Uber is speeding toward the day when those currently ubiquitous delivery people on mini motorcycles are a thing of the past, announcing a new partnership with a drone delivery startup that has already been working with Chipotle and Walmart.

McDonald's orders dropping from the sky via drone — or being gently dropped on your doorstep — could be coming to San Francisco very soon, after Uber announced a partnership with Zipline and a near-term rollout of their delivery drones in select cities.

"Teleportation isn’t science fiction anymore. It’s becoming part of everyday life,” says Keller Cliffton, co-founder of Zipline, a bit hyberbolically in a news release.

"Every great transportation revolution has changed where people live, how businesses operate, and how economies grow," adds Cliffton. "Together with Uber, we’re taking the next step toward building a world where getting what you need is as fast and effortless as sending a text, no matter where you are."

Zipline, which was founded in Half Moon Bay and currently has its headquarters in South San Francisco, launched its drone delivery service in Pea Ridge, Arkansas and in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area in 2025, providing quick deliveries from Walmart and over a dozen restaurant brands via its ultra-quiet, weather-resistent drones. The company claims that its drones can operate in all kinds of weather, and will ultimately save lives because of the drones' ability to speedily get from point A to point B in conditions that could be dangerous on the road.

The company also appears to have attempted to establish some corporate good will by launching with a medical delivery service as well, delivering "everything from blood, vaccines and medical products" to more than 5,000 hospitals and healthcare facilities. They claim their service has already contributed to a 56% drop in maternal mortality.

Uber Eats' partnership with Zipline is said to be launching later this year, though the companies have not yet disclosed what their first test markets will be.

"Zipline has built incredible technology, and Uber connects many millions of people with local merchants every day,” says Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a statement. “Together, we’re shaping the future of delivery by creating a faster, more sustainable way for people to get what they need. We look forward to bringing this technology to more communities and making autonomous delivery part of everyday life.”

The two companies say that their goal is to make one million drone deliveries per day by the end of 2029.

Related: Five Live SFPD Drone Feeds Were Publicly Available Online for Six Months

A high school social justice pathway in Palo Alto is the focus of a lawsuit after students visited a mosque, as a group of parents is claiming the school’s recognition of Islam showed a preference for one religion over their own.

The lawsuit centers on a fall 2025 field trip organized through Palo Alto High School’s Social Justice Pathway, a three-year program that focuses on social justice issues in the community, as Palo Alto Online reports. The parents allege the visit went beyond academic instruction about religion and amounted to the school promoting Islam.

According to the complaint, students visited a mosque and learned about Islam’s connection to social justice. They were given Qurans, and female students were offered hijabs to wear, which were optional. They also participated in activities connected to Noor Hifz Academy, a religious youth program.

The complaint also alleges that students were “exposed” to Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR reportedly faced national and local criticism in 2023 after its national director, Nihad Awad, made comments about the October 7 Hamas attack. The following year, Palo Alto rescinded funding for a multi-faith picnic after CAIR joined as a co-sponsor.

Billoo disputed the parents’ characterization of her participation, telling the Chronicle that she spoke from her experience as an American Muslim woman working in civil rights and social justice. She said the students’ visit was voluntary and that learning about religious practices does not violate religious neutrality in public schools.

“Public schools and the government have an obligation to remain neutral toward religion, but what neutrality does not mean is shielding students entirely,” Billoo said.

According to a description of the Social Justice Pathway, the three-year, project-based program is centered on student choice, community action, and experiential learning. A student video about the course explains that students begin sophomore year by identifying local and global issues they want to study, with past topics including societal beauty standards, racism and colorism, the women’s movement, Black Lives Matter, and the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The video also shows students learning from people with a range of backgrounds and experiences, including a Holocaust survivor and a Cambodian refugee, and taking a variety of field trips as part of their coursework. Students are reportedly encouraged to develop their own solutions to the issues they study, with the program describing its goal as addressing social problems through “transformative rather than temporary relief.”

The plaintiffs include two Jewish parents of Palo Alto High students, three former Jewish students, a Hindu parent, and a Zoroastrian. They argue the district’s treatment of Islam as a social justice faith diminished the standing of their own religious traditions, and contend that the field trip violated their constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The complaint also raises concerns over photographs taken of students during the trip and allegedly shared publicly without specific parental consent. The parents argue the district should have anticipated the risk of students being photographed in a religious setting and adopted safeguards to prevent their images from being publicly associated with a particular faith.

