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Crosscurrents

Daily news roundup for Monday, April 27, 2015

Photo by: Meaghan Mitchell/Hoodline

Meet the Misfits Behind the Last Black Man in San Francisco// Hoodline

"The title of the upcoming film The Last Black Man In San Francisco makes an obvious statement about the city losing its black population. It's down more than a third over the last two decades to just 6.3 percent, as of the 2010 census.

"But it’s also making a broader point: that with increasing uniformity in race and culture, the city could stop being a creative engine for the world."

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With loved ones stuck in Yemen war zone, family pleads for aid //SF Chronicle

"Every morning for the past several weeks, Fathi Hussein has kept up a routine. He reaches for his phone after waking to text his brother, Alwan Hussein, who’s stuck in war-torn Yemen, to make sure he is alive.

"“Hello?” Fathi, 30, asks Alwan, 21, who is not only his brother but his next-door neighbor in Riverdale, a small town in Fresno County. “You there? You still there?”

"If he doesn’t hear back for awhile, Fathi texts again: “You alive? You OK?”"

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Tastings for Medical Pot Take Flight// East Bay Express

"Finally, a tea party worth voting for. High-end medical cannabis-tasting parties are now a thing in the Bay Area, and they aren't the informal, low-key stoner gatherings of yore.

"On Friday, April 10, the farm-to-door pot app company Flow Kana sold out its $80-per-head "Swami Select Tasting Party." The smash-hit event in San Francisco attracted several dozen professionals — coders, lawyers, and marketers, who showed up in cocktail attire, noshed on catered kabobs, and drank Mendocino Brewing Company ales. As the sun set, pot industry gurus schooled the crowd on how to analyze quality bud. Then, attendees took a six-strain tour of the Emerald Triangle — the epicenter of American pot — sampling Sour Strawberry, Lemon Ogre, Ogre Berry, Sativa Dream, Orange Turbo, and Cuvee. "

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Manos Nouveau: The latest San Francisco restaurant to eliminate tips//Inside Scoop

"The latest San Francisco restaurant to eliminate tipping is Manos Nouveau, the Castro’s months-old Latin American restaurant.

"Starting May 1, Manos Nouveau will officially nix tipping on its premises, and will instead add an automatic 20 percent surcharge to all checks. The surcharge is being billed as an “equality allocation” to all of their checks; if diners want to leave any further tips, that money will be donated to charity. "

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On Earth Day 2015, a look at the wild species that live in the East Bay regional parks//Richmond Confidential

"The California Grizzly bear has been immortalized on the state’s flag, but the four-leg symbol is not around California anymore—at least not since 1924, when the last specimen was spotted in Santa Barbara County.

"However, other creatures inhabit California’s land, water and sky. The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) includes more than 100,000 acres, 65 parks and more than 1,200 miles of trails in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. These parks, like the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline in Oakland, or the Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, are home to hundreds of species, both native and invasive, and play an important role in protecting wildlife. "

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The Residents thrive on odd mix of fame and obscurity // Mercury News

"Who are these guys?

"More than 40 years after forming, Bay Area band The Residents have released some 60 albums, earned international acclaim as groundbreakers in avant-garde rock and multimedia performance art, seen their videos enshrined in the New York's Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection and now are the subject of a documentary screening Saturday at the San Francisco Film Festival.

"And after all that, the band's members remain anonymous."

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