“It saved my life,” says Roxanne Baker of the needle exchange program in Santa Cruz’s Lower Ocean area. Now 60, Baker has long since recovered from a drug addiction that lasted 34 years. But she almost didn’t get the chance. In 1991, her husband contracted AIDS from a dirty syringe.
Articles by Mat Weir
911 Overdose Calls Not a Crime Under New Law
At the beginning of the year, a potentially powerful piece of California legislation quietly took effect, with only minimal media attention. Assembly Bill 472, better known as the “911 Good Samaritan Law,” attempts to save lives by offering protection from criminal prosecution to those under the influence of a narcotic if they are overdosing or witnessing an overdose, and need to call for medical help.
A Tour of Santa Cruz Strangeness
Artists, hippies and anyone with an acquired taste for the impossibly strange have been making the pilgrimage to Santa Cruz for decades. Drawn by the sheer beauty of the mountains and calm of the ocean, this city by the sea has collected a legendary reputation for keeping things different—even inspiring the local slogan “Keep Santa Cruz Weird”— but not everyone knows what keeps the magic going. Here’s a short list.
A Tour of Santa Cruz Strangeness
Artists, hippies and anyone with an acquired taste for the impossibly strange have been making the pilgrimage to Santa Cruz for decades. Drawn by the sheer beauty of the mountains and calm of the ocean, this city by the sea has collected a legendary reputation for keeping things different—even inspiring the local slogan “Keep Santa Cruz Weird”— but not everyone knows what keeps the magic going. Here’s a short list.
Opiate Overdose Drug Saving Lives in Santa Cruz
Over the past decade, in Santa Cruz and nationwide, the use of opiates has skyrocketed—and so have deaths resulting from opiate overdoses. While some of the increase can be attributed to the much-publicized resurgence of heroin use, it results primarily from a flood of prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin.
China Cats’ Scott Cooper Goes Solo
Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia once said, “Just because you’re a musician doesn’t mean all your ideas are about music,” but nobody told that to local musician Scott Cooper. Besides working as a sales rep for Drumskull Drums and a guitar instructor through UCSC, the 47-year-old single father also plays in five separate bands.
Summer Jam 831
The saying “it takes a village to raise a child” rings truer than ever in the midst of the Great Depression 2.0. Summer Jam 831, a benefit for the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Cruz, will feature music by DJ Kid Neemo, tons of fun-filled games and activities for kids (like the hands-free Jello eating contest) and an exclusive raffle for prizes like a laptop, skateboard and flip camera.
The Jumping Flea Blues
It’s been the brunt of countless jokes and chuckled at as an oddity. Tiny and portable, it’s been played by top musicians as well as buskers and novices. Yet with its measly four strings and miniature body, this diminutive instrument packs a powerful wallop, begging any listener not to smile and sing along. Of course, we’re talking about the mighty ukulele, the 150-year old member of the lute family that has had a startling comeback in recent years, plucking at the heartstrings of young and old.
Santa Cruz Woman Wins Guinness Gaming Title
With clenched knuckles and a list of combo moves, Santa Cruz’s own Melissa Estuesta made her way this month into the Guinness Book of World Records for “longest videogames marathon playing a fighting game,” with exactly 32 hours, 5 minutes and 47 seconds of continuous time playing Mortal Kombat.
Sound Tsunami
Hear to Help Japan will feature the psychedelic Noise Clinic, experimental sound artist Bill Walker and heavy metal headbangers Fiends at Feast, to raise money for an estimated 98,000 evacuees still displaced in the island nation.
