A lot of people have seen The Nutcracker. Some percentage of those have seen The Nutcracker once a year since they were 8 and could dance the “Waltz Of The Flowers” with their eyes closed. After a sold-out 2009 season, Tandy Beal’s Mixed Nutz! The Nutcracker Remixed is back to claim its place as a Nutcracker that replicates no other: it’s highly unlikely that the average audience includes folks who fondly remember juggling an umbrella on each foot simultaneously with another on each hand for good measure.
News
Dream Inn’s Joie de Labor
The Santa Cruz Dream Inn is one of only two unionized hotels in Santa Cruz. As of Tuesday midday, the Dream Inn was still listed as a “Please Patronize” property on the Hotel Workers Union website, but if things don’t go well in planned negotiations between the union and the hotel, it may not be for much longer.
May Day Vandalism Sentencing
It’s been seven months since the May Day unrest that saw businesses vandalized in downtown Santa Cruz. Now a judge has sentenced Jimi Haynes to two years in prison for his role in the mayhem. At the sentencing for the conviction of felony vandalism, Judge Michael Barton had harsh words for the 24-year-old homeless man, who has a history of petty theft: “Mr. Haynes, you really are an idiot. You’ve been given chance after chance after chance. You’re a thief and an idiot and an alcoholic.”
Parking Tickets May Rise Again
Did you miss putting more coins in the meter while you were doing your shopping? That could cost you another $3 if the Santa Cruz City Council has its way. At its meeting today, it will vote on whether to increase fines for parking violations by $3. City Council has proven quite skilled at increasing fines. If today’s rate hike passes, it will be the third time in two years parking fines have gone up in Santa Cruz.
Great Holiday News for Santa Cruz
Some people want an iPad for Christmas. Other people want a rat. Still others would make do with a pair of lead boxers to wear as they go through TSA screening. But in times of recession, what most people probably want this holiday season is a steady job.
Meep Meep! The Santa Cruz Drunk Taxi’s Here
Most people would call it a bad night if the drunken stranger they went home with forgot their name, but not Scott Vaughn. For Vaughn, one of the founders of Hero DD, it’s merely an occupational hazard.
Gift Guide: Hats, Mittens & Socks
It’s easy to lament the onset of winter’s shorter, chiller days, but to do that is to ignore the opportunity to accessorize. Holiday shopping offers the perfect chance to snap up some of the more wild and wooly options that Californians don’t need 10 months of the year. So now’s the time to seize the stockings (and scarves, hats, mittens and muffs) and relish the fashionable add-ons of the season. Here are some style guidelines to keep in mind.
Mother Files Suit Against Pub
Beverly Quaye is suing the owner of the Parish Publick House and the owner of the strip mall where the pub is located over the death of her son. According to Quaye, pub owner Erik Granath physically assaulted her son Benjamin before tossing him out of the bar for drunkenness. Quaye tried to stumble back to his residence but fell into a culvert near the adjacent railway tracks. His body was found there by a jogger the next morning.
The Price of A Good Seat
Impedimenta! Locomotor Mortis! You know that there will be more than a few people trying out these Harry Potter spells on Tarralynn Dorr and her friend Prism, especially when those people realize that Tarralynn and Prism got in to see the first showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, while they did not. Tarralynn, a loyal Muggle, didn’t need to use any magic to get the tickets and the best seats in the house. She just got in line early. Very early. Thirty hours early.
Sheriff’s Deputies Raid Marijuana Growers
Sheriff’s deputies in Santa Cruz County raided five homes in the Santa Cruz region on Thursday and made five arrests. The raids were made on the Westside and in Bonny Doon and Scotts Valley. About 400 marijuana plants were found in four of the homes, along with 100 pounds of buds valued at $300,000. In two of the homes deputies also found weapons, including eight AK-47 and five AR-15 assault rifles. In one home, the police also found a boat, valued at $40,000, believed to have been bought with the proceeds from marijuana sales.
