The smell hits first. As soon as the helicopter lifts off the ground in Venice, La.— 60 miles away from the BP oil spill—the pungent odor settles in the back of your throat and you can taste the toxic fumes. Once in view, the spill is a mélange of bizarre shapes: thick bands, ribbons, textured patches that look like hamburger patties, sheens that stretch to the horizon.
News
Watsonville Faces Obesity Epidemic
Obesity is such a friendly word. It has a certain sophisticated aura about it that makes it seem less threatening than it really is. So let’s a call a spade a spade and a rose a rose, because by any other name … Kids in Watsonville are officially obese. In real life, they are fat. Not heavyset, not full-bodied, not horizontally tall. Thirty-six percent of the kids in Watsonville are fat, and that’s a real problem.
Terror Charges Dismissed Against Animal Rights Activists
Maryam Khajavi, Joseph Buddenberg, Adriana Stumpo and Nathan Pope certainly don’t look like your typical al-Qaeda wannabes. That’s what U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte ruled on Monday, when he tossed out charges of terrorism against the four for participating in threatening rallies outside the home of a UC researchers in 2009.
Rich and Single? You’re in the Right Place
CNN and Money Magazine list Santa Cruz as one of the best places in the nation to find your rich and single soul mate. According to CNN, almost half of Santa Cruz County’s population, 45 percent, is single, and the average family income here is $91,162.
Santa Cruz Libraries Looking for Funding
Santa Cruz’s public libraries have come to the conclusion that the city really isn’t going to give them the money they maintain their relevance. That’s okay. They decided to take matters into their own hands, and launched their first ever capital campaign, intending to raise $1 million.
The New 40: The Case For The 21-Hour Work Week
Just before leaving my last full-time teaching gig in 2005, I shot off an email to the head of the charter school organization for which I worked explaining that I was leaving my position as a humanities teacher because I felt the job had become completely unsustainable. I could no longer work the 10- to 12-hour days that it took to get all of the work done while remaining sane and healthy. I had no time for my relationships or for my own creative projects, much less for healthy living.
Local Hotels May be Required to Ask for ID
It’s not just Arizona that’s asking people for papers. Santa Cruz authorities are considering a new law that will require hotel and motel owners to ask for ID before providing rooms to customers.
Groundbreaking for Marine Sanctuary Center
Crowds will be gathering opposite Cowell Beach and the Municipal Wharf today for the groundbreaking ceremony for the National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center, a project that has been in the works for the past five years. The $15 million project is a joint venture of the city and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Change I Wish To Be
Nearly nine years ago I was sitting in a terminal at Boston’s Logan Airport waiting for a flight to California. It was the first day of flights since they’d closed the place down on 9/11. I’ve never been an enthusiastic flier, but that day I was more than anxious. The broadcast images of destruction, the mug shots of terrorists: I was sure it would happen again. I was scared to death it would happen again. I’d left two kids at home in bed.
Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration: Peggy Heinrich
In this month’s installment of ‘Local Poets, Local Inspiration,’ haikus by Santa Cruz poet Peggy Heinrich evoke a day at the beach.
