From the rocky beaches of Half Moon Bay, Mavericks’ famous wave breaks don’t look large enough for aquatic-minded squirrels on water skis. And even during Sunday’s gridlock morning traffic on Highway 1, rubbernecking drivers couldn’t have made out the jersey colors on the surfers gliding the frigid walls of blue water if they squinted. But two miles from the shore, the most dangerous big wave surf competition on the West Coast was underway—where the ocean swell can snap surfboards like toothpicks in the mouth of a bulldog, as it did for competitor Rusty Long in the first heat.
Articles by Jacob Pierce
John Craigie’s Traveling Musical Adventure
When John Craigie wakes up in the middle of the night, he usually doesn’t know where he is. Depending on the lighting—or how full the moon is that evening—it takes the couch-surfing songwriter anywhere from a few seconds to a full minute to figure out whose couch he’s on. And the UCSC grad begins by trying to figure out where he performed earlier that night, or where he was the night before. “I just have to do a little bit of math and a little bit of detective work,” says Craigie, who tours nonstop—he hasn’t paid rent anywhere in seven years.
2012: A Santa Cruz Weekly Year in Review
Santa Cruz Weekly presents our look at Santa Cruz’s year of the strange, cool and just plain ridiculous.
Progress Stalls on Pacific Avenue Planning
One Christmas rush downtown isn’t seeing this year is a push to break the stalemate over the future of Pacific Avenue.
Fred Keeley on Snoop Dogg
In honor of the maniac in black Mr. Snoop Eastwood’s gig at the Catalyst Thursday, we asked county treasurer and Snoop Dogg superfan Fred Keeley for his favorite songs.
Soquel Union Superintendent Responds to Bullying Issue
Superintendent Henry Castaniada was one of the school administrators who was suspiciously hard to get a hold of when we needed someone to clarify the Soquel Union Elementary School District’s policy on bullying for our cover story on the topic last month. And yes, we called him out on it a couple of times. But better late than never, as they say.
Preview: Todd Snider at Humbug Hoedown
Proud pothead Todd Snider, who plays the KPIG Humbug Hoedown this week, talks about giving up rehab and why Santa Cruz is his favorite place to play.
New Skate Park Part of Danny Keith’s Fight Against Hunger
Danny Keith built Santa Cruz County’s first indoor skate park to fundraise for Grind Out Hunger, a group he started in 2003. To Keith, this is more than a skate shop. It’s part of a larger vision.
Santa Cruz City Council Holds Back on Desal
Call it another, smaller victory for opponents of the $120-plus million desal plant project in Santa Cruz, in the wake of Measure P’s success. The Santa Cruz City Council voted last week to approve some—but not all—of the $390,000 the water department requested for the project’s next steps.
Officials to Discuss Energy-Saving Options
Santa Cruz’s ambitious plan is to reduce its emissions to 15 percent of 1990 levels by 2020, well in excess of what the Global Warming Solutions Act suggests. And the county aims to cut emissions 42 percent below 2009 levels by 2035.
