Actor Scott Wentworth returns to Shakespeare Santa Cruz this season as director of Love’s Labor’s Lost, a romantic comedy bristling with some of Shakespeare’s most pun-inflected dialogue. Busy with intellectual gab and witty wordplay in multiple languages, Love’s Labor’s Lost bids the audience attend to nuance even while feasting on the sight of four courtiers—who’ve just sworn a pact of abstinence—immediately falling in love with an entourage of royal beauties. A classic battle of the sexes waged in linguistic one-upsmanship, Love’s allows Shakespeare to mock upper-crust attitudes as well as low-brow gaffes.
Santa Cruz Pins Hopes on Pogonip Path
In Santa Cruz, city leaders are looking into whether a new 1.5-mile-long bike, pedestrian and horse trail will bring enough residents through the drug and crime nexus of the Pogonip greenbelt to drive out its heroin and meth dealers.
New Executive Director Named for Janus
Janus, which provides substance-abuse treatment to residents of Santa Cruz County, has named Rod Libbey as its new executive director. Libbey, a resident of Walnut Creek, has spent the past four years as CEO of San Francisco’s Walden House and worked in human resources for Bank of America and Charles Schwab. He will assume his position on Sept. 1 and plans on relocating to Santa Cruz.
Teens Arrested for BB Gun Heist
According to the SCPD, at 10pm on Sunday night, Nathan Connally stepped in front of a car wielding a gun in an Eastside neighborhood of Santa Cruz. The driver, who was also 18, came to a stop and was ordered to hand over his money. He did so, but as he looked at Connally and his 16-year-old accomplice, he realized that something wasn’t right. The gun he was holding didn’t look real. It was, in fact, a BB gun.
Layoffs Looming for County Workers
California has no budget in sight, but Santa Cruz County is already laying off people to balance its own budget, with more layoffs possible if and when the state gets a budget of its own. About 100 county employees, representing virtually every department, will find themselves out of a job on Friday.
Training the Next Generation of Rangers
State parks may be faced with deep budget cuts, but at Big Basin Redwoods State Park, the rangers are busy training the next generation of rangers and nature lovers. Every day except Wednesday, children ages 7 through 12 take part in a free hour-long nature workshop given by the park’s staff. The program includes an interactive lecture on a specific wildlife topic and a chance to explore the park and find examples of that wildlife.
County Marks Tenth Homicide
It’s been a violent year for Santa Cruz County, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
211 Launched in Santa Cruz
People in distress in Santa Cruz County can now dial 211 to get the help they need. The new service, which operates 24/7, can link them with some 300 health social service agencies, including emergency shelters, counseling, legal services, food banks, and Medicaid. The service was made possible by the United Way of Santa Cruz County, which raised $143,000 in order to go live. It will be linked to the 211 service currently being operated by the Bay Area United Way.
Three Strikes and A Gang Member Is Out
Martin “Fester” Tapia-Reyes, 35, a gang member from Watsonville, didn’t actually rob the La Selva Beach Surf Shop in June 2009.
Dozens Protest Arizona Law in Santa Cruz
About 200 people marched through Santa Cruz yesterday to protest Arizona’s controversial new immigration law, which went into effect yesterday. Although a federal judge blocked several of the more tendentious provisions, protesters claimed that the law would tear apart families and might even violate their constitutional rights. Many of the demonstrators also expressed the fear that the law could be copied by other states with significant immigrant populations.
