For the most part, complaints about a ban on plastic bags come from three constituencies: dog owners that don’t want to pay for puppy poo bags, grannies that reuse their CVS bags as garbage can liners and the American Chemistry Council, a.k.a. Big Plastic.
Smoking Kills
A Santa Cruz woman died in a house fire on Sunday night. Now investigators are saying that the cause of the fire was an untended cigarette. The fire, which occurred in a duplex at 201 Idaho Ave., was first reported at 5:20am. When firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke seeping out of the doors and the windows.
Commission Approves Amended Climate Plan
The city of Santa Cruz’s Transportation and Public Works Commission voted in support of the city’s Climate Action Plan on Monday. The plan is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the city 30 percent from 1990s levels by 2020 by encouraging alternative energy use, conservation and—most controversially—reducing car trips by 30 percent over the next 10 years.
Zipcar Having an Impact on Santa Cruz
Last month there were seven Zipcars in Santa Cruz. Now there are 13. The service, which allows members to rent a car cheaply on an hourly basis, is already having an impact, reducing the amount that people drive locally, while eliminating the costs and pressures of owning a vehicle.
UCSC Professor Tackles Feminicide South of the Border
When we think about crimes against women, we usually think of the oppressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan or the mass rape of women in the Congo. We seldom think that the phenomenon is taking place much closer to home—in fact, right across the border. UCSC professor Rosa-Linda Fregoso aims at changing that perception. In Terrorizing Women: Feminicide in the Americas, a new book which she co-edited, she tackles the problem in Ciudad Juarez, right across the border in Texas. More than 1,000 women have been murdered there since 1993.
Santa Cruz’s Big Green Gem
It’s an old joke about our state’s consumptive culture that California’s architects can design parking lots that put others to shame. In the case of the newly remodeled Sentinel Building, it’s true, but the joke is on the person who made it. Bio-swale troughs surround the parking lot to metabolize runoff oil, covered bicycle parking and onsite showers are set up for pedal-powered commuters and electric vehicle charging stations wait to be installed—just the start of a long list of sustainable features at the recently re-designed downtown building. With slide show.
Two March for Repeal of DADT
Veterans from across the Bay Area gathered in San Jose yesterday to mark Veterans Day. Two veterans were conspicuously absent. Jason Knight and Jeffrey Kongslie Correa both studied at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, then served their country overseas. But Knight, a Hebrew linguist, was later discharged—twice—from the U.S. Navy under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Correa, who studied Arabic and spent six years in the Air Force, decided not to reenlist because of the discriminatory policy. He is now co-owner of the Vino Cruz wine shop in Santa Cruz. On Thursday the two walked from the gates of the Presidio in Monterey all the way to Santa Cruz to protest the law that prevents openly gay and lesbian men and women from serving in the military. Knight is one of 12,000 men and women who’ve been discharged from the military since 1994 because they are gay, even though the country is fighting two wars—and even though many servicemen and women are now their their third tour of duty overseas because of a shortage of soldiers.
Banana Slug String Jubilee
Guitarist “Airy” Larry Graff estimates the Banana Slug String Band has played to more than a million pairs of ears across the United States and the Caribbean. The ears hover at three feet and have an 8pm bedtime, but for nigh on 25 years the unbridled enthusiasm of children has been radiating out of the cafeterias and auditoriums that serve as Banana Slug String Band venues like a heat wave.
Michele Norris At Bookshop Santa Cruz
Silence is not what Michele Norris is known for. Quite the opposite, in fact—listeners of NPR’s All Things Considered will recognize the smooth timbre of the host’s voice before she even finishes her introductory “…and I’m Michele Norris.” Silence, though, is the topic she’ll address when she appears at Bookshop Santa Cruz on Sunday to read from and sign copies of her newest book The Grace of Silence.
Local Biz Gets Call From Veep
The recent election has shown that plenty of people across the country are upset about the stimulus bill. Not everyone, though. Some people are actually grateful for the opportunity it gave them to grow their business, even in a recession. Zach Davis and Kendra Baker, owners of Santa Cruz’s new Penny Ice Creamery, are among them. They even made a brief Youtube video thanking the President, Vice President, Senators Feinstein and Boxer and Representative Farr for giving them the support they need to get their new business off the ground. They even listed all the people they employed to make their dream of world-class ice cream made from scratch a reality.
