Finally, the stellar waves the world's greatest surfers have been pining for are expected to land here Sunday.
It's all over the news: The highly anticipated Mavericks Big Wave surf contest is scheduled Sunday as a storm off Japan has sent swells heading right smack for the Northern California coast -- swells that could reach 20 feet or higher.
It's pretty exciting news, considering it will be the first time Mother Nature has cooperated with Mavericks since 2010, the last time the contest was held.
Amazing news broke today that Dunkin' Donuts, the Massachusetts-based purveyor of extremely decent coffee and glazed foods, will be making a foray into the Golden State. It's difficult to understate how strongly New Englanders feel about Dunkin' Donuts. There's a shop on every corner; when on the Eastern Seaboard, one hardly feels the chain's motto, "America Runs on Dunkin' Donuts," is an exaggeration.
Along with candlepin bowling and giving directions using landmarks ("You'll see the big tree in about 200 yaaaaahds; take a right"), there's a place for Dunkin' in every New Englander's heart.
So it will pain local delegates of Red Sox Nation to learn that Dunkin' is still far from San Francisco. The chain will soon be opening franchises in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Orange counties -- but not here. You can find a Dunkin' in Aruba, New Zealand, or the United Arab Emirates, but not in San Francisco.
We know there's gotta be some parents out there counting down the days from their kitchen calendar where they can safely take the kids on a family stroll to Dolores Park without fear of running into those freely flapping dicks.
On Feb. 1, the new law banning most public nudity begins, which means all the naked people will have to cover themselves in some sort of fabric before they leave the house, or face an unpleasant fine.
Nudists, hoping to reverse this law, are going to give San Francisco one last show (at least, we hope it's the last) tomorrow when they will gather naked in front of the Federal building -- the same day their class action lawsuit goes before a judge.
See also: Nudists Refuse to Get Naked in the Rain (NSFW)
Local Blogger Arrested for Trying to Photograph Supervisor Scott Wiener's Wiener
Last week, it was revealed that Marlena's, San Francisco's most fantastic drag bar, had been sold. We didn't know much then, other than it will be closed down for a brief stint while the new owners make some changes.
What we now know is that one of those changes includes a renaming of the vintage Hayes Valley watering hole. As reported by Hayeswire, the bar was purchased by local barkeeps Matt Conway, Anthony Healy-London, and Josh McAdam. The trio confirmed that Marlena's will no longer be called Marlena's, but they aren't yet sure what the new name will be.
A Menlo Park police detective who was caught with his pants down -- literally -- is back patrolling the streets after prosecutors dropped charges against him for soliciting a prostitute.
Officer Jeffrey Kenneth Vasquez was arrested in Feb. 2011 in Sunnyvale after he was found naked in a Motel 6 with a prostitute. The Santa Clara County District Attorney charged him with soliciting prostitution; however, the case was dismissed because the key witness -- a Sunnyvale police officer -- couldn't testify because of a "serious family medical emergency," CBS reports.
"While it may be frustrating on one level, I have a duty as a prosecutor to only prosecute cases I can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. And if I don't have a witness, or I can't prove a case, I have to dismiss, we can't go forward with it," Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney Rob Baker told the news station.
San Francisco police have released the mug shot of 22-year-old Oliver Lorenzo Lopez, who was arrested after allegedly getting hammered and crashing into a cop in the Mission District.
The incident happened about 12:48 a.m. on Monday. Lopez was traveling in his BMW west on 19th Street at a "high rate of speed" when he drove into oncoming traffic.
The elder gents of the Castro might want to drink to this: Twin Peaks Tavern, the gay Cheers of San Francisco, was officially declared a historic landmark. Unofficially, it's been declared a kick-ass place for a White Russian.
The historic status seems more than appropriate for a bar better known as the "glass coffin" or the "crystal casket" because of its generally old(er) clientele.
See also: San Francisco Attempts to Recruit Even More Gays to the Castro
Sponsored by Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro district, the legislation passed with flying colors(!) at yesterday's Board of Supervisors hearing. Here's what Wiener has to say about that:
Lake County Sheriff Francisco Rivero hosts an hourlong radio show called "Straight Talk with the Sheriff." An August Sac Bee profile described him as "brawny and mustachioed," "a maverick who walks tall and shoots from the lip," and a man who's "been called a thug, a liar, a bully, a cowboy and the Cuban John Wayne for his swaggering brand of justice."
Rivero, who began his career as an SFPD beat cop in Bayview-Hunter's Point, has apparently found a new target for his swaggering brand of justice: a small, 6-year-old, local online media outlet called Lake County News.
This week, the news site sued the sheriff for discrimination, claiming that he is shutting them out from public information because the outlet published "unfavorable" articles about him.
