The Santa Cruz County Board of Education held a heated meeting on Thursday as it prepared to decide whether to extend the charter of the Pacific Collegiate School for another five years. The problem isn’t the quality of education at the award-winning school, ranked the #1 charter school in the country. What was in question was a legal opinion that the school, which is now open to students throughout the county, should give preference to students living in the Santa Cruz City Schools district.
Articles by Danny Wool
Plug-in Stations Coming to Santa Cruz
The Prius is a hybrid that runs on gas as well as electricity. The new generation of electric vehicles, expected to hit California in the coming months, includes many cars that are completely electric and cannot depend on gasoline when they run out of juice. To deal with this, a group of public and private stakeholders has begun to lay the groundwork for a network of electric charging stations across the Monterey Bay area.
Shining A Little Light On The Homeless Protest
The SCPD has decided to shine a little light on the homeless protesters’ Peace Camp outside City Hall. They brought in floodlights, “an additional security measure … for the safety of our community.” The decision was made after police arrested Mark Greer, 29, a registered sex-offender who was camping out with the protesters.
Go Nuts At The Testicle Festival
Some people compare them to a shucked oyster. Others say they’re like chicken nuggets. What everyone agrees on is that they’re delicious! Fried, stewed, baked or broiled, balls are a hit, and not just for opponents of Proposition 8. That’s why the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and Agri-Culture groups are holding their prairie oyster “testival” in Watsonville on Aug. 28. Last year, they had 50 pounds of swinging sirloin and ran out in an hour. This year they’re counting on 120 pounds of huevos del toro to satisfy a hungry crowd with the USDA-approved mouth poppers.
Police Name Fifth Suspect in Tenorio Murder
Yesterday, the SCPD has named a fifth suspect in the murer of Tyler Tenorio, 17, last October.
Berries Are Good Business in Santa Cruz
The aggregate value of crops in Santa Cruz was $491.64 million in 2009, $6.3 million more than in 2008. Among the top crops was strawberries, which brought in $172.58 million, over $12 million more than the $160.38 million they earned in 2008. Though the value of the raspberry crop dropped by about $1.5 million to $104.27, other berries, including blueberries, olallieberries and currants, climbed from $21.08 million to $29.34 million.
Nightly Arrests at Homeless Demonstration Nab Child Molester
Every night since the homeless protest moved to the front of City Hall, SCPD officers have been visiting the site, ticketing some participants and arresting others. Among those ticketed Monday night was Mark Greer, a 29-year-old convicted child molester. The following morning Officer Ron Inoyue noticed that Greer was at the protest, so he had him arrested. Greer was booked in the County Jail under a false name, but when he was fingerprinted, his identity became apparent. He is a registered sex offender from San Luis Obispo, who is supposed to register with the police each month, but has failed to do so since June. He has five warrants for his arrest in San Luis Obispo.
Blakeslee Takes Maldonado’s Seat
The Republican Party maintained its strength in the state legislature in yesterday’s election, with Sam Blakeslee defeating Democrat John Laird for the District 15 Senate seat held by Abel Maldonado. Democrats had counted on a Laird victory bringing them one seat short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass budget legislation. Although Democrats are a majority in the district, accounting for 41 percent of registered voters, the seat has been held by the minority Republicans since 1996. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Blakeslee received 48.8 percent of the vote, while Laird’s received 44.1 percent.
Election Today Could Seal Fate of Budget
Voters will be going to the polls today in Santa Cruz County—as well as parts of Santa Clara, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties—to decide who will replace Abel Maldonado, recently appointed Lieutenant Governor. The seat is being contested by Democrat John Laird, Republican Sam Blakeslee, Independent Jim Fitzgerald and Libertarian Mark Hinkle.
Santa Cruz Bows Out Of AMGEN 2011
Despite the success of this year’s AMGEN stop in Santa Cruz, Mayor Mike Rotkin has decided that the city can no longer afford to host the cycling event, and has withdrawn from having it pass through Santa Cruz in 2011. “It’s a great event, we love to see it happen, we just don’t have the staff time to make it happen,” said Rotkin.
