Awhile back, Greg wrote that he didn't want The N Judah Chronicles to become the "let's all talk about people getting hurt and killed blog." Alas, the injury count seems to have gone up a tick today; Muni reports: There is no Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) service on the J-Church line between 16th and Church streets and San Jose and Ocean avenues due to an injury accident between an LRV and a pickup truck at......

Oh how we hate that high-pitched whine generated by held-open subway doors. It hurts, but of course, that's the point -- it's supposed to make you let go of the door so the whole train doesn't have to wait for your giggling gasping slowpoke friends. But maybe it hurts a little too much. Here's an item on the SF County Transit Authority's agenda for tomorrow's meeting (10:30 am, Room 263, City Hall): ...Chairman Dufty......

Holey Toledo, that's one long train. Google's magic street-looking-at vehicle seems to have kept pace with the light rail at some point, resulting in some very dodgy compositing. It's like a game of Caterpillar! That is all.......

Rescue Muni's handy new blog reminds us that Tuesday's TA meeting will tackle the topic of dedicated bus lanes on Geary. That includes opportunities for public comments, which are always well-reasoned and insightful. Bus lanes (or Bus Rapid Transit, as nerds call them) would speed up everyone's commutes: no more pulling in and out of traffic means faster buses, faster cars, and a 25% rise in bus ridership according to a recent study. That......

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't officially start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... ...

Hey, the new MUNI T Third line is finally open! That's the new light rail route that goes (.gif) from Castro Station down Third Street, through Dogpatch, down the Bayview, past Monster Park, and all the way to Sunnydale Avenue. We decided to spend our day off today checking it out. The T-Third is running in beta from now until April 1-- it's only running on weekends and every twenty minutes (though we waited about......

-The Board of Supes have their first meeting of the year with Gavin as their Very Special Guest Star. -What do you do when you can't make budget? Make welfare cuts!...

As we all know, Gavin is up for re-election this year (and why 2007? Aren't big elections supposed to be in even-numbered years? Is this one more "only in SF" type of thing?). So today's Examiner gets all up in Gavin's grill and checks him out. They recap his bout of recent bout of bad news, interview him (blue tie sighting!), and hand out report cards on his 2003 campaign promises. ...

Ahh, the Third Street light rail (the "T-Third")...for so long just a gleam in a transit rider's eye. Well, this weekend it's going to be tested out. Which is great for people who want to ride it. But not so great for people who are looking to drive in that area because MTA will close the Islais Creek Bridge and the 4th Street Bridge to test it out....

-St. Boniface Catholic Church in the Tenderloin is having a money crunch which could affect it's ability to handle the homeless. -Cabbie is found shot to death in the Richmond Annex ...

This Sisyphus is just trying to get to the Exit Theater -- but what were we futilely trying to get done this week? *Just trying to get to work, darn it! The MUNI derailment in the Twin Peaks tunnel stranded 60% of the lines and delayed 100% of blameless San Francisco light rail commuters. *Trying to find love for our beleaguered mayor Gavin Newsom. (We've already totally given up trying to get any love for......

For all you kids following along with the ups and downs of our trusty local transit agencies, here's the latest haps from the SF County Transit Agency: About $6 million's going to Muni, the Karl Pilkington of transit agencies, to continue work on the 3rd Street Light Rail. That's sure to go well. We'll be getting $91,000 in bike lane improvements, including better lanes on Market and in a region that is officially known......

Man, today's not the VTA's day. The San Jose light rail was shut down for about an hour and a half to clear out the carcass of a truck making an illegal left that turned directly into the path of the train on East Capitol Avenue in E. San Jose. The truck flipped on its side, landed under the train, and was dragged for about 150 feet. The three guys in the truck were sent to the hospital with major injuries but no one on the train was injured -- in part because there were only 8 people on the train. They really gotta do something about public transportation in the South Bay. What's more, this wasn't even the only accident on the VTA today -- someone else this morning also tried to make an illegal left from Plumeria onto South First Street, and also got hit by a train. Minor injuries only in that one, at least. Picture by Joanne Ho-Young Lee for the Merc News...

Hey folks living around 16th and Folsom -- the DPT's thinking about installing those nifty countdown crosswalk signals in your neighborhood. The thing is, though, they don't come cheap; they'll need $50,000 to go up. Whether you think that's a jim-dandy idea, or you agree that the money would be better spent ripping out the asphalt and installing a community garden, breeze on by the SFCTA's monthly meeting on December 7 at 6 PM......

That's all we are saying in our Dog Patch neighbourhood where officials have been trying to improve the sidewalks by planting rows of young saplings. In a location where our car gets broken into and vandalized on a regular basis, we are not surprised that there are people who for some reason think it's clever, smart or even fun to go and spoil the very things that are intended to improve our hood. Trees,......

...because SFist Rita can't! OK, last week's winner was the Guardian. It's their 39th anniversary, and we're talking about housing in the city. Cover story: characterless and expensive condos on the East side. The Warfield sues the Weekly, claiming, among other things, that a Bill Graham staffer threateded to "f**k up" the Warfield. (SFist f**ks stuff up all the time, where's our cool lawsuit?). Oakdale projects are unbelievably squalid. Third Street light rail will......