"The possible retrial of Marjorie Knoller, whose second-degree murder conviction for the dog mauling death of Diane Whipple in 2001 was later reduced to involuntary manslaughter, moved forward today with a decision not to allow the original trial judge to hear the matter.San Francisco Superior Court Presiding Judge David Ballati this morning denied a motion by Knoller's attorney Dennis Riordan to have Judge James Warren, the original trial judge, come out of retirement to rule on the case.
Superior Court Judge Charlotte Woolard is now the judge appointed to rule on whether a retrial will be granted. A further status conference in the case is scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m."
Read the rest here. --Janine Kahn
Want to learn how to grow the kindest bud in the land? Want to be filmed by a Hollywood production crew while you do it? I didn't think so. Paranoid potheads will no doubt recoil in horror at the thought, but for one lucky, really, really mellow burner out there, fame and fortune (and hopefully not a stay in federal prison) awaits! The Craigslist ad in question promises free tuition at Oaksterdam University, "nice" housing, a living stipend, and more subjectively "a lot of fun," and all you have to do in exchange is bear your soul to the ravenous monster of reality TV. (via SFist)
-- Brian Bernbaum
This is almost too great for words: to kick off the stage production's two-month San Francisco run, Mayor Gavin Newsom has proclaimed today, April 11, 2008, Point Break LIVE! Day. A stage adaptation of the almost unbearably cool 1991 Keanu Reeves/Patrick Swayze surfer/heist flick makes its debut performance at the Xenodrome (1320 Potrero Avenue) tonight at 9:00 p.m. -- tickets are $25 a piece. Get them here, or call 1-866-811-4111. The show runs through June with three performances a week. And we can only hope that this exchange made it into the stage version:
Johnny Utah: Bodhi, this is your fucking wake-up call man. I am an F, B, I, Agent!
Bodhi: Yeah, I know man. Ain't it wild? That's what makes it so interesting. You can do what you want, and make up your own rules. Why be a servant to the law, when you can be it's master?
(via Gawker)
-- Brian Bernbaum
Good Activists: Bad Videos
By Benjamin Wachs
They voted for Barack Obama so much that now they want the chance to do it again. The 8th congressional district only gets to send 3 Obama delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and 71 “Democratic Activists” are competing for it. By all reports, the numbers are equally skewed all around the state.
Damn it, why does the cool kid’s lunch table always have to be so small?
The prospect of such an unwieldy election (and the idea that maybe some of the candidates are really Clinton spoilers) caused the Obama campaign to bring out the knives, cutting over 900 candidates for California delegate from the ballot – a move it can legally engage in, but a sure-fire way to piss off about 900 of your voters. 51 were from SF.
Last night Obama reversed the decision, saying “oh come all ye faithful” and let the chips fall where they may.
