First things started getting ugly in Clarion Alley in the fall, then 2012 hit and things really escalated with the entire 17th St. Mural getting trashed with vandalism, followed by the Mr. Bubbles sign, and then much of Sirron Norris' work.  Even Balmy Alley has seen many of its works ruined in the last month.

Well, according to DVTDY?, who photographed the above whitewashing following the vandalism, we can add the Alabama St. Mural to the body count.

What remains to be seen is if muralists will persist in painting despite the unrelenting destruction of their works.  The pair of artists interviewed last fall in Clarion Alley stated they had enough and were moving on from Clarion's once sought-after alley walls.  Is the age of murals of graffiti prevention done, to be replaced with horribly boring-yet-effective treasure map-esque lines?  We can only hope not.

[Top photo by Funston]

I know this is an unappetizing photo of appetizing bagels, but you should pay attention anyway.  Why?  Because San Francisco's bagel scene has historically sucked shit, but then Schmendricks Brooklyn Bagels came along and changed the fucking game (I'm cussing because I'm excited).  Finally, a puffy bagel that tastes like a proper meal, rather than some circular afterthought.  Perhaps more importantly, a bagel that makes me want to eat bagels again.

Enough gushing.

After a few months of weekend pop-ups and a casual delivery service, the Schmendricks folks are stepping up their blooming bagel empire (we can only hope this means daily sales in various neighborhood cafes in the near future).  In doing so, they're kicking it off with a launch party at Four Barrel on May 10th:

Sure, 20 bucks might be a tad steep, but you get one free adult beverage.  And bagels.  So many bagels.

So if launch parties and bagels and adult beverages are you kinda thing, head over to their Eventbrite and plop down your credit card. 

Years ago, Mission District prostitutes were simply known as “Capp Street Hookers” for their preferred blocks of rape limbo.  Then came a series of police crackdowns, which more-or-less made the situation manageable.  But now they're back in force, so says an unsigned petition created by “residents” located near the 20th and Capp hooker parklet:

We, residents of the Mission near the intersection of Capp and 20th streets, are very concerned by the sudden increase in prostitution in our neighborhood.

As you know, Capp Street was once a locus of organized prostitution, but the hard work of the police and the community put a stop to that intolerable situation years ago.

But now, suddenly, it is back — complete with other types of associated criminality, fighting and yelling in the streets, and trash.

We find it unacceptable that we are woken up at night by screaming hookers, that we are endangered by the reckless driving of their customers and associates, that we have to step over used condoms in the morning with our children, and that we feel a sense of menace when we are walking home at night.

Since this is a sudden and new blight in our neighborhood, a criminal enterprise operated by people who are not from the community, we believe it should be relatively easy to nip it in the bud: simply patrolling Capp street frequently—especially on Friday and Saturday nights—and establishing a visible police presence here will scare off potential customers and make our streets an unprofitable place to undertake prostitution. 

As a Capp St. resident, I haven't really noticed the problem getting any worse over the last few months (although I've certainly noticed it).  Are they just exaggerating the scene to get some condoms cleaned up, or is this really getting out of hand?

[Photo by Zara Evens]

Around 4pm yesterday, a washed-up William H. Macy-looking character decided he was 'sick and tired' of big bank's corporate greed and jumped in front of a southbound BART train, somehow not getting hit by it.  So, with his fragile life intact, he went on ranting and apologizing for making people late for a solid 5 minutes before chillin' out with the third rail:

Admist all the excitement, the notoriously trigger-happy BART PD deployed a shotgun-equiped army to deal with the situation.  And deal with it they did.  Eventually pulling the guy off the tracks, cuffing him, and letting people make their boring journey down to Daly City.

[Thanks for the heads up, Tuffy!]