 2011, a.k.a. AB 74, until she has some "stakeholder meetings" with various interested parties. "I don't believe anyone wants the tragedies that occurred this year to continue happening. The stakeholder meetings will be inclusive and I commit to not moving AB 74 until meeting and hearing from all perspectives," said Ma in a statement. "This issue is complicated. We have to find a way to protect young people without compromising everyone's legitimate rights to enjoy themselves in a safe environment." more ›

The State Assembly is considering a measure to begin researching the technology and implementation of electronic license plates statewide, a move that hopes to help close the $19 billion budget gap we're currently facing. The plates would provide yet another opportunity for advertising in our ever-ad-saturated world, and yet another reason for fender benders as people become mesmerized by the new screens on the back of every car in traffic. more ›

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice and the press making the speaker of the California State Assembly, Fabian Nunez, run away when being asked hard questions about sketchy luxurious and worldly expenses. more ›

As this Sesame Street YouTube clip asks, who the people in your neighborhood, Ed Jew? And -- good idea, commenter Apioca Ted! Here's a summary of the declarations filed by Ed Jew's neighbors: more ›

What's Ed Jew doing today, now that he's been excused from jury duty? This has got to be the first time anyone's been to get San Francisco jury duty, ever. more ›

Transportation issues covered at Assemblywoman Fiona Ma's First Town Hall Meeting more ›

More Carole Migden driving news! The Sacramento Bee (which, we'll admit, we were only perusing to see if there were some more pictures of the whales) has found a woman who's still angry about the time Carole Migden totaled her car back in 1996 (Migden's first year in the State Assembly, and a year before Migden was diagnosed with leukemia). "It's really odd at my age that I just can't get over it," the woman said. more ›

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A photo of S.F. Mayor Newsom at UCSF children's hospital more ›

Man, we are starting to get a headache trying to stay on top of the convoluted machinations of the San Francisco 2008 State Senate race. You may remember that current State Assembly rep Mark Leno floated a trial balloon to run in two years for the seat currently held by his former friend Carole Migden. After pooh-poohing the rumor, Migden then promptly started floating trial balloons of her own that she might run against Gavin Newsom for mayor in 2007, to improve her name recognition in SF and shore up support with anti-Newsomites. more ›

-Gun related deaths: Not just for Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco anymore. more ›

We're begging for your help here, readers -- begging! Can someone with a digital camera PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go to this event and send us your pictures of Chris Daly getting thrown into a swimming pool? We'll throw in some SFist swag if you do! We'd go ourselves, but admission is $125 (and we don't have a digital camera anyways). more ›

--The Bay Bridge lower deck is open again. more ›

--Pleeeeease don't vote to recall Gavin! more ›

We're launching a new sporadic political column, following Fiona Ma and Janet Reilly's battle for the 12th Assembly District. If anyone's got a better name for this column, post it in the comments! Anyone who's played one-on-one against Mayor Newsom's gotta have some game! Look at the fire in Fiona's eyes in this picture! Bring! It! On! After a fairly moribund start (for our purposes, "moribund" means "not too terribly hilarious in that car-wreck kind of way that we like") to the SF West-siiiiiide State Assembly race between Fiona Ma and Tori Spelling Janet Reilly (wife of the famously-aggressive political strategist Clint Reilly), where the candidates have agreed on almost everything except school exit exams and the death penalty (Fiona is against the first and for the second, Reilly is the opposite), things heated up today with the first use of the word "Nixonian." Yes! According to Ma, Reilly's people faked her name on IRS filings and have been falsely telling everyone that she was the treasurer in the 2002 campaign for Mike Rounds, the anti-abortion South Dakota governor. Ma is pro-choice. The Examiner did some research and found out that the Reilly campaign has been emailing Mark Leno and NARAL about it. Reilly's people (through Eric Jaye, Newsom's old campaign guy) now say they didn't fake anything, don't know if it's correct or not, and are now trying to find out from the IRS why Fiona's name is listed on those forms. Why would Fiona Ma be working on a campaign in South Dakota, anyways? We can barely get her to work on campaigns in San Francisco! more ›

Pillow Fight February 14th!!! Who wants to bet that Frank Chu just shows up? Banjo-pickin' blogger Jordan Klein will be appearing tomorrow and next Friday as part of the San Francisco Bluegrass & Old-Time Festival. And congrats to Irene McGee for landing her show "NoOne's Listening" on 106.9 FM. more ›

You know, our busy urban lives are fraught with so many seemingly unsolvable troubles that it's nice to hear, now and then, that our leaders are tackling problems that don't actually exist. The nonexistant ones are so much easier to claim to have solved, after all. more ›

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