Over 23,000 pink slips are being sent to everyone who works in education across California this week. Almost no one is immune, regardless of whether they’re a principal or a janitor. Though final notices will only be sent out in the middle of May, just using last year as an indicator suggests that some 60 percent of the people receiving the pink slips will end up losing their jobs.
Best Breakfast Spot for Dogs
Ever wonder where to take your dog for breakfast? Consider Aldo’s. It was recently voted the “favorite breakfast restaurant” for man’s (and woman’s) best friend by voters in the Woofy Awards on the Woofers and Walkers website. After breakfast, you may want to take your dog to the museum—after all, even pooches need a little culture—and the Surfer’s Museum is now officially recognized as the county’s most dog-friendly attraction.
Norse Gets Another Day in Court
Someone ought to give Robert Norse a copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People. Back in 2002, Norse was ejected from a City Council meeting for giving a Nazi salute. In 2004 he was ejected yet again for parading in City Council chambers. In both cases, Norse was advocating on behalf of the city’s homeless. He sued City Council, claiming that his right to free speech was violated, but this was dismissed in November by a three-member panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Now a majority of justices on the court have agreed to reconsider his case.
Who Are the Tourists Who Come to Santa Cruz?
Santa Cruz is definitely a tourist city. But what do we know about the people who visit here? This was the subject of a study conducted by the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council with the goal of gaining insights into how to better market to tourists and increase visits to the area, especially in the off season.
Forbes to UCSC: Hubba Hubba!
Some schools, like the University of Bologna or Oxford, have traditions stretching back centuries. Their ancient buildings are the centerpiece of their cities, and those cities are recognized as international treasures. But as the Roman poet Juvenal pointed out, “Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another.” That is why a rustic setting is so ideal for an institution of higher learning. It is also probably why Forbes magazine listed UCSC as one of the most beautiful campuses in the world.
Arana Gulch Path Back to Drawing Board
Those that listened closely Thursday evening around 6:45pm might have heard a dull thud that echoed around the county. That was the sound of several dozen jaws hitting the ground inside the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Chambers when the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously against the city’s Arana Gulch Master Plan and its controversial paved bicycle path, a decade and a half in the planning.
Urban Realist in the Far West
Burt Levitsky left New York more than 30 years ago, but the streets of Manhattan still pulse to life in his realist oil paintings. Trained as an illustrator and Madison Avenue ad designer, Levitsky recalls working on ad layouts by day and coming home to paint all night. Studying with Frank Reilly and Max Ginsburg, Levitsky mastered contemporary realist imagery that was always haunted by the moods and hustle of urban life. There’s a lot of George Tooker’s ennui and Thomas Hart Benton’s vitality in his ambitious portrayals of people embedded in their metropolitan landscapes.
Sober Living House Manager Goes to Clink
Donald Carl Peter got off easy. The former manager of a sober-living house in Santa Cruz already had 26 convictions against him dating back all the way to 1980.
County Jobless Rate Sets New Record
The unemployment figures for January are out, and they are startling. About 15 percent of the population of Santa Cruz—almost one in every six people—is jobless. By way of comparison, the jobless rate in all of California is 13.2 percent; nationwide, it is 10.6 percent. According to the Employment Development Department, the figure is significantly higher than the past record, 14.6, back in 1993.
Making Scenes Around Santa Cruz
Customers coming into Santa Cruz Stoves & Fireplaces sounded alarm bells. “There’s a kid outside the store with cans of paint,” they fretted to employees. “He looks like he’s going to spray the walls!” Spray the walls is exactly what Elijah Pfotenhauer was intending to do. It was late 2006, and Pfotenhauer had already established himself as a talented Santa Cruz muralist with two other projects, one depicting dancers on the former Motion Pacific building on Front Street and another at the former Santa Cruz Teen Center on Laurel. With slide show.