They claim that the school district’s choice to highlight Islam “conveyed preference for one religion and disfavored or stigmatized others, including students and families who do not share the promoted religious perspective,” per Palo Alto Online.

In addition to monetary damages, the plaintiffs are seeking an admission that the district was negligent in supervising students, violated students’ privacy rights, and infringed on the parents’ due process rights. They also allege violations of the California Constitution, arguing that the district gave preference to one religion and allowed students to be publicly associated with a faith without informed parental consent.

The lawsuit names Palo Alto Unified School District and Palo Alto High School Principal Brent Kline as defendants. According to the Chronicle, the district had not yet filed a response as of the filing, and a case management conference is scheduled for November.

Superintendent Jason Glass said the district learned about the lawsuit through news coverage and had not yet been formally served. He said district policy requires religious instruction to be academic rather than devotional, and prohibits promoting or denigrating any faith. The district is reviewing its practices, he said, but would not comment further while the litigation is pending.

Related: Congress to Grill SFUSD’s Maria Su, Two Others on Parental Rights ‘Abuses’ In Schools

Image: Palo Alto High School

An affair with a member of her security detail that began in either Sonoma or Napa County in 2024 has led to a lawsuit against former Senator Kyrsten Sinema from the security guard's ex-wife, which Sinema is trying to get thrown out.

Former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who became persona non grata among Democrats during her one-term tenure in the Senate for leveraging her swing-vote status for greater power and then becoming an independent, is now facing a lawsuit from the ex-wife of a member of her security detail. As the Daily Beast reported over the weekend, Sinema has admitted to the affair with former security guard Matthew Ammel, which appears to have been conducted over multiple months in 2024.

The Assembly, a North Carolina-based publication, first reported on the lawsuit in January, which was filed by Heather Ammel under North Carolina's antiquated "alienation of affection" law. The law, nicknamed the "homewrecker law," allows for a spouse to sue a third party who they believe played a role in wrongfully causing the dissolution of their marriage.

Such laws, which derive from English common law of the 18th and 19th centuries, have largely been abolished in most states.

Per the Chronicle, Sinema submitted a declaration in the case that placed the first romantic encounter with Matthew Ammel on Memorial Day Weekend 2024 in Sonoma County. But in a July 31 deposition, Sinema reportedly said, "We were staying at an Airbnb in Napa, California. We were outside. Matt kissed me. We went inside and had sex." (We'll have to assume here that one or the other location is incorrect, and it's likely that she referred to "Napa" in the deposition the way many people do as a metonym for Wine Country, when she meant to say Sonoma, though this is not clear.)

Sinema reportedly began a texting rapport with Ammel that dates back possibly to late 2023 or early 2024. In an exchange during President's Biden's final State of the Union address in January 2024, Sinema reportedly messaged Ammel saying "she didn’t need to listen to some old man, President Biden, talk about legislation that she wrote," according to the lawsuit. And when Ammel joked he was going to start a "fuck the troops" chant, Sinema responded that she would "fuck the hot ones."

According to the suit, Sinema volunteered to help Ammel deal with some mental health issues, texting that he should get some MDMA so she could lead him through a "psychedelic experience" as a means of therapy.

It's unclear what the occasion was for the Wine Country trip, but Sinema confirmed in her deposition that she and Ammel had a second sexual encounter in June 2024 while she was attending the wedding of CNN anchor Jessica Dean in New York City, as the Daily Beast reports. And they had a third encounter at Sinema's Washington, DC apartment in mid-July, she said.

The affair continued on a trip to Aspen, Colorado that August, and Ammel himself reportedly confirmed another sexual encounter in DC in late September. The pair also reportedly had sex at Sinema's home in Phoenix in October 2024.

Sordidly, Sinema reportedly accompanied the Ammels and their children to a Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert that October, before Matthew Ammel initiated the separation with his wife in November.

Sinema, who has been working as a lobbyist since leaving the Senate in early 2025, has reportedly been continuing to see Matthew Ammel romantically, as the Assembly reported in January, traveling to North Carolina to visit him there.

