As Other Cities Across California Adopt Hazard Pay for Grocery Store Workers, Santa Cruz is Lacking
*All worker sources are anonymous for their protection. Even under their masks, food service and grocery store workers are expected to do their jobs with grace and a smile. As essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, that means remaining friendly, efficient, and polite in spite...
Annual Watsonville Film Festival Goes Virtual
As the famed Cholitas Escaladoras de Bolivia, “Cholita Hikers of Bolivia,” neared the 22,837-foot summit of Mt. Aconcagua, their vibrant traditional skirts blow under heavy snow and high winds, filling the screen. At the other end of Latin America, the lush green mountains of Chiapas,...
Students are Back in School, but Educators are Reckoning over Underfunded Public Education
As of March 15, there are 15,101 cases of COVID-19 in Santa Cruz County, including 265 active cases, 196 deaths and 14,640 recovered. For updated information on vaccine eligibility, please check the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency (HSA) website. As of March 15, UC...
City Council Passes Temporary Outdoor Living Ordinance
*Source declined to give their last name. The Santa Cruz City Council voted 5-2 to approve a controversial “temporary outdoor living ordinance” (TOLO) on March 10 that outlines restrictions on the time, place, and manner where houseless people can camp in the City of Santa...
Feeding the Houseless Good Food
All sources in the following piece requested that their last names be omitted for their safety. The Santa Cruz People’s Kitchen was born out of flames. During last summer’s CZU Lightning Complex fires, Sal, a UCSC dropout and experienced line cook, was evacuated from Boulder...
Food Not Bombs Served Eviction Notice
Local mutual aid and food distribution organization Food Not Bombs (FNB) is facing a location dilemma after receiving notice to vacate Lot 23 from construction and development company Anton DevCo. The organization subsequently received a notice from the City of Santa Cruz to relocate a...
New Houseless Ordinance Clears First Council Reading, Awaits Final Approval
A new city ordinance that would ban outdoor overnight sleeping in much of Santa Cruz and tightly regulate it elsewhere cleared the Santa Cruz City Council’s initial readthrough this Tuesday, putting it on track to become law two weeks from now. “My understanding is this...
The Downfall of the Santa Cruz Progressives
The Santa Cruz City Council voted five to two to approve a new city ordinance to ban overnight sleeping in much of Santa Cruz last week. This ordinance, targeted at the houseless community, could have been projected months ago as a new City Council took...
Barrios Unidos Hosts Santa Cruz Community to Celebrate Black History Month
This article features a short video from City on a Hill Press’s video team, CHP Now. A DJ blasts “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by Roy Ayers. The walls of Barrios Unidos’ new community center are covered with acrylic paintings of historical Black figures. Over their...
Santa Cruz’s Hottest New Comedy Club is a Parking Garage
On the Friday before Valentine’s Day, most people were focusing on a romantic weekend with their significant other or themselves. I, on the other hand, was taking my girlfriend up the urine-speckled ramp to the top of the Church Street parking garage. On top of...