A surfer in Capitola says that he saw a large shark swimming in a zigzag pattern just a few feet away from him. Paul Johnson said it happened after 10am Wednesday morning, about 200 yards offshore. The predator, which he described as “a gray torpedo silhouette in the water,” came within just a few feet of him. Upon returning safely to shore, he reported the incident to local authorities, who posted shark warning signs along the beach. Not everyone saw them, though, and the beach was still crowded with swimmers and surfers, many of them unaware of the danger.
Articles by Danny Wool
Lifeguards Back on the Job
Santa Cruz lifeguards rescued as many as six people this past weekend along Santa Cruz beaches. The survivors have more than just the lifeguards to be thankful for. Most of these lifeguards faced layoffs because of budget cuts to state parks. A local group, Friends of State Parks, decided that this was unconscionable and decided to raise the money themselves to pay the lifeguards’ salaries for the last two months of the season.
Council Debates Rental Inspections
City Council discussed a new measure that would require the owners of rental properties in the city to register their properties and eventually submit them for inspection.
Shark Sighting off Capitola Wharf Worries Authorities
Anyone who has seen Finding Nemo will remember the sharks chanting their pledge: “I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food.” Unfortunately, not all sharks have taken that pledge.
Six County Schools Make Underachievers List
There’s undoubtedly a problem in six county schools. The California Board of Education has rated Pajaro Valley High School, E.A. Hall Middle School, and Landmark, Hall District, Live Oak and Gault elementary schools as “low-performing schools” that could cause students serious harm. This means that each of these schools scored poorly on standardized tests administered by the state.
UCSC Grad Uncovers “Top Secret America”
UCSC grad Dana Priest and co-author William M. Arkin uncover the huge world of intelligence gathering in WaPo’s “Top Secret America.” The three part series took two years of research and is another feather for the cap of this celebrated journalist with local roots.
More Evidence that Violence Is on the Rise in Santa Cruz
Statistics confirm what people know in their gut. Violent crime is on the rise in Santa Cruz. The city usually averages 2.4 murders per year, but 2010 has already seen 5 homicides, or double the average—and there are still five and a half months to go.
Santa Cruz Celebrates “Day on the Beach”
At Cowell’s Beach this past Sunday it was the annual “Day on the Beach” for the disabled, their families, and their caregivers, and hundreds of people showed up to take advantage of a beautiful summer day.
Phone Books May Soon Be Cleaned Up
Let’s face it. The phone book is a relic of bygone times, when people actually used landlines for more than just modems. Once every home and every phone booth had its White Pages and Yellow Pages. These days just finding a phone booth is hard enough.
But the phone books keep coming. Every so often homeowners wake up to hundreds and hundreds of pages of information that they could easily pull up on their laptops and cell phones. The phone books end up rotting on the curb, until some good phone book Samaritan hauls them off for recycling.
The Rodeo Is Coming!
Finally had enough of that foreign sport, soccer, which is about as American as tapas or boerenkoolstamppot with rookworst? Want a sport as American as tater tots and processed cheese in a can? Good news, Santa Cruz! The rodeo is coming to town!
