In anticipation of Wednesday’s Earth Day celebration, Berkeley Farmers’ Market has stepped up to the “green” plate – by becoming the first market in the nation to eliminate all plastic bags and packaging.

“We’ve been anti-plastic for a long time, but we’re also committed to our farmers and didn’t want to negatively impact them through diminished sales or costs,” said Ben Feldman, program manager of The Ecology Center – an environmental non-profit that has run the markets since 1987.

The market launched its “Zero Waste” campaign March 7, demanding all farmers’ market refuse be recyclable or compostable. The new rule includes materials for bagging produce as well as containers and utensils for prepared foods.

The Bay Area economy continued to slow from late February to early April, though some sectors showed signs of stabilizing, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

Releasing its latest Beige Book, a summary of 12 regional reports, the Fed points to Silicon Valley as the big drag on the local economy. There are indications, however, that the computer and information technology sectors may be poised to rebound later in the year.

Local officials in California failed to properly account for millions of dollars spent on homeland security efforts in the state, made dubious purchases that may not make communities safer, and could have overpaid millions by not seeking competitive bidding for equipment, according to an audit by the inspector general of the US Department of Homeland Security.

In one example cited, a California county bought a $96,600 generator to provide its public works department with emergency power during a catastrophe but didn't factor in a $130,000 overhaul of its electrical system needed to accommodate the generator. So nearly two years after the purchase, the new equipment wasn't ready for a disaster and might never be, county leaders admitted.

Anyone who attended the self-titled CD release party of Moonalice at Slim’s Friday night would agree the band evoked the 1960s during their performance.

However, the band also mixed in a little 2009 when it incorporated a taste of social media into its lineup. Fans unable to attend the April 3 event were able to follow the show in real time using Twitter in what was billed as the first-ever "Tweet-cast" concert.

When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941, Jesus Riveria joined the resistance, driving an armored vehicle for the guerrillas. His job was to protect Filipinos and keep the Japanese from advancing. He worked along side the Philippine Commonwealth Army, which President Franklin Roosevelt incorporated into the U.S. armed forces.

We seldom think of oxygen unless it’s absent. You’d think about it a lot if it suddenly exited this room; you’d start gasping and writhing, your eardrums would burst, you and your neighbors would do a lot of bleeding on each other, then you’d die. But if we gradually replaced oxygen with nitrous oxide mixed with just a soupcon of cyanide gas, you might not notice that anything was missing at all; you might feel very content as your brain and body gradually turned off and you lapsed into a sleep without end. I’ve frequently criticized the Chronicle for just that — for its lack of the kind of mental oxygen that makes for a healthy democratic polity.

Every day during rush hours, almost like clockwork, Miranda Blankenship hears screeching tires and honking horns outside her front door on Masonic Avenue.

Commuters and bicyclists share the busy, four-lane street that serves as one of the major north-south veins through the city, funneling traffic to and from Highway 101. More than 35,000 cars traverse Masonic on a given day, and the result is chaotic and dangerous enough that Blankenship avoids it entirely on her daily bike commute from Masonic and McAllister Street to the Mission District.

"It's pretty hectic on Masonic," Blankenship said, noting that most cars are going far faster than the 25-mph limit. "I just stick to side streets."

For Blankenship, her neighbors, bikers, pedestrians and drivers, relief might be on the way for the nearly one-mile stretch of Masonic between Geary Boulevard and Fell Street. A lengthy campaign by neighborhood and transit-advocacy groups took a big step forward late last month when the Municipal Transportation Authority, which controls the city’s transit funds, allocated $120,000 to study potential improvements along Masonic.

Next month, the Masonic Avenue Traffic Calming Plan will begin counting bikes, pedestrians and ridership on the 43-Masonic bus line. The report will consider eliminating auto lanes to accommodate new bike lanes and building medians at certain intersections to improve pedestrian safety. The MTA hopes to finish the planning and approval process by summer 2010.

The possible closure of the San Francisco Chronicle and the unavoidable cutbacks it is facing will be the topics of a free public forum Tuesday evening at the Public Library’s main branch.

"A Conversation About The Chronicle," sponsored by the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, will give citizens the opportunity to discuss their concerns with a panel of civic leaders, business experts, journalists, publishers, non-profit foundations, media innovators and labor representatives. The forum will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium, on the lower level of the library, 100 Larkin St.

When “Sister Sara Femme” and the other “brides” boarded a tourist bus in Union Square Saturday, the passengers broke out in smiles.

“We’re free entertainment,” Femme said, batting her eyes.

A member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – a gay activist organization – Femme and her cohorts were a handful of more than 200 people who dressed in wedding gowns, formal attire and more during the 11th annual Brides of March event in downtown San Francisco.

The women – and men – who take part in the festive celebration, don thrift store matrimonial wear and stroll through the city’s tourist areas drawing stares, grins and waves. This year, Femme sashayed in a pink silk gown altered to fit her broad shoulders.