RETURNED TO SENDER After enduring four years of gruelling tests, AP courses, high school drama and all the other attempts to stand out in the college admissions battle, 520 students already admitted to UCSC received news last week that their admission was revoked because of a missed deadline. While “senioritis” has led many to pretend that...

Pinot shows they’re so much more than their famous Mercury Rising Mention Cinnabar wines to most wine lovers, and they immediately think of their famous Mercury Rising. Mercury is extracted from cinnabar, giving this purple-red wine its catchy name. But there’s much more to Cinnabar Winery—close to two dozen other varietals, including an ultra-smooth 2013 Pinot...

Films this WeekCheck out the movies playing locallyReviews Movie Times Santa Cruz area movie theaters > New This Week MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE- ROGUE NATION At this point, audiences might be thinking it’s Tom Cruise in another of these franchise films that is truly impossible (did they get him in a lifetime deal...

Facing opposition from churches, ‘Right-to-Die’ bill gets tabled in Assembly   By Seven out of 10 Californians believe that the terminally ill should have the right to choose to end their lives with the help of a physician, according to a poll last month. But it appears lawmakers on the Health Committee of the State Assembly do...

It's got a ways to go before it gets wrecked like Malibu, but I think we need to be very careful about growth. Maria Mattioli, Santa Cruz, Psychotherapist               It might be on its way … it's still kind of a laid-back town. Dennis Judd, Scotts Valley, Business Development...

The SilverSneakers program is crusading for fitness by making it free Soon after signing up for my 2015 Medicare health plan with Humana Healthways FIT, I was surprised to receive a fitness club membership in the mail—included at no cost, as a benefit from the insurance company. Though I’d never heard of SilverSneakers, this “active adult...

Falling somewhere between the early ’70s metal of Black Sabbath and late ‘60s psych-rock, locals Mountain Tamer (Sometimes spelled MTN TMR) mix heavy riffs, experimental structures and pop hooks with an eerie, almost sinister sound. It’s not easy to understand the lyrics, but it almost doesn’t matter—they are obviously dark. At their shows, they play loud...

A much-anticipated annual event at Bargetto Winery is the release of their very special La Vita red wine. June 7 was the day to be heralded this year, and I happily squeezed my car into their overloaded car park in eager anticipation of tasting the new La Vita nectar. A blend of 57 percent Dolcetto, 35...

Does social networking leave us more drained than entertained? The average person spends 1.72 hours on social media per day, according to a 2015 report from GlobalWebIndex. Until I spent almost two months off of social media, I didn’t know that giving up a couple of hours could feel like getting back years. In January, I...

‘The Stanford Prison Experiment’ revisits one of the most notorious studies of all time It has been the source for so many anecdotes that skeptics tend to believe it’s an urban legend. But the Stanford Prison Experiment actually occurred, 44 years ago this summer, in the basement of Jordan Hall on the Stanford University campus. Kyle...