1258310715 http://news.santacruz.com/curtis-cartier Santa Cruz News: Local news and information for Santa Cruz CA constantly updated. en curtis@santacruz.com Copyright 2009 2009-11-12T11:00:14+00:00 /2009/11/12/northern_exposure /2009/11/12/northern_exposure Softening regulations on what kinds of businesses can occupy downtown buildings took little consideration by city leaders. From 2007 to 2009, vacant office space downtown tripled from about 60,000 square feet to more than 180,000 square feet. Vacant space equals dwindling sales and property taxes for city coffers, and at 2030 North Pacific, Santa Cruz city leaders have an especially high stake in seeing business begin to boom. Business 2009-11-12T11:00:14+00:00 /2009/11/04/time_to_deal_with_crime /2009/11/04/time_to_deal_with_crime Santa Cruz residents, The Santa Cruz City Council and Santa Cruz Police discuss preventative efforts in place and explore new options for cracking down on crime. News 2009-11-04T10:09:27+00:00 /2009/10/30/the_vampires_motorcycle_club /2009/10/30/the_vampires_motorcycle_club THEY DON’T drink blood. They don’t wear fake fangs or black trench coats. They don’t read Anne Rice novels and they wouldn’t be caught dead watching Twilight. What they do is ride souped-up motorcycles at ridiculous speeds, party like rock stars and occasionally forget to wear clothes while doing either. They’re the Vampires. And they’re Santa Cruz’s most recognizable motorcycle club. Community 2009-10-30T09:19:23+00:00 /2009/10/22/the_repo_diaries /2009/10/22/the_repo_diaries Pressed deep into the front seat cushion of an unmarked Chevy Silverado, Bill Leach grips the steering wheel with pudgy, calloused hands and checks the rearview mirror. In it, behind his doe-eyed wife smiling in the back, sways a wood and steel flatbed trailer loaded with a pair of motorcycles. Neither one belongs to him. Neither one belongs to the men who had them parked in their garages a couple of hours before, either. Both, in fact, belong to the bank, and the only one happy about that at this point is the man at the wheel. Leach is a repo man, and business is booming. News 2009-10-22T11:00:22+00:00 /2009/10/12/elkhorn_slough_the_problem_child_of_monterey_bay /2009/10/12/elkhorn_slough_the_problem_child_of_monterey_bay As the midmorning sun burns off the hazy remnants of fog over Elkhorn Slough, the estuary comes to life in the same way it has for thousands of years. Herons glide low over the top of the chilly water, otters scoop up clams from the floor and each step along the reed-edged hiking path sends an unseen critter scuttling loudly into the brush. A visitor might find it hard to believe that, according to a recent report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this is the most damaged ecosystem in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Environment 2009-10-13T03:08:32+00:00 /2009/10/08/santa_cruz_community_tv_dangles_by_a_cable /2009/10/08/santa_cruz_community_tv_dangles_by_a_cable On the south end of Pacific Avenue, inside the long, cream-colored hallways and clustered, video-screen-adorned studio rooms of Community Television of Santa Cruz County, you could cut the tension with a knife. Six months past the deadline, Craig Jutson, the studio’s happy-go-lucky interim director, hasn’t been given an annual budget yet. Instead he’s been given access to funds on a quarterly basis and is staring at a cut-off date of Nov. 30 unless city and county leaders approve another few months of financing for the shoestring studio. News 2009-10-08T11:04:16+00:00 /2009/09/29/new_paratransit_vans_coming_to_ucsc /2009/09/29/new_paratransit_vans_coming_to_ucsc Disabled students at UCSC will soon be benefiting from three new ADA complian paratransit vans to replace the existing vehicles. News 2009-09-29T15:22:40+00:00 /2009/09/29/water_restrictions_having_an_impact /2009/09/29/water_restrictions_having_an_impact Santa Cruz water restrictions should be lifted by late October, but that is no assurance that the city will be back to how things once were. Environment 2009-09-29T15:19:02+00:00 /2009/09/29/students_still_occupy_ucsc_student_center /2009/09/29/students_still_occupy_ucsc_student_center A strike across UC campuses marked the first day of classes. In most schools, things have gotten back to normal, but not in UCSC. News 2009-09-29T15:15:33+00:00 /2009/09/29/unincorporated_communities_to_be_held_to_environmental_standards /2009/09/29/unincorporated_communities_to_be_held_to_environmental_standards As of January 4, the environmental building laws will be extended to all new construction in the county’s unincorporated communities. Environment 2009-09-29T15:07:08+00:00