What happens when four teachers and a principal get together in a garage one night? No, there’s no punchline—it’s local Americana/rock band Crooked Branches’ origin story. “We were all buddies first, before we knew anybody played an instrument,” says guitarist/vocalist Manny Steffen. “We got together as an outlet. We’d get together in my garage and sit...

Author + reporter = brainy talk in ‘End of the Tour’ Even if you’ve never read anything by the late American author David Foster Wallace, you might be intrigued by The End of the Tour. Based on a nonfiction memoir by journalist David Lipsky about a few days he spent on the road with Wallace on...

Michael Simons, owner and winemaker of Comanche Cellars, once had a trusted steed called Comanche, which was part of his paper route and his rodeo circuit, from the tender age of 10. In memory of this beautiful horse, he named his winery Comanche, and Comanche’s shoes grace the label of each handcrafted bottle. Friends came over...

Farm to Fork benefit dinner for UCSC’s Agroecology Center, plus a zippy salsa from Teresa’s Salsa that loves every food it meets I know you’ve been loading up on all the Romano beans, peaches, cippolini onions and dry-farmed tomatoes you can fit in your bag at our farmers markets—including the one that opens every Tuesday and...

Richard Blum’s fortune grows on the ruins of the American dream   And now let us pause to contemplate Richard Blum’s participation in the destruction of the American dream at the hands of a new phenomenon known as the “Wall Street landlord.” Blum’s wife is U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The California legislator’s latest financial disclosure report,...

Community gardeners of Beach Flats wonder what’s next Upon entering through a rickety wooden gate, visitors of the Beach Flats Community Garden step into a different world—they can barely see the metal of the fence behind the beans and chayote, a trellising Latin American vegetable in the gourd family, and large corn stalks stretch high, throwing...

Studies link hot peppers to improved health and longer life Meet the Carolina Reaper, the world’s spiciest chili pepper. It’s so spicy that it often leaves its consumers wishing they were dealing with the reaper of the grim variety instead. That’s because this chili pepper is about 300 times hotter than a jalapeño and stronger than...

Aptos wine and tapas spot keeps it casual The last thing Jason and Keikilani McKay want is for someone to come into their wine bar and feel unwelcome. Their idea for Cantine Winepub, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, is to offer unique lesser-known wines and craft beers, but without all the elitism and pretension people...

How Carolyn Wonderland avoided ending up a Janis Joplin wannabe Carolyn Wonderland regularly draws comparison to Janis Joplin, and for good reason. They both grew up in Texas, they both have raspy, weathered voices, and they both sing the hell out of the blues. But Wonderland, who is every bit the blues guitarist that she is...

With a new documentary film about his work, and huge exhibits on both coasts, acclaimed Santa Cruz nature photographer Frans Lanting is having a landmark year. But his crusade for conservation doesn’t leave much time for looking back It’s not even 8 a.m., and the documentary film crew on Four Mile Beach just north of Santa...