Feature Archives

Despite the fact that there is overwhelming vacant commercial space in Santa Cruz County, the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County (CFSCC) decided to build a new office building in Aptos. Instead of building around the gorgeous landscape that defines the downtown Aptos area, CFSCC contracted Lewis Tree Service to cut down one of the few remaining Monterey Cypress trees on August 11th.

On August 12th Free Skool Santa Cruz offered a Know Your Rights workshop on the sidewalk in front of Bookshop Santa Cruz. The workshop was followed by a teach-in to end the sleeping ban in Santa Cruz at City Hall. The teach-in included songs, stories, food and a Guerilla Drive-In screening of Sir! No Sir!. On August 13th, about 15-20 protesters voted to return to City Hall with more support and possibly move their protest onto Pacific Avenue to raise its profile.

On August 7th, John Myslin, a history teacher and advisor at Pacific Collegiate School, was run over and killed by a semi-truck at the intersection of Bay Street and Mission Street (Highway 1) in Santa Cruz while riding his bicycle. In response to this tragedy, a vigil was held later that night on the corner of Bay and Mission.

On Friday, August 3rd, the Santa Cruz Guerilla Drive-In screened the Guerilla Drive-In Subversive Shorts Festival on Pacific Ave and Cooper Street in downtown Santa Cruz. To skirt the laws regarding amplification, the sound was broadcast straight to portable radios.

The Watsonville Brown Berets presented the 7th annual Youth & Power Conference consisting of music, activism and organizing tables, art, dance, culture, speakers, free food and more. This year's conference took place at the Vet’s Hall in Watsonville on August 14th.

Newspapers across the country are in decline. Reporters are being sacked, buildings sold, and operations consolidated. It’s all the fault of the Internet. Print journalism – financed by ad revenue and classifieds – can’t compete with free websites like Craigslist and have seen a huge decline in their profits. Publishers are being forced to make “very difficult” decisions, firing significant numbers of staff in order to make ends meet. It was inevitable that this crisis would reach Santa Cruz, and the layoffs at the Sentinel are just part of this general decline. At least, that’s what corporate media executives want you to think.

On June 12th, teaching assistants and other members of UAW Local 2865 held a grade-in at the Baytree Plaza at UC Santa Cruz as part of a statewide action to highlight the UAW's demand for better protections against excessive workload. The action turned out over a thousand TAs, readers, and tutors across seven UC campuses. In the bargaining session that took place June 18th and 19th, progress was made towards adding protections against discrimination on the basis of pregnancy or gender identity.