“He that wants money, means, and content is without three good friends,” Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It,, and while Shakespeare Santa Cruz may have rich content, it is still wanting for the two other friends—money and means
Speeding Ticket Leads to Drug Bust
When Detective Tate Howe asked David Sosa Mendez to pull over on Water Street, it was for speeding and driving erratically.
Santa Cruz Cougar Night Misunderstood
I’ll level with you. I walked into the Single Professional Society’s first ever Santa Cruz Cougar Night at the Scotts Valley Hilton last week thinking it would be a convenient anecdotal doorway to my personal opinions on the term “cougar.” Those are, in a nutshell, that the term has been fallaciously embraced by single women over 40 as some kind of womanpower thingy. Allow me to remind everyone: the term is not flattering.
Serpents and The Rainbow
Underneath the front porch of a house in Santa Cruz—the kind of comfy family home that has very thick wall-to-wall carpeting—there is a secret room accessible by a crude path of boards laid over the steep dirt incline under the deck. “They’re out of the house, in here,” says Brad Loofbourrow as his 13-year-old son Tristan opens the door to the small, hot room. This is where Tristan keeps Ellen, Rachel, Shelby, Bruce, Sahra and H.P. “He names them all,” says Brad. “They’re his friends.”
Santa Cruz Hit Hard by State Budget
City and county officials throughout Santa Cruz are reeling from California’s proposed budget, calling it “the worst hit the state has ever imposed.” Social services, education, and public libraries will suffer some of the hardest hits, but law enforcement and public works will also be forced to cut back.
Santa Cruz to Examine Moratorium on Medical Marijuana
City officials in Santa Cruz will be deciding on Tuesday whether to extend the 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries by another 10 and a half months, to allow them more time to examine the issue. The existing rules were written over a decade ago. Some local business owners have expressed support for the moratorium. They argue that a weakening of the rules could lead to dispensaries on every city block, changing the city’s character.
Championing the Little Dogs of Santa Cruz
We’ve heard it all before: “Is that a dog or a rat?” “Hey, a punt dog!” Or the highly original “Why don’t you get a real dog?”
As far as membership in that sector of society still safe to belittle, we who own smaller canine breeds rate right up there with rednecks and the obese. Stereotypes abound, both for us and our pint-sized pals. We’re airhead heiresses with a Shih Tzu parked in our Gucci bag or post-menopausal women who’ve restocked their empty nests with furry surrogates. (With slide show)
Parks Supporters Breathe Sigh of Relief
California’s belated state budget agreement brings good news to parks lovers: barring any unforeseen circumstances, California will cut $8 million from its state parks rather than $70 million, and just a few parks might close rather than 220. Over the next couple of weeks the California State Parks Department will look closely at each park. “Those with high attendance and revenue will likely be safe. At the moment we’re not sure which ones will have to close,” says Roy Stearns, Deputy Director of Communications of California State Parks. “Santa Cruz County has a lot of state parks that have high revenue and attendance.
Science of Sex Author at Capitola Book Cafe
Author Mary Roach studies the people who study the nasty.
California Gets a Budget
Lawmakers and Gov. Schwarzenegger finally hammered out a deal last night to close the $26.3 million budget gap. The final budget more closely resembles the governor’s proposed budget than that of the Democratic lawmakers who’ve been locked in a stalemate with Schwarzenegger and legislative Republicans since February.
