Guest writers are ordinary people, like you, who live in or around the city of Los Gatos, California. Los Gatos Observer let’s you voice your viewpoints and obituaries for the community of Los Gatos to read.
Entries by Guest Writers:
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The Pulsating Landscapes of Artist Richard Mayhew
Nov 13, 2009, by Maureen Davidson News
LANDSCAPES, they’re called—but the toneful, moody, electric pieces in Richard Mayhew: After the Rain, at the Museum of Art and History through Nov. 22, are not portraits of topography. In an interview in the intimate Art Forum gallery, on the museum’s top floor, the slender, elegant Mayhew discusses his vivid, animated works, which lifted my spirits the first time I saw them.
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Marine Reserves For Managing Fisheries
Nov 10, 2009, by Staff News
Studies conducted in California and other locations support the use of marine reserves as a tool for managing fisheries and protecting marine habitats.
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The Randall Grahmophone
Oct 08, 2009, by Christina Waters Community
While it may come as no surprise to aficionados of the wit and wisdom long promulgated by vinographer Randall Grahm, this handsome new book from University of California Press will doubtless incite, even irritate, the far-flung empire of wine snobs, honchos and poobahs.
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County Releases Education Office Salaries
Oct 06, 2009, by Staff NewsWhile the California School Boards Association is preparing to sue the state over dwindling education funding, Santa Clara County released the salaries of its 400 employees.
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First Batch of Swine Flu Vaccines to Arrive in County
Oct 06, 2009, by Staff NewsHealth officials said that the first batch of 2,400 swine flu vaccines will arrive in the county this week, and that 40,000 vaccines will arrive by the end of the month.
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Police Crack Down on Ocean Street Prostitution
Oct 06, 2009, by Staff NewsProstitution has become a growing problem for people living along lower Ocean Street.
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UCSC Tracking Mountain Lions
Oct 06, 2009, by Staff News
Scientists estimate that the Santa Cruz Mountains are home to some 25 mountain lions. But as development encroaches into the forests, their territories are shrinking and even being split by roads and new housing developments.
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Ten Questions For Ron Kaplan
Sep 27, 2009, by Ron Kaplan Community
Ten questions for the executive director of the American Songbook Preservation Society, Ron Kaplan.
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Parking Meters for Homeless
Aug 21, 2009, by Danny Wool CommunityA new project proposed by the Imagine Positive Change Coalition calls for installing old parking meters along Pacific Avenue, so that people who want to help the homeless can drop their spare change in them. The money collected will be used to help pay the salaries of two municipal social workers to work with the homeless.
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A Ticket for a Job Well Done?
Aug 21, 2009, by Danny Wool NewsHundreds of firefighters from across California poured into Santa Cruz this week to help put out the Lockheed Fire. And what did they get for it? If you trust everything you read on the Internet, one fire truck got a parking ticket. The source of the story was a Facebook photo of a fire truck in Santa Cruz with a dreaded pink envelope tucked beneath its windshield wiper.
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Police Continue Search for Suspected Model Killer
Aug 21, 2009, by Danny Wool NewsProsecutors in Orange County filed charges against Ryan Anthony Jenkins, suspected in the murder of Bonny Doon native Jasmine Fiore.
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Lockheed to Cut Jobs
Aug 18, 2009, by Staff BusinessLockheed’s facilities in Santa Cruz County have been all over the news lately because of the Lockheed Fire. What has barely made the news is the fact that the firm is planning to lay off as many as 800 employees throughout the Bay Area.
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Will High School Coaches Turn Down Their Stipends?
Aug 18, 2009, by Staff NewsSchool athletic programs are usually the first to take a hit when there is a budget crisis. Santa Cruz is tackling the problem by allowing coaches to turn down the stipend they usually receive for coaching their teams. While the stipend does not come to much per coach—depending on the sport, certified coaches who work full time at their schools can increase their salaries by $1,639-$3,125—the impact throughout school district could be significant, saving the school board as much as $300,000.
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UCSC to Eliminate Childcare for Faculty and Staff
Aug 18, 2009, by Staff NewsAs of January 1, parents who work at UCSC will no longer be able to drop their children off at campus childcare facilities. Faced with severe budget cuts, the school has decided to eliminate its childcare facilities for staff.
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Tax Relief Available for Lockheed Fire Victims
Aug 18, 2009, by Staff NewsIndividuals and businesses affected by the Lockheed Fire are eligible for a one-month extension on taxes and fees owed. The announcement was made by Betty T. Yee, Chair of the Board of Equalization.
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Evacuation Orders Lifted in Santa Cruz County
Aug 18, 2009, by Staff NewsThe emergency Red Cross shelter at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz closed yesterday, and residents of Swanton, the final refugees from the Lockheed fire, will soon be able to return to their homes. The fire is now 80 percent contained.
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It’s High Time for Progressives to Support Progress
May 19, 2009, by Phil Trounstine OpinionLiberals in Santa Cruz have created a crippling double bind. On the one hand, they want the city and county to provide services to the poor; neighborhood amenities; good wages and job protections for city and county workers. On the other hand, they oppose, virtually every development project that comes along.
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Battling Belief Systems Won’t Be Resolved on May 19
May 12, 2009, by Fred Keeley Opinion
While television ads, political mailings and news coverage of the state’s seemingly never-ending budget battles would lead a person to believe that the election is about ratifying a $40 billion solution to California’s budget problems, it is not that simple
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Art in Uncertain Times
May 05, 2009, by Don Rothman OpinionWe are searching for new paradigms with which to understand the global economy, and this search includes bewilderment at how greed can be shameless, lies and selfishness can abound even among decent people, and, despite our access to vast amounts of information, how our ignorance is (sometimes tragically, sometimes comically) irrepressible. It occurs to me that it’s through our exposure to art that we have developed a capacity to keep asking “what if?” sorts of questions and to discern the human consequences of catastrophes. Art can prompt us to hope for…and design…a better way.
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Elegy for James D. Houston
Apr 21, 2009, by Geoffrey Dunn Obituaries
Where does a writer begin a story? My friend James D. (“Jim”) Houston, a mentor and colleague, a literary father figure and cultural signpost—for Santa Cruz and California, for the entire Pacific Rim—is no longer here to answer that question, a circumstance that at this moment remains difficult to grasp.
