Central Valley

Boone, SF's Football-Loving Rhino, to Eat the Baltimore Ravens for Breakfast This Week

In support of the San Francisco 49ers hard-earned ascension to the Super Bowl XLVII, the San Francisco Zoo has invited media folks to watch its black rhino, Boone, snack on some Baltimore Ravens for breakfast later this week. And those are one of the many strange perks of being a reporter. Obviou ... More >>

Central Valley Orangutan Predicts 49ers Will Definitely Win the Super Bowl

When you think of the Central Valley, only negatives come to mind: Scott Peterson, insanely high foreclosure rates, and creepy teachers who move in with their students. But Siabu, the 49ers-loving orangutan at Fresno's Chaffee Zoo, has given the sweltering hot, Republican-loving region a decent na ... More >>

Public Influence: The Immortalization of an Anonymous Death

UC Merced Sex Toy Event Riles Central Valley Conservatives

While San Francisco will spend more than $200,000 on condoms next year to ensure we're all stockpiled with rubbers, students at UC Merced reportedly got a spanking for hosting a much-desired sex toy event on campus. And that's the one of the many differences between the Central Valley and the Bay A ... More >>

Prop. 34: California Keeps Death Penalty, Once Again Shows It's Not as Liberal as Some Think

California: that big blue state that handed President Obama 54 free electoral college points and gave his campaign more money than any other state. The state that is on the brink of Democratic supermajorities in both the state House and state Senate and contains a voting population in which register ... More >>

Marijuana Sweep: Feds Mostly Ignore "Emerald Triangle"

Another year, another fleet of helicopters hovering overhead and federal agents tramping through the publicly owned woods in search of illegal marijuana plots and the (Mexican) people who grow them.In 2011, there was Operation Full Court Press; in 2012, we had Operation Mountain Sweep. This year, be ... More >>

Moms Sue Fresno School District Over Bad Sex Education Policy

It appears the educators over in Fresno might have eaten one too many fried chicken sandwiches from Chick-fil-A . In the small suburb of Clovis, the school district is refusing to teach kids about sex prevention, telling students instead to abstain from the natural act, and "get plenty of rest" to s ... More >>

Love & Hummus: The Dip That Keeps On Giving

Whenever someone calls love an ingredient, we usually make a valiant effort not to roll our eyes. When Donna Sky says that the love in each jar of her hummus is an ingredient, just like the California organic chickpeas or fresh tahini, we're easily convinced she is genuine. Sky has a rare air of s ... More >>

Unwelcome Cougar Shot After Allegedly Breaking Into Family Home

There are so many reasons not to live in the far-flung communities of the Central Valley -- bad schools, bad husbands, and really bad credit. Oh, and those uninvited cougars -- there's another reason. Turlock resident Tami Mendonca was doing some yard work at her home on Sunday morning when she hear ... More >>

Midi Matilda Is a Rising S.F. Pop-Rock Band You Will Need to Know About Starting Now

In the category of Up-And-Coming Bay Area Bands That Have a Chance of Getting Played on Live 105, make yourself aware of Midi Matilda, an S.F. duo whose new single and video "Love in the Movies" has hit potential written all over it. We're not even jumping the gun or seeing the future here -- Live 1 ... More >>

Bordering on Revolution: America's War on Mexicans Has Gone Too Far

Medical Marijuana Activists Occupy the Capitol

As the pleasant Sacramento spring turns into the furnace of the Central Valley summer, so too is the heat turned up in the corridors of the state Capitol: It's budget season, and it's also last call for certain bills stalled in the Legislature to get a hearing before a June 1 deadline sends them int ... More >>

Anthony Lacayo Arrested in Shooting Death of Ronald Monzon

Police have arrested a 19-year-old San Francisco man for allegedly murdering 40-year-old Ronald Monzon back in March. Anthony Lacayo was taken into custody yesterday afternoon at 850 Bryant Street and booked into San Francisco County Jail on murder charges. Police would not release his booking photo ... More >>

State Might Have More Women, Minorities Than White Men in 2013 Congressional Caucus

There's a decent chance that in 2013, white men will not rule California's congressional caucus for a change. Currently, 28 of California's 53 representatives are white men. Of the other 25, 19 are women, nine of whom are minorities, and six are minority men. Because of redistricting, handled by ... More >>

Bryan Stow Will Be Cheering on the Giants Friday

It's been a long road for Giants fan Bryan Stow, who was savagely beaten into a coma after watching his home team play against the Dodgers in Los Angeles last year. And while the Giants would love nothing more than to kick off the 2012 season with Stow at the mound, it looks like the former paramedi ... More >>

Ronald Monzon Identified as Man Shot Dead in The Mission

​Medical authorities have identified the man who was found murdered Friday night in the city's Mission District as 39-year-old Ronald Monzon. Police found Monzon, a resident of the Central Valley town of Newman, shot inside a car on the corner of 23rd and Shotwell streets just before 7:30 p.m. The ... More >>