Sinema is now trying to get the North Carolina suit tossed in federal court, arguing that the affair was initiated and conducted outside the state, and that North Carolina has no personal jurisdiction over her. There will reportedly be an evidentiary hearing in the federal case in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Wednesday. It will then be up to US District Judge David A. Bragdon whether the jurisdiction argument is valid, and whether the North Carolina case may proceed.

Heather Ammel is seeking unspecified financial damages from Sinema if she is found liable for "wrongful and malicious conduct."

As The Assembly notes, "While alienation of affection laws were once common throughout the United States, only five other states [besides North Carolina] still have them on the books." Those states are Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah.

Last fall, a TikTok influencer named Brenay Kennard was sued and filed liable under the law in North Carolina and ordered to pay $1.75 million in damages after seducing and having an affair with her manager, Tim Montague.

In other news, Sinema is also facing a legal complaint from the Campaign Legal Center, filed in February, that alleges that she violated federal campaign finance laws by using around $700,000 of unspent campaign funds for personal use, spending funds on luxury trips, expensive meals, exclusive event tickets, and more, since leaving office last year.

Related: Former Newsom Mayoral Aide Ruby Rippey Breaks Silence on Scandalous 2005 Affair

Top image: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) arrives at the U.S. Capitol ahead of votes on December 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominees for his incoming administration continue to meet with senators on Capitol Hill, weeks before his inauguration. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Timber Fire appears to be growing at a slower rate and is now 17% contained, though it continues to cut off Big Sur and Highway 1 from Northern California tourism.

The Timber Fire, which was sparked on August 8 in Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County, continued expanding its footprint over the weekend, though at a slower pace than it had been last week. The fire now stands at 5,189 acres as of Monday morning, and it is 17% contained.

Highway 1 remains closed from the area near Big Sur Bakery and Fernwood Resort and Campground on the north side, to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park on the south side. Firefighting efforts brought the fire perimeter down to the eastern edge of Highway 1 at Grimes Canyon, near Grimes Point.

An operational update on Monday from Timber Fire Operations Section Chief Marc Bontrager of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection suggested that steady progress is being made along the containment lines and in keeping the fire at "low intensity" in the wilderness areas to the northeast flank of the blaze.

"Crews continue mop up operations along the coastal side of the fire. Firefighters continue to look for and address areas of heat toward the Big Sur River," Cal Fire said in a morning update. "The fire remains south of the Big Sur River. There was minimal fire activity throughout the night. On the northern portion of the fire, firefighters will continue working to bring fire down to Highway 1 and secure containment lines."

The fire grew quickly in its initial stages, to 3,000 acres on Tuesday and 4,200 acres on Thursday, but growth was considerably slower over the weekend, growing by 700 acres between Friday and Monday.

Weather conditions are expected to remain favorable over the next couple of days, despite a broader warming trend, with the marine layer compressing along the coast.

Evacuation orders remain in place for five zones near the fire, and 500 structures remain under threat. No structure damage has been reported so far.

Previously: Timber Fire Expands to 2,000 Acres, Evacuations Ordered Along Big Sur Coast

The owners of a Monterey County nursery, who also face jail time for tax evasion, agreed to pay $800,000 in penalties and restitution after 270 farmworkers were found living in illegal and unsafe makeshift units there in 2023.

An investigation into Ruvalcaba Nursery in Watsonville began in 2023 after a probation officer noticed someone under their supervision appeared to be living in a greenhouse on the nursery property, as Bay City News reports. An inspection of the site uncovered dozens of makeshift units carved out of converted greenhouses and other structures on the 23-acre nursery property, with 270 people living there.

According to Monterey County Now, the District Attorney's Office later alleged that the housing violated numerous health and safety requirements, including lack of ventilation, windows, heating, electrical systems, and fire safety. A lawsuit filed by four of the tenants also alleged that the units were infested with mold, roaches, and rodents, and the roofs and walls leaked, as KSBW reported at the time. Raw sewage was also reportedly discharged directly outside the units.

Some families had been living on the property for years, and despite the conditions, they were reportedly paying as much as $2,500 per month in rent. The renters alleged the units had no heating, smoke detectors, emergency exits, or potable water, which was sometimes discolored and green.

