Paul Matthew Garcia, 20, was arrested in his home in Rio del Mar after federal agents and local gang investigators raided his house.
News
The Blue Whales Are Here
Once in a blue moon. That’s one way to describe how rare the event was. Whale watchers in Monterey Bay had a chance to see not one, not two, not three, but 28 blue whales frolicking in the waters of the bay, along with a pod of humpback whales. It’s a sight that’s seldom seen. At 100 feet in length, blue whales are not only the largest animal that ever lived. They are also one of the rarest, with only 10,000 surviving across the planet today compared to over half a million just a few decades ago. Blue whale hunting was only banned by the International Whaling Commission in the 1960s, and halted by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. By then, the population in the Southern Ocean had been reduced to just 0.15 percent of its initial numbers.
Santa Cruz Mayor: Smart Meters Not Too Bright
These days, nothing says “I’m a 21st century product” quite like word “smart” in front of it. There’s “smart phones,” “smart cars,” “smart loans,” even “smart toilets.” So it should come as no surprise that gas and electric companies statewide are rolling out new “smart meters” that will replace the old – apparently “dumb” – mechanical usage meters with high-tech digital versions that track energy use down to microscopic detail and beam the info wirelessly to the power company.
Proposed Nitrates Rule Pits Farmers Against Activists
Juggling hand-drawn maps and posters, Dipti Bhatnagar and Leslie López leave Watsonville’s Public Library to pack their props and generous snacks into the trunk of Bhatnagar’s sedan. It hardly matters that only a few community members found their way to their Wednesday evening educational workshop on regional water issues—it isn’t their first meeting, and it won’t be their last.
Loads of Trash on Beaches, Post-Fourth
What did you do on Monday? If you live near one of Santa Cruz’s beaches, chances are you were combing the sand and collecting several hundred pounds of garbage left behind from the Independence Day festivities. Within two hours volunteer cleanup crews with Save Our Shores and the Clean Oceans Project had collected as much as 300 pounds of garbage at Seabright Beach alone. Much of it was plastic, which would otherwise have ended up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But there were also remains of fireworks, which fish could easily mistake for kelp.
Second Amendment Case Surrounds BB Gun
Barbara Saldinger, 47, is a medical doctor with a degree from Stanford who raises horses as a hobby. She is also at the center of a major gun rights case. Ironically, the only gun she’s ever owned is a BB gun.
Sleeping as an Act of Protest
For 40 years Santa Cruz has enforced a ban against sleeping in public places between the hours of 11pm and 8:30am. With more and more people out on the street, the sleeping ban is coming under fire. For two days, homeless activists and their supporters have been holding a sleep-out outside the county courthouse.
The Apprentice Makes His Mark
Once you recover from the beauty of the label, you find yourself intrigued by the name. Odonata, the biological order containing dragonflies and damselflies, now contains one more complex creation: wine. Admitting that the name came to him during a romantic afternoon in the vineyards with his wife, winemaker Denis Hoey reminded me that dragonflies are a constant feature of the California winemaking landscape.
Bike Robber Arrested
Police got a clear photo of the environmentally conscious bank robber who robbed a Westside branch of the Comerica Bank on Monday and fled on his bicycle. They were able to identify him as Kent Lee Maxon, 44, and link him to a string of robberies, including banks in San Jose and Saratoga. In each robbery, he had the same modus operandi—he walked up to the teller, said he had a gun, took, the money, and fled by bike.
Capitola Cat Stars in Reality TV Show
Santa Cruz has had more than its share of reality TV stars. The most famous, of course, is Lex van den Berghe, who rocked the third season of Survivor so hard he made season eight’s All-Star cast. There was also the bluegrass-pickin’ Abbott family, who starred in an episode of Trading Spouses in 2004 (and did not appreciate the final product, thank you very much). Add to this proud lineage Taz, brawling orange tabby of Opal Cliffs, and the family of Terry and Lorna Campion. They star in an upcoming episode of Animal Planet’s Housecat Housecalls, described as “Supernanny for cats.”
