It looked like the new cannabis dispensary at the old Emily’s Bakery site on Mission Street was approved…but all of a sudden there’s been a fear campaign against it, with educators claiming it’s too close to schools.
It’s not. It fits within the legal requirement of more than 800 feet from a school. But for whatever reasons, people are using fear tactics to shut down not just any dispensary, but one started by WAMM, the people who fought hard and risked jail to provide cannabis to people who were terminally ill back before it was legal for everyone.
As anyone who has entered a dispensary knows, it’s virtually impossible to get in without solid legal credentials, such as a license. Kids have less chance of buying weed there than they would of buying alcohol in a liquor store. See the letter on this page about the quandary.
You have only one day to see an important pop-up display of art by homeless people May 3 at the Museum of Art & History. Read about it on the news page, the same place you will learn about a new semi-pro soccer league forming here.
Kids rock and they learn how to perform in front of crowds at the Be Natural Music School in Santa Cruz, our cover story. Writer John Louis Koenig follows them from rehearsal to show time. You can catch some of their bands for free 11:30am-2pm Saturday at Abbott Square during Kids Day, the day downtown devotes to things for kids. There will be booths, art projects, dancing, performances and music in the heart of downtown. It’s a great event.
When is a coffee shop more than a coffee shop? When it’s Norma Jeans in Aptos, which serves homemade and exotic pastries. Andrew Steingrube checks it out for you.
We have our first youth poet laureate, Dina Lusztig Noyes, and you can read about her and one of her poems in the arts section lead story, written by Josué Monroy.
Mushroom worship and education has grown from a small event downtown to a much bigger one at Roaring Camp this weekend. Check Elizabeth Borelli’s column on the event.
Local author and part-time Hawai‘i resident Leslie Karst has made a volcanic pivot from her popular Sally Solari series with a brand-new adventure mystery, Molten Death. Christina Waters investigates.
Thanks for reading and enjoy this issue.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
DAZZLING A stunning winter sunset from the Seabright Bluff above the San Lorenzo. PHOTO BY: Leighann Curci
GOOD IDEA
The County Office of Education is presenting a free, powerful movie about fentanyl made by student filmmaker Kyle Santoro, a senior at Los Gatos High, who produced an incredibly powerful, timely documentary about the impacts of fentanyl to students and families. It’s called Fentanyl High and scheduled for a sold-out show at the Rio Theatre on May 2. Let’s hope they show it again.
GOOD WORKS
Free phone? Yup. You can pick one up right by the downtown Santa Cruz bus station in front of CVS. There’s a booth giving out Stand Up Wireless phones free and tablets for $10. You need ID and proof that you are on Medicaid, SNAP, a veteran’s pension, SSI or some low-income program. They are out there M-F 8:30am-5:30pm or Sat. 11:30-4:30. Put this on the list of things I never thought I’d see in this life, along with legal cannabis.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The sheep spend their whole lives fearing the wolf, only to be eaten by the shepherd.” —Robert Mugabe
Hey Brad, Jesus here the one giving the free phones here in Santa Cruz at the CVS location. The correct times for Monday through Friday would be 11:30am-5:30pm and Saturday 11:30am-4:30pm. We do also have booths in Salinas and Watsonville as well in different locations for anyone else in different locations who are interested who it might be a bit closer to. We are always under the Purple tents with Purple shirts.