SF Politics Lurie Violated City Law by Keeping Records of Trump Phone Call Secret, City Committee Says SF residents still don’t know what happened on that phone call where Mayor Lurie talked Donald Trump out of sending federal troops into SF, and a panel of SF’s Sunshine Ordinance Task Force says Lurie is breaking the law.
SF Politics Oakland City Councilmember Gets Backlash for Flipping Off Audience During City Council Meeting An Oakland City Council meeting about Flock cameras was already pretty testy, but Councilmember Ken Houston flipped it off even more by giving the finger to an audience member while the meeting was in progress.
Bay Area Sports 49ers Radio Announcer Greg Papa Returning to the Booth, as His Cancer Is in Remission It’s a ‘Touchdown, San… Fran… Cisco!’ over lymphoblastic leukemia, as legendary football announcer Greg Papa’s cancer is in remission, and he’ll be back to calling a Niners game in just 11 days.
Arts & Entertainment Jello Biafra Is Auctioning Off His 1989 Toyota Celica as a Fundraiser for Record Label Alternative Tentacles If you can’t spend your holidays in Cambodia, maybe consider spending your money on the 1989 Toyota Celica GT Convertible that ex-Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra has been driving for the last 30 years, as it is up for auction.
Business & Tech California Might Ban Tesla Sales for 30 Days Over Deceptive ‘Autopilot’ Marketing A state judge ruled that Tesla can’t sell or manufacture cars in California for 30 days over false advertising claims about their ‘full self-driving’ mode. But the California DMV cut Tesla some slack, giving them 60 days to fix the ads.
SF News Allegedly Drunk Driver Stops at Hercules Fire Station to Ask for Directions, Promptly Gets Arrested for DUI An Oakland man stopped at a Hercules fire station to ask for directions, and staff quickly surmised he was drunk, and also driving on a license suspended for a previous DUI. Oh, and they also found a baggie of meth in his sock.
SF News Day Around the Bay: Car on BART Tracks in Castro Valley Causing All Manner of Evening Commute Problems A giraffe at the Oakland Zoo has died; Mayor Lurie is giving condo owners a lucky break on their new sprinkler requirement; and a car on the BART tracks has halted BART traffic into the Castro Valley station.
Arts & Entertainment SF Might Name an SF Street After Claude the Albino Alligator, and You Can Help Pick Which Street The late albino alligator Claude now has a City Hall effort afoot to name a street in Golden Gate Park after him, and there's a public poll to help decide which street will become “Claude the Albino Alligator Way.”
SF News Feds Arrest Four People for Allegedly Plotting a New Year’s Eve Bombing Attack in Southern California This FBI image claims to show four people testing bombs they allegedly intended to detonate at “multiple US companies” on New Year’s Eve, but all four were arrested and taken into federal custody this past weekend.
Arts & Entertainment Looks Like the Bay Lights Will Be Coming Back On In March 2026, Though Maybe a Little Later The famed Bay Bridge LED installation the Bay Lights is expected to be lit back up again in about three months, which will not be in time for the Super Bowl, but will expand the dazzling illuminated display to both sides of the bridge.
SF News Heads Up, BART Fare is Increasing by 6.2% Starting on January 1, 2026 Wait, didn’t BART just raise their fares on January 1 this year? Yes they did, and they’re going to do it again on January 1, 2026, the second consecutive New Year’s Day fare increase for the cash-strapped transit system.
SF Politics Federal Court Hearings Start Today For Republican Attempt to Overturn Gavin Newsom’s Prop 50 Redistricting After voters overwhelmingly approved Gavin Newsom’s redistricting ballot measure last month, Republicans are looking for a do-over in court to halt the new maps, as the GOP fears a blowout in the 2026 midterm elections.
SF News ‘Straight Outta Hunters Point’ Filmmaker Kevin Epps Found Not Guilty of 2016 Murder, But Guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter In a packed SF Superior Court room, SF filmmaker Kevin Epps was found not guilty of the murder of his one-time brother-in-law, but was still found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which comes with a three- to eleven-year prison sentence.
