Local nonprofit works to educate and create opportunity for indigenous communities in Guatemala

In an isolated region of the Guatemala mountains called Ixil, the indigenous Maya population was devastated by a civil war between the government and leftist guerrilla factions that spanned 1960 to 1996.

During that 36-year war, the Guatemalan military eradicated entire Mayan communities. In what amounted to genocide, soldiers burned Mayan farmlands and homes, raped and tortured the people, and scattered families. By the end of the war, 200,000 Mayans had been killed, 7,000 of whom were Maya-Ixil.

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.

How will the sequester affect Santa Cruz?

Uncertainty is the name of the game for anyone writing a local program's 2013-14 budget now that sequestration has taken effect. Cuts amounting to $1.2 trillion over 10 years went into effect on March 1. 

The cuts amount to 5 percent of federal contributions to all domestic programs and 7.8 percent of Department of Defense funds. The fact that the cuts are scheduled to hit the 2012-13 year make matters even worse, says Adam Russell, press secretary for Congressional Representative Sam Farr.

Bridging Warriors seeks to improve PTSD treatment options locally

Soquel resident Karen Egan witnessed firsthand how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) changes lives.

Her 26-year-old son Ben Rudolph developed PTSD after surviving a major car accident eight years ago that left him with severe injuries. In the months following the accident, he and Egan visited more than 20 doctors across the country. It wasn't until almost a year after the accident that Rudolph developed PTSD, which the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) says is characterized by flashbacks, tension, and emotional numbness.

Nonprofit combats obesity and diabetes by cooking with local kids

Ever since Yeyen Gunawan, local nutritionist and former owner of Cafe La Vie in Downtown Santa Cruz, took her 3-year-old daughter to a nutrition class she was helping with at Live Oak Elementary School several months ago, the little girl has been demanding more vegetables.

The 2-year-old local nonprofit Nourishing Generations Educational Project hosted the class, which included a lesson about “rainbow foods” that explained to the kids in attendance why it is important to eat fruits and vegetables from every color of the rainbow.

Nonprofit seeks to connect students with career inspiration

Local Cassidy Clawson had been working at his father’s Santa Cruz-based medical device manufacturing company, BC Tech, since he was young. When the company collapsed in 2010, the recent UC Santa Cruz graduate jumped into a van and drove cross country to do some soul searching. Somewhere between New Orleans and Texas, while pondering YouTube videos and fellow recent grads who were out of work, an epiphany hit.

For its supporters, Proposition 37’s failure does not signal the end for the GMO labeling movement

Despite concerns about implications of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, the recent election proved, in many cases, that pouring mysterious millions into a campaign doesn’t necessarily guarantee the desired effect.

President Barack Obama saw significant success in battleground states, despite the fact that candidate Mitt Romney and his allies outspent him in almost all of them. In California, Gov. Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30 won, and Proposition 32 lost, much to the chagrin of billionaires like Charles Munger Jr. and the Koch brothers, who spent millions to produce the opposite outcome.

Can the Monterey Bay Area agree on how to market the region globally?

What do places like the “Wine Country” of Napa-Sonoma County, the French Riviera, or, closer to home, Silicon Valley, have in common? Roger Wasson, a PR expert and president of Wasson Idea Farming, argues they have identifiable brands that evoke a certain image around the world. The “brand” gives these places an identity that potential visitors and customers already know something about.

After a recession-induced slump, the local tourism industry finds its footing

Along with the recession’s worst impacts—ballooning unemployment and rampant foreclosures, to name but two—the option of going on vacation disappeared from many people’s summer plans.

Santa Cruz began feeling the impact of this by 2009, when visitation dipped below Santa Cruz’s economic comfort zone and the persevering visitors spent less time and less money in the county. According to Smith Travel Research, annual hotel occupancy decreased from 55.6 percent in 2008 to 48.8 percent in 2009.

Host of upcoming UFO convention describes his experience with extraterrestrials

Scotts Valley resident Robert Perala, 57, is in a rush today. At the top of his to-do list: preparing to emcee UFO CON, which will be held in Santa Clara on Sept. 15 and 16. Perala will introduce, connect and shepherd a guest list of hundreds of extraterrestrial enthusiasts—some of whom will come as lighthearted Trekkies; others, on serious business.