'Tis the season of violent domestic disputes? 22-year-old Felix Rivera of Vallejo was arrested last night for allegedly beating and stabbing his mother, whose name has not been released. The incident occurred at the mother's home in the 300 block of Ebbetts Pass, and Rivera could have potentially injured his mother further had a roommate not intervened, allowing the mother to escape to a neighbor's house and call police. more ›

Right after BART officials admitted Tuesday that they have a problem with metal thieves yanking wire off the system's tracks, yet another incident of copper theft was reported. This time, thieves ripped out two 20-foot sections of thick, electrified cables around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. Yesterday's theft prompted BART to come clean about a copper theft that set the transit agency back a year on a multi-million dollar project that would have reduced delays and sped up train service systemwide. more ›

This gem of a story reminds us why we should make an effort to watch the local TV news more often. Some poor 21-year-old kid in Vallejo took his friends up on a $100 dare, in which he lubed himself with laundry detergent and climbed into a baby swing at Blue Rock Springs Park on Friday night. Then he got stuck. more ›

Special education teacher Jerry Johnson, 56, of Vallejo was pinched by the police for allegedly raped an 18-year-old female assistant on campus during school hours. The "heinous" act reportedly took place at Loma Vista Elementary School. The victim, who helps Johnson out with the kids, has the mental capacity of a seven-year-old, notes KTVU, who go on to say that Johnson "didn’t seem too surprised by the arrest." more ›

As part of ongoing efforts to curb the prostitution epidemic in Vallejo, the local police force has upgraded their hardware with the help of a local businessman. According to a KTVU report from the bankrupt town of working girls, Vallejo Police have installed two new digital video cameras (fancy webcams, really) that allow officers to view live video feeds of popular pickup spots over the Internet or from the comfort of their police cruisers. more ›

Vallejo's been having a rough go of it, you guys. There was the town's bankruptcy, and then this trouble with violent teen mobs and vigilanteism, and the occasional body. Now they're facing gentrification-through-prostitution, and neighborhood groups are kind of pissed! more ›

Yesterday, a grown man of 36 years of age had to be rescued from waist-deep mud by the Vallejo Fire Department after he jumped over a railing lining a waterfront promenade along the Mare Island Strait. Luckily for the man, who was facing incoming tides, the bankrupt city of Vallejo could still afford the ladder and harness needed to get him unstuck. No word on why the man decided to jump, but if it was "just for kicks" there were probably some more exciting things he could have been doing in Vallejo. [CCTimes] more ›

Over at the national edition of Curbed they're taking a look at surprisingly nice homes for sale in bankrupt towns across America - and that includes our neighbor to the Northeast with the hooker problem. While real estate-minded folks might be looking at this as a homeownership bargain, we're reminded of Vallejo's efforts to curb prostitution by publicly calling out johns who cruise the city's streets. For some, that would be good reason to avoid this 4,000 square-foot mini-mansion (the prostitution, not the johns) despite a price tag lower than most San Francisco two-bedroom apartments, but we're looking at this as a potential business opportunity for an enterprising Madame: Just think of the brothel you could run out of there, is what we're saying. more ›

Because we can't let a children-ingesting-drugs story go untouched, we bring you word of another of a near epidemic of incidents of grade-school kids finding a tasty dessert treat, eating it, and falling out like amateurs at High Sierra. more ›

Ever since Vallejo filed for bankruptcy a couple years back, we've been pulling for the home of Six Flags Discovery Kingdom to experience a miraculous renaissance. Well, that hasn't quite happened yet and despite attractively low home prices, our neighbor to the north-east is apparently attracting as many hookers as is it homebuyers. According to the Chronicle's exposé on the growing problem, the town is now a draw to working women from all over the West. more ›

The second body in two months has been recovered off the shores of Vallejo. Police have not yet determined the cause of death, but today they identified the body as a missing Vallejo man, 45-year-old Robert Mast. Mast was last seen going out to walk his dog on February 5, and police are calling the death "questionable." As the Vallejo Times-Herald reports, "His black and white female pit bull was spotted in the River Park area and returned home later that evening, dragging her leash." more ›

The girlfriend of now deceased suspected killer Efren Valdemoro spoke to her boss at the nail salon where she worked, on her cell phone, from the car she was in with Valdemoro during Tuesday night's high-speed police chase through Richmond. Cindy Tran, 46, was killed in the car during that chase and just after the phone call with Sandra Le, who says she could hear sirens in the background, and Tran's pleas with Valdemoro to stop, telling him she loved him. more ›

It's been a bizarre and bloody few days in the North and East Bays, with five people dead and one still missing in a violent string of events culminating in a police showdown last night. The bodies of two missing women, Segundina Allen and her friend Marcaria Smart, were found last night in the home Allen shared with her husband, Charles Rittenhouse, age 72. Both women were in their 60s and Rittenhouse had reported Allen missing on Sunday. Authorities approached Rittenhouse as he arrived home from work, and ultimately discovered the bodies. One victim was found in the house, and the other in the backyard. more ›

The 16-year-old teen accused of shooting Vallejo ice cream vendor Amarjit Kaur in February will be tried as an adult. Peter Montenegro is alleged to have shot Kaur after he and his pal, 14-year-old Joseph Beverly, tried to robbing the lady. Kaur survived the shooting. And now, a judge ordered both Montenegro and Beverly to be tried as adults. Teens, just like us! [via KTVU] more ›

A homecoming dance gang rape under the watch of high school principals, ice cream truck employee shot by a teenager, noontime baseball bat beating deaths, brutal teen mob attacks -- which city is in need of a better mayor: Richmond or Vallejo? more ›

