The Trouble With the Term “Holiday”
AJ Mota had lived on the Pomo reservation his whole life before coming to UC Santa Cruz. Mota’s tribe is made up of only 100 people, but they are all his relatives by blood. He went to elementary and high school off of the reservation...
Inflation of Theory, Deflation of Individual
Many economists will claim no one saw the 2008 recession coming. The housing bubble grew and grew right before their eyes and few expected it to pop when it did. Maybe it was because their noses were too deep in their books on theory and...
Stuck in the Waiting Room
It can take a lot of courage for someone struggling with addiction to seek help. After much contemplation, when people make the choice to walk through the doors of Janus Community Clinic, they may be unpleasantly surprised to be put on a waiting list or...
Braving Buhay
The last time I went to the Philippines was in 1996. I was two years old, so naturally, I don’t remember much. But after 18 years, I went back for spring break to visit relatives I had never actually met. We spent most of our...
Riding the Glass Wave
When Lisa Orr-Donnelly began surfing in Santa Cruz in the 1970s, she said she was vastly outnumbered by males — about 25-to-1. “There were about 20 girls in all of Santa Cruz who surfed at that time,” Orr-Donnelly said. “Maybe a couple dozen.” Orr-Donnelly is...
Breaking the Stained Glass Ceiling
Christine Fahrenbach had always wanted to be a Catholic priest ever since she was a child. Despite the Catholic Church’s refusal to ordain women, Fahrenbach was ordained into Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP), a movement within the Church dedicated to challenging the patriarchal nature of mainstream...
Chasing the Waves, Coming Up Gold
With the growing popularity of the Mavericks Invitational, Half Moon Bay ensures the ninth annual surf competition keeps community interests at the forefront.
Warming the Houseless with Community Partnership
A community group known as Residents for a Coldest Nights Warming Center began both the conversation and the planning for a system of warming centers for the houseless in Santa Cruz.
Capitola Bans Commercial Marijuana
In addition to denying a building permit application to open a medical marijuana commercial grow, Capitola bans the sale of medical marijuana altogether.
Pressured Down a Path
For 12-year-old Joey Mendoza, sources of gang influence were all around — on his neighborhood block and in his own home.