From True Crime to Erotic Art: A Spicy Week in Santa Cruz 😏🔥🌶️
Welcome to the Last Week of April, Santa Cruz 👋✨🌸☀️🌊
The events this week that I am far and away the most excited about both happen to take place Thursday evening, April 30. ✨📚🎶
First up is Bookshop Santa Cruz (7-8pm), when award-winning investigative journalist Scott Eden lands for a conversation with Good Times editor Brad Kava about Eden’s new book A Killing in Cannabis. 📖🌿💰 Rooted in the Santa Cruz cannabis underground, where Silicon Valley money, surf culture, and the legacy of black-market weed collide, the book digs deep into the shocking kidnapping and murder of Tushar Atre. It weaves together true crime 🔍, a complicated love story 💔, and Santa Cruz history – at times landing frighteningly close to home. You can pre-game by reading more about it in DNA’s awesome article “Weedzilla” in Good Times.
Next it’s over to Felton Music Hall for Surfer Girl (doors 7pm) 🎸🔥, a show I’ve been looking forward to for months. Touring to promote their new album in August, Santa Cruz will be among the first to hear the band’s new music live. The bill also includes Dylan Cotrone, who is gaining traction online and is described as “gritty, southern-tinged, Florida-style reggae, hip-hop, pop,” and DOUBLECAMP, who are “an absolute party,” according to fans. So stoked for this one! 🎶✨
🗞️🌍It’s behind a paywall, so unfortunately, we can’t link it here, but Santa Cruz was featured in the New York Times travel section last week. The piece mapped out a weekend that spans Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and the Beach Boardwalk to a strong lineup of local food and drink spots.🍽️🍷☕🍦 It name-checks Verve and 11th Hour for coffee, Zachary’s and Mad Yolks for breakfast, The Grove in Felton for lunch, and Mentone and Bad Animal for dinner. On the drinks side, Alley Oop, Nicholson Vineyards and Venus Spirits make the list, along with a sweet stop at Penny Ice Creamery – nice to see the rest of the world catching on to what we already know.😉
And now for something completely different…🔥💋💃 Good Vibrations is turning up the heat on Cooper Street with the grand opening of its new Erotic Art Gallery, Friday, May 1 (6-9pm). Equal parts playful, provocative and proudly body-positive, the shop will showcase work from local artists Bobby Gordon and Rachel M. Silva, alongside burlesque performances by Coral T. Gypsy (7pm and 8pm) and a mini-collection of antique vibrators curated by resident sexologist Dr. Carol Queen. Expect art that explores intimacy, humor and self-expression – with a wink – plus light refreshments and a few surprises in the retail space.
Head south on Friday for the Watsonville Farmers Market (2–7pm)🥕🌽, one of the best in the county. With spring produce starting to roll in, plus prepared food and a little live music, it’s an easy way to kick off the weekend. Come hungry and plan to linger.
With spring now, well, springing, I was at Dig Gardens the other day (ok, fine, it’s more like every day!) and was interested to learn about the Garden Cruzers Club. The group meets every Saturday (10-11am) in Aptos, hosting expert speakers who share advice on everything from houseplants 🪴to tomatoes 🍅to pollinators 🐝. I’m tempted to join. If a green thumb is something that can be taught, I sure could use it (maybe they throw one into the SWAG bag?😄).
But if you’re more into eating plants than cultivating them, join Good Times Wellness Columnist and author Elizabeth Borelli, who will share her expertise about embracing a plant-based Mediterranean lifestyle this Sunday, May 3 (1-4pm) at Cabrillo College (Main Campus). 🌿🍋Come for the engaging information, stay for the food tasting! 😋Register here.
