This Week on the Central Coast…
PG considers sidewalk expansions, Local Universities talk STEM, Santa Cruz artists given a bigger spotlight, and Aptos Library gets renovated.
Monterey
Pacific Grove to Discuss Sidewalk Expansion
Parklets have been present on the Central Coast ever since the pandemic restrictions forced restaurants to build them. Pacific Grove City Council has met every year to discuss whether to allow parklets to continue in the city and every year they have approved them. Now, the council has found a permanent, alternative solution: expand the sidewalks to accommodate outdoor seating.
Those against the project believe that there have been far too many changes regarding outdoor dining and want it to stay consistent. They also pointed out that the project would happen in the summer and if any delays occurred, it could lead into July and August, impacting the busy season even more.
However, the majority approved of the move. The Pacific Grove City Council will meet on Wednesday to discuss their plans.
CSUMB and UCSC Bring STEM Conference to Monterey Bay
Last week, the third annual STEM conference between CSU Monterey Bay and UC Santa Cruz was held at the Monterey Plaza Hotel. “The conference theme was sustainability, and breakout sessions covered climate classroom curriculum, career paths, regional food systems, science fairs, math games and more.”
One of the biggest updates to science curriculums is getting students more involved in our local landscapes. Students are made into scientists, going out in the field and exploring, learning the whole process.
Judit Camacho, Co-Executive Director of Life Lab and keynote speaker, emphasized the importance of science in students’ lives. “Science and math are gateways to higher education. Whether students become scientists or not, we know that science is part of a fully functioning democracy. We all need to have science literacy.”
Santa Cruz
“The Last Fire Season” Written by Santa Cruz Local
Santa Cruz local Manjula Martin promoted her new book “The Last Fire Season” at Bookshop Santa Cruz last week. Martin grew up in Santa Cruz County, graduated from Santa Cruz High School, and moved to Sonoma. The first few chapters share her experiences of the CZU Lightning Complex fires that ravaged Santa Cruz. Then, she takes us through the LNU Complex fires of Sonoma as she returned to her home there. “The book also covers the history of prescribed burns, features interviews with people in the hills outside Santa Rosa who had their properties burn, and discusses post-fire ecology after visiting Big Basin Redwoods State Park, which was largely burned in the fires.”
Martin said she was motivated to write the book after being unsatisfied with the way big news media outlets were covering the fires. “It felt to me like all the narratives I was seeing were either investigative disaster journalism or these rainbow happy ending redemptive stories”.
You can purchase The Last Fire Season on bookshop.org and at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Collective Santa Cruz Creates Event Calendar for Local Pop-Ups
Collective Santa Cruz started two years ago as a pop-up clothing company run by co-founders Kendall Denike and Jalen Horne. Over the years, it’s taken the roles of marketing company, social media influencer, and bartending pop-up. It’s latest iteration is planning events for local hyper-local pop-ups.
“They have worked with almost 200 pop-ups and small vendors over the past two years through their events.” The connections they’ve made has led them to pair into yet another facet of their business The Collective Social Club is an event calendar specifically for all those micro-businesses. Denike commented that a lot of other event calendars are usually run by larger companies and don’t always have pop-ups on their schedules. “With Collective Social Club, we will be promoting and highlighting these pop-up-style events in town, and giving vendors a platform as well.”
The founders say they have no interest in making excessive profits with their company. Both Denike and Horne work full time jobs and say they are happy to use their resources to give small businesses a larger platform.
Aptos Branch Library Gets a Remodel
Last week, the Aptos Branch Library held a grand opening for their newly-remodeled building. The new additions include “a community room, dedicated teen-only space and patio, two group study rooms, an adult reading room and patio, a children's room, a children's reading garden, and displays curated by the Aptos History Museum.”
The project was made possible thanks to community members and local organizations, as well as Measure S, which was approved by 70% of voters. “The library is located at 7695 Soquel Drive in Aptos. It will be open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on Sundays.
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