For 18 years, the Rittenhouse Building on the corner of Pacific Avenue and Church Street was a big hole in the ground, a casualty of the Loma Prieta earthquake. It was only in 2008 that it was replaced by the current structure. But business has not been good for the owners of the building, former City Councilman Louis Rittenhouse and his sister. The recession struck just before it was completed, and the four-story building has remained empty ever since.
Articles by Danny Wool
UCSC Hires Grateful Dead Archivist
Nick Meriwether hardly fits the classic stereotype of a librarian. Sure, he has a master’s degree in library science from the University of South Carolina and spent five years as an oral historian at the South Caroliniana Library. But if her were to follow Superrman’s lead and slip into a phone booth to remove his suit and spectacles, he’d come out in tie-dyes and faded jeans, instead of cape and tights.
Group Demands County Reopen SC Veterans Center
The closure of the Veteran’s Memorial Hall is being challenged by the one group that has not found another home, the Veterans Council of Santa Cruz County. They argue that their engineers have found the building to be structurally sound, and have filed a lawsuit to be allowed to reoccupy it.
“Condor Time Now for the Coho”
The National Marine Fisheries Service says that the coho salmon population in Santa Cruz County could be saved from extinction, but only if local government and property owners are willing to make some major concessions. Conservationists estimate that there are only a few dozen coho salmon in the county today.
Gilligan Lookalike Tries to Rob Bank
The SCPD is on the lookout for a man who tried to rob a Mission Street bank yesterday. Described as being in his 40s or 50s, he had a brown beard and olive drab coat. Most distinctively, however, was the “Gilligan”-style sailor cap he wore.
UCSC Suspends Community Studies Program
For over 40 years, since 1969, UCSC was home to the acclaimed Community Studies program, a multidisciplinary program combining the humanities and social studies. The goal was to create a corps of community leaders and activists committed to social justice and change. Graduates of the program went on to work for a variety of major nonprofits, including the Santa Cruz AIDS Project, the Community Action Board and Barrios Unidos. Their teachers included local activists including Santa Cruz’s current mayor, Mike Rotkin, who oversees the program’s fieldwork component.
Helium Balloons Under Attack
When State Senator Jack Scott proposed a ban on foil balloons, he added the proposal that the state fund a UC study on potential alternative materials for manufacturing balloons. That did not go over well with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who suggested that given its $20 billion deficit, California might find more productive ways to spend what little money it doesn’t have.
UCSC Prepares for Even More Budget Cuts
UCSC Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor David Kliger is worried. “We all know that student fees have risen while academic offerings and support services have been reduced,” he says, but despite all that, the school could face another $8 million in budget cuts this year.
Enrollment Drops as Cabrillo College Cuts Classes, Semester
Enrollment for the spring semester at Cabrillo College is 14,653—900 less than in last year’s spring semester. That is because the school has cut classes and even the entire winter semester to stave off a $3.2 million deficit.
Santa Cruz Libraries Closing Shop
The Santa Cruz public library system is facing a crisis. With the steep decline in property and sales tax revenues, the system is facing a $500,000 deficit, a considerable chunk of its annual $11.3 million budget. Even more daunting is the threat that this deficit could grow to $5 million by 2013.
