San Quentin State Prison

Murder, She Wrote

Prison Break: Realignment Inmates Enter Rehabilitation in S.F.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Six Reasons to Love Crime (the Band)

Crime​ 1. San Francisco's Crime was the first West Coast punk band. Or at least the first to put out a record. (The Nuns and the Avengers were early, too.) Established in the summer of 1976 by Johnny Strike and Frankie Fix, Crime put out its first single, "Hot Wire My Heart" b/w "Baby, You're ... More >>

California Death Sentences at 33-Year Low

​Fewer death sentences were handed down by California courts during the first half of 2011 than during any six-month period since 1978, according to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.Just three defendants were sentenced to death from January to June of this ... More >>

New Questions Raised About State's Imported Lethal Injection Drugs

​Newly released documents raise questions about the quality of drugs imported from abroad by state corrections officials to carry out lethal injections, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.The documents, obtained by the ACLU through Freedom of Information Act (FO ... More >>

Killer Groupie Samantha Spiegel

Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Overcrowded California Prisons Today

Hot, flat, and crowded: San Quentin State Prison​The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments today in Schwarzenegger v. Plata, the landmark prison-overcrowding lawsuit that could eventually result in tens of thousands of state inmates being released.California has faced a lot of pro ... More >>

Death Row Rebuild Bidding Under Way

He may soon be enjoying spacious new digs. Or maybe not. ​It's a miracle that the grueling and litigious process required to redevelop one's property in Marin County hasn't led to enraged neighbors landing on death row. Fittingly, the process to redevelop death row appears to be no easier. The sta ... More >>

Albert Brown To Be Executed Just Three Hours Before Drugs Expire

Armin Kübelbeck​Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has delayed the lethal injection of Albert Brown to 9 p.m. Thursday night. That will give Schwarzenegger time to consider Brown's clemency case and let the appeals court weigh in. It's also just hours prior to when the prison's supply of the first of the ... More >>

Fall Arts: Reading is optional, but Litquake is mandatory

Marin Brewing Co.'s Arne Johnson

Arne Jonson's been brewmaster at Marin Brewing Co. for 15 years.​Brendan Moylan founded Marin Brewing Co. in 1989 and has since launched Moylan's in Novato. Fifteen years ago, Arne Johnson became the brewmaster at Moylan's Larkspur original, where the always-sunny patio is a favorite ferry des ... More >>

Sausalito Houseboats: Fond Memories of Sewage and Near-Death

Location, location, location...​The San Francisco Chronicle today published a 1,000-word story based on the premise that people who live on Sausalito houseboats have as perfect a life as can be found."I didn't meet anybody who regretted buying a houseboat," reads a quote from the story. ... More >>

Monsters, Inc.

Our Local Beer Experts Blind-Tasted Stouts. Guess Who Won?

B. YaegerThe lineup ranged from Anglo to Cali.​For this month's blind beer-tasting, we gave in to the dark side. Stouts originated in England in the mid-18th century, and might have fizzled out had it not been for the Irish. Deriving its name from particularly strong or "stout" porter, stout i ... More >>

Getting Real About Prison Education Cuts

School's out -- forever? ​California has the highest inmate recidivism rate in the country: 70 percent. Now, as a result of a $250 million budget cut in prison education programs, the state is gearing up to liquidate programs, slash in-class hours, fire more than 800 of the state's 1,200 prison te ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Rees' Pieces

The best of the Bay Area's "costume rock"

What Bay Area Bridge Will Feature an Upended Big Rig Truck Today?

What truck mayhem will hit a Bay Area bridge today?​The tried and true journalistic maxim is that it takes three instances to have a bona fide "trend." So, no, the Bay Area isn't experiencing a "trend" of big rig trucks flipping over on local bridges. But, you have to admit, the knee-jerk phrase o ... More >>

Does Gavin Newsom really have a foster brother who's been in and out of prison?

Field of Dreams: San Francisco Semi-Pro Team Gives Locals Chance to Stretch Baseball Career Into Extra Innings

San Francisco Seagulls outfielder Dan Fernandez plays wallball in Minneapolis' Metrodome. Back in the old days -- when kids played baseball instead of videogames featuring baseball -- young people attempted to cheat mother nature by squeezing an extra inning or two out of a game when, clearly, it ... More >>

Gangs of Marin

Jerry’s Rig

Alan Lew, One of San Francisco's Great Rabbis, Dies at 65

In my old job of writing for the city's Jewish newspaper, the standard M.O. for banging out a problem story was "Call five rabbis and see what they think." Some rabbis picked up a reputation for saying foolish things. Others could be counted on to lose their temper. Others earned reps for happily ta ... More >>

Party Arty: Forget About the Tibetan Chanting, Lady...We Wanna Watch Wolf Blitzer

News of the Hour -- The Lethal Injection Cocktail, Mike Webb Found Dead, Ted Nugent Found Irritating

In Pen and Ink

They are unschooled, undisciplined, and often unpopular, but it’s outsider artists like the convict who drew this who can sometimes shape mainstream culture

Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos

The misunderstood adventures of the Bishop of Hip Hop

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, August 24, 2005

The Lifesaver

Shawn Richard got the city to give jobs to alleged gang leaders. If anyone can make such a program work, it's ...THE LIFESAVER

The Witness

"And tonight, my brothers and sisters, we add one Donald Jay Beardslee."

Bouncer

From 3 p.m. till late, Bouncer drinks and jibes with fellow liberals at the 500 Club on election day

Finding His Niche

Steve Bingham, a famously exonerated ex-fugitive who advocates for the poor, helps lead the charge against Care Not Cash

A Fan's Notes

Ideas that were forgotten but not gone in 2003

Hidden Treasure

Half a century ago, ex-heroin dealer Alfredo Santos created an epic work of art inside San Quentin. Now, he's coming back to be honored for it.

House of Tudor

A Deadhead's Songcatchers and the best rock band in America

San Quentin Blues

The prison guards' union angrily ripped the rug from under the governor in February

Fumbled Catch

A new fish restaurant on Market could try harder

Dog Bites

We never would have guessed: Raiders fans are pansies.

That Voodoo

Le Krewe

A Walk in the Dark

The rest of the country is re-appraising the death penalty; California sues to keep a minister from comforting those facing execution

Dead Man Not Praying

The state wants to deny religious counsel immediately before executions. But why?

Night + Day

The Great White Nope?

Paul Nave, a polite, well-spoken product of upscale Marin County, has climbed out of boxing obscurity to fight for a world title. He's a polished fighter, but he's probably going to get his ass kicked.

Unspun

Night+Day

Unspun

Cash Rehash

Jail Date

Wives of San Quentin inmates protest politicians' efforts to restrict the Family Visitation program