Knives Replacing Fists in Santa Cruz

Sometimes it seems like stabbings are a daily occurrence in Santa Cruz. Even the police are picking up on it now. SCPD Spokesperson Zach Friend now says that, “As we saw with the tragic death of Tyler Tonario, when you engage in a verbal altercation that you maybe think is just a verbal altercation, or could be just a simple fist fight, it’s now turning into tragic stabbings more and more.” Other police officers are pointing out that knives have become the weapon of choice among teens, replacing good old-fashioned fist-fights.

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Exhibit Examines the Book as a Medium

Santa Cruz artist Victoria May's 'Primavera' is on display at the Sesnon Gallery through Saturday.

Within the next two decades, books as we know them will likely become curiosities, artifacts of an old way of life. Paper books, which set forth ideas in a linear manner, have already given way to the omni-directional, multi-media internet as a means to reach and teach the rewired human brain in the digital age: goodbye, printed newspapers and textbooks; hello, “Please enter your library card number to download Fahrenheit 451.

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In Downtown Santa Cruz, Designer Handbags Galore

A Dior purse for a song

When Lara Marotta decided to open Twist last summer, “with no money and Facebook,” it was all about the clothes. In the Pacific Avenue storefront where she used to run Galla Cabana before selling it several years ago, her concept for a high-end consignment store stocked with designer labels began to take shape. Sophisticated Ralph Lauren dresses and Gucci jackets would hang next to playful Free People sweaters and shimmering Bebe halter tops, carefully chosen fashion pieces at a fraction of the original price. With slide show.

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Arana Path Would Connect More Than Streets

With bicycle commuters featured in both Sierra Magazine and the New York Times, it seems that we have finally come to a consensus that more bicycling is good for human health, for reducing traffic congestion and for the environment. The question is, how to encourage people to use bikes more, especially for the short trips that comprise so much of our transportation? (More than a third of all car trips are under three miles.)

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Fight Over Arana Gulch Bike Path Comes to a Head

Jean Brocklebank and Michael Lewis are the public face of opposition to the Arana Gulch bike path. Photo by Curtis Cartier.

On a sunlit winter’s day following a long and rainy week, Jean Brocklebank and Michael Lewis trudge through the soggy soil and tall grasses of Arana Gulch in Santa Cruz, talking about their group’s upcoming case before the California Coastal Commission on March 11. Suddenly Brocklebank stops and lays down the situation as she, and doubtless other members of the Friends of Arana Gulch, sees it. “This not a case of environmentalists versus environmentalists,” she says. With slide show.

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Cabrillo College Faces $3.2 Million in Cuts

Cabrillo College is looking at $3.2 million in state funding cuts.

The school’s board met last night to discuss strategies to deal with $3.2 million in state funding cuts, with disabled and disadvantaged students among the first to suffer. Programs at the new Stroke and Disability Center and the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services assisting students facing language, social, or economic challenges will be reduced considerably. According to state law, faculty and staff to be laid off because of the budget cuts must be notified by March 15.

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UCSC Officials Shocked by Noose Image

A bathroom door at UCSC was scrawled with a noose image and reference to UCSD

Could racial tensions be seething beneath the surface of UCSC. Some school officials are worried that they are after an image of a noose was found scrawled on a bathroom door in the Earth and Marine Sciences Building. The image was accompanied by the words “lynch” and “San Diego,” the latter a reference to racial tensions at UCSD two weeks ago.

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