Street Vendors to Return to Beach Street with New Permitting Process
For a beach town boasting a historic boardwalk, buying street food in Santa Cruz is a much more elusive task than you would think. As restaurants, bars, and even the boardwalk itself have reopened recently, hoping to recover from COVID-related economic losses, street vendors have…
“Our Work Continues”: Hundreds Gather at Courthouse Steps to Remember George Floyd
How much has the world changed in a year? The question remained aloft as over 200 people gathered in front of the Santa Cruz Courthouse on the evening of May 25, the first anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police. The community gathering and…
Texas is a Warning for California (and the Rest of the U.S.)
As Texas plunged into a four-day blackout, Austin residents left their faucets dripping, hoping to keep their pipes from freezing over. But with so many people letting their faucets drip, the whole city water system depressurized, forcing residents to boil water for fear of contamination. …
Bookshop Santa Cruz Workers Win Union Election, Form Groundbreaking Downtown Union
After 62 days, two rallies, and 28 votes, Bookshop Santa Cruz employees are some of the first retail workers to have a labor union in downtown Santa Cruz. The workers of Bookshop Santa Cruz passed their unionization election on Feb. 3, and will begin bargaining…
Celebrating a MAH-velous 25 Years
After decades of changes and challenges — a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in 1989 to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 — the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH) continues to bring the Santa Cruz community together through pop-up art shows and virtual exhibitions. Since…
UCSC Introduces New MFA Degree Program in Environmental Art and Social Practice
The UC Santa Cruz art department announced a new Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree program in Environmental Art and Social Practice (EASP) last fall. The two-year program will begin in fall 2021 with eight graduate students, and will bring on another eight in fall…
CruzHacks 2021 Turns Virtual Amidst the Pandemic
Stevenson Event Center will remain empty of the sleepless coders, Red Bull cans, and glowing computer rigs that populated CruzHacks events of years past. The 2021 CruzHacks hackathon will be held virtually over Hopin, allowing for a greater number of participants than in previous years….
Students, Faculty Protest Carlos Cruz Suspension at Chancellor’s House
Reminiscent of the cost of living adjustment (COLA) picket line at UC Santa Cruz’s base of campus last February, history graduate student Carlos Cruz and about 45 supporters rallied in front of Chancellor Larive’s house on the morning of Dec. 2. Cruz and supporters are…
Scrolling Around Campus: A Survey of Zoom University
Before freshman year, Santa Cruz was the “Murder Capital of the World” to me. Tucked in the upper corner of the Monterey Bay, its redwoods are foreboding, its boardwalk dense with character. My first impressions of Santa Cruz, influenced by movies and TV shows like…
Water Access at Heart of UCSC Expansion Dispute
UCSC last built student housing infrastructure in 2002 when colleges Nine and Ten were opened. UCSC has increased enrollment by almost 5,000 students since then, and plans to enroll a total of 28,000 students by 2040. This will be finalized in December with the release…