The Civil Wars’ No-Drama Groove

Collaborations are nothing new in Nashville. Songwriters get together looking for inspiration or a creative spark, and every once in a while lightning strikes. Such was the case for Joy Williams and John Paul White. Randomly paired up at a songwriting camp, the two quickly realized that they were onto something special.

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Cyclist’s Death Underscores Grim Statistics

The memorial for Zachary Parke drew friends to the spot on Empire Grade where he died June 8. Photo by Jake Pierce.

Seven bicycles, 10 bouquets of flowers, a couple of opened bottles of beer and about 15 visitors were gathered at Empire Grade Road near Heller Drive last Thursday afternoon for a memorial honoring Zachary Parke. Early the morning before, on June 8, the body of the 25-year-old climber, cyclist and courier was found 20 feet from his wrecked bicycle. Pieces of a car headlight were found near Parker’s body; according to the California Highway Patrol, Parke was struck and killed by a driver who fled the scene.

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Best Beach in California

They love us in Sunnyvale.

With summer now here, people will inevitably be heading to the beach. Now the world knows what Santa Cruz natives have known for a very long time. This is one of the best beach towns in the entire United States, and the best beach town in all of California (Hear that, Long Beach? We don’t even need to add “Beach” to our name.).

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The State of The UCSC Graduate

In a time when student loan debt surpasses credit card debt and a state where public higher education costs more than a new fully loaded SUV, just about the only people who remain optimistic about the future are the professional counselors. Those about to walk across the stage in this weekend’s commencement ceremonies are nervous and just grateful they didn’t graduate at the peak of the recession in 2009.

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