City leaders are looking to take another major swipe at tobacco smokers by banning smoking on Pacific Avenue downtown, around Main Beach and on the Municipal Wharf.
News
Police Clear Harbor High Coach
Travis Rebbert, the new coach of the Harbor High School football team, has been cleared by police of suspicion in the theft of $25,000.
Watsonville Cracking Down on Speeding in School Zones
The City of Watsonville is adding 38 new speed limit signs around school zones as part of a crackdown on speeding.
Santa Cruz Drop-In Center to Close
After ten years, Santa Cruz AIDS Project is forced to shutter its Front Street drop-in center.
Drugs a Fire Hazard in Pogonip
Pogonip may be popular with people out for a brisk stroll, but anyone who veers off the most popular trails could run into a heroin or coke deal. Chief Ranger John Wallace says that the number of drug deals taking place there is so enormous that people are making their way down to “Heroin Hill” from Silicon Valley. Over 100 drug-related arrests have been made in the area since this past May.
UCSC Votes “No Confidence” in Yudof
In the 15 months that he’s been in office, UC President Mark Yudof has not made many allies. According to the UC Union Coalition, some 98 percent of employees who participated in a week-long straw poll voted no confidence in him.
The King of Santa Cruz Skateboards Returns
In a garage in a middle-class neighborhood at the edge of Santa Cruz, the improbable is happening. Decades after he created some of the most enduring images in the genre, the artist whose name is virtually synonymous with Santa Cruz Skateboards is once again drawing pop-eyed monsters, warhorses and nubile mermaids for skateboard decks so the youth of today can thrash in style. Jim Phillips is back. With slide show.
Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration: Ellen Bass
Santa Cruz poet Ellen Bass writes about a near miss in this monthly installment of locally inspired verse.
County Parks Wait for Closure Notices
Santa Cruz residents are waiting to hear which of their favorite parks will be closed due to budget cuts. While no specific parks have been named yet, it is all but certain that at least some of the county’s parks will be among those closed to the public shortly after Labor Day. About 100 of the states 278 parks are scheduled to be closed, and the state has already stopped accepting camping reservations for all but 20 parks.
UCSC Prof Finds Waning Support for Death Penalty
Professor Craig Haney of UCSC is one of the foremost experts on the death penalty, particularly in California. A study that he just released found that Californians still support the death penalty by an overwhelming 66 percent, but that this number has decreased considerably since a 1989 study, in which almost 80 percent supported the death penalty.
