EDITOR’S NOTE
Are you ready for how downtown Santa Cruz is going to look in a few years? Giant towering buildings on both sides of Pacific Avenue. The historic Clocktower dwarfed by a structure that looks like it was transplanted from New York City.
That’s what politicians say the voters wanted when they voted 60-40 percent against the Measure M ballot measure that would have put new tall buildings to a vote. Is that really what you were voting for? Didn’t the politicians tell us that no developer would ever want to put up a building higher than 12 stories?
You can read about the new proposed complex in WIlliam S. Woodhams’ story in our news section today. Some say it’s a done deal and there’s not much objectors can do, because after all, for years everyone has been calling out for more housing and now it’s being delivered.
On the lighter side, we have dual cover stories bach to bach. On one hand, there’s a look to the past, one of the great works of Johann Sebastian Bach presented by our symphony, previewed in interviews by Christina Waters.
On the other hand, you can read about how Santa Cruz changed the future of music and allowed you to get a new release by Bach or Taylor Swift online in the blink of an eye. Mat Weir’s story about the Internet Underground Music Archive shows a huge local accomplishment by some idealistic UCSC students.
Too many people only see us as a laid-back surf town but major history and inventions have been made here.
You ever get the feeling that the government is going to do what it wants regardless of how it affects people? (See above!) Imagine you have a house and your city decides to block your driveway for the summer tourist season. They pile giant blocks of wood and put up a fence, after they originally said that wouldn’t happen and there is open space right across the street.
That’s what happened to a Capitola couple who have been renting out their apartment by the Capitola wharf. The city just parked its building materials in front of their garage, the only place for renters to park from now through August. There goes the business.
And when they complained, they were told to “file a complaint.” Homeowner Mark Nicholson, who is a science fiction writer, says it feels like his dystopian novel came true. Journalist Josué Monroy talked with him and city officials.
PHOTO CONTEST
SURFER SILHOUETTE: A vibrant winter sunrise glows behind our favorite statue. The Boardwalk, Wharf, and Loma Prieta enhance this stunning view from West Cliff Drive. Photograph by Andrea Randall
GOOD IDEA
Nighttime drivers in Capitola are greeted by flashing red lights around several stop signs. That’s a brilliant idea, literally and figuratively. No one can miss those signs and we wonder why all street signs aren’t similarly lit up. In New Jersey signs have reflective tape along the posts, which makes them unmistakeable. Why not something more helpful in our county, especially with our obscuring fog.
GOOD WORK
Oral Health Access (OHA) has been working to help the County’s oral health. Its new strategic plan includes mobile dentistry at senior centers, group meal sites and living facilities; promoting transportation options to get to appointments; oral health education and hygiene kits; as well as advocacy for dental coverage to be added to basic Medicare. For teens it will provide onsite care at middle and high schools, work on peer-to-peer education campaigns, and integrate oral health into classrooms. And for diabetic patients, it will increase education with patients and providers about the direct correlation between oral health and diabetes.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” —Neil Degrasse Tyson
CORRECTION
In our story about saving rainwater there was a miscalculation for how much water you can save in a 1-inch rain event off of a 1,000-square-foot roof. It should have read a 10 X 100 roof not a 10 by 10 roof. Thanks, sharp-eyed readers.
