Fed up with the leashes of society and begging for change, hundreds of dogs descended on the athletic fields of Soquel High School on Sunday for the Woofstock West, Spring Dog Festival. Put on by local canine advocacy group Coastal Dogs, the event featured beauty contests, races, an obstacle course, fetching competitions and even “weenie bobbing,” a game where dogs slurp up hotdog chunks in a tub of water. With slideshow and video.
News
City Preps for Amgen
Santa Cruz is getting ready to host the end of Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California tomorrow. Thousands of people are expected to attend the event, which is bringing together some of the world’s leading cyclists in a race for the finish line at Beach Street and Riverside Avenue. Nevertheless, the city is still looking for 100 additional volunteers to serve as race marshals.
“Gangs Suck” Message of March
Dozens of friends of Carl Reimer and other concerned citizens gathered in Mission Garden Park on Friday night to remember Carl Reimer, the 19-year-old who was shot to death by suspected gang members.
Chowdown With Chowhound
In a large window-lit kitchen in Aptos, seven apron-sporting men and women survey a banquet of fresh ingredients in front of them. Farro grains, shallots, rhubarb, chicken breasts, chanterelle mushrooms, scallops, strawberries, butter, heavy cream and a handful of spices fill measuring cups and ramekins. Interrupting the happy din of the chatting guests, the owner of the home, a short but commanding brunette named Denise Ward, addresses them one by one.
Gray Whales Under Fire
Each March, gray whales by the thousands flood into the large lagoons of Baja California’s Pacific coast to give birth. The animals congregate densely, and as boatloads of tourists move in to watch, the whales vocalize and sing to one another across the still waters.
“You can hear them all across the lagoon, singing and talking,” says Sue Arnold, CEO of the California Gray Whale Coalition. “But this year it was silent. It was spooky.”
It Isn’t All Baywatch in Santa Cruz
If only Baywatch was still on the air… A plot line for the new episodes could describe how the lifeguards struggle to keep their jobs and save lives despite state budget cuts. There are dozens of local beaches in Santa Cruz County alone, but this spring there has only been enough money to fund four year-round employees to keep an eye on the beaches.
SCPD Launches Another Partnership with Feds
While the SCPD’s partnership with ICE to combat gang violence may be coming under fire from the Latino community, the police department hopes that a new partnership with the partnership with the Drug Enforcement Agency will be embraced by the entire community.
Where Have All the Lizards Gone?
When Elizabeth Bastians of UCSC went to Mexico this year, she expected to find hordes of lizards there. There weren’t, and Bastians claims that this is an indication of things to come. In a paper released yesterday, she and her coathours argue that some 20 percent of the world’s 5,000 lizard species could go extinct by 2080 as a result of global warming. “The sites where there had been the greatest change in temperature were the ones where the lizard had gone extinct,” she says.
Ten Questions for Belle Yang
The Pacific Grove resident, UCSC grad and author of the forthcoming graphic novel Forget Sorrow talks about her book, outdoor pastimes and an ironic culinary discovery.
Save Our Shores Targets Plastic Pollution
Although we don’t have to worry about a massive oil leak erupting in our immediate backyards, local waters do not go unharmed by the consequences of petroleum production. Save Our Shores—formed in 1978 to voice community opposition to offshore drilling—continues to fight against one of the unfortunate impacts of global oil dependence: plastic pollution. With slide show.
