You want the good news or the bad news first?

I’ll lead off with good.

We’ve got another week of too much going on to fit in one issue. We’ve had to stack some of the things to do onto our website, which…well, what do you think of that? As one of the last outposts of print journalism, we are a hybrid sharing the printed page with online info you can read on your phone or computer.

You’d think by now publications would have it figured out, but we write for a mixed audience. Some hang on to the printed word and only want to read the paper on paper. Others just want to read online. It’s a stretch to do both, but we are doing our best.

We’re always up for your suggestions to ed****@we*****.co m

So, the good news is that you can catch a great cultural event every day this week, from a too-unknown-but-about-to-take-off Brooklyn-based singer to a post hardcore band with a name pacifists might hate, Militarie Gun. Writer Mat Weir knows underground music and we love him for it.

We have an important profile of Donald Williams, who started UCSC’s Black theater troupe, after he was originally inspired by playing Michael Jackson in a junior high talent show. Speaking of killer guitars, as we were above, there’s a new exhibit of guitar art that will keep you fretting. We know how obsessed guitarists are with their instruments.

And, yes, we have literature in one of the best outposts for the printed word, Santa Cruz. There’s an article on a big poetry event and another on a Native American author’s important second novel.

This issue is no quick read for those who love the arts.

On the bad side: we are worried about major layoffs in the Live Oak School District. It brings to life the fears we are all facing about housing. If families can’t afford to live here, how can schools survive?

And then there are the property owners who have been fined by the Coastal Commission for keeping pedestrians off a short beach path that has been proclaimed public property by that commission. So, instead of paying millions in fines and obeying the Commission’s decision, the owners upped their game and put up a bigger, uglier fence and sued the Commission.

There are serious arguments on both sides and we’d love to hear yours. Send them to ed****@we*****.com and we’ll print as many as we can.

Thanks for reading.

Brad Kava

Photo Contest

SURFIN’ ALWAYS Surfer sunset on West Cliff. Photograph by Jo Hensel

Good Idea

Community radio station KSQD, known as K-Squid, suffered

damage from flooding last month.  While recovering, the station is preparing to celebrate its fifth birthday with a benefit concert and silent auction Saturday, March 2, between 1 and 5pm at the Resource Center for Non-Violence in Santa Cruz.

Featured music will include Tammi Brown, Keith Greeninger, Poi

Rogers with Carolyn Sills and Gerard Egan, Coffee Zombie Collective, Ripatti &

Rose Trio, Coast Ridge Ramblers, Andy Fuhrman, Ben James, and Lucas Lawson

and Anthony Arya.

Good Work

Last Saturday, the Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley (CHT) celebrated the grand opening of its new community garden in Watsonville. The garden is located in Muzzio Park, which is an area with high rates of poverty and food insecurity. CHT is bringing fresh produce to Watsonville  through the expansion of its Community Gardens program.

“We provide resources to empower Pajaro Valley residents to make simple lifestyle changes that help them live longer and fuller lives,” DeAndre’ James, Executive Director of the Community Health Trust.

Quote of the week

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Steve Jobs