Feature Archives

On Saturday, November 3rd, San Francisco hosted one of over 1,400 rallies across the country to call on political leaders to "Step It Up" by strengthening policies to cut carbon emissions. Step It Up has called the campaign "the largest coordinated climate change event in U.S. history." Step It Up San Francisco featured a carnival-like atmosphere complete with a Toss Out Fossil Fuel sock toss, sidewalk chalk, electric cars, and solar-powered smoothies. The crowd gave City Hall the "green finger" by stamping their fingers with green ink and symbolically pointing at City Hall.

On November 1st, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Paul Burdick denied the County of Santa Cruz's request for a temporary restraining order to halt the aerial spraying of CheckMate LBAM-F over Santa Cruz County by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Three state-owned airplanes are scheduled to begin spraying pesticides over North Monterey County on Sunday, November 4th, and then over Santa Cruz County sometime early next week.

The United States Geological Survey reports, "a moderate earthquake occurred at 8:04:54 PM (PDT) on Tuesday, October 30, 2007. The magnitude 5.6 event occurred 8 km (5 miles) NNE of Alum Rock, CA."

The UC Santa Cruz Long Range Development Plan is a blueprint for expanding the physical campus to accommodate approximately 4,500 new students by 2020. On November 1st, UCSC Writing Lecturer Jeff Arnett gave a presentation on the "Unnatural History of UCSC." The presentation covered special sites on the UCSC campus and the story of Elfland. Other presenters provided an overview of campus expansion plans and the impacts on biodiverse habitat.

Nick Oliva writes, "Big Sur. A place of great beauty and drama. A Wonder of the World, an international treasure taken for granted stands waiting mindless of humanity. The sheer cliffs that drop a thousand feet or more to the violent sea thrashing and pounding at the granite below. The dichotomy of danger and great beauty can only be watched from a distance, less one be swallowed up and taken by the forces of nature."

Suterra LLC, a manufacturer of "biorational" pest control products based in Bend, Oregon, has issued a cease and desist letter to Indybay demanding that information about a "secret" ingredient in the CheckMate OLR-F mating disruption pheromone be removed from the site.

Helping Our Peninsula's Environment (HOPE), an organization dedicated to protecting the natural environment, sued the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) because they violated California's Environmental Quality Act. CDFA refused to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) claiming they are exempt because it is an emergency. CDFA plans to aerially re-spray the Monterey Peninsula with Suterra's Checkmate pesticide (a moth pheromone) starting October 9th.