• SF Supervisor Matt Dorsey pointed out that the same mass power outage as Saturday’s meltdown also occurred 22 years ago, which also affected a third of the city, originated at PG&E's Mission and 8th substation, and happened to be on a Saturday that fell on December 20. Uncannily, the Chronicle/SFGate article from 2003 reads almost word-for-word as if it happened in 2025, except replace the thriving mall full of shoppers with glitched-out Waymos (and an hours-long police standoff at a five-star hotel). [SFGate]

• The Internet Archive, which recently hit 1 trillion pages, is holding a short film contest highlighting works in the public domain — deadline January 7. They’re especially interested in works from 1930, which are set to enter the domain on January 1, including classic literature, early sound films, cartoons, music, and art. [Internet Archive]

• The shooting that took place at San Jose’s Westfield Valley Fair Mall last month, which injured three and caused the evacuation of hundreds of Black Friday shoppers, was motivated by a black-and-teal hat with the letter “m” worn by the male victim in the shooting. [KRON4]
• There are only four remaining judges at San Francisco’s immigration court, down from 21 earlier this year, and Sacramento has just three, as the federal administration rushes to replace them with “deportation judges.” [KQED]
• 7-Eleven gas customers — check your bank statements since your $40 fill-up might have shown up as a $4,000 charge like a couple hundred of these unlucky Bay Area customers. [KGO]  

• San Jose police and the California Highway Patrol are searching for 12-year-old Esha Peairs, who was last seen on Tuesday around midnight near Foxworthy and New Jersey avenues in San Jose. [NBC Bay Area]
• California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Friday that Dungeness crab season will launch January 5, now that endangered migrating humpback whales are leaving the region. [KGO]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist