Santa Cruz’s historic Salz Tannery is latest recipient of federal stimulus funding. About $4.7 million will be used to renovate the Beam House and Tanyard Center, and convert them into a high tech incubator for local digital media companies. The total cost of the project is $6.7 million, covered largely by a $1.9 million grant from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment. A performing arts center is also scheduled to be built on the site, which already has 100 affordable housing and working units.
News
Power to the People
The Sunday afternoon convention of Communities for Organized Relational Power in Action (COPA) at the Henry J. Mello Center in Watsonville had just a touch of mega-church fervor to it. There was cheering and waving of hands and twirling of noisemakers as the names of 18 religious institutions gathered in the auditorium were read off—St. John the Baptist Episcopal, Assumption Catholic Church, Temple Beth El. But the collection taken up from the roughly 800 attendees was telephone numbers and email addresses, and the higher power the crowd was appealing to was 17th District Congressman Sam Farr. Sitting at a long table marked with a banner that read “Prosperidad Compartida,” four COPA leaders hit Farr with questions pertaining to the organization’s four top issues—housing foreclosure, health care, immigration reform and public safety—as he sat alone behind a banner that read “Shared Prosperity.”
Brainstorming Session to Curb Local Violence
City leaders in Santa Cruz hosted a brainstorming session last night in an effort to come up with ideas to curb local violence.
UC Protesters to Face Sanctions
It was the biggest protest against the UC fee hikes, gaining national and international attention. For a while, CNN even featured the story of UCSC’s protesters’ occupation of Kerr Hall on the front page of its website. Then came Sunday morning, and the press was banned from campus for 45 minutes. According to eyewitnesses, including several faculty members, the police arrived in full riot gear and forced the students out of the building. Some were injured. Anthropology professor Mark Anderson was taken away on a stretcher.
Local Parks Suffer from Budget Cuts
With winter ahead, fewer people will be heading to Santa Cruz’s state parks to hike and camp, and that’s a relief for the local rangers. Faced with a 10 percent budget cut, parks such as Big Basin and Henry Cowell will have to trim their budgets by $14 million and deal with less staff because of a state-enforced three-day-per-month furlough.
No Leads in Watsonville Crash
Police are still investigating what caused the crash of a light aircraft in an orchard just outside Watsonville Municipal Airport.
Social Media Helpful in Tackling Budget Woes
It’s no secret that Santa Cruz is faced with budget problems.
New Charter School Proposed for Watsonville
There may soon be a new charter school in Watsonville, the Escuela Xochitl Tonatiuh. The school, proposed by Teresa Robinson of Los Gatos, is planned for 85 students and would be intended to help middle-school students avoid getting involved in drugs and gang violence.
Architect Sues County to Restore Planning Appeals Board
Last week, architect Cove Britton sued the county to restore a planning appeals board that was disbanded earlier this year after just a few meetings.
Students Protest at UCSC
When UC’s Board of Regents met in UCLA yesterday to vote on a 32 percent fee hike for students, they gathered behind closed doors in a windowless room.
