John Bargetto is pouring me the very first public taste of La Vita, his Soquel-based winery’s annual signature vintage. “This year it’s a unique blend of three Italian varietals,” he says. Filled with a blend of dolcetto, nebbiolo and refosco from the 2006 vintage, the voluptuous wine was aged for three years in oak and then another year in the bottle before its official coming-out last week at the annual benefit party. (The special La Vita bottling always benefits a local nonprofit; this year’s beneficiary will be the CASA advocates for foster children.)
Santa Cruz’s Fairest
Helping to organize an all-day music and arts festival for a hoped-for turnout of at least 3,000 is no easy task. But Nancy Macy has pulled if off before. Sandy-haired and spritely in a “San Lorenzo Valley Redemption Recycling” T-shirt, she speaks enthusiastically about the Redwood Mountain Faire materializing on the near horizon—this Saturday, to be exact.
Plastic Bag Ban Moves Beyond Santa Cruz
Cities and counties across the state have slowly been banning plastic bags, despite the opposition of plastic bag lobbyists. Single use plastic bags are the most prevalent form of trash found on the county’s beaches, and end up adding to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The county is considering a ban on bags in all unincorporated areas, but many activists claim that the current approach, operating piecemeal from city to city, is not the best strategy.
Just How Bad Is The Violence In Santa Cruz?
There’s no question that there has been an upswing in violence in Santa Cruz over the past year or so. There have already been six homicides this year, the last one just this past Friday. Teens no longer feel safe walking in parks at night, because of the threat of gang violence and the murder in April of Carl Reimer, 19. A professor at UCSC had his tires slashed. Vandals tagged buildings downtown with graffiti just after shop owners cleaned up from the May Day riot.
Cemex Departure Sticks Davenport With Big Bills
In a pastel-toned house just off Highway 1 in Davenport, an 89-year-old man weeps softly into his hands. He says he’s worried that if his sewer and water bills jump from around $2,700 to $4,000 per year, like they’re scheduled to by the end of July, he’ll have to sell the home he’s lived in since 1947. A widower with no children, a fixed income and an advancing case of prostate cancer, he says he can’t bear to think of leaving.
Suspect Arrested in Fatal Shooting
The SCPD arrested James Alexander Oehler, 23, on Saturday for the murder of an as-yet-unnamed Santa Cruz man who had a “significant history of drug-related arrests.”
Farr Proposes $159M In Earmarks
Federal earmarks—love ‘em or hate ‘em? That’s a big question around the country these days, with last year’s budget including $15.9 billion in earmarks for 9,499 projects around the nation. Some argue that they help stimulate the economy. Others claim they just increase the deficit.
Teen Sentenced for 2008 Murder
Jonathan Cardenas was 16 in 2008, when he attended a party at a Beach Hill motel. He and seven other teens had been drinking and smoking pot when a fight broke out between them. Another participant, a 14-year-old, accused Robbie Reynolds, 18, of stealing money from her purse. Reynolds smacked her, and Cardenas and another friend jumped into the fight. Cardenas stabbed Reynolds once in the side. Reynolds later died from the wound.
Bad Beaches = Bad News for Memorial Day Weekend
Oh, the irony! Just yesterday SantaCruz.com.html reported that the Times of London considers Santa Cruz to be the world’s top surfing destination. Closer to home, the Santa Monica-based nonprofit Heal the Bay listed two Santa Cruz beaches on its “Beach Bummer” list for 2010. According to their report, the high levels of bacteria in the water there could put surfers and swimmers at a higher risk for illness. Bad news, for sure, especially as the county prepares for the long Memorial Day weekend.
How Repair California Was Sunk
Repair California was just an idea. Then, overnight, it was the not-for-profit messiah of the Golden State and the darling of nearly every major newspaper on the West Coast. In 2008, the Bay Area Council announced an idea to fix California’s political crisis that was so simple, so glisteningly democratic, that it was sure to fail. Called Repair California, the plan was to convene a new state constitutional convention, an idea that outshone every other proposed initiative on the 2010 ballot before their star went dark. As fast as it arrived, Repair California was gone, leaving a stunned populace to wonder, “What happened to our revolution?”
