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May 22nd
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From the Editor

greg_archerS2sPlus Letters to Good Times

Happy 11/11. Love those numbers. Nov. 11 is also Veterans Day. More on that in a second. Welcome to a new issue of GT. It’s a busy season and I’ve come across some noteworthy events that I have to share with you. Take note: There’s a great benefit for Save Our Shores (saveourshores.org) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17 at the Del Mar Theatre in Santa Cruz. On the roster: the award-winning film Bag It  (bagitmovie.com), which chronicles  an ordinary guy as he navigates through our plastic world and, it seems, a cultural love affair with plastics. The other event is Dec. 3, so mark your calendars. It’s called Decemberchild, and it benefits Children’s Hospice with a festive night at Kuumbwa Jazz Center featuring It's A Beautiful Day and Superior Olive. This is, actually, the eighth annual benefit concert and the proceeds go to Children’s Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition. Interesting to note: it’s a birthday party-themed event—free appetizers and birthday cake will be served; and a raffle will be held for the chance to win great prizes. Children are welcome, but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Learn more at decemberchild.org and childrenshospice.org.

What else? Kudos to local business owner and Santa Cruz Next titan Jeffrey Kongslie Correa who, along with another resourceful pal, decided to make the very best of Veterans Day. How? They are walking 45 miles in one day to raise awareness to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Their walk takes place Nov. 11 and begins at the gates of the Presidio in Monterey—they’ll walk all the way to Santa Cruz. Catch up with them on Twitter and Facebook.

That should be enough to kickstart your weekend and upcoming week. Inspiring. More next time ...


Greg Archer | Editor-in-Chief


Letters to the Editor

Nesters Know
I very much enjoyed reading “Empty Nest, Lined With Cash” by Sven Davis last week. I too had decided to not have children. I grew up poor working class, my mother, a divorced single parent who dropped out of high school after her second year, had a hard time raising two boys from 1945 to 1968. Being the only one in our family to graduate from high school and having put myself through college I was determined not to make the same mistake that my mother and brother made. So when I looked at having to choose between building a house and living debt free or having a child and renting for the rest of my life and being in debt, I chose the former and am very happy with my “Empty Nest, Lined With Cash.” I now am financially secure, have time to mentor at-risk youth, participate in community activitism, create art, travel, exercise, etc. I think that it is healthy and creative to consider thinking “outside the box” more as Mr. Davis has. It offers more choices and opportunities for creating a sustainable and resilient community, nation and planet.
Drew Lewis
Santa Cruz

Nice Lining
I enjoyed reading “Empty Nest.” What a great article. I smiled the whole way through because it is so true. And I get it even worse for being a female but I am thrilled to have a niece and nephew and equally as thrilled to not have my own bundle of ... anyway! Thanks for the validation.
K. Cole
Santa Cruz

Biggest News Around
Fortunate California, a world series won and Dems back in to top positions, thus time to address the non-GOP elephant in the room, our continuing wars. The cost of destroying Iraq and Afghanistan is in the trillions. Death toll for U.S. GI's in Iraq still creeps up (4,427) while the Afghanistan toll is now 1,371 (60 up in the past month).
Our enemies multiply, our security lessens, while here at home our social structures scream for funds and our once top schools are down in the high 40s in state ranking. Then of course we're drone killing in Yemen and Pakistan ...
If we were one person acting so dysfunctional and dangerous, we'd be locked up for our own and our neighbors' safety. Hard to lock up a whole state, much less a country, but can't the largest circulation paper in our community spare some space to address our suicidal foreign policy? It's the biggest news around.
Joyce McLean
Los Gatos


Holiday Deadline

GT offices will be closed Nov. 25 and 26 for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The following holiday deadlines will be in effect for the Wednesday, Nov. 24 issue:

Display, Class Display, Bulletin Board and Classified Ads: 3 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 18.
Calendar: noon, Tuesday, Nov. 16.
The following Deadlines will be in effect for the Thursday, Dec. 2 issue:
Display, Class Display and Bulletin Board: 3 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 24.
Classified ads: 10 a.m., Monday, Nov. 29.
Calendar: noon Monday, Nov. 22.


