Crosscurrents

The neighborhood that doubles as an industrial center; UC Berkeley sex soliciting; The Musical Art Quintet; "Killing the Messenger": an investigation into the death of Chauncey Bailey; and Bay Area band Alma Desnuda.

By Leslie Bernstein Rojas

A little over a year ago, UC Berkeley police arrested a university lecturer on campus for allegedly soliciting lewd acts in a campus bathroom.  He’s suing citing sexual discrimination and invalid basis of arrest. The lecturer, who remains anonymous, retained attorney Bruce Nickerson, who says the arrest targets and threatens gay men. Holly Kernan interviewd Nickerson on Crosscurrents earlier this month.

Governor Jerry Brown is proposing a new pension plan for government employees, and it isn’t sitting well with legislators of his own party. State Democrats are pointing to a CalPERS study that forecasts a future with lower benefits and higher risk for employees. Still, the study points to a group of potential winners: local governments…

The Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, built in 1910, is a rustic theater with 328 old-fashioned seats and high wooden beams. It’s not exactly the kind of place you’d expect to see a spirited performance from a troupe of teens, but that’s what happens there.