NewsPolitics
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Does Palomar need an Upgrade?
BusinessPolitics May 23, 2013, by Jacob Pierce
“Let’s turn the Palomar Inn on Pacific Avenue back into a hotel.” That’s the theme Good Times keeps hammering away at lately—most recently in its “Critics’ Picks” last month—with a bizarre lack of analysis as to how such a move would affect low-income housing locally.
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Councilmember to Weigh Homeless Funding
Politics Mar 26, 2013, by Jacob Pierce 2 Comments
It’s much too soon, Vice Mayor Lynn Robinson says, to discuss any cuts to the Homeless Services Center’s day programs. Some worry such cuts would not make Santa Cruz any safer.
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City, County Leaders on Needle Program Changes
Politics Mar 22, 2013, by Jacob Pierce 1 Comments
The Santa Cruz needle exchange has moved for now, but the debate over its future is far from over. It has been two months since city attorney John Barisone came down with a case of political amnesia and said he’d never heard of the 20-year-old institution.
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‘Hunger Warriors’ Embark on 91-Mile Walk
CommunityPolitics Feb 26, 2013, by Georgia Perry 3 Comments
When most people see a problem, what do they do? Volunteer a few hours of their time? Donate a couple hundred bucks, or perhaps organize a silent auction? No disrespect—these are all great things to do, but it’s safe to say that in Santa Cruz County the gauntlet has officially been thrown.
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Slugs Study Up for Ethics Bowl
PoliticsSports Feb 26, 2013, by Melanie Ware 1 Comments
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.
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Food Activists, Scientists Talk GMOs
EnvironmentPolitics Feb 19, 2013, by Sally Neas 3 Comments
Imagine sitting UC Berkeley Professor Miguel Altieri—one of the nation’s most outspoken advocates of sustainable farming—down at the table with a representative from Monsanto, the world’s biggest producer of genetically modified seeds, for a debate about GMOs. What would happen? Cat fight? Chair throwing?
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Regional Transportation Commission Awards Funds to School Kids
NewsCommunityPolitics Feb 13, 2013, by Jacob PierceIf 75 bus-riding cyclists fought with a few hundred kids over a pot of money, who would win? That’s pretty much what unfolded at Santa Cruz City Hall last week. During a Regional Transportation Commission meeting, commissioners had to choose certain transportation programs for grant applications through the county’s Regional Surface Transportation Program.
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City Leaders Discuss Needle Exchange’s Future
Politics Feb 12, 2013, by Mat Weir 4 Comments
“It saved my life,” says Roxanne Baker of the needle exchange program in Santa Cruz’s Lower Ocean area. Now 60, Baker has long since recovered from a drug addiction that lasted 34 years. But she almost didn’t get the chance. In 1991, her husband contracted AIDS from a dirty syringe.
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At the beginning of the year, a potentially powerful piece of California legislation quietly took effect, with only minimal media attention. Assembly Bill 472, better known as the “911 Good Samaritan Law,” attempts to save lives by offering protection from criminal prosecution to those under the influence of a narcotic if they are overdosing or witnessing an overdose, and need to call for medical help.
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Zach Friend Adjusts to County Seat
Politics Jan 29, 2013, by Jacob Pierce
New county supervisor Zach Friend has some experience that sometimes comes in handy in his new job. He used to be a rock star. “You learn to market,” says Friend, the former guitarist for Santa Cruz band Blueprint. In 2005, Friend and the band won Metro Santa Cruz’s Gold Awards for best musician, best album and best band.
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