Everyone expects a certain degree of bravado in hip-hop, but what if a rapper has too much? That was the question local rapper and Slop Opera crew-member Ross Rock, whose real name is Michael Ross, considered when working on his recent song “Lurk,” which has generated over 6,000 views on YouTube since getting uploaded last Halloween.

Reader opinions are all over the map about public safety and Santa Cruz’s angriest man.

Hummingbirds, Mother Hips, tapas and tequila are all on tap this weekend.

Nothing fuels a productive and intelligent practice discussion like a crisp beer in one hand, and a pile of Goldfish in the other. This is how the UCSC Ethics Bowl team is preparing for the upcoming national competition in San Antonio, Texas on Feb. 28.

“I guess ‘artisan’ would mean something different to everyone. People tend to know it when they taste it,” says Heidi Hochstrasser, a baker and the co-manager of the pastry department at Companion Bakery on Mission Street. “For us, it means that our bakers approach their craft with the same level of care and attention an artist would to a work of art.”

An underrated film that affected a generation gets a proper tribute at the Watsonville Film Festival.

A client of recent “Wellness” subject Dr. Shunney, writes in to share what diet changes saved his life. Meanwhile, “Tom Tomorrow” offends a reader, and everyone agrees ending homelessness is a good idea.

From dance at UCSC to the Boardwalk’s famed chowder cook-off, the best bets for Santa Cruz events this weekend.

According to Bon Appetit magazine, we have even more reason than ever to be culinarily smug. Santa Cruz resident David Kinch’s Manresa in Los Gatos, which has collected two Michelin stars, has now also been named among the twenty “Most Important” restaurants in the country. In fact, it was ranked # 5 (even above the hallowed Le Bernardin in New York). The editorial staff of the magazine chose these restaurants as defining how we eat out. “They’re the fearless spots that drive chefs to innovate, restaurateurs to imitate, and the rest of us to line up.”