The noise woke my partner first. I heard it distantly, still ascending from the depths of a REM cycle. Its robotic voice, preceded by a red-alert siren, warned of impending shaking. Knowing that it’s safest to stay in bed if an earthquake strikes at night, we looked at each other

I’m sure you’ve seen the weather lately. It’s been raining on and off since mid-November. Soaking rains washed over the Bay Area these past couple weekends, reminiscent of wet seasons past. Forecasters say another storm system should move in this Friday. It is hoped this seemingly plentiful rainfall will reduce

Twitter is allegedly forcing its few remaining employees to sleep in makeshift bedrooms at its Market Street headquarters. A whistleblower alerted San Francisco’s 311 service, backed up by a Forbes report that described conference rooms rudely converted to “modest bedrooms featuring unmade mattresses, drab curtains and giant conference-room telepresence monitors.” Anonymous employees

After months of seismic unrest, Hawai’i’s largest volcano Mauna Loa began erupting.  At 11:30 PM Sunday evening, the floor of Moku‘āweoweo, Mauna Loa’s enormous caldera, split open. Lava soon flooded the crater and spilled out on the mountain’s broad, rocky slopes. Scientists familiar with the truly massive volcano (33,500+ feet

A recent trend with a storied past has emerged with a new phrase in its mouth. Intrusive thoughts are fetching social media buzz. Facebook groups, Instagram stories, BuzzFeed and YouTube videos, all getting it wrong. You don’t lose sleep, stop eating, and consider suicide because of some stupid impulse or

San Francisco is not the Windy City, nor is it the state’s deadliest for pedestrians (that nefarious award goes to Concord, California). Nevertheless, the City by the Bay contains several spots where strange weather, extreme geography, and a rigid urban grid intersect. Two maps, one of our breeziest streets, the

A series of explosions throughout the city center have finally prompted San Francisco Police to investigate.  For years now, day and night, the booming detonations of so-called “small devices” have added to the downtown soundscape. Last Saturday at around 3:50 PM, Tenderloin residents reported yet another powerful blast. Car alarms

Sunday night’s earthquake was unremarkable by California standards. For some, the M2.9 tremor was their very first seismic experience. A burp of the notorious Hayward Fault, it struck near the mouth of the Caldecott Tunnel directly beneath Highway 24, where it dams Lake Temescal. North Oakland’s Rockridge and Piedmont neighborhoods,