Yes, San Francisco can now proudly claim to be the first city in the U.S. to ban plastic bags. Or at least in grocery markets and pharmacy chains as the legislation allows small corner markets to use the old school bags. According to the legislation sponsored by Supervisor McDreamy, grocery stores and pharmacy chaings now have to switch up and use either compostable bags made of cornstarch or bags made of recyclable paper. ...

In a big press conference yesterday, city officials announced plans to have police officers start patrolling four projects in the Western Addition. Up until now, police weren't able to patrol those places due to issues concerning who had jurisdiction over them-- San Francisco or the Federal Government. The Federal Government had supported community policing in those areas, but the money dried up years ago. After looking through what Ross Mirkarimi called a "Khafka-esque" relationship between HUD and the SFPD, a solution was reached. ...

Fog City Journal is reporting that Matt Gonzalez has been in talks with a campaign manager, Nicole Derse, about running. We're all guessing it's for Mayor but who knows with Matt? We've heard speculation that he might be going for Kamala's job. Or maybe he's doing his patented "wait for the right moment" thing to try and snag a spot on "American Idol?" We hear his rendition of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" is pretty amazing.

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We've been enjoying the back-and-forth over the Great Plastic vs. Paper Debate although we admit to being even more confused than we were before. In fact, we have a feeling that all the confusion over the issue makes more than a few give an "ah screw it" shrug of their shoulders and go with whatever makes it easier to transport their goods. ...

The polls are closed and the readers have spoken-- It's Mirkarimi! Yes, with over 1/4 of the vote, Ross Mirkarimi beat out such heavyweights as Chris Daly, Matt Gonzalez, and Lou Seal to win the first official SFist Mayoral Poll. Was it the soul patch? The stylish hair? All the work to make it easier to buy dope? Either way, if SFist had it's way, it'll be Mayor McHottie vs. Supervisor McDreamy (or as a reader put it- Supervisor MIRKAdreamy) in a Mayoral Hot off. Congratulations Ross and let the rumors and idle speculation begin....

Now that Gavin has stopped playing coy and moved ahead with his re-election plans, the question is who will step up to run against Mr. 80% Approval Ratings? It's the parlor game anyone can play! So far, the question has been pondered in the Bay Guardian, Beyond Chron, and yesterday's Matier & Ross column. And the answer, so far? Nobody has the cajones to. ...