Is Big Beverage acting like Big Tobacco when it comes to helping with healthcare costs?

In today’s “No Smoking” world, it may be hard to remember the time, not too long ago, when cigarette commercials ran regularly on TV and people were allowed to smoke practically anywhere they wanted to. Eventually, after decades of effort by public health advocates, the stranglehold of the tobacco industry’s lobbying efforts was broken, and soon the tobacco companies themselves were funding public health, anti-smoking campaigns through increased “sin taxes” levied on their product.

The Seaside Company gears up for their summer season, hiring more locals than usual
For more than two decades, the Santa Cruz Seaside Company, which owns the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, has been rounding out its summer staff of high school students and seniors by hiring foreign students with the right skills—English fluency and, for some, basic math. But this summer, says the Seaside Company, the foreign Work & Travel program will be running at a minimum in anticipation of increased local interest in jobs at the Boardwalk.

“Because of the economy, we can hire a lot more locals,” says Carol Siegel, the employment manager at the Seaside Company. “To have local people working is a really positive thing for our community.”

Two years later, a look at how the stimulus bill has impacted Santa Cruz
It’s been almost two years since President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on Feb. 17, 2009, pumping $787 billion of federal funds into the economy. But where has that money gone and what was the impact?

In Santa Cruz County—where there were 198 grants and seven contracts awarded for a total of $120 million—the consensus seems to be that the stimulus was a double-edged sword. On one hand, jobs were saved, programs were created, and start-up businesses had better chances of securing loans. But, at the same time, new levels of bureaucracy, limited funds and a distorted public image of ARRA had a crippling effect on some local agencies.

“It was meant to stimulate growth, not to sustain it,” says Rep. Sam Farr (D-17th District). “But public financing is very difficult and with cuts coming down [from the government] people don’t necessarily know where the money is coming from.”

The debate over a county vacation rental ordinance continues
It’s 3 a.m., you’ve got a big meeting in the morning and the tourists staying in the vacation rental next door are rocking out to “Pour Some Sugar on Me.” You could call the Sheriff’s Office, but since the homeowner lives out of state, it’s unlikely that your simple reprimand will be the end to your sleepless nights.

Scenarios like these are becoming more and more common in Santa Cruz County, where there are a known 570 vacation rentals. With the advent of the Internet, it’s not hard to see why it’s a goldmine industry.

But along with the tourists and supplemental income have come neighborhood complaints of increased traffic, excessive garbage, late night partying and limited street parking. In response to the grievances of locals, Santa Cruz County First District Supervisor John Leopold proposed a Vacation Rental Ordinance to the Board on June 15, 2010.

Famed Watsonville cider company rejects water fluoridation, builds own well
When Watsonville accepted $1.6 million from the California Dental Association Foundation to fluoridate the city’s water on Sept. 28, the hope was that the new system would reduce tooth decay, particularly among the poor. But what happens when one of the biggest employers, water consumers and most well-known businesses in town is vehemently against fluoridation?

Such is the dilemma currently facing John Martinelli, president of world famous juice maker S. Martinelli & Co.

A strong opponent of fluoridation, Martinelli has played a key role in the decade-long struggle to convince the Watsonville City Council that fluoride has not been proven safe or effective. But with a state law that says cities with 10,000 or more people must fluoridate if costs are covered by an outside agency, a refusal to comply would mean a fine of $200 per day against the city.

Surf activist’s new video makes a splash—just in time for holiday shopping
Unlike many 20-year-old guys who view shopping as an experience to be avoided at all costs, local surfer and activist Kyle Thiermann sees Black Friday and the weeks that follow as an opportunity to help the local economy and make his voice heard on issues like third world working conditions and environmental sustainability.

Since 2007, when he released his first short film, Claim Your Change, Thiermann has continued to focus on finding simple economic solutions to challenging environmental problems. Among other achievements, he received the 2010 Peter Benchley Blue Vision Youth Award and was the keynote speaker at One World Children’s Fund.

A look at Thiermann's new four-minute video, Buy Local, Surf Global, takes viewers from a Santa Cruz surf shop to a Sri Lankan clothing factory where Thiermann traveled in August 2010 to investigate the working and living conditions of the employees.

Local Sister and Dominican Hospital help ex-gang members remove their tattoos
The Dominican Hospital Tattoo Removal Program is housed in the Rehab Services Building on Frederick Street in Santa Cruz. At the end of a long, chaotic corridor full of wheelchairs, the office door is wide open. Sister Maureen Keeler waits inside.

“The purpose of our program is to help stem the violence in Santa Cruz and surrounding counties by the removal of gang-related tattoos,” she says. “Also, to help the patient be able to continue on with their lives, gain employment and do whatever they may be dreaming about for their future.”

Here, in exchange for 20 hours of community service, people receive a clean slate on which to build a future most thought they'd never have. For many, tattoo removal is a chance to create a new identity, to start over, find a job and distance themselves from a violent or troubled past. But it's a procedure that most would never be able to afford on their own.

Local spiritual bookstore searching for buyer in order to keep its doors open
One of the things that makes Santa Cruz such a special community to so many people is its sense of spiritual diversity and tolerance. Zen centers, Baptist churches and Jewish synagogues coexist in peaceful harmony, allowing area residents to find their spirituality in the precise way they see fit. To find that fit, people have been turning to Gateways Bookstore for the past three decades. More than just a bookstore, Gateways is a spiritual haven; a harbor if you will, where people can discover their inner anchor and find refuge from life’s storms.

Santa Cruzans are changing the way people work
What does the future of work look like? For those struggling to find a job in this downturned economy, it may be difficult to look beyond the present to what the future may hold. But the silver lining to the terrible job market is that it shows us that the current way we work doesn’t, well, work for all of us. Many people are realizing that there are alternatives to the nine to five grind. And thanks to some Santa Cruz innovators, it’s now easier than ever to choose where, when, and how we want to work. According to them, the way we work in the future will be more flexible, under our control, and maybe even friendlier.

The Project for Innovation and Entrepreneurship gives young entrepreneurs local opportunities
A world-class university, UC Santa Cruz is known for cultivating young talent and innovation. But, faced with the prospect of Santa Cruz’s tough job market and a seeming lack of entrepreneurial opportunities, many graduates pack up and head out after receiving their diplomas. The city and UCSC have been trying

to figure out how to retain the auspicious workforce for some time now, and have finally come up with what they believe will curb this outward flow of talent: the Project for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, or PIE.