A group of artists with a vision and a sense of community turn a strip of blight into a river of creativity.

The East Bay may not be the comedy mecca that New York or Los Angeles is, but the stand-up scene has surged, with downtown Oakland the epicenter of worthy paid and free comic showcase venues.

Oakland’s FamilySearch Library at the Mormon Temple helps people find their people in a state-of-the-art setting.

Joining Silly String and "the wave" on a long list of cultural phenomena with strong East Bay links, the word "hella" has hit the mainstream big time.

Shebooks, a new digital publisher, hopes to give women readers what they want, the way they want it: short e-books, all by women, which can be downloaded and read in an hour or two.

The East Bay may not be the comedy mecca that New York or Los Angeles is, but the stand-up scene has surged, with downtown Oakland the epicenter of worthy paid and free comic showcase venues.

If the crowds at the “amazing carnival” that is Oakland’s Art Murmur are too daunting, there is an alternative: The Second Friday art walk, also known as Estuary Art Attack, comprises more than a dozen venues dotting a mile-long route along Alameda’s Park Street and into Oakland’s Jingletown.