It’s been reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel that the seven members of the Santa Cruz City Council are paid roughly double the salaries of their counterparts in Scotts Valley, Capitola and Watsonville. But what about cities with bigger budgets or fewer services? Turns out, Santa Cruz’s council salaries are still pretty high—but they’re not the highest.
News
The Minor Miracle of ‘An Altared Christmas’
They won’t believe it in Peoria, but Rhan Wilson isn’t making fun of Christmas. True, his show An Altared Christmas, now in its fifth year, puts carols in a minor key to comic effect—a dolorous “O Christmas Tree,” an ominous “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” a distraught-bordering-on-unhinged “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”—but the producer of the highly entertaining musical variety show says he is not, in fact, mocking the holiday. He’s making fun of what people have done to it.
Santa Cruz Wins Appeal Against Pharmaceutical Industry
Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties won an important legal victory on Wednesday in their lawsuit against 10 major pharmaceutical companies.
Swine Flu Vaccine for Everyone
County health officials have reneged on their policy of providing the swine flue vaccine only to the groups most at-risk.
Chihuahuas Overtaking California
With the first annual Woofy Awards right around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the most common canine in dog-happy Santa Cruz, the fearless chihuahua. They’re “Tiny, but mighty,” as Chloe the Chihuahua described herself in the 2008 hit “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” and they’re just about everywhere. California has more chihuahuas than it knows what to do with, and has even begun exporting some of them out of state. In Santa Cruz County alone, animal shelters in Watsonville and Live Oaks took in more than 400 abandoned chihuahuas in 2008.
Bike Boulevard Would Raise Emissions
Frequent Santa Cruz Weekly letters contributor Mike Speviak explains why he thinks a bike boulevard would be a mistake.
Local Teacher Takes to the Airwaves
Peter Nichols, an outspoken teacher at Pajaro Valley Unified School District, has launched his own show on community television.
Shooting in Watsonville
Police believe that gangs were involved in the shooting of a 17-year-old teen in Watsonville last night. The boy, who has not been identified, remains in critical condition. The incident occurred just before 8:00 pm near Jefferson and High streets. He was apparently stopped by gang members and an altercation ensued, in which he was shot at least seven times in the chest. Police are still looking for suspects in the case.
Santa Cruz City Workers Vulnerable to Next Cuts
“We’re in grave risk,” warned City Manager Dick Wilson during his mid-year budget update yesterday. He expects that next year’s revenue will not increase, while expenses increase, and the State of California eyes every possibility to close its own budget gap (estimated at one-quarter of the state budget). With all the low hanging fruit already picked, Wilson is recommending cutting retirement benefits for new municipal employees, and asking them to work until they are 60 or to receive fewer benefits if they retire at 55.
Santa Cruz’s Sound and Fury
PUTTING a retrospective of the Santa Cruz music scene into print is probably asking for trouble. After accepting this assignment, I posted a one-line status update to Facebook: “writing a roundup of Santa Cruz’s most significant bands of the decade. Suggestions?” It didn’t take long for the responses to start coming in. “There have been significant Santa Cruz bands since Camper Van Beethoven?” wrote one local, illustrating the foolhardiness of trying to present a single overview of a decade of Santa Cruz music. For every resident who thinks the local music scene ended in the early ’80s when CVB signed to a major and left town, there’s a grubby teenager in a Soquel garage blasting through two-minute punk songs who has never heard of David Lowery. With slide show.
