Oh, jeez, here we go again. Santa Clara County health officials have put together a PSA warning teens about the dangers of ecstasy, in response to some surveying that found that one in four teens in the county had tried the drug at least once. more ›

Five busloads of Bay Area high school students bound for a ski trip in Utah were busted by cops in Elko, Nevada for a truly impressive drug stash that looks to amount to pounds and pounds of kind bud, pills, and whatever else. Some narcs concerned citizens at the Maverick Country Store in Elko spotted the young city slickers allegedly toking outside the buses during a pee break, and they called in the authorities ... because it's Nevada. more ›

A teen from Suisun City admitted to authorities that she lied about being abducted to get attention from her family. Christina Almanza, who was reported missing Thursday afternoon, claimed "she was being held hostage, possibly with other females, in a basement and that one female might have been killed." But is it really that bad? Weren't we all raised with sitcoms that employed the use of fake kidnappings in order to get mom and dad back together? Or something like that? She's just a teenager. A stupid teenager. Like all teenagers. (We're on your side, Christina. We are. However, the part about telling your parents that you're being held by sex traffickers was downright horrific? You don't do that to you parents, no matter what your batshit hormones and mushy teenage brain tell you.) more ›

Parents beware! Your teens have found a devilish new way of smuggling vodka on their person so that they can get drunk in math class! Leave it to the local news of the Central Coast to sound the alarm bells that teenagers have caught on to the fact that gummy bears, when soaked for a while in a vodka bath, absorb quite significant amounts of alcohol, which can then be ingested on the sly. Because everyone knows how awesome it is to be wasted in the middle of a school day! more ›

Yesterday, a 15-year-old victim was startled awake during an afternoon nap when two suspects broke in to his home around 12:40 p.m. The suspects, described as "men in their late teens to early 20s", threw a sheet over the victim, asked him where the money was before rifling through the home and abandoning the home invasion altogether. more ›

In what's being hailed as a landmark case by civil rights groups, the mother of a gay teenager who hanged himself last September is suing a school district for wrongful death, claiming that they were aware of her son being bullied and did nothing to stop or prevent it. Wendy Walsh, mother of Bakersfield 13-year-old Seth Walsh is claiming that the death of her son was a direct result of the school's negligence, and both his suicide note and a recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Education and the DOJ appear to confirm this. more ›

Around 8 p.m. Friday night, a group of teenagers, both male and female, allegedly got into a fight with a guy on a Muni bus whom they then proceeded to stab multiple times in the torso with a screwdriver. The 31- or 32-year-old man was taken to SF General where he was in life-threatening condition as of Saturday. more ›

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the foot during a drive-by attack in Hunters Point Sunday night. "The gunman opened fire from a blue four-door Ford in the unit block of Cashmere Street just before 8 p.m.," reports the Examiner. The suspects sped away. No arrests have been made. The boy, thankfully, will survive. Anyone with info about the shooting should contact the SFPD anonymous tip line at 415-575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.
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After turning his nose up at trend-piece drink Four Lokko, City Attorney (and mayoral candidate) Dennis Herrera now sets his anti-fruit-flavored-alcohol-seeking laser beams at Pabst Brewing Company’s Blast by Colt 45, a barfy booze beverage arguably aimed at the underage youth of America. "Herrera joined 17 attorneys general, including California’s Kamala Harris, in penning a letter asking Pabst to discontinue the malt beverage, which is 12 percent alcohol and comes in grape, strawberry lemonade, strawberry watermelon and blueberry pomegranate flavors," reports The Examiner. Which, yeah, that sounds gross. (While we're on the subject of banning vile alcoholic concoctions, does this mean we can do away with White Russians at local bars? Because dairy and vodka should never mix.) more ›

It's been confirmed that the 16-year-old girl who survived a fall off the Golden Gate Bridge this morning was attempting to commit suicide. California Highway Patrol spokesman Patrick Roth told Contra Costa Times (via Mercury News) that the girl was visiting from Southern California with her family and had handed her sister a diary containing a suicide note at some point beforehand. more ›

