The city’s discussion of desalination took another surprise turn at the Feb. 28 Santa Cruz City Council meeting. The change has to do with two competing plans from activists and city officials to put desalination to a vote. Originally it looked like the plan advanced by Mayor Don Lane and Councilmember David Terrazas would call for a vote in 2013, while the activists’ measure would call for a vote in 2014, a delay that Lane insisted could cost the city millions of dollars.
News
Water Customers Want to Be Included in Desal Vote
If given the choice, Michael Lewis says he’ll vote against any plan to construct a $100 million-plus desalination plant to increase the Santa Cruz area water supply. “I’m opposed to it for a number of reasons,” says the Live Oak resident. That’s why he’s hoping he gets the chance to weigh in.
Letters to the Editor, Feb. 29-March 6, 2012
Our readers sound off on the power of Lent, dreadful sounds of the office, and sheer boredom over the same old apetizers and glasses of wine.
Debate on Desal and Growth Coming to Head
Stormy seas lie ahead for proponents of the city’s plan to build a desalination plant, and the name of the thunderhead is UC-Santa Cruz. On March 7, the Santa Cruz County Local Agency Formation (LAFCO) decides whether or not to extend water rights for the university’s proposed expansion into the North Campus natural reserve area.
Soquel Shaman Brant Secunda’s Chocolate Quest
Shaman Organic Chocolate bars are the total package. Delicious, organic chocolate, every $3 bite of which goes to help maintain the endangered indigenous lifestyles and traditions of the Huichol Indians of Mexico.
CORRECTED: City, Activists Stand by Separate Desal Initiatives
When Santa Cruz Mayor Don Lane read local activists’ ballot initiative to put desal to a vote, he says one thing caught his attention. It had to do with timing. Lane agrees with a host of activists that Santa Cruz voters should weigh in on whether or not to build a $100 million-plus desalination plant on the Westside to increase the fresh water supply. But they agree on little else—including when to hold the vote.
Vinocruz Pouring it On
With the boldly colorful acrylic artwork by W.M. Vinci currently adorning two walls and hundreds of wine bottles providing the rest of the visuals, Vinocruz offers more sensory bombardment than ever. Steve Principe, who with partner Jennifer Walker re-opened the popular downtown wine tasting depot in late August, is still fine-tuning many attractive new features.
Cassidy Meijer, 1978-2012
“All the smiles were prescription/And the laughter was canned/And nobody listened to my asteroid band” — “Asteroid Band,” Sin in Space
Nonprofit Ayurvedic Clinic Opens Doors
I catch sight of Heather Nagel’s red hair first, ablaze in the noontime sun as she stands on the sidewalk and waves. She leads me up the stairs of an apartment building tucked away off Center Street and into Aushadi Santa Cruz, the first non-profit Ayurvedic clinic in town.
Letters to the Editor, Feb. 22-28, 2012
In order to fight rape, we need to change the way we think and talk about sex, one reader writes. Other readers take a candid look at the sleeping ban and at the truth about a little drug called MDMA.
