Crosscurrents

Makru is a San Francisco band with so many musical influences that we’ll just call their sound “world music.” But they call it “a unifying, positive vibe in the Bay Area."

Crosscurrents’ own Martina Castro sings with the group in both English and Spanish. They perform this Thursday (May 10) at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall in San Francisco. Doors open at 8pm.

It’s once again time to play that quadrennial game sensation sweeping the nation: Guess the Vice Presidential Pick!

Since Mitt Romney has sewed up the Republican nomination tighter than one of Chris Christie’s old suits, the only drama left is which name the former governor of Massachusetts intends to place on the bottom of his bumper sticker. So let's look at the field of potential running mates. We'll start with the vanquished competition.

Every knife has a story – and if it’s passed through the Bernal Cutlery, Josh Donald can probably tell it to you. He owns the knife shop, which shares a building with four other businesses on Cortland Avenue in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. On a recent visit to the cutlery, Donald showed off some of his wares.

“This was Julia Child's favorite [type of] knife,” he says about one knife. It’s a sleek steel blade with a smooth black handle. The handle is called a Nogent, he says, while reaching back into his case of vintage knives.

California Watch // The Federal Election Committee recently passed a proposal to let consumers trade in loyalty program points for donations to their preferred political candidate. Now, regulators are reviewing Repledge.com, which would would make Republican and Democratic donations made through the Repledge system cancel each other out, redirecting the money to charities...

(San Francisco Chronicle) // The San Francisco teachers union will vote this week on whether to strike in protest of salary and benefits cuts proposed by the San Francisco Unified School District. District officials say they'll have to find $80 million dollars over the next two years, but the union claims that money is available within the existing budget...