Alameda County

Eli Reyes: Friends Crowd-Source to Help Cyclist Hit by "Aggressive Driver"

A vicious assault nine days ago left Eli Reyes with a broken femur and a number of deep cuts and bruises. She'd been riding her bike through downtown Oakland in the wee hours of the morning when an angry motorist pulled up at a red light, grabbed her through the open window of his truck, and dragged ... More >>

Planned Parenthood Finally Returns to Oakland After Long Hiatus

For the last two years, Oakland has been without its own Planned Parenthood, which meant patients had to trek to Walnut Creek, El Cerrito, or San Francisco in order to receive care. But trek no more -- Planned Parenthood has opened its doors in Oakland again. Planned Parenthood clinics vanished fr ... More >>

S.F. Group Sues Over Predator Drone Privacy Rules

Do thoughts of miniature helicopters hovering and peeking into your bedroom keep you up at night? Maybe you are worried about Uncle Sam seeing what you do when nobody is watching? Well, so is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based digital civil liberties group that filed a lawsui ... More >>

Aman Melles Identified as Man Killed by Muni Bus

Medical authorities have released the name of the man who was killed Friday morning by a Muni bus as he walked along the tacks as 37-year-old Aman Melles. The Alameda County man was reportedly walking on the tracks between the Montgomery and Embarcadero Muni Stations just before 7:30 a.m. on Friday ... More >>

Michelle Le Case: Giselle Esteban Guilty of First-Degree Murder

An Alameda County jury has found Giselle Esteban guilty of the 2011 murder of 26-year-old Michelle Le, concluding it wasn't a crime of passion. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy E. O'Malley expressed her relief at the jury's verdict, which was reached in less than five days. "I am pleased the p ... More >>

John Weston Osburn, News Photographer, Sues Oakland Cops for Being Too Aggressive

A news photographer is suing Oakland cops for  allegedly employing their heavy-handed tactics, similar to the complaints we've heard from Occupy Oakland protesters.The photographer, John Weston Osburn, a longtime member of Indybay Media, was covering a Oscar Grant protest in downtown Oakland on ... More >>

College Student's Suicide Caused by Doctor's Sexual Abuse, Parents Claim in Lawsuit

Parents of former UC Berkeley student Elgin Stafford claim that a doctor at the university health center molested their son, which caused trauma that eventually led to his suicide, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Alameda County.In their complaint, Annie and Mike Stafford accuse Dr. Robert ... More >>

Golden State Warriors Owners Confirm Plan to Move to San Francisco

When Golden State Warriors brass told Oakland that the city was "still in the running," they might as well have said, "I do still want to be with you, I just think it would be best for both of us to see other people for a little bit, so we can grow as individuals before committing to each other." M ... More >>

Hate Mail: A Mailman's Revenge Shows Workers Still "Go Postal"

Giselle Esteban, "Jealous" Woman Accused of Killing Michelle Le, Pleads Not Guilty

​Giselle Esteban, the 27-year-old woman accused of killing her former classmate, Michelle Le, appeared in court today where she pleaded not guilty to murder charges. The Union City woman, who recently gave birth to her second child while in jail, was reportedly ordered to appear in court on Feb. 1 ... More >>

Roy Sorvari, Real-Life Superhero, Bailed from Jail with Occupy Oakland Donation

Ouch!​Among those arrested when last Wednesday's general strike in Oakland devolved into melee, Roy Sorvari was one of the more colorful characters -- a comic book-inspired ninja, actually. As we wrote earlier this week, the 22-year-old Antioch resident was attending the march in a peace-keep ... More >>

DA's Office to Appeal Judge's Order Unsealing DNA Lab Memo

George Gascón​Prosecutors in the office of District Attorney George Gascón have decided to appeal a judge's order that they release an internal memo detailing problems with DNA analysis in the San Francisco Police Department crime lab.The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Saturday that the DA' ... More >>

San Francisco One of the Few California Towns with Room for Prisoners

Giselle Esteban, Murder Suspect in Michelle Le Death, Is Taken to Hospital

Giselle Esteban ​Giselle Esteban, the 27-year-old woman accused of murdering Michelle Le, missed her arraignment this afternoon in Alameda County because she was taken to the hospital for a nonemergency situation. Alameda County Sergeant J.D. Nelson wouldn't provide details about her medical condi ... More >>

DA Candidates Ask Gascón to Recuse Himself from 'Run, Ed, Run' Investigation

DA George Gascón​Three challengers of interim District Attorney George Gascón in this year's DA's race are calling upon him to recuse himself from a potential investigation of criminal wrongdoing by the committee behind the campaign to draft Mayor Ed Lee to run for a full term.Last week, retired ... More >>

Majority of San Francisco's Illegal Immigrants Live in the Mission District

Missionites: up to 15 percent of your neighbors are undocumented.​San Francisco's highest concentration of illegal immigrants lives in the city's Mission District -- a zip code of day laborers, black-market hot dog vendors, and fake document peddlers.The Public Policy Institute of California relea ... More >>

