“I love it,” admits excitable event director Jeni Brill, who is deep into last-minute details for her 8th Annual Gourmet Grazing on the Green food & wine festival. Brill created this event for the board of the Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit Group, which has raised more than $1 million since 1995 to support local outreach and research organizations. “The basic idea was an event that would feature all local foods, local wines and local beers. All the produce used is donated from local growers,” she adds.
News
Delaware Addition Architect: Let’s Break Some Rules
For Mark Primack, the key to the future is not conforming. That goes for people, ideas and the buildings they live and work in. “A planning director once observed that if you asked people in Santa Cruz to identify the places, the buildings or businesses that most expressed the unique character and spirit of this town,” says the local architect and former Santa Cruz councilmember, “guaranteed every one of those would be ‘existing non-conforming,’ meaning they violate current rules and standards.”
The Cost of Bryan Stow’s Recovery
It’s been almost six months since Bryan Stow was beaten at the LA Dodgers’ opening game against the San Francisco Giants.
County’s Red Tag Habit Deemed Illegal
In 1997, code compliance officers with the Santa Cruz County Planning Department came to Hillary Falconer’s Soquel horse ranch and issued red tag notices for her stables, swimming pool, an adobe structure that her father had built in the 1960s, a compost bin and more—72 items in all—for being in violation of county building or zoning codes. Falconer, who owns and runs Briarcliff Farms on Old San Jose Road, contested all of them in court for three years. “Basically, they went through and said everything in this property was illegal,” says Falconer. “Everything.”
Troubles Ahead for Santa Cruz’s Oldest Building
People think of state parks as vast tracts of pristine wilderness, perfect for hiking and camping. But there are also many smaller state parks, some of them consisting of buildings. The Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park is one such park. It is a historic landmark that marks the site of the original Spanish mission that grew into the modern-day town of Santa Cruz. Built in 1791, it had a church and as many as 32 buildings, almost all destroyed by skirmishes with the native population and by natural disasters over the centuries.
Burning Man Diaries
The Bureau of Land Management capped Burning Man at 50,000 for 2011. By mid-July, tickets had sold out for the first time in the event’s 25-year run, sparking desperate pleas for tickets and exorbitant prices set by scalpers. Those fortunate souls with tickets traded them in for a snow-globe of dust and sensory overload, becoming citizens in a fabled city of radical self-reliance mixed with radical mayhem and an eternal bass, a testament to human expression and the boundless senses of humor stretching over Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.
Apple Harvest Underway
“Comfort me with apples,” says the Bible, “for I am sick of love.” While that hardly makes apples the ultimate aphrodisiac, they are still “the noblest of fruits,” at least according to Thoreau. They are also the most popular, no matter what anyone says about papayas, rambutans, durian and lychees. And even if berries are now the biggest cash crop in the Pajaro Valley, apples will always be a staple there.
Hawaiian Police Name Suspect in Murder of Attorney
Hawaiian police have named Gerard Galaway, 38, of Santa Cruz, as their suspect in the murder of Celestial Dove Cassman. Cassman, 35, was the Deputy City Attorney for Santa Cruz and Capitola at the time of her death. She was vacationing with Galaway on Maui when she was killed.
New Gang Task Force Launched
The Task Force will coordinate the 10 law enforcement agencies working in Santa Cruz County.
Durbin to Release Solo Album
Durbinites across the country have reason to celebrate. Durbin has announced that he will be releasing his debut album with New York label Wind-up records. “We loved James on Idol. We thought he was the standout performer from this season,” said Wind-up CEO Edward Vetri. “James has the drive, passion, love of music and a gifted, soaring rock voice that will win rock fans over throughout.” Chief Creative Officer Gregg Wattenberg called the decision a “no-brainer.”
