PLATED: Party Season Begins

Yes, they’re baaack—the cool, creamy, handmade designer ice creams offered at the easy-access little ice cream window at Kelly’s French Bakery on the Westside. Many diehards are already in line for their rightful pound of awesome caramel almond, the flavor that stopped countless diets in their tracks. (How many metaphors were mixed in that last sentence?) Also, believe it or not, the popular Santa Cruz baking institution will celebrate its 30th anniversary on May 14. Hard to believe.  Make this special day an excuse to sample Kelly’s new line of milkshakes and malts and see if you’re a lucky winner of prizes announced throughout the day. Stay tuned for extreme details.

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All ‘Together’ With The New Pornographers

A few nights ago on “The Sound of Young America,” the syndicated radio show hosted by former KZSC star Jesse Thorn, New Pornographers founder and frontman Carl Newman let fly with the kind of self-deprecating statement that makes everyone love Canadians. “We just can’t take ourselves seriously as rock stars,” he said, explaining the group’s penchant for satirical videos.

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Water Activists Ready for Desal Debate

Zayante Creek, March 24. Sending surplus flows to empty aquifers is an idea gaining attention. Photo by Traci Hukill.

Jan Bentley remembers it like it was yesterday—closing down the Graham Hill Water Treatment Plant on Graham Hill Road after sunset because Santa Cruz’s water system had reached capacity. On wet winter nights during the 1990s, Santa Cruz’s now-retired water production superintendent says he used tell his co-workers, “It would be great if we could find a place to send a couple million gallons.”

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Local Dog Is A Star

Move over, James Durbin. You’re not the only star in Santa Cruz. There’s also Coco, a miniature porkie (half pug and half Yorkie), who will be taking to the airwaves on Univision’s “Dogs Who Look Like Their Owners” contest.

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