The renters also alleged the Ruvalcabas went to considerable lengths to keep the housing arrangement hidden. Families were reportedly discouraged from having visitors, while the owners monitored activity around the property and told residents and children to stay inside. Some residents said they were threatened with eviction or deportation if they were seen outside, per KSBW.

According to the lawsuit, renters were also confined to the property or locked inside when government officials came to inspect it, and they were instructed not to use the nursery's address on official documents, including medical forms.

The District Attorney's Office became involved in March 2024, filing criminal and civil charges that included felony tax evasion, along with misdemeanors related to the unpermitted housing and failure to carry workers' compensation insurance. According to Bay City News, the case also revealed that families had paid the Ruvalcabas about $1 million in cash rent between 2020 and 2022, income the couple allegedly failed to report, resulting in about $135,000 in unpaid taxes.

Nearly 30 tenants separately sued the couple over the housing conditions. The civil case, brought with assistance from California Rural Legal Assistance, alleged physical and emotional distress, property damage, and other harms resulting from the living conditions.

The criminal case was reportedly delayed after Nicolas Ruvalcaba's attorneys questioned whether he was competent to stand trial because of an Alzheimer's diagnosis, as Monterey County Now reports. On July 30, his attorney, William Pernik, withdrew a request for mental health diversion after Monterey County Superior Court Judge Mark Hood warned about further delays.

The Ruvalcabas had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, with Nicolas writing in court documents, “We have not done any act which causes harm.” A trial was scheduled to begin August 3, but instead, the couple reached a settlement.

Under the agreement, Nicolas Ruvalcaba pleaded no contest to two felony tax-evasion charges and misdemeanors involving housing code violations and lack of workers' compensation insurance. Ana Ruvalcaba pleaded no contest to misdemeanor tax evasion and the same housing and insurance violations.

The couple agreed to pay $800,000, including $450,000 to 10 couples involved in the civil lawsuit, along with more than $300,000 in penalties to the California Franchise Tax Board, Monterey County agencies, and the court. They had also separately paid about $170,000 for temporary housing for people affected by the case and $200,000 to resolve the California Rural Legal Assistance civil complaint, per Bay City News.

The settlement also bars the Ruvalcabas from constructing structures without permits or allowing people to live in buildings that have not been approved by Monterey County.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 29. The District Attorney's Office is recommending four years of probation and 240 days of home confinement for Nicolas Ruvalcaba, and 40 days of home confinement for Ana Ruvalcaba, with the couple also facing up to a year in jail.

Related: Tenants Set to Be Evicted En Masse at Potrero Hill Housing Complex Where Manager Was Illegally Collecting Rent

Image: Google Street View

The FBI and members of Congress have known all along that former Congressman Eric Swalwell had several sexual encounters with a Chinese "honeypot" operative named Fang Fang, and he claimed once it happened while he was on Ambien.

We learned earlier this year, following the spectacular implosion of Congressman Eric Swalwell's political career — as he was running for governor of California — that it was an open secret among his fellow members of Congress that Swalwell shouldn't be trusted around any young female aides. And the allegations made by multiple young women in Swalwell's orbit would seem to back up that distrust.

And while, before all those allegations surfaced, Democrats had been quick to brush off the Trump administration and other Republicans trying to dredge up a decade-old scandal in which Swalwell interacted with a Chinese woman later identified as a spy who worked as a fundraiser on one of his early campaigns.

We first learned of the Chinese honeytrap scheme back in 2020, and the woman at the center of it, Fang Fang aka Christine Fang, had also volunteered on Ro Khanna's campaign, and had apparently taken several Midwestern mayors to bed. According to the information uncovered at that time, Swalwell and Fang had not had any sexual encounter. But in retrospect, perhaps we should have known better.

As the New York Post reports, newly released FBI files reveal that Swalwell had confessed in 2015 to having "physical relations with Fang on a handful of occasions." After it came to light that Swalwell had both employed and had sex with a Chinese spy, he was kicked off the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence while it was under Republican control, only to be reinstated on the committee when Democrats took power again.

Fang became the subject of a counterintelligence investigation by the FBI field office in Oakland, and Swalwell was interviewed there in 2015. He reportedly admitted to one instance in which Fang had come over to his apartment and the two had "hooked up" while he was allegedly on Ambien, and he claimed not to remember much about the encounter. He said he'd taken the Ambien to sleep before Fang came banging on his door and he let her in.

