The A's need you help, folks. They are currently seeking a part-time, seasonal Stomper. The Oakland Athletics' mascot is responsible for but not limited to the following: Performing at all A’s Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday home games and at a select number of other games during the 2009 seasonPerforming at private parties, parades, festivals, grand openings, etc. on specified days during the week and on weekends throughout the yearPerforming at off-site community appearancesCreating......

The streets of Oakland might become a bit safer now with the addition of the Guardian Angels. Starting this Friday night, the "volunteer organization of unarmed citizen crime patrollers" will man the mischief streets of Oakland per Mayor Ron Dellums' request. According to Cristina Fernandez, head of the Oakland chapter, "This is a first for us, because it's the first time a city government has specifically requested help from us." Over the last month, the......

In a span of 24 hours, two Oakland restaurants were robbed by three armed men wearing masks and dark hoodies. Skyline Pizza, located at 4400 Keller Avenue, was hit around 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Then, at King of King Restaurant on East 12th Street at 8:45 p.m, three three men struck again. Suspects robbed restaurant employees and patrons of their cash and other personal belongings. There have been at least six similar group-robberies in Oakland......

Local artists + fine baked goods + free admission = your Friday night plans. And good ones. Alex Beckstead will be screening his new film "Paperback Dreams", all about Bay Area independent booksellers, at the Oakland Museum tonight. Yes, there will be cookies and good times. Read on for Alex's take on the best local book shops, Sleepless in Seattle, and slow culture. 7:30pm at the Oakland Musuem. Free of charge. Outdoors on the......

Holy smokes. After an early morning shooting over at the Davis-Coit Apartments in downtown Oakland, which resulted in one arrest with one suspect at-large, this was the scene from inside the apartment of SFist reader EllyMental's girlfriend. EM tells us: [T]hought you might be interested in a pic my gf took this morning from inside her job in Oakland. It appears the fuzz raided a house that was the scene a 3am shooting last......

It seems an "unattended backpack" prompted the 12th Street Station in downtown Oakland to temporarily close up shop. A little after 6 a.m. this morning a curious sack was found sitting alone on a train, which then lead to a montage sequence of bomb-sniffing dogs wrongly smelling something wrong, the bomb squad officers investigating, riders being shooed away, the station shutting down, and then re-opening just before 9 a.m. Luckily, no explosives were found. The......

An Amber Alert just broke in on the talking picture box. A presumably unfit father who "has a known drug history and is known to frequent the Oakland area" took off with his son today, claiming that he was taking him to McDonald's, but never returned. According to ABC 7, "Harold Bennett left his home with his child Justin Nottingham...Bennett is about 5'9, 245 pounds, has brown eyes and a bald haircut. Justin Nottingham is......

While only nine cities in the Bay Area allowed to sell "safe and sane" fireworks (i.e., sparklers, fountains, snakes, and flowers [psst, you can totally turn the latter into a mini bottle rocket by drilling a small hole in the end of the cylinder]), one of those cities, Watsonville, might curb their fiery Fourth of July fun. According to the Merc, a ban on the sale of fireworks in Watsonville might take place since......

A fire has torched 75 to 100 at least 500 acres in Larkin Valley of Santa Cruz County between the Watsonville airport and Seascape Golf course, according to ABC 7. Also, parts of Highway 1 are currently closed in both directions in the area. (Northbound traffic, though, has been diverted at Miramonte Avenue and southbound traffic at San Andreas Blvd.) Evacuations have been orders for a few residences of the area. According to TV......

Mimicking $.50, an unidentified Oakland man was shot several times last night at around 10:45 p.m. at Eighth and Willow streets, and lived to tell about it. According to AP, "[t]he victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds and homicide detectives were initially called to the scene, but the man was expected to survive." The man is in stable condition. No arrests have been made. Which brings us to this: over the last few months, after......

Laughing Squid brings up a rumor we've always, always, always wanted to know whether or not it was urban legend or hard fact. Namely, that George Lucas used the Oakland container cranes in Oakland as his muse for the AT-AT walkers in The Empire Strikes Back. (Please, SFist readers at ILM in your pretty Presidio offices, ask the big boss if this is true or false. We beg of you.)...

MISSION, SATURDAY: While driving along the Highway 101 exit at Mission and Duboce, with her twin toddlers in tow, 31-year-old Milika Fields was shot and killed this past Saturday night. At around 7:15 p.m., the fuzz found "a silver Mazda MPV minivan riddled with bullet holes and three victims with gunshot wounds," according to SFPD Sargent Neville Gittens. (Her 12-year-old son and brother were also hit, expected to live.) The incident is believed to......

We’ll admit, we’ve been aloof to the A’s and this season’s American League West proceedings, what with the Athletics getting ready to juke their hometown for Fremont. But oh baby, do we have a new reason to root for the A’s to engage in some serious divisional ass-whooping. ...

Over in Oakland this morning, a premature newborn was found "unconscious and unresponsive" in a dumpster by a homeless lad looking for recyclables. The dead infant was discovered on the 600 block of 14th Street at around 7:40 a.m. Everyone was all kinds of upset. According to the Merc: The witness, obviously upset, wondered why the baby was thrown away. "If they didn't want the child, all they had to do was go across......

After the Oakland police were called to investigate reports of a "burglary" on Hannah Street in Oakland, 87 marijuana plants were discovered. After police arrested the intruder, they couldn't leave well enough alone. After getting a search warrant a little after midnight this morning, they found the intoxicating buds were found. Further arrests? Who knows? We'll update when we find out more.......