The Solano County sherriff's office say there's been a 25% uptick in the number of permits for concealed weapons, following on a crime wave in Vallejo which has included the shooting of an ice cream truck driver and a crazed teen mob that attacked a city worker. (We also might take this moment to remind you of a little girl who was shot in bed last June.) As KCBS reports, there have been a large number of individuals and business hitting up gun stores and security firms in efforts to protect themselves against any potential threats. They talked to one Bill Morgan who owns a store called Guns, Fishing and Other Stuff in Vacaville, who's been getting a lot of calls from Vallejo. more ›

The disturbed boy suspected of shooting a Vallejo ice cream truck worker was arrested yesterday. Officers from Vallejo police and the FBI went to an Oakland residence in the 1100 block of 73rd Avenue, where they found Montenegro "leaving the home carrying suitcases and accompanied by three individuals." The creep was arrested without incident, and the three individuals were detained, then released, for harboring a fugitive. more ›

Teenagers, as we have pointed out to you again and again and again, are evil. They are creatures in need of taming. Take, for example, this 15-year-old boy suspected of shooting of a woman in her ice cream truck during a robbery gone bad in Vallejo on Wednesday. more ›

Wanted dead or alive, Vallejo teens attacked and robbed a city worker yesterday afternoon. Police said, according to CBS 5, "the incident happened around 3:30 p.m. in the 600 block of Nebraska Street near Vallejo High School as the employee was returning the backhoe to the city's corporation yard." more ›

Last week, the NYT wrote this rather provocative piece about the collision between evangelical Christians and transplanted LGBT people in Vallejo -- which as you should know is right in our backyard and closer than wine country. A goodly sized gay segment moved into the North Bay town during this last economic cycle, lured by decent real estate at bargain prices and, until last year, a gay bar. An openly gay man, Gary Cloutier, was actually elected mayor in 2007, but a contentious recount and a minor scandal involving an arrest for public drunkenness ended with Mayor Osby Davis winning by less than five votes and taking office only a few days after Cloutier's first day. more ›

• Bay Area men all "rich, metrosexual brainiacs"? What about all the poor bartenders, and the 25% who are gay? (NBC Bay Area)
• Free couch. (Sex Pigeon)
• 4-alarm brush fire raging in Vallejo. (ABC 7)

Yesterday, way down in Vallejo, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom opened up at new big-cat exhibit. It's called "Odin's Temple of the Tiger," featuring the headlining, "internationally acclaimed" Bengal tiger named Odin. more ›

Vallejo police say a three-year-old girl was shot as she slept in bed with her parents. The incident occurred on the 500 block of York Street early this morning. According to reports, the girls was either 2- or 3-years-old. The shots came from a "nearby alley" and the home was allegedly the target. The child was sent to a nearby hospital via helicopter. She is in critical condition. No arrests have been made. more ›

Our bankrupt neighbors to our north (northeast?), Vallejo, are looking to add in some revenue to the city. How? Well, after the neighborhood ousted mega-chain Wal-Mart, Vallejo is looking into luring other grocer businesses to town. While Vallejo isn't allowed to tax foodstuffs, they can tax alcoholic beverage sales. Enter: Fresh & Easy and Beverages & More. more ›

Free from last last year's minority vs. self-loathing minority mayoral race headlines, Vallejo is now making national news by becoming California's largest city to file for bankruptcy. On Tuesday night, it seems, city council members voted unanimously to file before the fiscal year ends in June. In addition to a significant slump in property values and retail sales, the Bay Area city also faces a whopping budget deficit of $16 million. more ›

Well, well, well. Well. It turns out that after a recount and by a mere three votes, according to the scroll across the screen on during the People's Court, the new Vallejo Mayor is actually Osby Davis. The Folsom Street Fair-phobic Gary Cloutier, it seems, doesn't get the title. According to the CBS5 site,"[f]ollowing a recount, former Solano County supervisor Osby Davis has defeated Vice Mayor Gary Cloutier in the Vallejo mayoral race." Daivs... more ›

-- A Vallejo husband and father, Kevin Owens, 41, went though with a murder/suicide pact (with himself, we guess) on Friday night. He shot and killed his wife, Stacey Owens, 38; wounded his two-year-old daughter; and then turned the gun on himself (right after "a big Thanksgiving dinner at their home Thursday night.") This happened on the 300 block of Carousel Drive. Owens' 10-year-old son managed to escape the bloodbath, run to a neighbor's,... more ›

Councilman Gary Cloutier-- you know, the Vallejo mayoral candidate who was arrested in Palm Springs just this past week for public intoxication -- won the coveted title of Mayor of Vallejo today after the final vote was counted. In a race that was too close to call weeks after November's election, the final (and unofficial) results are "Cloutier with 5,722 votes and Davis with 5,718." That's a four vote difference. That's...insane. (Official should be... more ›

-- And then Nancy was all, "Like, what the hell, you guys?" [SF Examiner] -- The Central Subway Project. [Transbay Blog] -- Now you don't have to leave your bedroom to travel. Ever again. Yay! [The Tech Chronicles] -- The seven rules for talking (and not screaming self-righteously) about gentrification. [Neighbors Project] -- Behold: SF Weekly's new food blog. [SFoodie] -- A censure-free DiFi. [SFBG] -- After it was revealed that he was, and... more ›

On Sunday morning Gary Cloutier, 45, (the gay one!) spent several hours in jail after being arrested for public intoxication in Palm Spring, CA. But he didn't just have a few sips of an appletini. It seems that the mayor wannabe was "staggering and could barely stand," according to CBS 5, after cops found him in his car, freshly sloshed after leaving a Palm Springs bar. (And it's not even White Party season!) more ›