Plus Letters To the Editor
There’s so much going on in Santa Cruz this week it seems crazy to try to cover it all. But we’ve given it our best shot in this issue. First, the GLOW festival returns to the Museum of Art & History, and Jessica Pasko explains how the digital and fire festival has grown up with the fire arts community in Santa Cruz. We’ve got some of the edgiest fire artists in the country here, and they’ll show how they blaze on Saturday night.
Also on Saturday, the Santa Cruz Music Festival returns to bring more than 130 artists to stages around downtown. Mat Weir’s story reveals how the festival organizers have brought the event back with a vengeance, expanding its scale while staying true to their philosophy of showcasing local music first and foremost.
This weekend is also the Santa Cruz Comedy Festival, and Jake Pierce’s story highlights some of the sublime weirdness organizer DNA has added this year. Find out how swimmers and comedy fans were forced to square off at last year’s festival—who knows which totally incongruous groups of people may be forced into close quarters this year!
Congratulations to GT’s own Senior Contributing Editor Geoffrey Dunn, who was named Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year and chosen as Historian of the Year for 2015. Though it’d be impossible to properly detail Dunn’s career in one short article, I’ve written a piece this week that explains why even after a 40-year career, he may just be hitting his prime as a writer. I’ll also join Dunn and MAH Executive Director Nina Simon on stage to talk about it on Friday evening at the MAH’s Artist of the Year celebration. It’s a free event, come join us! Between all of this and Tandy Beal starting up a new season of her family-friendly Saturday morning arts series at the Vet’s Hall, have a full and fun weekend!
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Cable Static
Thank you so much for the article “Speed Demons” (GT, 9/9), it’s just the type of local journalism that is vital for the community.
Comcast is a fundamentally deceitful company at the leadership level. They cannot be trusted to stick to their word, and they certainly should not be trusted with infrastructure as vital as Internet access.
A mere refund for this type of deceit is not appropriate, there should be severe penalties for such intentional crime.
Also, thanks to Zack Friend, J. Guevara, and Cruzio for working to improve the situation. Those who care about improving Santa Cruz for future economic development should support their efforts.
Charles Vaske, Santa Cruz
Running Ragged
Does Santa Cruz have to host every surf contest or triathlon that comes along?
Last weekend, I took the kids for a nice Sunday morning drive to the beach. We hoped to see whales on the way to Natural Bridges. It was not possible; West Cliff and adjoining roads were all closed for some triathlon.
OK, maybe I could go around—no, the whole of West Cliff was shut down. OK, we’ll just go to the beach—nope, no access!
I had to park a mile away and drag kids and beach crap across town to get there. I paid for a permit so I wouldn’t have to do this.
And we had to dodge four lanes of triathlon traffic, including fast-moving bikes going both directions, to get across to the beach.
These people were running and biking hard. They don’t need to do this on West Cliff.
They could do it in an indoor racetrack for all it mattered to them.
I certainly hoped the race paid for all the cops that were there.
Thanks for letting me vent.
John Donohue, Santa Cruz
Online Comments
Re: Gary’s Old Fashioned Snappy Dogs
Gary is an amazing person. And OMG that chili sauce is to die for. I literally eat bowls of it with cheese on top. So fricking good. I eat there religiously, and I always get the snappy dog. I used to buy ballpark franks from the grocery store, but ever since I had a snappy dog, I haven’t bought grocery store hot dogs. Best hot dog ever! Don’t let anyone tell you different. If you haven’t yet, you have to go try one.
— Brandi Lombardi
Re: Housing
The rent wars in Santa Cruz have exposed the discriminatory practices of many who list “females only” or “students only,” and shady landlords, too. Recent poll in U.S. found 55+ age group was having a harder time getting a room to rent on less than half their income. We have B&B room rentals and vacation rentals, but low-income housing declines. Is this the default five-year plan for SC, to a “gated city?”
— Kelley
Re: Capitola Mall
While I do not know the details of the time frame and improvements, I have read an official report that the City of Capitola has plans for the modernization and improvements of the mall. This is one of their many planned economic development-related projects which support key economic development goals and objectives for the city.
— Liz Kroft
Letters Policy
Letters should not exceed 300 words and may be edited for length, clarity, grammar and spelling. They should include city of residence to be considered for publication. Please direct letters to the editor, query letters and employment queries to le*****@gt******.com . All website-related queries, including corrections, should be directed to we*******@gt******.com .
GIVE ME THE WILLIES This spider has been in the photographer’s Soquel backyard all summer, and she reports that she’s finally gone ahead and named it “Willy.” Seems appropriate. Photograph by Alison Gamel.
FOLK REVIVAL
UCSC alum Gillian Welch won a lifetime achievement award along with her songwriting partner, David Rawlings, at last month’s Americana Music Awards. Welch, who just tu
rned 48, was the youngest person ever to win. She mused on the honor over the weekend at the Hardly Strictly in San Francisco, wondering if it meant she was “supposed to stop.” We sure hope not.
SLUGS FLOAT
When anyone hits a big birthday or a milestone, they’re allowed to celebrate for several months. Sammy Slug is wrapping up a year of celebrating UCSC’s 50th anniversary with a parade downtown on Sunday, Oct. 25. The university is partnering with the city of Santa Cruz and the Downtown Association for the event, and accepting entrants through Monday, Oct. 12. Visit downtownsantacruz.com for more information.