FRIDAY, AT&T PARK: Anthony Giraudo, 19, was killed after a Giants game just outside AT&T Park. He died after receiving one punch in the head and then hitting, falling over, and hitting his head on the ground. Taylor Buckley, 18, of San Carlos was initially arrested for aggravated assault on Giraudo. He posted bail, but soon after Giraudo died, he was later re-arrested on suspicion of murder. Via.SUNDAY, OAKLAND: During a party, some cad......

Oakland, Monday: Two shootings that happened within minutes of one another--with one proving fatal--are being investigated by the fuzz. Last night at around 6 p.m., "a young man was shot and injured at the corner of Whitney and 59th Streets in a drive-by attack," according to the Chron. A "lime-green tuck" carrying the suspected shooter(s) then fled the scene. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital. His condition is "unknown." Then about 10......

So far eight businesses in the East Bay have been held up by robbers in the past couple of weeks. Last night at around 9 p.m., two suspects hit Restaurant Furenzu on Adeline Street in Emeryville, according to CBS 5 (via Bay City News). While police can't be sure that last night's heist is related to the other ones that have been hitting East Bay restaurants, it does follow the same pattern: "[o]ne of......

Your optimistic San Francisco Chronicle has decided that the best way for you to imagine how many murders take place in Oakland each year (and where) is to plot them out on a Google map mashup. Each marker, once clicked, shows the victim's name, date they were killed, age and cause. On some, there are links to the corresponding news story. We're not sure about you, but we think this is a morbid mix of......

After last night's fire in the Mission displaced over 50 San Franciscans, an early morning East Oakland blaze at 2640 74th Avenue proved fatal, killing two men. It seems that the two died during a botched rescue attempt. The first victim "fled the fire along with other occupants of the house. But the man apparently rushed back into the house in an attempt to rescue the other man," Oakland Police Sgt. Barry Donelan tells......

Alas, it was not a good weekend for cyclists of the Bay Area. The sheriff's deputy that accidentally crashed into three cyclists in Cupertinio over the weekend -- a collision that killed Olympic hopeful 31-year-old Kristy Gough of Oakland (the third-fastest, non-professional women's triathlete in the world); and 30-year-old Matt Peterson of San Francisco -- has been identified as 27-year-old James Council. A deputy at the West Valley Patrol Division of Santa Clara County,......

DISCUSSION/THEATER: Before Michael Bennett and Bob Fosse rose to fame with shocking original choreography, directorial genius, and having a penchent for abusing dancers, we had Jerome Robbins. The mastermind of steps behind such famous works as Gypsy, West Side Story, and Fiddler on the Roof, just to name a few, will be discussed in length tonight at "Words on Dance Celebrates the Life and Career of Jerome Robbins." The panel discussion will be hosted......

Due to the popularity of Portland's Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls, (and just in time for the national release of Girls Rock! The Movie this spring) girls' rock camps are now sprouting up all over the country, including one opening in the Bay Area this summer! The Bay Area Girls Rock Camp will serve 25–40 girls between the ages of 8 and 18 and will take place at Julia Morgan School for Girls in......

Popscene and Live 105 proudly present SXSF : A South By San Francisco Music Fest with Persephone's Bees (Oakland), The Duke Spirit (UK), Ting Tings (UK) and Hottub (Oakland). We all know (at least you should) that Persephone's Bees puts out some awesome Russian-influenced pop music but this particular show we are most excited about The Duke Spirit. They are hitting the West Coast for a run of dates through LA, Seattle and San......

Wallpaper, a sweet/sleazy duo from Oakland will be serenading the head-bopping Noise Pop fans at Rickshaw Stop on Saturday night. They will be opening for the hipster-loving band, Panther. Wallpaper's infectious electronic sound can be heard on their new EP, T REX that will be digitally released in late April. You might file their EP between Prince and MSTRKRFT - quite an adventure. We touched base with the lead singer who answered (quite humorously) our......

Did you hear? Matt Gonzalez was in the news today. [SFBG]Which seawall lot plan do you like best? [Curbed]Set in SF, ABC's Eli Stone uses faux cable cars. The nerve! [SFGate]Frozen yogurt is back, and it's getting ugly. [Eater]Innocent trees exploited for UC Berkeley's numerous political agendas. [Daily Clog]Hooligans take yoga, stress relieved. [Oakland Tribune] Image credit: Capobianco Gallery......

Eeps! The bomb squad has been called over to the Oakland Marina this afternoon. It seems, according to Wendy Tokuda, that a box has been found, adorned with the text "81 millimeter mortar shells." Check out the live, alarmist web cast of the situation in progress here. Is it explosive? Is it a hoax? Will it blow? We'll update you when we find out more, or hear a loud "ka-pow" off in the distance.......

Chauncey Bailey, former editor of the Oakland Post who was murdered last August while investigating Your Black Muslim Bakery and the Muslim splinter group's shady dealings, received the prestigious George Polk Award last week for local journalism. Congrats, Bailey! His alleged killer, Your Black Muslim Bakery handyman Devaughndre Broussard, was also interviewed by 60 Minutes, which aired last night. According to CBS 5: In the interview, Broussard repeated his claim that he was coerced......

What a care- and crime-free life SF is living right now,right? And we don't believe any of it. According to local media outlets, SF is safe and sound. But according to a few SFist tipsters: - "Okay, that sure sounded like three gunshots at Alamo Square park, at the northwest corner, around 9:21pm. Anyone concur?" - "Heard four more gunshot-like explosions at 10:49 in the same area. Saw four cops heading east on Fulton......

Ten-year-old Mireya Zapata was reported missing from her home in the Tenderloin District at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning. She was wearing a black jacket with gold lettering that either says, "South Park" or "South Pole," black jeans, red and black sneakers with a heart print, and she was carrying a pink backback. She has a small black freckle near her mouth. She is about 5 feet tall, weighing 75 pounds. Update: Recent reports say......