Assistant city manager Martin Bernal will be taking the reins from City Manager Dick Wilson after a unanimous vote by Santa Cruz city council to appoint him to the new position. Bernal served as Assistant City Manager for 13 years, and was a popular choice among City councilmembers, department heads and community leaders.
Articles by Danny Wool
Gangmembers Go After Tourists
The problem with gangs in Santa Cruz is getting more severe by the day. According to a recent report, tourists in Santa Cruz were beaten up by gang members on April 5. Their crime? One of the tourists was wearing a red 49ers jersey. Though the group denied any affiliation to a gang, their attackers saw it as affront and proceeded to beat them up anyway. By the time the police arrived, the four tourists, from Sonoma County, needed stitches because of their injuries.
Watsonville Fifth Graders Make Eco Film
All hail the fifth grade class of Mount Madonna Elementary School. A DVD they wrote and produced about how to reduce the impact of garbage on the ocean took first place in the Siemens Change the World Challenge, winning the school a $5,000 grant, and the students a chance to show off their acting ability and ecological acumen.
FBI Investigating Possible Sabotage at UCSC
The FBI has been called to UCSC to investigate the possible sabotage of a professor’s SUV outside his home. According to police, the vehicle’s brake lines were cut sometime late Saturday night or early Sunday morning near the professor’s home. FBI agents are canvassing the area, looking for possible witnesses.
County Lays Off Court Staff
The Santa Cruz County Superior Court has sent pink slips to 20 employees, including a court commissioner, as part of its efforts to contend with a $2.3 million budget shortfall. The layoffs, which go into effect on June 30, affect 17 full-time employees and three part-time employees.
Pajaro Valley Teacher Accused of Sexual Misconduct
A male student at Pajaro Valley High School has stated that he had a sexual relationship with one of his female teachers.
Money Woes for Rail Line Purchase
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission was delighted when it finally hammered out the deal to purchase the 32-mile Union Pacific rail line with an assortment of state funds totaling $21 million. Unfortunately, what they failed to realize is that the state promising them $21 million is like me promising them $21 million—wish I could, but it ain’t gonna happen so fast.
Police Raid SubRosa Café
Investigators from the DA’s office raided the SubRosa Café, alleged to be a center of local anarchist activity in the county. Officers said that they were looking for workers’ comp documents forms for the café‘s staff, but the café‘s founders explained that the staff is entirely volunteer, and as such, they have no comp documents for them. Jimi Haynes, who was arrested during the May 1 incident downtown in which 18 businesses were vandalized by alleged anarchists, claims to have volunteered at the café, but the site’s blog states emphatically, “Jimi Haynes is not and has never been a volunteer at SubRosa.”
No Horsing Around Here!
Holden Caulfield said it best: “I’d rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God’s sake.” The fact is that some people want a stable relationship, and they feel they can only have one with a horse. Then again, some people take it too far …
What’s Next for Cemex?
The Cemex plant on the North Coast is gone, so the question is now what to do with the 10,000 acre property right outside of Davenport. One option is to turn the land into a public trust and recreation area. Even before the plant shut down, the nonprofit Sempervirens Fund of Los Altos offered to buy the vast woodlands surrounding the property. The Sempervirens Fund is dedicated to protecting the forests and other natural features of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