After discovering the body of 16-year-old Andy Zeng early Sunday morning in response to a suicide call, San Francisco police arrested a teen for murder. "Authorities found Zeng, of San Francisco, deceased in a home in the 2100 block of Queseda Avenue, just south of Interstate Highway 280, at around 4:30 a.m. Cops were called to the home after someone reported a suicide," reports The Examiner. Although police "suspect foul play," as well as the involvement of other suspects, they have yet to name a motive. [Ex] more ›

Not every girl can pull off making her own to-die-for prom dress from scratch, à la Molly Ringwald, but luckily the Bay Area has a group of modern-day fairy godmothers at their service. Year after year, The Princess Project has been equipping hundreds of California teens with lovely prom dresses and accessories for free. more ›

SF Appeal has details on quite a thrilling story that came up on the wire yesterday afternoon involving a 15-year-old girl who was pulled over on Wednesday for driving recklessly through downtown. more ›

Holland Reynolds, a 16-year old cross country star and captain of her team at University High School in San Francisco collapsed just short of a second-place finish in last Saturday's state championship meet in Fresno. The heartwarming part is how she pulled together enough strength to crawl across the finish line and ensure that her coach, who was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, would capture a record eight state championship titles. There, who says kids these days are all self-absorbed? more ›

Yesterday, we brought you the story of choking chicken murders at El Monte Elementary School in Concord, where a custodian discovered the bodies of two strangled chickens. Today, police arrested three teenagers in connection with the foul fowl strangulations. The trio "have been taken into custody for animal cruelty & burglary." [SFGate] more ›

The teen event that took place on the fifth floor of a building on Mason Street on Sunday evening, outside of which a shootout claimed the life of German tourist Mechthild Schroer, did not have a proper fire permit and basically should never have happened. Sadly, all the Fire Dept. can do is give a warning to the building owners, not even a citation, and it doesn't even come with a fine. more ›

Not sure if any of you have been following the tale of 16-year-old Abby Sunderland's attempt to circumnavigate the globe solo in a sailboat and become the youngest person ever to do so (her brother Zac, now 17, briefly held the record in 2009). She set sail in January, and got waylaid in April for some repairs. In May, her dreams were quashed when Australian 16-year-old Jessica Watson beat her to it, but Abby's been sailing on and trying to complete the trip anyhow. more ›

Mercury News, SF Weekly, and SF Examiner have already covered it. But just in case: San Francisco police are on the hunt for a missing teen girl who is suicidal. Her details: Caitlin McMahon, 5'03", 130 lbs, green eyes, brown hair, white, 15 y/o. more ›

This morning, there was a sit/lie rally happening at City Hall -- a protest against a law that would, if all goes according to plan, preemptively stop crimes from happening in the Haight. How so? Well, it would make it illegal to sit or lie down on public sidewalks. That is to say, it would attempt to legally extract the teen hooligans who, reported C.V. Nevius, have been using their pooches, cross words and stale body odor to terrorize residents and passersby on Haight Street. more ›

Much to the chagrin of 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom fans, teen pregnancy in California is plummeting. Fast. "Figures released by the Department of Public Health on Monday found that about 35 babies were born for every 1,000 females aged 15 to 19 in 2008," reports Associated Press. "That was down by about two births per 1,000 from the previous year." (Compare this to the rate in 1991, when it was at 71 per 1,000.) more ›

Here at right is the dumb, now dead kid who is responsible for the vehicular manslaughter of that family of four on their way home from a Thanksgiving vacation on Saturday. It turns out, like many teens, 19-year-old Steven Culbertson of Lake County had a previous crash on his record, and a DUI caused his license to be suspended two years back, when he was 17. Many commenters have noted that this case calls to question things like installing parental speed controls in cars, and whether teens, regardless of their status as adults at age 18, should even be allowed to drive cars. Obviously, this is just a sad, sad situation, and a tragedy, and short of shackling all rebellious teens in basements we're not sure that there is a broad, generalized solution that would have avoided this. But yes, perhaps this particular nineteen-year-old was not yet enough of a grown-up to have his own car -- and that intersection at Hwy 37 and Lakeville Hwy probably needs to be re-engineered. more ›

