Alameda County

James Craig Davis, Berkeley Bank Robbery Suspect, Arrested in Missouri

On January 16, a man holding a gun stole $6,014 from Mechanics Bank in Berkeley. Security camera footage showed the man point the gun at a teller, then lean over the counter and grab the cash from the drawer. The video also caught a distinguishing feature on the robber: what appeared to be a tatto ... More >>

BART to (Finally) Ban Peeing and Pooping Criminals From Riding its Trains

If you have had it with those miscreants who use BART trains as their own personal bar, you know the place where they drink, pee, and fight with strangers, well, there is some hope. BART informed its passengers that it will implement a new law that should finally give passengers a cleaner, safer, ... More >>

Giselle Esteban Gets 25 Years to Life in Prison for Killing Michelle Le

Giselle Esteban, the 28-year-old mother convicted of slaying her former high school friend, this morning was given 25 years to life in prison for the murder of Michelle Le. According to press reports, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jon Rolefson announced the sentence just six weeks after a jur ... More >>

UC Regents Give Local Photojournalist David Morse $162K in Settlement

University of California Regents, in a civil rights lawsuit settlement agreement announced today, will shell out $162,500 to David Morse, an independent photojournalist who was arrested by UC Berkeley police while covering a student demonstration more than two years ago. In that demonstration, on ... More >>

No More Cheap Gas at Safeway?

The price at the pump could get even pricier -- but only at your local Safeway store. An Alameda County judge has "hinted" that he will block Safeway stores from offering cheaper gasoline to their Club Card members and loyal shoppers across the Bay Area. And you can thank the surrounding fuel statio ... More >>

Officials Allegedly Bought Massages with Funds from Agency that Helped the Poor Spend Wisely

​Two former officials at the now-defunct Associated Community Action Program (ACAP) -- an Alameda County agency tasked with helping the poor manage their money wisely -- have been charged with illicitly using the agency's money to pay for construction work on a personal home, buy massages, and pur ... More >>

SPCA Raising Money for Stolen Dog Found with Eye, Ear and Teeth Missing

This tragedy has the Wicked Witch of the West written all over it.​As if we needed any more reason to doubt the future of humanity, here's yet another horrifying tale. Yvette Acevedo's 12-year-old Yorkie, Toto, was stolen out of her backyard in Hayward early last year. After canvassing the neighbo ... More >>

DNA Lab Cover-Up: SFPD to Investigate Claims in Secret Court Records

Giselle Esteban, Murder Suspect in Michelle Le Case, Gives Birth in Prison

Suspect and a mom​Giselle Esteban, the 27-year-old Union City woman accused of killing her former high school friend, Michelle Le,  is a new mother. Esteban, who appeared in court today, but did not enter a plea, gave birth to a baby boy right before Thanksgiving, according to the Chron. A so ... More >>

Occupy Oakland Arrests: Armor-Wearing "Real Life Superhero" Faces Resisting Arrest Charge

Superheroes or Villains?​Three of the Occupy Oakland protesters who were arrested after last week's General Strike turned chaotic were arraigned in Alameda Superior Court on Monday. Among them was a roughed up "real-life superhero" who had attended the march dressed as a ninja with homemade armor, ... More >>

Michelle Le: Body Found in Sunol Is Murdered Nursing Student

Courtesy of Michelleismissing.comMichelle Le​The Alameda County coroner confirmed that the human remains found over the weekend at Sunol Canyon are those of Michelle Le, the 26-year-old nursing student who went missing in May. However, medical authorities have not yet determined how Le died. The n ... More >>

DA George Gascón Defends Handling of Crime Lab Memo

George Gascón​District Attorney George Gascón fought back against attacks on his suppression of an internal memo criticizing the San Francisco Police Department Crime Lab's DNA unit at a public forum for DA candidates last night, asserting that his office was prepared to disclose the memo throug ... More >>

DA Candidates Call for Release of Secret Crime Lab Memo, Citing SF Weekly Cover Story

​Contenders in this year's election for San Francisco District Attorney have called on current DA George Gascón to release an internal memo that criticizes procedures for analyzing DNA evidence at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory.The memo, the existence of which was first reve ... More >>

Safeway Sued for Selling Cheaper Gasoline

Okay, so it's not THAT cheap ​Cheap fuel -- now that's not the typical topic of conversation these days. While Bay Area drivers bask in the reality that they can fill up their tank at a local Safeway store on the cheap(er), six East Bay gas stations are suing the grocery retailer for lowering thei ... More >>

Berkeley School Counselor Accused of "Pawing and Spanking" Student

This crosses the line ... even in Berkeley ​A Berkeley High School student says her school counselor consistently hugged, spanked, and pawed her at school. The teen -- who was identified only as Lilah -- and her mother are suing the Berkeley Unified School District, accusing the superintendent of ... More >>

Blowing Smoke: Obama Promises One Thing, Does Another on Medical Marijuana

California Family Courts Helping Pedophiles, Batterers Get Child Custody

San Francisco Court Says Sikh Man Can Sue Newspaper for Libel Over Terrorist Remarks

Libel Cost More​A San Francisco appellate court has sided with a 73-year-old Sikh man who claims that a local newspaper libeled him when it published content linking him to incendiary terrorist remarks.Hardev Singh Grewal, an interpreter for the Alameda County Superior Court, can sue the Punjab Ti ... More >>

Theresa Sparks Honored For Election To Board of Supervisors. Problem: She Wasn't.

