Santa Cruz City Schools trustees have a tough job ahead of them in coming weeks: trimming their $60 million budget to the tune of $3.4 million.
News
The Piano Mover
Ricky Maurice Howard, owner of Howard’s Piano Moving, moves pianos with a surprising amount of elegance.
Santa Cruz’s Royal Connection to Surfing
The royal family of Hawaii paid tribute to Santa Cruz by donating a bronze plaque honoring the three princes who first surfed here in 1885. According to the story, three Hawaiian princes visited the coast that year while on vacation from St. Matthew’s Hall military school in San Mateo. When they saw the waves, they ordered three 15-foot, 100-pound surfboards to be made for them from the local redwoods. They paddled them out of the San Lorenzo River, and surfing history was made.
Another Media Company Takes on Google
Just two days ago SanJose.com reported that Murdoch and Microsoft are planning to take on Google. They could be joined by the Denver-based MediaNews Group.
Ten Questions for Kristen Cederquist
Kristen Cederquist, co-owner of Serendipity Saucy Spreads, shares what brought her to Santa Cruz and what she’s been up to since then.
Palin’s Opus Might be More Fiction Than Fact
IT’S BEEN a rather tawdry week of Sarah Palin mania as the former governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential nominee has taken to the Lower 48 to promote her highly anticipated memoir, Going Rogue, which was written with evangelical co-author Lynn Vincent—though you won’t see that rather significant fact included anywhere on the cover or even on the book’s title page. It’s actually buried deep in the book’s acknowledgements, well after Palin thanks herself.
Give a Green Light to the Green Line
Micah Posner makes his case for why Santa Cruz should purchase the rail trail, even with a price tag of $14.2 million.
Bud Boundaries
When United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced in February that he would stop ordering federal law enforcement raids on medical marijuana providers as long as they complied with state law, entrepreneurs around the country scrambled to open their own pot shops. Santa Cruz, being ahead of the curve on all things cannabis, already had two dispensaries in town, but city officials say they still received more than 60 calls from interested growers between then and June, when a temporary moratorium was put on all dispensary applications. Now, after last Thursday’s meeting of the Santa Cruz Planning Commission, city leaders are one step closer to making the temporary freeze of two pot clubs in town permanent.
Changes in Access to Dominican Hospital Because of Swine Flu Scare
Visitors to Dominican Hospital and Rehabilitation Services will have to undergo H1N1 screening starting this Monday in an effort to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Rotkin Back in the Mayor’s Seat
Santa Cruz has an old/new mayor as of Tuesday night. City Council unanimously picked Mike Rotkin to replace Cynthia Matthews. It is the fifth time Rotkin has served as mayor, breaking all previous records. Rotkin is now completing his sixth four-year term on city council, over a period stretching back more than 30 years—according to city statutes, councilmembers must take a two-year break after serving for four terms. Ryan, Coonerty, 35, who was chosen to serve as vice mayor, quipped, “Mike’s been on the council almost as long as I’ve been alive.”
