Santa Cruz This Week: Bridge Pizza, Protest Quilts & a Metallica Whiskey 🧵🍕🥃
Happy Monday Santa Cruz!
⏰☀️If you didn’t spring forward with as much bounce in your step as you would have liked, here are a few tips for beating the time-change blues.
🍕Shout out to Liz Engfer, owner of Engfer Pizza Works, who kindly served pizza to drivers stuck in gridlock on the Murray Street Bridge, which technically “reopened to traffic” last week via a two-way routing signal…but judging by the backup, it still felt closed to many.
🧵Meanwhile in Santa Cruz County, a local quilting guild has found a new outlet for its sewing skills. Calling themselves the “Pop Tarts,” the anti-Trump group has crafted “power through resistance” and other handmade banners for No Kings rallies and highway overpasses. Because in Santa Cruz, even the protest signs are artisanal.😉
🏄♀️Santa Cruz’s bronze surfer has been watching the waves from West Cliff for nearly 35 years. Now a proposal would add a roughly 17-foot-tall statue of a female longboarder along East Cliff Drive – a nod to women surfers everywhere, from Santa Cruz lineups to record-breakers like Maya Gabeira, who rode a staggering 73-foot wave at Nazaré.
As usual, we’ve got plenty of Things to Do this week…
🎧Ambient electronic composer East Forest brings his immersive sound experience to Santa Cruz on March 10 at The Catalyst. Known for blending music, nature sounds and meditation-inspired soundscapes, his performances often feel more like a shared sonic journey than a typical concert.
🌊🍀Ocean views, salty air, local makers… and maybe a few leprechauns?! The St. Patrick’s–themed West Cliff Outdoor Market pops up March 14 near Lighthouse Point with artisan goods, handmade crafts and food vendors. Come for the arts and crafts, stay for the sunset walk.
♻️ And if you’ve ever wondered what actually belongs in the recycling bin, Santa Cruz County’s Resource Recovery Facility hosts a Recycle Right! workshop on March 14 (10am-2:30pm) walking residents through local recycling rules, common sorting mistakes and how to reduce waste at home. Registration required.
🎬Did you go to Hitchcock Fest this past weekend? If so, tell us about it!
That’s what’s happening around town this week. Now let’s take a look at the news shaping Santa Cruz County.
News Highlights
PVUSD Layoff Protests
Proposed Ordinance Would Restrict ICE Use of County Property
Santa Cruz Mayor’s Race Gets Crowded
Advocates Warn of Immigration Scam
Santa Cruz Restaurant Changes Logo After AI Backlash
Grant Helps Expand Broadband Access
RTC Tries to Fill Funding Gap
California Gas Prices Rise Sharply
Plus Size Matters, Mindful Psychedelics, Distilleries that Rock Out…and Much More!
TOP STORIES
After 30 people demanded that the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) Board of Trustees rescind a Dec. 11 decision to lay off 80 teachers and 78 school employees, nearly 200 people who had packed the Watsonville City Council chambers walked out en masse to the community room next door, chanting, “Put students first.”
Proposed Ordinance Would Restrict ICE Use of County Property
The County of Santa Cruz SHIELD subcommittee will consider barring ICE from using County-owned or controlled property as staging areas or operational bases for immigration enforcement. Watsonville was the first city in Santa Cruz County to pass such a resolution.
Santa Cruz Mayor’s Race Gets Crowded
There are now five candidates running for Mayor of Santa Cruz this year. They are Ryan Coonerty, Gillian Greensite, Chris Krohn, Ami Chen Mills and Joy Schendledecker.
Advocates Warn of Immigration Scam
Legal advocates are warning the public about a multistate scam targeting the immigrant community, with some victims losing as much as $30,000. According to Claudia Abasto Rivilla, founder and executive director of Salinas-based Latin Advocacy Network (LATINAN), scammers target Spanish- and Indigenous-language speakers using information gleaned from social media. They then use stolen identities and fake legal credentials to appear legitimate, she said.
Santa Cruz Restaurant Changes Logo After AI Backlash
Up until last week, a colorful logo of an otter on a surfboard welcomed customers to the Salty Otter restaurant and sports bar in downtown Santa Cruz. But backlash for the owner’s use of AI to create the logo recently prompted her to change it to plain white text against a black background.
Grant Helps Expand Broadband Access
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently awarded Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) $463,644 for three “Connected Communities Hubs” projects for free public broadband access sites in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties.
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) voted unanimously to request $15 million from the Fed and State to pay for an environmental impact report. The project has been embroiled in controversy since its inception, with those in favor saying it’s a necessary infrastructure investment that would decrease congestion on Highway 1, while those in opposition are suspicious of the practicality and the $4.3 billion cost.
California Gas Prices Rise Sharply
Prices in California have jumped over 20 cents in the past week, with some drivers seeing the average cost hit $5 per gallon.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Christina Waters of Good Times reports that “small groups of musicians, such as string quartets, create music as exciting as a Michelin-starred dining experience and as compelling as the next season of ‘Slow Horses’.”
Good Times Health and wellness writer Elizabeth Borelli reports that we’re in the middle of what researchers have called a psychedelic renaissance. She recently sat down with two Santa Cruz mental health professionals who speak about psychedelics through a different lens, less magic mushrooms and more grounded, careful, and surprisingly practical.
Bill Raney, the founder and longtime owner of the beloved Nickelodeon Theater, died last week at 90, leaving behind a legacy that is deep in the cultural DNA of Santa Cruz. For more than three decades, he brought independent, foreign and classic films that helped form Santa Cruz culture.
A Tuscan-Inspired Wine Destination in Paso Robles
Stepping into the Allegretto Vineyard Resort in Paso Robles is a breathtaking experience. This world-class resort offers an unparalleled touch of luxury with its exquisite artwork, beautifully appointed rooms, and impressive gardens complete with two labyrinths.
It’s hard to range astray at storybook Gabriella Café (910 Cedar St, Santa Cruz) on any given day, given the reliability of, say, their signature Caesar with Live Earth little gems, the Calabrese sausage-roast garlic pizza, the crispy cauliflower with currants, pine nuts and chili oil, or the housemade pappardelle Bolognese.
A sushi chef with over 28 years of experience, Jun Park has been the owner of Watsonville’s favorite Sushi QU for the last decade. Born in Korea, he moved to San Jose to attend college, starting his culinary career there part-time before deciding to make it his life’s work. He moved to Santa Cruz and landed at Sushi QU, first as an employee, who then became the owner. Park defines his restaurant as modern-style with traditional décor, an ambiance that gives a warm emotional feeling set off by a peaceful, quaint bamboo-themed patio.
😳 Wait, What?! 🥃🔥🎶
Talk about good vibrations…Kentucky distiller Copper & Kings kicks out the jams for its highly rated bourbon. Eight large speakers and five subwoofers in the barrel-aging cellar blast everything from rock to rap 24/7 for "sonic aging." Pulses cause alcohol molecules to collide with the barrel, enhancing maturation without the need for barrel rotation. And they're not alone…. Blackened, a whiskey collaboration with Metallica, plays the band's music at low frequencies during the finishing process. Rye the Lightning, indeed. (Story Courtesy: The Hustle)