This Week on the Central Coast…
Monterey dedicated its theater to a long-time teacher and Santa Cruz County takes part in various connections to nature.
Monterey
Monterey High School dedicated its theater to a longtime teacher
Larry Welch taught drama at Monterey High School for 31 years. During that time, he produced more than 150 plays, sometimes producing more than ten in a year. He emphasized students learning the “complete process”, teaching everyone to work at every part of a production. Students learned everything, from set construction and lights, to acting and directing.
On top of everything else, he organized trips to New York and London so students could experience professional productions. Welch retired in 2009 and Monterey High School will honor his many years of dedication by naming its theater after him.
Bird Electric Scooters coming to Marina
By the end of the year, Marina will join CSUMB in providing Bird Scooters within the city. The city hopes that it will be able to pair the university network with the city network to allow students to easily travel to the Dunes shopping center.
Bird will rent out 100 electric scooters per month to start, but that number will adjust based on usage. To use the scooters, riders will have to use their app and pay per minute. “The price is $1 to start and $0.39 cents per minute (plus tax).” The company is providing a “fleet manager” to handle repairs and general maintenance.
Santa Cruz
UCSC researchers witness a hungry black hole
The Young Supernova Experiment captured a black hole pulling in an unfortunate star that traveled too close. The “tidal disruption event” happened in a dwarf galaxy 850 million light-years away.
The team explained that black holes are notoriously difficult to spot, but this particular one revealed itself when it began pulling the star into it. “We haven't really found many of these smaller mass black holes, these elusive intermediate-mass black holes. This was something that we were not expecting,” said a UCSC professor who studies the “violent universe”.
This year has been full of exciting black hole news, including evidence of a “free-floating” black hole in space.
Rare Red Footed Booby draws birders to the wharf
A red footed booby was spotted on the Santa Cruz Wharf, a rare sight. The bird is usually expected in tropical locations, such as Hawaii and Baja California. A local ecologist believes it is probably lost, but seems to have been doing well finding food. “The Monterey Bay just has so many different ecosystems and habitats that birds can utilize and sometimes stay,” another researcher said.
The red footed booby resembles a pelican, but has a long pointy bill and a blue wash on its face.
Local experts believe the bird has “island syndrome”, which means it is less afraid of humans. They warn locals not to approach or try to touch it, even if it seems friendly. Doing so could make the bird less likely to hunt for itself and instead rely on humans for food.
“Avid bird watchers on the wharf say this is a bird on the top of their list.”
New trails set to open in San Vicente Redwoods
A new trail system will accommodate hiking, biking, equestrian, and dog walking in the San Vicente Redwoods. The site was affected by the CZU Lightning Fire Complex wildfire, but has recovered nicely. The new trail is planned to be the start of a network of trails within the redwoods. However, the development of the other trails are fully dependent on funding and the behaviors of visitors and native animals.
Those who wish to use the trail are required to register for a trail pass, which gives access from 9AM to 5PM and helps communicate any closures. A kiosk will also be on site for visitors to register. The Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Land Trust said “we planned these trails to avoid conflicts with the threatened and endangered species, the other resource uses on this property and some of the more dangerous characteristics of the property.
Scars from the CZU Lightning Complex fire can still be seen along the trial, but signs of regrowth are showing with tall yerba santa plants germinated by the fire. “As you walk the trail, you’ll see life coming back and that nature in this landscape is used to this. It’s been there and done that, and the redwoods are at that leading edge of a recovering natural system,” says the CEO of the Save the Redwoods League.
Community members plant new trees at Pajaro Middle School
Last week, Pajaro Middle School hosted an event called “Plant a Tree for Pajaro”, which saw nearly 100 community members come together to plant new trees. The executive director the Watsonville Wetlands Watch said “This area has one of the lowest tree canopy covers in the Monterey Bay”.
A wind storm knocked over the few trees on the schools campus a couple years ago and the school has been working with the Wetlands Watch to restore them.
The event was kicked off with a “land acknowledgement and demonstration of indigenous song and dance from Patrick Orozco chair of the Pajaro Valley Ohlone Indian Council” and a demonstration of how to properly plant the trees.
A variety of trees were planted, each with a different function in mind, from growing fruit, to blocking wind and providing shade. Volunteers were each given a fruit tree to take home as well.
Thanks! Saw the link on NextDoor and love reading about things happening in our area.