Mendocino

Mendocino Fights Feds on Medical Marijuana Subpoena

A year ago, the federal Justice Department took aim at legal medical marijuana in Mendocino County. The feds warned that the county's novel cannabis plant licensing program, which generated cash and kept sheriffs patrolling the rural area, violated federal law and needed to go; otherwise county offi ... More >>

Camper Van Beethoven Would Like All the "Northern California Girls" to Come Home

Camper Van Beethoven has a message for all you wayward Northern Californians: Come the hell home! The band's upcoming album, La Costa Perdida (out Jan. 22), is named after the wild stretch of coast along Mendocino and Humboldt counties. Having spent their formulative years in Riverside, Santa Cruz, ... 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 >>

Chris Daly Goes to Work for SEIU

​Critics and supporters alike of Chris Daly can smile and state the former supe now works for Big Labor -- officially. An article in the Guardian feted Daly's recent appointment as the SEIU Local 1021 interim political director as a modern-day return from Elba. Not surprisingly Daly's new gig was ... More >>

Obama's War on Weed: President Attacks Medical Marijuana

Bouncer Holds Forth at the Wal-Mart of S.F. Breweries

Medical Marijuana Bills Killed by Odd Bedfellows -- Labor and Business Groups

You can't really win against business AND labor​Public safety and jobs. To a California politician, they are the bread and butter -- if bread and butter means getting elected, that is. There are fewer worse labels for a politician than "job-killer" or the pejorative "soft on crime."You'd think, th ... More >>

California Has 1.1 Million Medical Marijuana Users, NORML Says

We pot more than we need politicians​California is the most populous state in the Union. It's where the nation's medical marijuana movement was birthed, and the Golden State is also where the rest of the country gets most of its illegal pot, judging by law enforcement statistics (lo siento, Britis ... More >>

Prop. 19 Smoked -- Marijuana Supporters Promise New Legalization Effort

Wait 'til next year...​As the national media will gladly tell you, people are smoking weed in San Francisco. People -- with and without medical marijuana recommendations -- smoked weed yesterday and they'll do so today, and they were going to do so no matter what happened with Proposition 19, the ... More >>

Grass Widow Reflects on Tragedy, New Album, and Practicing in a Meat Locker

​​A silver lining forced its way through a storm of tragedy -- including the death of one band member's parent -- when S.F. female post-punk trio Grass Widow signed to Kill Rock Stars this past winter. (Kill Rock Stars is a premier west coast indie label that's also home to The Decemberists ... More >>

Last Night: Carlton Melton, Silver Pines, Pure Ecstasy at the Hemlock

​Carlton Melton, Silver Pines, Pure EcstasyWednesday, Jan. 6, 2009The HemlockBetter than: A-frame rockWhen I invited my friend Scott to hit last night's Hemlock show, I explained that openers Carlton Melton played music they described as "dome rock." "Does dome rock mean everyone in the band is ba ... More >>

Weed Takes Root

Marijuana's steady creep toward legalization nationwide

Time Bomb

Weather Underground leaders claimed their bombings were devised to avoid bloodshed. But FBI agents suspect the radical '70s group killed an S.F. cop in the name of revolution.

For Sale: Vagina Couch, Slightly Worn

Leno's Hemp Screen

Just say "no" to more hemp. Focus on the weak dollar and apocalypse tomorrow!

Troublesome Pastimes

One local busybody collects letters from serial killers. Another attacks environmentalists. Guess which one's misguided.

Pulp Friction

The Independent Press Association was founded to champion alternative magazines, but now its members say it has become the kind of hard-hearted corporation it once opposed

Jackpot

How four tiny Indian tribes, with help from powerful gambling interests, are trying to transform the Bay Area into a slot machine Mecca

Street Smarts

Graffiti and fashion ring in START SOMA's new location

Poet of the Fallen World

How an S.F. theater troupe helped turn a reclusive novelist into a full-fledged playwright

Real Fourth of July

In Point Arena, where small town and big city mix, and become fond memory

Race for Space

An unorthodox school for dropout risks is still searching for a campus, leaving students in learning limbo

Festivals/Fairs

Boonville

Written by Robert Mailer Anderson (Creative Arts Book Co., 2001, $21.95)

Attention, Shoppers

Denis Johnson's latest play takes us halfway to hell

Working-Class Heroes

Who would endure anonymity, uncertainty, and unhappy lovers to make a scant living? Freelance musicians, that's who.

Tuscan Treasures

Caffé Centro

It's a Wonderful Life

Jim Greer fights the shrinking music scene and an indifferent industry with a smile and a song

Blind Faith

A new treatment for victims of severe emotional trauma involving rhythmic eye movements has therapists claiming almost miraculous results. Psychological researchers say the eyes just don't have it.

Old, Old, Old Ramon

Temporarily in Los Angeles working on a movie, Red House Painters' Mark Kozelek still doesn't know when his next record's coming out

Invasion of the Coffee Shops

Forgive and Remember

How to Stalk, Kill, and Cook a California Wild Pig

The Name is Nino. El Nino.

Investigation unmasks worldwide James Bond weather-disaster conspiracy

Country Rogue

Mendocino publisher Bruce Anderson is smart, sophisticated, and savage

Death Trap

A fine ensemble of actors can't save The Shadow Box; a deadly dull Galaxy

Fire Trek

Why do San Francisco emergency workers live so far away?