Cover: Vroom At the Top
NASCAR driver Melanie Penney leaves the men in the dust at the Watsonville track.

Bruce Bratton: Fat highways, Plaza power and Zasu Pitts.

Sacred Outing: The Cabrillo Music Festival comes of age with an ambitious production of Leonard Bernstein's 'Mass.'

Notes From the Underground: Mike Ness greases up a Catalyst crowd.

Summer and Starbucks: The evil empire of corporate caffeine is rapidly becoming the village hearth.

Gentle Giant: Animated 'Iron Giant' gets real about nonviolence.

Autumnal Beauty: Rene Russo is the real focus of 'Crown Affair.'

Man to Man: Friendship saves the day in Shakespeare Santa Cruz's production of 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona.'

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