Here's todays news...

And how is the commute going after yesterday's maze meltdown? So far, so good. Reports are that traffic into the maze was light, as probably everyone who commutes over the Bay Bridge, their dogs, and their fish knows what happened. It's still early yet so we'll see what happens tonight and until the overpass gets fixed....

On Tuesday, the 49ers unveiled their shiny new plan for a stadium in Santa Clara. The whole thing will cost about $854 million with Santa Clara pitching in what is said to be $160 million, although Santa Clara still might have to throw down for another $20 million to move the substation that's on the grounds of the proposed stadium. The rest of the money, $694 million, will come partially from the Niners ($363.3 million) and partially through the usual assortment of things, mainly naming rights and fan gouging. ...

It seems like every week, there's one of those Top 10 lists that come out trying to let everyone know what cities are ranked where and why. In fact, we've seen enough of these in the past few years to wonder if there are any Top 10 type lists that haven't been done yet. Top 10 Cities to Buy a Bong? Type 10 Cities to Get Drunk and Wind Up With A Tatoo In? Top 10 Cities to Get Gonarehea? Well, this week's Top 10 list is Top 10 Most Walkable Cities and guess what? San Fran clocks in at #3. ...

As the world holds it's breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Superbowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. Austinist was in a musical frame of mind as they listened to the new Shins album, updated the SXSW band listings and got called "punk rock" for their efforts by MTV. And an ice storm swept through the area. Bostonist said goodbye to John Kerry's plans for......

-Ray Ratto thinks Carole Migden's proposal to keep the 49ers in San Fran is a load of hooey. -That new stadium, BTW, is polling at about 73% in favor down in Santa Clara. ...

Maybe Kim Deal'll show up too -- Bassists Krist Novoselic and Matt Gonzalez (pictured to your left, shredding at a Jane Kim fundraiser) are hosting a fundraising event from 5:30-8 p.m. tonight to support Oakland's Measure O, which would institute ranked-choice voting in Oakland just like they've got in San Fran. The event's at the law offices of Gonzalez & Leigh, at 2 Shaw Alley, 3rd Floor (off Mission between 1st and 2nd), and Ross......

">After Wired ran a story documenting the GoogleCenter of the United States, a bunch of ists jumped on the opportunity to figure out their own middle. Gothamist, Chicagoist, Bostonist and Seattlest all zoomed in on their creamy GoogleCenters. A crack cartography team is hard at work determining the GoogleCenter of the Ist-a-verse as you read this... Austinist read a book about Olympian Bode Miller and liked it. They also took a few pictures of......

-The Mayor of San Jose, Ron Gonzales, was censured last week by the San Jose City Council for sheninigans involving a contract he negotiated with Norcal Waste Systems. The censure was the first in the city's 155 year history. Breaking with political tradition and going against every rule in the political book, Gonzales accepted responsibility for the censure and said that he "wholeheartedly'' accepted it, adding "it is my obligation to earn back that trust" that he lost over his actions. In calling for censure, however, the City Council also voted to end the independent investigation into the contract because they don't want to "wallow in our shortcomings.'' They also voted to take away some of the Mayor's powers and to consider booting him off several committees. ...

Well, okay, so this may not be so helpful to residents of The City, but considering how many people we've run into from home and folks around these parts who've spent time in San Fran, consider this an appraisal of one of the best truck stops on the artsy-fartsy superhighway. We mean, if you're stranded somewhere in America's urban archipelago away from home, you'd be hard pressed to find a better island than Austin,......

[Ed. Note: Okay, we'll retire that joke now.] So our friends at Beau Bonneau Casting are at it again. This time they're not looking for skinny hipsters, but for 'drag queens.' There are few casting calls that SFist would really want to go to, and that sure as hell would be one of them. The thought of a mass of fame-w**ring, star-f**king San Fran super-divas in size thirteen heels cat-fighting over roles as extras......

In the "Lengths Writers Will Go To Promote A Book" department, Tom Dolby, author of The Trouble Boy, submitted to an SFist grilling. And by grilling we mean a nice, spicy rub-down followed by a slow, low-temperature smoke. Because Tom is a native of The City, and successful in New York, so we can't really be all that hard on him. As part of local literary impresario Kevin Smokler's "Virtual Book Tour," Tom will......

Does anyone in San Fran not know about the Buena Vista Cafe? I know, I know -- today's hip, cultured SFist wouldn't be caught dead so close to the wharf. But there's some really cool stuff down there; places from the past that have stood the test of time -- and the Buena Vista tops that list. Okay, here's the nutshell version: The Buena Vista is a bar down near the wharf that was founded......

Let's start the week right. Let's talk caffeine -- trimethyldioxypurin. What better window into San Francisco than its coffee joints? Man, the Trimethyldioxypurist is cranky lately. Even after he's had his coffee. The sheer overproliferation of certain stores in San Francisco these days is frightening. You can't spit downtown without hitting a Subway or Quiznos (which still evoke the image of those disgusting "singing tumors," or whatever the hell they were supposed to be). More......

EssEffist Emily, our penninsula correspondent and intervista mejor, interviews herself today. We thought only Prince could do that after the surgery to remove his lower ribs, but Emily is one suprisingly talented lady. We met Emily at one of her famed curry fetes - you haven't lived until you've tried twenty different kinds of curry in one night! She's currently working to subvert the large San Fran clothier she works for by making cool t-shirts on her own time. Full interview after the jump....