Santa Cruz to celebrate World Surfing Reserve designation

More than just the first documented surf spot in mainland American surfing, Santa Cruz is also home to world-class waves, a slew of professional surfers, and a community of environmentally minded folk. But even this seaside town is not immune to threats of coastal and marine destruction that jeopardize beloved surf spots up and down the California coast.

 Harbor management and dredge operator dispute to be heard by state

Resident Jim Riley joined the dredge operating crew at the Santa Cruz Harbor when he was 17 years old in 1985. That career abruptly halted on July 1, 2011 after negotiations between his union—Operating Engineers Local 3 (OE3)—and the Santa Cruz Port District (SCPD) fell apart on June 29. The dispute was over the SCPD’s demand that the dredge operators increase contributions to their benefits by about $2,000 per worker.

David Herrera Performance Company places mortality under the microscope in ‘Slumber’

When I [die],” David Herrera once said to his mother, “hopefully it will be after your lifetime, but if I do, dance for me.”

Herrera, founder and artistic director of David Herrera Performance Company (DHPCo), believes that death should be celebrated, or at least not marked by dreary funerals and somber months of mourning.

Art and wine come together with Bonny Doon Vineyard, UCSC partnership

“A former colleague said I’m looking more like James Joyce,” admits Randall Grahm, the witty vintner whiz behind Bonny Doon Vineyard, in reference to how he and the aforementioned Irish author wear similar circular eyeglasses.

The comparison of the men could continue, given the avant-garde creativity and unique paths forged by both. Yet, while Joyce demonstrated his keen awareness of the world through a stream of consciousness writing style, Grahm continues to capture his originality in wine bottles. This knack is evident in his latest label, for which the winemaker time-travelled back to his days at UC Santa Cruz.

How have the community workshops on crime and prison realignment gone, and how will they play into the county’s Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) plan?

A year ago, Smart on Crime Santa Cruz County initiated a community dialogue about the impending state prison realignment to prepare our county for the changes that were being planned. As a member of Smart on Crime, I have been working with justice practitioners, other elected officials, attorneys, local academics and community-based organizations to ensure that community members have a chance to weigh in on the biggest change to our criminal justice system in California history.

Last summer, the legislature passed AB 109 and designated Oct. 1 as the start date for having non-violent, non-sexual, non-serious offenders serve their sentence in local jails instead of state prisons. The legislation created Community Corrections Partnerships (CCP) in each county, led by the director of Probation and including the Sheriff, a police chief, a representative from the county, the district attorney, a member of the judiciary, the public defender and the director of Health Services. Our local CCP has worked to be inclusive and has encouraged the participation of many other interested community members and organizations.

GT's photo intern, Sal Ingram, captured some of the action at the Second Annual Week of the Child Children's Parade and Free Family Fun Fair in this installment of "Around Town."

SANTA CRUZ > Screening of documentary Bully and accompanying workshop to be held at the Del Mar Theatre

A special screening of the documentary Bully will take place at the Del Mar Theatre on Tuesday, April 24 at 11:30 a.m. A free parenting workshop on handling bullying issues will follow from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Both the screening and the workshop are courtesy of a partnership between the Del Mar Theatre and the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P).

Tripe P is a local parent education program through First 5 Santa Cruz County that offers free workshops, seminars, and group and individual consultations in both English and Spanish. The program was established two years ago to promote healthier, stronger families locally. (You can read more about the program in this previous GT blog.)

‘Marley’ director Kevin Macdonald creates the definitive documentary of the reggae star’s life and death

Dead rock stars are a dime a dozen, but a rock star dead by natural causes is a rarity. The last minutes of the documentary film Marley recount Bob Marley’s physical decline from vibrant performer to diminished cancer patient, before his death in 1981 at the age of 36.  It is difficult to watch. In one heart-breaking scene, a friend recalls the moment when Marley loses his dreadlocks. Weakened from metastasized melanoma, his body could no longer bear the weight of the long, thick, matted hair. In the presence of friends and family, Marley’s dreadlocks—worldly representations of his spiritual self and the religion that defined him—were snipped away.

Father-son academic rivals face off in wry, yet perceptive ‘Footnote’

History and literature are full of fraught relationships between fathers and sons—from Kronos and Zeus to Darth Vader and Luke. Somewhat less epic is the father-son friction between rival Talmudic scholars at the heart of Footnote, an offbeat Israeli comedic drama about family, ambition, and recognition within the cloistered realms of Academia. Written and directed by American-born Israeli filmmaker Joseph Cedar, the film toddles along at its own measured pace, yet becomes engrossing as the moral dilemma at its core shapes up. The film’s wry humanity earned it a Foreign Language Oscar nomination this year.

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