Q&A With Slanted Door's Chucky Dugo, part 1: From Paris-Brest to Taipei and Back

Chucky Dugo, pastry chef for Charles Phan's restaurants -- including Slanted Door, Out the Door, and the Moss Room -- grew up in a small town in the Central Valley with a big Italian family. Meals, especially at holidays, were a multi-dozen-person affair, with grandmothers bearing homemade breads an ... More >>

Christina Olague, New D5 Supervisor, a "Bold Pick" for Mayor Ed Lee

​This morning, Christina Olague was sworn in as the new District 5 supervisor during a quick ceremony at City Hall. While the former planning commissioner is no political novice, she is also no sure vote for Mayor Ed Lee and his moderate agenda, making his pick all the more puzzling.  "It's a ... More >>

Woman Sues Starbucks Over Prosthetic Leg Fiasco

Lawsuit brewing​A Central Valley woman is suing Starbucks and not because the coffee was too hot. Rather, Janet Marx is claiming the Stockton coffee house barred her from using the restroom so she could repair her prosthetic leg unless she first bought something. According to the claim, which was ... More >>

AG's Office Warns of Gang-and-Drug Armageddon If State Budget Passes

Kamala Harris​As lawmakers prepare to finalize the state budget today, another government agency has joined the chorus of groups declaring that spending cuts in the plan will be disastrous: the office of California Attorney General Kamala Harris.Harris, who has been on the job in Sacramento for si ... More >>

International Peloton Skips S.F. for First Time in Decade

No Shaven-legged, 2-percent-body-fat Europeans allowed!​For the first time in 10 years, the international professional bicycle-racing circuit will bypass San Francisco, while today's stage three of America's biggest cycling event, the Tour of California, is skipping the city with a jaunt from Aubu ... More >>

East Bay Gang Bust: Cops Seize 135 Pounds of Meth

​Cops busted a gang in Contra Costa County, arresting 35 people and seizing 135 pounds of crystal meth, the office of Attorney General Kamala Harris announced today.So-called Operation Red Reach, which concluded today, was a coordinated effort by state and local law-enforcement authorities. Police ... More >>

Economist Writer Talks about Why California Won't Split Up

​For those who missed our blog post on it last week, we'll say it again: The Economist correspondent Andreas Kluth's special report on dysfunction in California's government is worth a read. Earlier this week, we attended Kluth's talk at the World Affairs Council on Sutter Street, where he offered ... More >>

Go Fish: S.F.'s Coastal Foraging King Shows How to Fish (and Eat) Locally

Double Drain: Program Pays Cops Pensions While Still on the Force

Homeless Who Won't Leave The Street -- No Matter What

Not just a number ​The Bay Citizen wrote today that San Francisco's homeless czar, Dariush Kayhan, has been overstating the number of homeless people who lived at the Transbay Terminal before it was closed last August for demolition. The article states he'd told two news outlets -- the Chronicle ... More >>

Admiral Radley and Social Studies at Bottom of the Hill: A Tale of Two Indie Bands

Admiral Radley​Admiral Radley Typhoon Social Studies Fake Your Own Death February 23, 2011
 @Bottom of the Hill Better than: Starting an indie rock supergroup with your co-workers called the Water Coolers. Every night at the Noise Pop Festival is a dilemma. The schedule holds a musical em ... More >>

February book events in San Francisco

Marty and Kelli Christensen Reunite - Marty Opts To Stay Homeless (VIDEO)

Found at last.​Kelli Christensen's long hunt to reconnect with her homeless father ended at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday when she walked up to a Muni bus shelter in front of a Market Street 7-Eleven store downtown. There, sat a man in an orange baseball cap with his head down. Her cousin, Caine, who drove ... More >>

Kelli Christensen Reuniting With Homeless Father -- Hopefully

Marty​Thanks to the tips from SF Weekly readers, Kelli Christensen is coming to San Francisco in the next week to hopefully reunite with her father, a local homeless man. We ran a story in our paper this week on Christensen's search for her estranged father, Marty, after discovering him in ou ... More >>

SF Weekly Reader Creates Google Map to Find Marty Christensen

Where in the world is Marty Christensen?​A tech-savvy San Franciscan decided he would help 23-year-old Kelli Christensen find her father, Marty, a homeless man featured in our story this week.Christensen has been looking for her estranged father ever since she googled his name and learned that he ... More >>

U.S.S. Iowa's Final Battle Pits Vallejo vs. L.A.

If only someone would tow this thing to Des Moines​By Jan. 18, Vallejo must submit a plan for slithering out of bankruptcy. Former banker Merylin Wong, the head of a maritime enthusiast's group there, has a plan for keeping the city on firm financial footing henceforth: Pay millions of dollars yea ... More >>

Head Case

Experts say ex-football players with head injuries often end up in the criminal justice system. Former USC lineman Chris Brymer is exhibit A.

Why Obama's mortgage-relief program failed

Eating at the Flea

There are bargains in comestibles as well as collectibles to be had at these Sunday markets