Yesterday was Durbinday in Santa Cruz, and people across the city gathered with friends and family around their teevee machines to hear the SC wunderkind rock out. After all, it was Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week on American Idol. If Elton John week could evoke a flaming piano, I fully expected boa constrictors, pole dancers, fire eaters and an inflatable pig floating over the stadium. I was expecting Gene Simmons and Eddie Van Halen on backup vocals. I was expecting local motorcycle gangs to provide security and prevent screaming fans from swamping James on stage.
News
Fundraiser Held to Support Bryan Stow
Over 2,500 people showed up for a fundraiser in San Jose organized by American Medical Response on Wednesday. Money raised at the event will go to support the family of Bryan Stow, a local paramedic who was beaten in the parking lot of Dodgers Stadium last Thursday, apparently for wearing a Giants shirt. Stow is still in an induced coma, and doctors fear that he may have suffered brain damage.
Council Greenlights Fish Protection Plan
All city council members, water officials and public commenters for once looked to be on the same page at Tuesday night’s city council meeting—at least in the beginning. City leaders and environmentalists agree the city must stop pulling so much drinking water from creeks and rivers that are home to endangered species.
Stow Could Have Brain Injury
Tomorrow will mark a week since Bryan Stow of Santa Cruz was assaulted right after a Giants game in Dodger Stadium. His family and friends gather at his bedside every day, but doctors are hesitant to release a final diagnosis. What they do say, however, is that he is showing signs of “brain injury and dysfunction.” Even in the best-case scenario, warns neurosurgeon Dr. Gabriel Zada, Stow will be facing a long recovery process.
County Debates Vacation Homes … Again
Santa Cruz County supervisors spent another Tuesday session debating the regulation of vacation homes. It was the eighth meeting of its kind, and this time they succeeded in making some progress. They agreed to place a moratorium on the establishment of new vacation homes in the county but could not agree on how to regulate the existing vacation homes, which many neighbors consider a nuisance. After a lengthy debate they voted to send the proposed regulations back to the Planning Commission for a rewrite.
Local Warming: Spring Photos
It may not have been the coldest or wettest Santa Cruz County winter on record, but it might have been the most miserable. The 2010-2111 rainy season gave us record low temperatures, warnings of snow on the beach, a tsunami surge that wrecked the harbor and, three days after the official start of spring, massive storms that flooded Capitola. So when spring finally arrived for real last week with a warm spell and a burst of blossoms, people went kind of crazy. Which is a good thing–especially if, like us, you happen to know someone with a camera who can document the whole lovely bloomin’ thing. Slide show below.
Photographs by Adam Freidin, Shawn Hatjes, Anthony Mayes, Pete Saporito, Chip Scheuer, Carlie Statsky, Maya Weeks
Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration: Morton Marcus
In this week’s installment of Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration, a few poems from the late local luminary Morton Marcus.
Author Meg Wolitzer in Santa Cruz
The ‘burbs get short shrift in American literature. Many of us live in suburbs, or in small towns that have the same feel as suburbs, but you’d be hard-pressed to find much fiction that does more than simply despise them. Meg Wolitzer understands both the attractions and the dangerous languor of suburbia. The Uncoupling is a gorgeously written hymn that manages to capture the charms these neighborhoods hold for their residents.
Ten Questions for Greg Larson
The Santa Cruz resident and former city planning director-turned-Los Gatos-town-manager on happiness, “invisible cities” and the Highway 17 commute.
PLATED: New Grill In Town
Gone are the central booths, new the sleek flotilla of high bar tables and chairs. Five flat screen TVs lure sports fans to the expanded bar area, and the front patio has been glassed in for more versatility. But the fresh seafood creations that were the Hawgs signature are still in place at the attractively re-named Coldwater Bar & Grill.