Burlesque Performing Professor Gets Fired

You learn something new everyday ​A female college professor was fired from her teaching job after university officials found out she had a fetish for performing burlesque shows. Sheila M. Addison, an Alameda County resident, received a termination letter from John F. Kennedy University in Pleasan ... More >>

Documents Shed Light on Family Courts' Soft Stance Toward Abuse

Convicted child molesters Rex Anderson (left) and Henry Parson were awarded custody of their daughters in family court​In this week's cover story, SF Weekly takes a look at some of the tragic results of mistakes by California's family courts. These courts' insufficient provisions for investigating ... More >>

State Claims Chiropractor Is Crooked

Ben Altadonna, seen here with Ed McMahon amazingly enough, is not the state's favorite chiropractor​Bent out of shape by the alleged actions of chiropractor Benjamin Altadonna, the state of California has filed suit, claiming the health practitioner is deeply crooked. In a case filed in Alameda Co ... More >>

How Jean Quan May, Astoundingly, Become Mayor of Oakland

Jean Quan for Oakland Mayor 2010Jean Quan, the politician who lived​As we wait for final election results to come in for the Oakland mayor's race, it's not premature to say that City Councilwoman Jean Quan will have pulled off one of the great political Lazarus acts in recent Bay Area history if s ... More >>

Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro Debut Ranked-Choice Voting After Judge Upholds S.F. System

​In the wake of a federal court ruling that upheld San Francisco's system of ranked-choice voting, three East Bay cities are moving ahead with plans to adopt "RCV" in this fall's elections.Oakland, Berkeley, and San Leandro will be using the balloting system -- which allows voters to cast up to th ... More >>

Police Create Committee To Suss Out Crooked Cops

Shawn CalhounChief George Gascon is angry. He wants you to be angry, too.​A retired judge and police team will begin reviewing the misconduct and criminal histories of San Francisco police officers. This is part of a new process to disclose information that may discredit cops testifying at trial. ... More >>

Is Winston Lum a criminal mastermind or a patsy?

Google Sued For Collecting Payload Data In Street View Debacle

You can trust Google, right? Right? ​Two more plaintiffs have filed yet another class action lawsuit against Google for collecting private data as its cars drove around photographing every corner in the country -- and several other countries as well -- for Google Street View. The British governmen ... More >>

Judge Dismisses Juror For Sleeping During Oscar Grant Murder Trial

A murder trial is no time for a siesta​Anybody who's ever watched trial proceedings in a stuffy, poorly lit courtroom as 2 p.m. rolls around knows it can be tough to stay awake for the administration of justice. But the nap-inducing tedium of the courtroom is apparently proving to be a serious pro ... More >>

A Lack of Conviction

As D.A. Kamala Harris campaigns to be attorney general, her success rate in felony trials has dropped below that of any big-city prosecutor in California.

Where You Can and Can't Fish (Without Eating Dubai Star Oil)

DFGClick on this map for a very large version​For those who fish, either professionally or because it simply beats sittin' by the dock of the bay, wastin' time, we have some limited good news. The state's Department of Fish and Game -- with the input of the Office of Environmental Health Hazard As ... More >>

Predators are free to move about the cabin

The girl flew as an unaccompanied minor, and she's still experiencing turbulence.

Cheap Musical Thrills

Give your ears — and your wallet— a summer treat.

Marriage equality can be achieved by separating church and state

Extremely Civil Disobedience: Prop. 8 Protests Peaceful So Far

Peaceful demonstrators shut down the intersection of Van Ness and Grove"Ordinarily, a person leaving a courtroom with a conviction behind him would wear a somber face," Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1956. "But I left with a smile. I knew that I was a convicted criminal, but I was proud of my crime. ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Help Out Oakland Art Space 21 Grand

Convicted Embezzler Linda Simwa Cons SF Symphony, UCSF

Fair or No Fair with Indulgent Aunt M (at the Alameda County Fair)

Recount Needed

Is a city bureaucrat putting our next vote count at risk by insisting S.F. hurry and spend up to $15 million on new equipment?

Festivals and Fairs

Love-In

Free Bard in the park

You, Too, Can Be in Movies!

Snuggle into the Bay Area's strange and sprawling alternative moviegoing scene, where anything goes and audience participation is mandatory

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Law and Borders

Prosecutors, judges, governors, a sex offender, and a woman with a penchant for poor judgement entangle California and Texas in an epic child custody war with two sure losers -- aged 7 and 9.

Getting the Treatment

Proposition 36 is based on a noble idea: substituting drug treatment for prison sentences. But the measure needs practical help.

Language Arts for a New Millennium

Learning Spanish (for your gardener), Thai (your hooker), Bureaucrat (your scientist friends), and Digital (your enemies)

Full Court Fathers

They're young, poor, unmarried fathers -- but don't call them deadbeat dads. They want to be part of their kids' lives, and Oakland's Midnight Basketball League is helping them do it.

Hear This

Deke Dickerson & the Ecco-Fonics

Cothran

Cothran

Long Lost, Late Won

Let's Make Appeal

UCSF-Stanford merger challenged directly in appellate court

Letters