The Mercury News

Copper Thieves Are to Blame for Your Hellish Commute Home

Last week, transportation scientists revealed an alarming fact: We're as bad as LA when it comes to gridlock on the freeways. No, traffic is not one of one of our most attractive qualities. In 2011, the average driver in the Bay Area lost 61 hours to gridlocked roads and 25 gallons of gasoline. In ... More >>

Is William Bratton Getting Too Much Credit for the Crime Reductions He Oversaw?

There was controversy when Oakland announced that it would hire William Bratton -- former police chief in Boston, New York City, and Los Angeles -- to help improve the city's police department. For the most part, the controversy took two forms. Firstly, there was the issue that cash-strapped Oakla ... More >>

Gregg Wilcox, Driver With Foot Cast, Guilty of Killing Pedestrian

A San Francisco jury has found a former Muni employee guilty of vehicular manslaughter for killing a pedestrian in the Castro District last year. The jury concluded that 61-year-old Gregg Wilcox was completely negligent when he thought it was a good idea to drive with a cast on his right foot. ... 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 >>

Cigarette Tax Proposal Gets Smoked

When we last checked in nearly three weeks ago, supporters and opponents of Proposition 29, which would increase a cigarette tax by $1 per pack, were probably tempted to chain smoke away the nerves from too-close-to-call election results. Now you can dump those ash trays, because the ballot initia ... More >>

Berkeley's Annie's Homegrown Goes Public, Rakes in Cash

​If decades-old boxes of Annie's Homegrown Macaroni and Cheese were the equivalent of stock shares, nearly every person reading this would be just a little bit wealthier today. As the San Jose Mercury News reported, yesterday Berkeley's own little natural food behemoth began trading shares on the ... More >>

Jelly Belly, Host of Rick Santorum Rally, Is Sweet on the GOP

​The Jelly Belly factory is a beacon of thriving American manufacturing -- it is also a fine choice for wholesome family outings.And considering how much former President Ronald Reagan loved jelly beans, it also seems like the perfect location for a conservative darling's presidential ca ... More >>

Lupita Cortez, South Bay Mom, Accused of Dropping Her Toddler from Window

​A San Jose mother remains in police custody today after she allegedly tossed her 2-year-old son from a second-story window, creating a not-so-merry Christmas Day for her family.Lupita Cortez, 24, was arrested Sunday evening on suspicion of attempted murder, child abuse, and assault with a deadly ... More >>

FDA Orders Cease-and-Desist on Silicon Valley Man's Sperm

The FDA is a real boner killer ​There's plenty of opportunities to help the 99 percent. For Trent Arsenault, a Fremont resident and Silicon Valley security expert, he prefers giving away his sperm -- for free -- to help those in need. Arsenault, 36, has been donating his sperm online to couples si ... 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 >>

Gmail Accounts Hacked from China -- Again

Change your password now ​Chinese hackers accessed hundreds of private Gmail accounts in attempt to spy on conversations among journalists, military officials, and political dissidents. Google told reporters that the hacking effort has been traced to Jinan, China. It's nothing like what happened l ... More >>

John Abdon Johnson Gets 30 Days in Jail for Kicking His Dog

It hurts​A Redwood City man is being jailed after cops saw him beating his sweet little pup, Bucket. The San Jose Mercury News reports that police busted John Abdon Johnson, 56, kicking Bucket in the head and the ribs on May 13. When a cop tried to get him to stop, he told police he had the right ... More >>

Legion of Honor Museum Employee Accused of Fondling Children

Do Not Touch ​Santa Cruz authorities have arrested James Edward Taylor on suspicion of lewd or lascivious acts with two children younger than14. Taylor, a San Francisco resident, was arrested on Thursday morning while he was inside his office at the San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum, where he i ... More >>

Tommie Smith Selling Gold Medal (PICS)

...Step three: Profit​Want a Gold Medal? Start training. Or, start saving. Tommie Smith, the former San Jose State track star immortalized when he and fellow San Jose teammate John Carlos gave Black Power salutes on the medal stand in 1968, is hawking his gold medal. You can put in your bid here a ... More >>

Meg Whitman's Atherton Home To Play Host To 1,000 Nurses

Heading to Atherton -- in droves​If Meg Whitman wanted someone to look at her aching back or curious rash -- well, she need not even leave the home. The California Nurses Association is planning to cart up to 1,000 or more of its members to the Republican gubernatorial nominee's Atherton domicile ... More >>

Alleged Serial Groper Curtis Campbell Had Very Good Excuse

It turns out at least four women groped along the Saratoga Creek Trail were apparently dealing with a really sweet man ... with issues​A rarity has emerged from a San Jose investigation: A story about an alleged serial groper who terrorized women jogging along a trail for months -- that's upliftin ... More >>

Immigration: Defending juvie probation chief proves expensive

Career optimization: Being a journalist in the Internet age

Examiner, MediaNews to Partner on Bay Area Ad Sales Deal

Media mogul Dean Singleton is again seeking inroads to San Francisco's daily newspaper market, according to a report today in the Denver Business Journal.Will joint ad sales bring happy days back?​Apparently Singleton's MediaNews Group -- owner of legion Bay Area newspapers, including the Oakland ... More >>

Chronic City: California, Cannabis, and Cancer -- Cause for Concern?

norml.orgCancer cure, or cause?When the bureaucrats over at the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) classified marijuana smoke as a carcinogen last Friday, it predictably made headlines worldwide. But how much does the classification really mean, and should medical us ... More >>

Chronic City: Let's Vote On It -- Marijuana Legalization May Be On 2010 Ballot

Photobucket.comTo put a new twist on an old saw, desperation is often the mother of invention. When a person, or a state, is in dire straits, it's often an opportunity for the kind of epochal change that, at other times, might not be considered.That's where we are right now with marijuana law reform ... More >>

What would Clint Reilly do if MediaNews tries to buy the Chronicle?

Tell Newspaper Reporters What You REALLY Think

Trying Time

Guardian's lawsuit against SF Weekly nearing trial after more than three years.

Chauncey Bailey Project Unites Local Media -- Except the Chronicle and the Express

Lexington Club Violence Stories Show Anti-Hipster Bias

Watchdog Catfight

Activists aren't happy about the deal struck between Clint Reilly and Bay Area media barons

Poor Grade

Needing More Juice

The first account of baseball's steroid scandal leaves too many questions unanswered

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Letters to the Editor

Week of Wednesday, March 3, 2004

The King Is Dead

How better to say goodbye to Willie Brown than with an exhibit of wicked political cartoons?

All the News That Fits

Our favorite hometown daily paper writes up a Berkeley controversy over an anarchist's quotes — but drops the quotes

It Should Happen to You

A suddenly timely doc about terrorism -- plus other S.F. Sundance contenders

The Plot Thins

Yes, SF Weekly has been secretly trying to rid the city of artists. It's working pretty well, don't you think?

Dog Bites

You know, there's an election -- hey! -- we said there's a local election coming up

Dog Bites

Mercury News redesign; Chronicle rumors; Gavin Newsom

Dog Bites

They’re Here. They’re Drear. They Won’t Go Away.; Two Cheers for ... Oh, Forget It; When the Gap Sneezes ...

Dog Bites

Let Them Eat Cake, and Lots of It; On the Town

Dog Bites

More Millennial Angst and 72 Degrees in Your Head

SF Weekly Wins Newsrack Injunction

Dog Bites

Night + Day

Dog Bites

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Mulch

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