South Van Ness Avenue was shutdown from 14th to 16th streets while the bomb squad pores over a black Dodge Ram, possibly linked to a pipe bomb explosion that occurred in Bayview on the 1100 block of Newhall Street. (Two men in their twenties have been detained for questioning.) So, you know, don't go there until it's all clear. Because: ka-blammo. Update: the little robot scanner guy is checking out the truck. Yay, little robot......

Berkeley police responded to a menacing looking suitcase sitting in front of a Bayer AG-owned building on Seventh Street between Dwight and Parker. Jackson West informs us that said drug company has "its biotechnology headquarters in the town and contributes grants to student research at the University of California." (Rut row!) Anyway, it didn't explode. Alas. But check out some harrowing shots of today's dramatic suitcase scare. (Valleywag)......

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......

Good Lord, Bay Area residents. It seems that we had not one, but two bomb scares yesterday....