“Secret Summer” Campaign to Promote Tourism

The Monterey Birding Festival at Elkhorn Slough draws twitchers in late September. Photo by Curtis Cartier.

Anyone who lives in Santa Cruz knows that there’s plenty to do here in the autumn months. Now news about Santa Cruz activities is going to reach a much larger audience, thanks to a new promotional campaign geared specifically for the autumn months.The campaign is the brainchild of the Tourism Marketing District, launched this July. Apart from great beaches and stunning mountain scenery, it will highlight 12 different festivals and events.

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Beer and Pot Pair up for Fundraising

Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery makes great beer. WAMM grows great pot. It's a match made in heaven. Photo by Curtis Cartier.

Last night, the Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing Company held a special fundraiser. For every beer sold, $1 went to support the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana and help them build a new home. WAMM says that it has been economically strapped recently, or as Valerie Corral puts it, “financially marginalized … it’s often month to month.”

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Santa Cruz Fall Arts: Dance, Books & Classical

Fire up the iCal—it’s going to be a busy autumn, not least for lovers of dance. In their 40th anniversary season, Tandy Beal and Company kick things off, you might say, with the premiere of HereafterHere: A Self Guided Tour of Eternity. A multimedia exploration of people’s perceptions of the afterlife, the piece includes original compositions by Beal’s partner John Scoville and incorporates the efforts of two dozen dancers and actors. Beal’s distinctive fingerprints are all over this piece, which runs at the Cabrillo Crocker Theater Sept. 10-12.

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Tablet Computers Win Over Local Governments

They call it TreeSaver.

Tess Fitzgerald, clerk to Santa Cruz County’s Board of Supervisors, has long been distressed by the amount of money it costs just to print the Board’s weekly meeting agendas—a whopping $14,000 per year, not counting staff time. That has been reduced drastically, now that the Board is using HP’s EliteBook tablet PCs. The EliteBooks cost $1,300 each, but considering paper costs, the savings are well worth it.

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