Fang apparently visited Swalwell's apartment at least twice, both times before he was elected to Congress in 2012.

Fang helped organize fundraisers for Swalwell in California and Las Vegas, per the California Post, and Swalwell admitted to communicating with her via text and to having casual sexual encounters on multiple occasions.

An undercover FBI agent reportedly explored trying to turn Fang into a double agent back in 2013. Fang's parents are both Chinese intelligence officers, and she reportedly told the agent that she had had the opportunity to marry rich in Beijing, but had decided instead to forge her own path and some to the US, via her connections with the Chinese spy agency.

Fang was codenamed Rusty Thumbs, and the agent suggested that she could be flipped as a double agent because she seemed primarily motivated by money and power. This was apparently before the extent of her own activities and political influence operation was exposed, and the effort to recruit her ended in 2014.

Swalwell's interactions with Fang continued into early 2015, at which point he was called in to an interview with the FBI.

The declassified FBI file on Rusty Thumbs, which was declassified back in late March as Swalwell's gubernatorial campaign was still active, was posted to the White House's "Election Integrity" web page, which pulls together various documents that purport to be evidence of President Trump's longstanding claims that US elections have been tampered with.

On March 31, Swalwell sent a cease-and-desist letter to FBI Director Kash Patel after the agency had threatened to release these decade-old files on the Fang Fang scandal.

"The Congressman has never been accused of wrongdoing in that matter and your attempt to release the file is a transparent attempt to smear him and undermine his campaign for Governor of California," his attorneys said at the time.

Within ten days, a former staffer of Swalwell's came forward with bombshell allegations of being sexually assaulted by him while she was very drunk.

Those allegations were followed by others from other women, including an accuser in Los Angeles who appeared to be pursuing civil if not criminal charges, and Swalwell bowed out of the governor's race two days later and resigned from Congress on April 13.

Related: State Senator Aisha Wahab In Early Lead For Eric Swalwell’s Former Seat In 2027

Top image: Photo via Getty Images

A body was seen floating in the Bay near the Embarcadero Sunday evening, and was apparently seen by passersby before it was recovered by the San Francisco Fire Department.

An investigation is underway into a body that was found floating in San Francisco on Sunday. Firefighters responded to the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building around 7:37 pm Sunday on a report of a body in the water.

The Xitter account Tenderloinactivities posted video (Warning: it's graphic) from an onlooker who spotted the body, which appeared to have shoes on. The person taking the video could be heard saying, "Oh my god, is that real?"

As NBC Bay Area reports, the body was transported to Pier 22 1/2, which is home to the fire department's Fireboat Station 35.

The body has been transferred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

No further details were available.

This is a developing story.

Top image: Photo by Matt Dodd

The northeast side of town will likely feel the effects of a yearlong construction project on the Larkin Street side of the Broadway Tunnel, which coincides with seismic upgrades taking place at the Chinatown Public Health Center above the tunnel’s eastern entrance.

The Broadway Tunnel was closed for 24 hours Sunday while construction crews prepared for an improvement project that's expected to last 14 months, as ABC 7 reports. Beginning Monday morning, vehicles will be sharing the westbound bore in both directions for the next seven months.

The West Broadway Tunnel Safety project is focused on slowing vehicle speeds and improving pedestrian and traffic safety near the tunnel's western entrance, which is located near Helen Wills Playground. The work includes narrower vehicle lanes, new signage, upgraded traffic signals at Broadway and Larkin, and other changes along Broadway between Polk and Powell streets.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority says digital message signs will alert drivers to changing conditions and alternate routes, and the agency is encouraging people to allow extra travel time and take public transit when possible.

The timing also coincides with the first day of school for San Francisco Unified School District students, with potential impacts on drop-off and pickup around Chinatown, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, and North Beach schools. Superintendent Dr. Maria Su urged families to plan ahead, according to KPIX.

“We're asking families to have a little extra patience and spend a little extra time to get to school,” Su said.

Residents are also concerned about traffic spilling onto nearby streets as drivers look for ways around the tunnel.

Larkin Street resident Baani Sharma told ABC 7 she suspects drivers heading to the Financial District will more frequently use neighborhood streets to avoid congestion.

“I feel like with one lane closure, all the back streets to get to the Financial District will get a lot worse. A seven-minute commute could take 40 minutes now,” she said.

