Covers of Sufjan Stevens and Elliot Smith have exposed the world to Mikaela Davis’ unique harp style When an 8-year-old Mikaela Davis and her schoolmates in Rochester, New York, were invited to choose from an array of musical instruments, Davis was initially tempted to pick up a viola or cello. But the instant they brought out...

Why quick and friendly service matters at a local diner. After a dozen years at Jeffrey’s, Carol Nation is still something of the new girl—many of her fellow servers have been there a couple of decades longer. The diner on Soquel Avenue is closed only six hours every week, from midnight on Sunday until 6 a.m....

Woman fights for her job in thoughtful, life-sized ‘Two Days One Night’ It’s a good thing Marion Cotillard has such an interesting face. We are invited to gaze at her, often in extreme close-up, for just about every frame of the Belgian drama Two Days One Night. Cotillard stars as a young blue-collar wife and mother...

After leaving Old Crow Medicine Show, Willie Watson gets back to a rawer, simplified sound on his solo debut. Part of the appeal of upstate New York string ensemble Old Crow Medicine Show was that not only were they young musicians playing old timey folk-bluegrass-Americana, but also that they did it with genuine enthusiasm, fresh energy...

Pinot Noir 2012 A visit to Clos LaChance, a small, family-owned operation in San Martin, is always a pleasure, especially when the weather is nice. Set in beautiful grounds and gardens, it makes an ideal picnic spot in the spring and summer, and visitors are free to do so with a purchase of their wine. There’s...

A taste of Soquel Vineyards’ five gold medal-winning Pinots The trio of winemakers at Soquel Vineyards has been winning awards for a while now. But nothing like what happened a few weeks ago at the recent San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Winemakers Jon Morgan, and brothers Peter and Paul Bargetto, who specialize in Pinot Noir made...

Las Cafeteras’ physical, exuberant sound and storytelling brings a traditional style into the 21st century The members of Las Cafeteras are featured in the 2008 Oscar-nominated documentary The Garden, about Los Angeles activists attempting to save the South Central Community Garden from bulldozers—but don’t look for them on the soundtrack. “We’re in there being beaten by...

How a sleepy north county enclave kept it rural. There isn’t any “there” there, which makes it hard to zero in on where Bonny Doon starts and ends. Northwest of Santa Cruz, inland and northeast of Davenport, west of Felton—but without a post office, city hall, or even a general store, you can’t tell when you’ve...

Recent inmate death reignites concerns about county jail system When a Watsonville woman died of cardiac arrhythmia in early November in Santa Cruz County Main Jail, people took notice. The county jail system had already found itself at the center of controversy when the county Grand Jury released a report in May of last year criticizing...

Everybody’s for recycling, right? So why are we all doing it wrong? Our reporter gets down and dirty to uncover 10 secrets that will finally make the recycling process make sense Craig Pearson uses two strange words to describe his job.  “I’m away,” he says when people ask what he does. “People just say they throw...