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.

TimeBank Santa Cruz celebrates its continuing evolution with an upcoming mixer

After a viral kickoff accumulating hordes of members in February, TimeBank Santa Cruz has scaled back to keep what—and who—works best.

The basic currency of TimeBank is, fittingly, time. One hour of pruning, for example, earns you one credit for an hour of clarinet lessons, computer repair, dog walking, or any number of other offerings from fellow members. The group has invited the public to come learn about its ways at a Saturday, Aug. 18 potluck at Frederick Street Park in Santa Cruz.

Concerns of government waste surface about the Capitola Career Center

The 12,587-square foot building that houses the Employment Development Department (EDD)’s “One-Stop Career Center” in Capitola seems even larger when you take stock of the amount of empty, seemingly unused space inside. While the $32,659 monthly rent on the building was previously shared with Santa Cruz County’s Workforce Investment Board (WIB), the EDD is now the sole rent-paying entity inside the space.

Two locals plan to shrink eco-footprints by building small homes

The kitten wending its way around Jason Dietz’s and Gabriel Williams’ legs seems almost comically suited to its environment. The location is one of Dietz and Williams’ “tiny houses,” which is currently planted on an 8-by-20 foot trailer in a Felton driveway. A larger cat, one can imagine, might cramp the 160-square foot home.