Angry Charles Bronson types, be prepared to get your Bernhard Goetz-infused rage on. According to Eye On Blogs' Brittney Gilbert, who saw what happened firsthand, a man on the 49 around 26th and Mission last night had his wallet stolen by two vile teens. And, understandably, he did nothing about it as it was happening. But wait, it gets worse. Gilbert goes on to report, "To clarify, two teens on the 49 took a man’s wallet that was in his hand, and hared him to do something about it. He did not." Sad. And frustrating. Muni is normally a place for all citizens to safely-- oh wait. Nevermind. [via Mission Mission] more ›

El Dorado Hills Steven Colver and Tylar Witt, suspected of murdering Tylar's mother, have been caught this morning. San Bruno police, according to KRON 4, captured the two at the Tanforan Mall. (Because no one would ever think to find teens at a mall.) On Monday, if you recall, deputies found Joanne Witt, 47, in her home in El Dorado Hills, which is 22 miles east of Sacramento. According to reports, Witt died after suffering "violent injuries." The abandoned car the teens used to evade police was found on the 500 block of O'Farrell Street last night. more ›

We came across this post on Facebook (published 13 hours ago), about a missing Marin girl: "INDIA CLOUD WAS SEEN 45min AGO ON HAIGHT ST NEAR AMOEBA IN SAN FRANCISCO!!!!! She has moved but can't have gone far. She was reported alone..." more ›

Not to be a total bummer this Monday Tuesday morning, but let's get this quick wrap-up over with.

• Two teens are being held in conjunction with the shooting death of a 13-year-old in East Oakland.
• A motorcyclist crashed and died after giving chase to the CHP in San Jose at 2 a.m. last night.
• Don't know if you heard about this terrible drunk driving crash over the weekend which killed a mother, her brother, and left two twin toddlers in critical condition.
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Joseph Loudon, 16, was found unconscious at an Orinda house party over the holiday weekend, ultimately dying from alcohol poisoning. In addition to being cute, white, God-fearing and popular at his high school, Loudon also played on the track/field and football teams. So, naturally, this was one of top stories on the morning news today -- but still, all things considered, a tragic story. Anyway, his 18-year-old buddy, Patrick Gabrielli, was arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors. That is to say, Gabrielli, who has since posted bail, bought Loudon the fatal liquor. more ›

Egads, this sounds awful. In yet another why reason teenagers should be handled with cattle prods and crammed with psychoactives at all times, a man was alleged beaten and robbed by a most vile gaggle of teenagers in the Mission yesterday. According to Mission Mission, here's what happened. more ›

A couple weeks ago we mentioned this disturbing-though-not-deadly situation on I-680 where drivers were getting shot at, apparently by an air rifle and maybe by a teenager, and getting their car windows shattered. Well, two 21-year-olds have been arrested and they're facing 40 some odd counts of assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism, among other things. We know that these air rifle things are weapons, and maybe deadly if they had actually caused someone to crash, but can we technically call them "deadly weaspons"? Perhaps that's beside the point. And anyway, drivers on 680 can rest easy, and though not teens they were still just a couple of asshole kids having target practice. more ›

A sadistic teenager / psychopathic "gunman" has been shooting at cars as they pass between Washington and Mission Boulevards on 680 near the Fremont-Sunol border (i.e. boonies adjacent). No one has been hurt, but ten cars in total have had windows shot out over the past week and a half, five of which happened during the same five-minute span on Saturday morning around 11:45. more ›

by Tiffany Maleshefski more ›