Bay Area Sports 49ers Rout a Very Sorry Tennessee Titans Team 37-24, Remain Right In the Thick of Playoff Race The San Francisco 49ers beat probably the worst team in the NFL Sunday with a 37-24 win over the Tennessee Titans, maintaining some good-but-not-great playoff positioning.
Arts & Entertainment Watch: Kesha Showed Up at SF Piano Bar Martuni's Last Night, Performed a Live Number It's going down, I'm yelling 'Timber!' Dance-pop star Kesha just happened to pop into the piano bar Martuni’s last night, and indeed she came up and belted out a song for the stunned Thursday night crowd.
Arts & Entertainment Popular SF Therapy Dog Brixton Has Died, and His Thousands of Instagram Followers Are In Mourning SF’s most Instagram-famous dog, 12-year-old golden retriever Brixton, passed away on Monday, after a long career as an SFO therapy dog, doing Opening Day appearances at Giants games, and looking dapper at SF events.
SF Restaurants, Food & Drink Caffe Trieste Co-Founder Ida Giotta Has Died at Age 101 The first espresso house on the West Coast, North Beach's Caffe Trieste, has lost its grande dame. The cafe’s co-founder Ida Giotta recently passed away, barely a month after her 101st birthday.
SF News Anheuser-Busch Closing 50-Year-Old Budweiser Plant in Fairfield Next Month There will be no more Clydesdales a’clopping in Fairfield, as the Budweiser plant that opened there in 1976 will fully close down in January, because parent company Anheuser-Busch is pulling a national downsizing on production.
SF News Day Around the Bay: SFO Taking Heat for African-American Art Display That's Just AI Trump just struck down all of California’s AI regulations; that new Bang & Olufsen just opened in Union Square; and people are suddenly mad about an African-American-themed art exhibit at the SFO Museum that’s just basically AI.
SF News Proposed 160-Acre, $700 Million Indian Casino in Vallejo Held Up by Lawsuits, Trump Administration A proposed mega-casino in Vallejo from the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians has faced legal challenges from tribes that run rival casinos, and now the Trump administration says the casino’s approval may have been based on a “legal error.”
SF News Tenderloin Attack Spurs Dog Drama, Which Ends Happily, as Dog Has Been Located A 65-year-old man was viciously attacked in the Tenderloin Sunday, and so was his dog, who ran off in fear. The victim has life-threatening injuries, but at least the dog has been located safe and sound.
SF News Former SF Mayor Ed Lee Getting a Bust at City Hall, to Be Unveiled Friday Eight years to the day after Mayor Ed Lee died of a heart attack while in office, Lee will have a bronze bust of him unveiled at SF City Hall, and it will be officially introduced to the world on Friday.
Business & Tech Waymo Stowaway: Man Found Hiding In Waymo Trunk, Offers Little Explanation Why He Is There A Los Angeles woman made a curious discovery when trying to put her daughter in a Waymo, which was a man hiding in the vehicle’s trunk, bringing up serious questions about how easy it is to just hop inside a Waymo and hide there.
SF Politics Mayor Lurie Endorses D2 Supervisor Sherrill Long Before 2026 Election. Is He Worried About Sherrill's Odds? SF Mayor Daniel Lurie made the unusual move to endorse Supervisor Stephen Sherrill seven months before the election, a gesture he has made to no other supervisors, and perhaps a canary in the coal mine regarding Sherrill’s chances.
Arts & Entertainment The SantaCon Red Tide Returns Saturday, But Dozens of SF Bars Now Actually Welcoming the Santas You better watch out, as Santacon is back on Saturday. But many SF bars are actually rolling out the red carpet to welcome the Santas, a pretty remarkable culture shift for this jolly old event that had gotten too blitzened.