Best of The Online Comments

On ’Timber
There was much controversy over Big Creek's attempt to weaken regulations for salmon this year and last. Their paper on native salmon territories is quite frankly one of the biggest jokes in fisheries science. I'm surprised Big Creek is in the article at all. I wouldn't view them as a credible source.
Ed Solomon

For the record, I never told the reporter that "the ruling may not lead to dramatic improvements in the Santa Cruz Mountains." That is an unfortunate misquote. What I did say was that we don't know what the implications of the ruling might be, a comment that the reporter did get right. There is quite a bit of relevant information missing from this online story, which makes me wonder whether the print version is more complete and accurate. I certainly hope this is the case.
Bob Berlage

She quotes you as saying "we don't know what the implications of the ruling might be," so it looks like the writer got things correct. You say she misquoted you, but then you repeat exactly what she put in your quote. Logging companies shouldn't get to turn articles into PR devices anyway. And from the looks of your posting, it seems you tried.
Reader

 

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    No Big Surprises

    The highly anticipated draft Environmental Impact Report for desal is finally out. Will it change anything? By Elizabeth Limbach When scwd2, the group pursuing the proposed joint desalination plant for the Santa Cruz Water Department and Soquel Creek Water District, set up a booth at the Santa Cruz Earth Day festival in 2012, its reception was less than warm. Signature gathering for Measure P, the “right to vote” on desal ballot measure, was in full swing, as were tensions over the controversial project, which would produce up to 2.5 million gallons per day of desalinated water and cost an estimated $100 million. What were representatives of an energy-intensive desal plant doing among the recycling and conservation booths? That was the attitude Melanie Mow Schumacher, public outreach coordinator for scwd2 (pronounced “squid squared”), remembers sensing.

     

    The Maya-Ixil Move Forward

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    Public Thinking

    Watsonville teens host TEDx event Santa Cruz County is no stranger to the TED brand. TED—which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design—talks have come to the area through independently organized events 10 times since 2011. This month, the gathering returns to the county with a new twist, thanks to the Watsonville Youth City Council. TEDxYouth@Watsonville, which will take place Sunday, May 19 at the Henry J. Mello Center for the Performing Arts in Watsonville, will feature only speakers younger than 19 years old and will traverse topics from racial stereotypes and renewable energy to traditional Mexican dance.

     

    Transoceana

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    Cruzin’ for Inspiration

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    Beck to the Future

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    Growing Berries Without Bromide

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    Uniting All That Has Been Separated

     

    Legal Battles Drag On

    More than a year after the 75 River St. occupation, four defendants remain embroiled in ongoing case  More than a year and a half since a group occupied the former Wells Fargo building on River Street in an act of protest, felony charges linger on for four of the original defendants and a trial may be imminent. Gabriella Ripley-Phipps, Brent Adams, Cameron Laurendeau and Franklin Alcantara were scheduled to begin trial May 13 in connection with the late 2011 protest. That trial now has been pushed back to September due to scheduling conflicts. The four face a felony charge of vandalism and a misdemeanor for trespassing.

     

    Bringing the Message Home

    Former mayor and UCSC student recap their experiences at the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women While traveling to New York for the 57th United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), seasoned local activist Jane Weed-Pomerantz had a notion of what to expect. But, with the vast scope of worldwide women’s rights violations presented at the commission, she knew she would still be taken aback at times. “I was worried because I had a feeling I would be finding out what I did find out about women and girls in the world,” says Weed-Pomerantz. “I was trying to brace myself for the knowledge of the reality, because we are really very protected in this country.”
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    May Day in the Alps

    When my daughter returns to Santa Cruz from her new home in Los Angeles, she comments on how quiet it is here. It was even more so during a trip to Ben Lomond, when we set out for a sample of her second favorite macaroni and cheese. Sitting at the front of the Tyrolean Inn restaurant, the green tarp with plastic windows kept out the chill as well as the noise of an occasional passing car. A new draft beer celebrating the German spring, Maibok ($6) was refreshing, served in a hefty glass stein, but specialty cocktails are unique as well.

     

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    Best of Santa Cruz County

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    Step on up to the Bar

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    Exposed

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