Cover: It's a Mall World
Rebuilt downtown spells big changes for Santa Cruz merchants.

Acting Out: The Ten-Minute Play Festival charms with a vastly original stack of one-act plays.

Golden Child: Golden Buddha tells a tasty fortune in Soquel.

Nordic Tracks: New bands from Scandinavia and France ride the Europop wave.

Notes From The Underground: The Peggy Hills played Skinny's while the Applicators rocked Pizza Junxion.

Chest Pains: You can't say the soapy title doesn't give you fair warning about Playing by Heart.

Sister Sounds: Musical prodigies Hilary and Jackie grow up in sophisticated real-life weeper.