Ms. Sparks, we've got some news for you...​Theresa Sparks will not be a San Francisco supervisor. Yet she has been named one of the year's top politicos for winning a seat on the Board of Supervisors. Say what? Along with Alameda County Superior Court Judge Victoria Kolakowski, Sparks is named as ... More >>

Exclusive: Prosecutor Says DA Is Sitting on His Report Critical of Crime Lab

Rockne Harmon​DA's Office Denies Memo's Existence, But Prosecutor and DNA Expert Says He Wrote It in MarchOne of the nation's foremost DNA experts says he wrote an in-house report for the San Francisco District Attorney's office criticizing the DNA unit of the San Francisco Police Department Crime ... More >>

'Goats R Us' Fingers New Employee For Animal Cruelty Rap

​Yesterday we reported on a company with the charming name "Goats R Us" being hit with not-charming-at all charges of animal cruelty following the discovery of dead and malnourished goats.Company co-owner Terri Oyarzun tells SF Weekly the problems are all the fault of one goat of an employee -- he ... More >>

Christine Shreeve Hubbs, 'Hummer Mom,' Accused of Sex with Boys

Christine Shreeve Hubbs is accused of allowing boys to fire pellet guns out her car window -- among other crimes​Sex, Hummers, pellet guns -- just another day in the suburbs. In an truly jaw-dropping case, Christine Shreeve Hubbs, an attractive, 42-year-old Mormon mother of three and wife of a de ... More >>

George Huggins Charged with Murdering Jinghong Kang for $17, Could Face Death

Oakland Police DepartmentGeorge Huggins may face the death penalty if convicted of Jinghong Kang's killing​George Huggins -- the 24-year-old Oakland man accused of pulling the trigger in a murder that sickened the nation -- may face the death penalty if found guilty. Huggiins, along with his 33-ye ... More >>

Slain Hoopster Attempted to Rob a Drug Dealer, Police Say

www.rivals.comHyman Taylor​The former University of San Francisco basketball player killed in an IKEA parking lot last week was murdered in a botched attempt to rob a marijuana dealer, authorities said Monday.

Unlike Pleasanton, San Francisco Keeps its Anti-Housing Laws Off the Books

When it comes to quelling housing development, there's the law and there's the law...​Pleasanton city fathers spent this week in conniption fits after a Superior Court judge ruled that the city can't cap its number of housing units at 29,000. Pleasanton now faces a choice of halting all commercial ... More >>

Perverting Justice

Jessica's Law prevents paroled sex offenders from residing near schools or parks. That means they can only live one place in S.F.: on the streets.

Backing Off Earlier Denial, S.F. Unified School District Now Says It's Unsure If It Employed Contractor Charged In Massive Fraud Scheme

Was Bob defrauded here in San Francisco?​Late last month, SF Weekly ran several stories about the purported San Francisco ties of NBC Contractors, a scandal-infested building firm charged with dozens of felonies in Alameda County. The firm is charged with systematically forcing its Chinese electri ... More >>

S.F. Might Start Outsourcing Its Trash to Cheaper States

Possibly heading to Nevada is one more thing to be grouchy about​San Francisco's current waste management service, Recology -- formerly known as NorCal -- wants to ship the 20,000 tons of garbage we produce per week (not including weekends) on a freight train to a proposed landfill near Winnemucca ... More >>

Union Official: Contractor Facing Scores of Fraud Charges in E. Bay 'Pulled Same Scam' in San Francisco -- and Then-Mayor Willie Brown Was Warned About This

Don FeriaA woman is led away by police during a May raid on NBC General Contractors' Oakland offices​On Wednesday, we wrote about the beleaguered NBC General Contractors, a company facing 40 felony counts in Alameda County for allegedly ripping off its vulnerable, Chinese immigrant workers and the ... More >>

Misdeeds

An investor finds that he has been swindled, and that the schemer was aided by a mortgage industry lacking oversight.

Bouncers Gone Wild

Despite increasing regulation, clubs don't always check their bouncers' backgrounds.

He's No Angel

They once called him a savior who helped people in need. Today, Edwin Parada is accused of taking money from Latinos unfamiliar with real estate laws.

Slim’s Bouncer Beatdown Update: Security Guard’s Lengthy Criminal Record

Mother Nature or Nurture?

The question of whether to begin saving creatures and habitats from climate change

That Is High

Medical marijuana smokers face a 1,000-percent increase in cost of state ID card, which could force its demise

Let It Bleed

Prosecutors' reluctance to charge murder suspects in S.F. leaves alleged killers on the street, flush with bravado

Kamala's Karma

She's smart, she's experienced, and she's running for DA. But she's Willie Brown's ex-girlfriend, and her opponents are trying to crucify her for that.

First Purposes

Forget Ring Lardner and Roger Angell. When it comes to sportswriting, what Glenn Dickey starts, no one can finish.

Summer Events a Go Go!

What to do, all summer long

A Little Fine Tuning

How on earth will KRON fill airtime without NBC? A sneak peek.

Riff Raff

Everything Quieter Than Everything Else; Studio Time

Outing the Marlboro Man

Document reveals new details on how tobacco companies target gays

Benign Neglect

There's a pot of money available to investigate real estate fraud, but Terence Hallinan isn't using it

The Man Who Came to Dinner

Letters

The Grid

Final Deadline

David Burgin is legendary as a rough-and-tumble newspaper editor. But the legend is full of astonishing contradictions, and its last chapter may include the outcome of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by one of his proteges at the Oakland Tribune.

Night+Day

Candidate Promises, Citizen Mayor Delivers?

Night+Day