Police raided a cockfighting operation in Royal Oaks, outside of Aromas. The fights were taking place at a local residence. Also seized during the raid were spurs and other equipment designed to turn the roosters into lethal killing machines. Francisco Tapia, 41, was arrested at the scene, and seven other men were cited.
Taste of Paradise
Local surfer Pat Farley’s surfing knowledge landed him a spot in Last Paradise, a New Zealand film about the sport’s evolution since the 1960s. A shortened version will screen at the Banff Mountain Film Festival on Saturday night.
Mountain Mayhem
Since 1993 the Banff Mountain Film Festival, which visits 345 other cities worldwide, has sent Santa Cruzans’ minds parasailing over tropical rain forests and arctic glaciers even while keeping them riveted to the edges of their seats. This weekend The Swiss Machine and 12 other documentary-thrillers pack the two-night annual adrenaline bonanza, which benefits scholarships for UC-Santa Cruz’s Wilderness Orientation backpacking program.
Ten Questions for Pim Techamuanvivit
Pim Techamuanvivit, author of the food blog ChezPim and Sri Racha fanatic, travels the globe in search of gastronomic treasures. When she comes home, it is to the Michelin-starred chef David Kinch of Manresa restaurant fame. Pim, whom the London Guardian once called the “queen of the food bloggers,” has written The Foodie Handbook, cooked Pad Thai for Martha Stewart, and had her recipes featured in the New York Times and Bon Appétit magazine. She blogs with great taste at http://chezpim.com/.
Green Monk
A jazz concert triggers a meditation on sound and sense.
PLATED: Terroir in A Bottle
A $20 Pinot for pork and salmon, a taco for $1 and a meal by Master Cheftestant Jake Gandolfo.
Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration: Diana Hobson
From the British visual artist-turned-Santa Cruz-poet, two selections about visitors. Diana Hobson says her poetry is linked to the land, “influenced by the plant kingdom and insect life of a particular habitat in the Santa Cruz Mountains.”
The Downside of Borders Fail
At closing time on Sunday evening, Feb. 20, the checkout line at Borders in downtown Santa Cruz snaked past Romance and all the way to Home at the back wall, with the tail end in Pets. Everywhere bright posterboard signs proclaimed savings of 20, 30, even 40 percent off.
Budding Young Lawyers in Scotts Valley
Jesse Woodson is a punk. The imaginary character was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and, in a sign of the times, cyber-bullying too. And if the case was imaginary, the passion with which it was tackled by local students from Scotts Valley was not. They won the mock trial competition for the entire county, beating out students from Santa Cruz, Aptos, Soquel, Watsonville, Harbor and St. Francis high schools. And with imaginary Woodson behind imaginary bars, the students can continue on to the state mock trial finals in Riverside in March, the Supreme Court of California mock trials.
Kiddie Porn Sting Nets Two UCSC Students
An investigation lasting several months has led to the arrest of two UCSC students, Jonathan Tolentino, 28, and Aaron Lessner, 21, for possession of child pornography, which police say they they traded with undercover officers. The investigation into Tolentino began in June 2010, while Lessner has been under investigation since last January. Though the two men had amassed a large collection of photographs and videos, there is no indication that they knew each other.
