Cowell Beach bacteria levels remain hazardous while the city seeks to isolate the source Boasting smooth swells, perfect for beginning surfers, and located at a prime location next to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Cowell Beach, just west of the wharf, would seem like the ideal destination for young families. But in recent years, the location...

Films This WeekCheck out the movies playing around town.With: Reviews, Movie Times click here.Santa Cruz area movie theaters > ....... New This WeekDAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES This prequel to the original movie in the Ape franchise returns to a time when human survivors of a deadly virus and a growing nation of genetically...

Wine and soul music, local menu highlights, brewery wins and ice cream for Aptos    If you didn’t get enough soul-shaking during the solstice, Carie MacAlpine will rock you senseless when she brings her SoulShakers to the popular winery and boîte Vino Tabi on Saturday, July 19. The singer belts and croons in the great tradition...

Square Pegged, Green Waters Square Pegged The Museum of Art History (MAH) has been awarded $250,000 from ArtPlace America, a grant-giving organization based in Brooklyn, New York. With this new grant, the MAH has now attained over half of the $1 million in required funding for the redesign and construction of downtown’s Abbott Square. “I’m psyched,”...

It belongs in Santa Cruz. It sounds like something that should be here that keeps us on the edge.Marie HenleySanta Cruz | Travel Agent           Outsider performances from a far-out community!Kevin DevaneySanta Cruz | Business Owner             Dance, music, cultural extravaganza, cloud explosion, North Star!Nola WoodlandSanta Cruz...

Flawed, but fun ‘Snowpiercer’ makes a hip action flick out of a bizarre sci-fi parable How’s this for an allegory for the human condition? In the post-apocalyptic future, the surviving members of humanity are trapped together in a giant, high-speed train endlessly circling the globe on the ultimate fast-track to nowhere. That’s the story in Snowpiercer,...

A water metering network could aid the dire water situation locally-but may also spark new fears about radiation California’s drought will force communities all over the state to do what they can to survive the summer—and think about how they’ll get through future seasons, too. One idea making ripples in Santa Cruz is a possible water...

The Santa Cruz Fringe Festival mixes misfit art and mass appeal FuturPointe Dance’s husband-and-wife team of N’Jelle Gage and Guy Thorne love using food metaphors to describe their eclectic style. “We found out cooking together that we work interestingly,” Gage says. “Very differently, but we know what we want the ends to look like. We bring...

Kate Appel's offbeat sodas quench thirst without the guilt For almost three years, Kate Appel has been making her carbonated fruit sodas, available at the Downtown Farmers Market and Lúpulo Craft Beer House. She uses just three main ingredients—fruit juices, natural sweeteners and herbs and spices—in a variety of medleys. A bottle at the market is...

The Infamous Stringdusters continue to stretch the limits of bluegrass with their latest release With the April release of their fifth studio album, Let it Go, the Infamous Stringdusters really did let something go. And not just the traditional boundaries of bluegrass, which the Grammy-nominated quintet has been pushing (but never breaking) since the dawn of...