Acterra, a nonprofit environmental group based in Silicon Valley, awarded UCSC with its 2010 Business Environmental Award in recognition of the school and students’ efforts to promote sustainability and environmental stewardship.
News
No Ready Solution for Budget Gap at Hand
The new fiscal year is just three weeks away, and the Santa Cruz City Council is still trying to figure out how it will close a budget gap that could grow to $3.7 million. Negotiations with the police union and the SEIU are not getting the results that city leaders had hoped for and talks are now underway to consider increasing the sales tax or the utility user tax.
Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration: Dona Stein
In this month’s installment of Local Poets, Local Inspiration, longtime Santa Cruz resident Dona Stein pays tribute to a familiar Beach Boardwalk landmark.
Ten Questions for Danny Keith
The proprietor of Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop and the man behind the nonprofit Grind Out Hunger was just nominated to be a People Magazine All-Star. He shares some details about his existence with our humble publication.
MS-13 Gang Leader Arrested in Santa Cruz
Jose Abrego-Galdamez, 30, suspected of leading the MS-13 gang, was arrested in Santa Cruz on Thursday, and now faced deportation to El Salvador. MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, may not be one of the largest gangs in Santa Cruz, but it is considered to be one of the most violent. Last Thanksgiving, the gang, which deals in heroin, meth, and marijuana, shot a man 12 times at point blank range at the Santa Cruz levy.
Santa Cruz Hatchery Accused of Animal Cruelty
Compassion over Killing, an animal rights group based in Washington DC, documented a series of abuses against newly hatched chicks and ducklings at the Cal-Cruz Hatchery in Santa Cruz. When the DA’s office refused to take up the case, the group released a video of the abuses on YouTube, hoping to win support for its cause.
Who’s Financing the Campaigns?
With the primaries right around the corner, MAPlight.org, a Berkeley-based nonprofit, is trying to figure out where the money is coming from to fund State Assembly and Senate candidates’ campaigns. Some of their findings are surprising.
Vintage Santa Cruz
John Bargetto is pouring me the very first public taste of La Vita, his Soquel-based winery’s annual signature vintage. “This year it’s a unique blend of three Italian varietals,” he says. Filled with a blend of dolcetto, nebbiolo and refosco from the 2006 vintage, the voluptuous wine was aged for three years in oak and then another year in the bottle before its official coming-out last week at the annual benefit party. (The special La Vita bottling always benefits a local nonprofit; this year’s beneficiary will be the CASA advocates for foster children.)
Santa Cruz’s Fairest
Helping to organize an all-day music and arts festival for a hoped-for turnout of at least 3,000 is no easy task. But Nancy Macy has pulled if off before. Sandy-haired and spritely in a “San Lorenzo Valley Redemption Recycling” T-shirt, she speaks enthusiastically about the Redwood Mountain Faire materializing on the near horizon—this Saturday, to be exact.
Plastic Bag Ban Moves Beyond Santa Cruz
Cities and counties across the state have slowly been banning plastic bags, despite the opposition of plastic bag lobbyists. Single use plastic bags are the most prevalent form of trash found on the county’s beaches, and end up adding to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The county is considering a ban on bags in all unincorporated areas, but many activists claim that the current approach, operating piecemeal from city to city, is not the best strategy.
