Ashleyanne Krigbaum

It’s the last day of February. That means tomorrow people will gather in the streets to celebrate arts and culture at Oakland Art Murmur’s public event, First Friday. The day carries extra weight this time around, because of what happened at the last First Friday. Things were going well until about ten minutes before 11pm, when a shooting resulted in one death and three injuries, and the incident shocked people who have been patronizing the event since its beginning seven years ago. 

Do you smell something funny in the air? It must be that time of year again—time for SF Sketchfest, the comedy festival that mixes national headliners, local favorites and the best up-and-coming groups for a month of sketch, improv, stand-up and alternative comedy. Besides comedic characters, this week the Bay Area offers multiple chances to boogie down with international groovers, comic artists, and a hip-hop dance party that also gives back to the community.

San Francisco has long been known as a city where you can let it all hang out. Nudists from all over the world flock here to participate in events like the Folsom Street Fair, but the city seems to have had enough of the buff. Last week, city supervisors voted to ban public nudity as of February 1. 

As I walk into the new Piedmont Branch of the Oakland Public Library, I see what looks like a library: librarians quietly working, people reading, and there are walls filled with books.

Branch manager, Jenera Burton has been working on the relocation of the library for about two years.

Here at Crosscurrents we've been asking you to nominate people in your neighborhood who have been an inspiration to you and those around you. Alison Brown from the California Academy of Sciences called us recently to tell us about how her coworker, Elizabeth Babcock. We sent KALW’s Ashleyanne Krigbaum out to the San Francisco science museum to talk with Elizabeth, and she brought back this profile.

Listen to the profile above.