🎈🎉🎨🎭And finally, a big one for the kids (and honestly, anyone who likes a little chaos in the best way) – it’s Kids Day in Downtown Santa Cruz this Saturday, May 2 (12–4pm). Pacific Avenue turns into a full-on playground, lined with hands-on activities, local orgs, and plenty to keep little ones busy, while Abbott Square hosts performances and demos throughout the afternoon. Add in kid-friendly specials from downtown shops and you’ve got an easy, high-energy way to spend a few hours – no planning required, just show up and let them run wild.🏃♀️🛝💨
Another packed week to enjoy in Santa Cruz! 🌊✨Now, let’s look at the news. Have a good one and thanks for reading! 💛
News Highlights
Lawsuit Challenges Santa Cruz County Housing Project
River Street Java Junction to Close
Six Tenants Set to be Displaced by Affordable Housing
Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Faces Problems
Groups Collaborate to Build Tiny Homes for the Unhoused
Capitola Celebrates New Park at Rispin Mansion
Sensors Provide Air Quality Info in Pajaro Valley
Grey Whale Stranding Prompts “Free Willy” Act
Plus Free the Beach, Surfin’ Safari, Sex Talk, Pogonip Pizza, Vino for Moms, Making Haters Happy…and Much More!
TOP STORIES
Lawsuit Challenges Santa Cruz County Apartment Project
A neighborhood group has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Santa Cruz County’s approval of a 57-unit apartment project at 841 Capitola Road, arguing the county misapplied state housing law, bypassed required environmental review and approved a development far exceeding local limits.
River Street Java Junction to Close
After 28 years, Java Junction will close its River Street location. Owner Michael Spadafora cites steep rent increases, prolonged construction disruptions and conflicts with the landlord and property manager.
Six Tenants Set to be Displaced by Affordable Housing
Six renters at the Neptune Apartments in Downtown Santa Cruz have until July 27 to leave as an eight-story downtown Santa Cruz apartment project moves forward.
Groups Collaborate to Build Tiny Homes for the Unhoused
A new housing project using renewable construction materials could include six tiny homes for formerly homeless residents at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Soquel. People First of Santa Cruz County and Just Places are partnering with the church and hope to construct New Creation Village.
Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Faces Problems
Questions of mismanagement, poor maintenance, staffing levels and underfunding are surrounding the County shelter.
Capitola Celebrates New Park at Rispin Mansion
Capitola city employees and community members gathered last week to celebrate the completion of the Park at Rispin Mansion, a gardenscape that allows visitors to stroll the grounds of the 105-year-old building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sensors Provide Air Quality Info in Pajaro Valley
There are countless pollutants in the Pajaro Valley that can affect air quality. But residents have lacked access to timely, accurate data on air quality. A Watsonville native and applied mathematics professor at UC Santa Cruz is looking to change that.
Grey Whale Stranding Prompts “Free Willy” Act
A male grey whale is still rolling in the surf after washing up in Wilder Ranch State Park earlier this month. He does not appear to have been killed by orcas, but lack of direct access is preventing researchers from learning the cause of death. Partly in response, several California members of Congress – including local Democrats Jimmy Panetta and Zoe Lofgren – introduced the “Save Willy Act.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
How California’s most ambitious path is being built one negotiation at a time.
Surfer Girl’s Carter Reeves went from a snowy basement to Malibu. Catch the band live at Felton Music Hall on April 30.
In her latest wellness column, Elizabeth Borelli tells us that while Santa Cruz has long embraced the mind-body connection, there’s one area of wellbeing that still lives mostly in the shadows: sexual health.
Mountain biking enthusiasts turned restaurateurs and now business partners, Aaron Freitas and Ryan Thompson opened Pogonip Pizza two months ago, partially inspired by Freitas owning a nearby business and noticing many locals and students going into an adjacent convenience store for pizza.
Good Times writer Josie Cowden shares a list of some lovely wines for your mother, just in time for her special day.
Food writer Mark C. Anderson tells us how an angry email led him to discover the passionfruit margarita with Insolito blanco, which he calls “one of the best margaritas in the Monterey Bay area.” It’s made by Mane Kitchen & Cocktails co-owner/bar master Julianna Mireles – go check it out and let us know if you agree…and if not, where IS the best margarita being made?
😳 Wait, What?! 🧗♂️🥶❄️🚁
A climber in the Eastern Sierra survived a 500-foot fall on Mount Baxter…then spent the night stuck on a tiny rock ledge in freezing conditions waiting for help. He was finally airlifted out the next day in what rescuers are calling a miracle. (You know that feeling when you wake up sore from sleeping wrong?...)