The construction is reportedly happening alongside seismic upgrades at the Chinatown Public Health Center, which is located above the tunnel's eastern entrance.

Some Chinatown business owners say they understand the need for the work but are worried about the effect of slower traffic and difficult parking on their customers.

“They say they put up some kind of map on the website. Does that work? I don't think so,” said Edward Siu of the Chinatown Merchants United Association, speaking to KPIX. “Because we have a lot of tourists and visitors from outside. They won't be like the community, the people in San Francisco that know about it.”

Additionally, a two-year renovation of Chinatown's Portsmouth Square at Kearny and Washington streets began in June, which merchants say has caused a 60% drop in business.

The West Broadway Tunnel Project is funded through the Transportation Authority’s Neighborhood Program, with District 3 funds being used for improvements around the tunnel.

The Neighborhood Program provides each supervisorial district with $700,000 in Prop L transportation sales-tax funding over five years. Anyone can propose a project, with supervisors ultimately recommending which proposals receive funding for planning, design, construction, or to help secure other grants.

Related: First Major Overhaul of Chinatown’s Portsmouth Square In Decades Has Begun

Image: Joey Parsons/Flickr

Top image via SFFD

Two people have been arrested over allegations that they participated in a major mail theft operation targeting six Bay Area cities. As part of their investigation, authorities say they've recovered over 80 pounds of mail suspected as stolen.

As ABC 7 reports, two suspects were arrested following an investigation by the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety triggered by alarming trends in local mailbox thefts. Both suspects were reportedly actively on parole at the time of their arrests.

While searching the residence of one suspect, USPS investigators say they recovered "more than 80 pounds of mail, burglary tools and suspected methamphetamine" along with various checks, credit cards, and other forms of personal information.

A search of the other suspect's home, according to authorities, yielded additional burglary tools, a small assortment of stolen mail, and a collection of U.S. Postal Service mailbox locks.

United States Postal Inspector Matthew Norfleet told ABC 7 that, in most cases, stolen mail is used as a bartering chip.

"It gets traded in for something — drugs or cash or something — by the people who steal it," Norfleet said.

In this case, the mail in question was intended for recipients across a wide swath of the Bay Area. Affected areas include Sunnyvale, San Jose, Mountain View, Menlo Park, Sausalito, and Oakland.

Postal Inspector Norfleet noted that cluster mailboxes at apartment complexes make for popular targets.

In a related matter, ABC 7 notes that there's also been an increase in the number of assaults being reported by mail carriers.

It's led the National Association of Letter Carriers to back new legislation: the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act, which is designed to increase protections for postal workers via heightened penalties and improvements to key systems.

Related: Tens of Thousands of June Mail-In Ballots Tossed, Many Due to USPS’s New Postmark Policy

Image: Sean Boyd/Unsplash

The Sonoma County Fair continued a tradition that began more than 50 years by declaring Jinny Lu, a six-year-old pug from Ukiah, as the World's Ugliest Dog on Friday. Lu and owner Michelle Grady took home $5,000 in prize money.

As ABC 7 reports, the annual contest to decide the planet's homeliest canine saw contestants travel from as far as Poland to vie for the title.  The big winner was Jinny Lu, who likes to let her tongue hang low and initially came to her owner via Pug Rescue of Northern California.

Together for the past four years, Grady told ABC 7 that Jinny Lu likes to visit local elementary schools "with some of her other rescue pug friends" to help children see how meaningful pet adoption can be. The pug's bona fides also include delighting hospice patients and people in memory care facilities.

"She absolutely loves competition, meeting everyone, and everything the event stands for," Grady said in a statement.

Close on Jinny Lu's paws was Pinky: an albino Chihuahua/Pomerania mix who earned second place honors.

Another Chihuahua mix — Otto — completed the podium with a third-place finish. In total, nine canine competitors squared off for the 2026 installment.

Per a biography of the pup published by the New York Times, Jinny Lu was originally found "in a wooden box in freezing weather in the mountains of South Korea” and apparently screams at the sight of her own reflection in a mirror.

A four-time contestant who was 2025's runner-up, Jinny Lu's unique visage will soon be seen on limited-edition cans of Mug Root Beer (an event sponsor) and on the Today show, where Grady and the pug are set to appear as part of their prize package.

Related: Photos: Wave-Riding Dogs Duke It Out at Annual World Dog Surfing Championship In Pacifica

Top Image: SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 14: Jinny Lu wins first place in the "World's Ugliest Dog Contest" on August 14, 2026 in Santa Rosa, California. A pug named Jinny Lu won first place with a $5,000 prize and a trip to New York where she will appear on NBC's "Today" show. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Image: Alan J. Hendry/Unsplash

Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao made her latest appearance in federal court on Friday, where US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told prosecutors to limit their evidence exhibits from 1,700 down to 300 in the ongoing FBI bribery and corruption case against her.

As ABC 7 reports, the ruling came during a three hour session that saw prosecutors and defense attorneys spar over what evidence a jury should be allowed to hear and see. The options are reportedly legion, including hours of cellphone video, text messages, computer data, and more.

To that end, prosecutors had hoped to have as many as 1,700 exhibits to help make their case against Thao and her co-defendants, which include father-and-son David and Andy Duong of California Waste Solutions.

Collectively, they stand accused of conducting a scheme involving bribery and corruption that also included the participation of Thao's romantic partner, Andre Jones. Judge Rogers decided that 1,700 pieces of evidence was too many, and instead, asked the prosecution to shave down its total number of exhibits to 300 — before ultimately capitulating to 500.

That's what the government lawyers will have to work with as they attempt to prove charges that the Duongs bribed Thao and Jones in relation to a company called Evolutionary Homes that purported to repurpose shipping containers into shelter space for the unhoused.

As SFist previously reported, Mario Juarez — a partner in Evolutionary Homes who prosecutors say served as a "straw donor" funneling money from the Duongs to Thao's election campaign — has already pleaded guilty and is expected to testify on the prosecution's behalf as a star witness in their case against the Duongs, Thao, and Jones.

Prior to that, in 2024, Juarez had his home shot up just days before the FBI raided then-Mayor Sheng Thao's home in addition to raids on the homes and business of David and Andy Duong.

In April, SFist also reported on a ruling rejecting Thao and her co-defendants' request to remove evidence related to the case that they claim was obtained illegally. At present, the trial is expected to commence in October.

Related: Feds Reveal New Allegations Against Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao as Informant Takes Guilty Plea

Image: Sheng Thao speaks onstage at the TAAF Heritage Month Summit at The Glasshouse on May 02, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images for The Asian American Foundation)

Oakland Public Works is making quicker time of bulky trash removals thanks to their newest toy: the Lightning Loader. Essentially a giant mechanical claw used to pick up big piles of rubbish, city officials say it's helped them to remove 17 tons of trash in just four days.

Per reporting from KPIX, the latest tool for Oakland cleanup crews has swiftly made a noticeable difference in the city's ongoing battle to keep its streets trash-free. Beyond being a time saver, veteran Public Works employee Tim Glasper said that it's also a relief on his spine.

"This changed the game a lot," Glasper told KPIX. "It also saves your back from the physical labor. It scoops and picks up so much at one time. It makes everything a lot faster."

Eyeballing a recent pile of debris removed by the Lightning Loader near San Pablo Avenue and 33rd Street, Glasper estimated that the machine's contributions got what would have been an hour's work by hand down to a ten minute job.

Even with their new tool to compliment two older models owned by the city (but in need of repair), Oakland officials have a multi-prong approach in mind when it comes to clearing refuse.

Additional measures to combat litter, per KPIX, include increasing the fines issued by Public Works for illegal dumping to $1,000 for a first offense and up to $5,000 for repeat offenders. These fines will be issued by three new enforcement officers hired by the city, who are further complimented by an array of cameras that have been strategically placed at popular dumping sites.

District 3 Councilwoman Carroll Fife voiced her support for the measure, telling KPIX that thanks to these cameras, "we're starting to make more citations, so that people know: don't come here with your trash."

Oakland officials are set to receive an additional lightning loader next week, doubling the number of new machines they're currently renting. It should make for quite a fleet once the older models, both now undergoing upgrades, get back on the streets as well.

Related: East Bay Company Dumps Debris Into Customer’s Yard Over Unpaid Bill, But They Moved Out

Image: Mayor Barbara Lee/Instagram

Image: Orinda Police Department/Facebook