And the Beat Goes On at the Cathcart Parking Lot
Jan 9th, 2008
Most people consider saxophonists, drummers, sitarists, tambourinists, guitarists and other musicians in a drum circle alongside the weekly Farmers Market to be an enjoyable aspect of the downtown Santa Cruz cultural mix, however some people interpret this musical gathering as a noisy disruption to their marketing experience.
Shortly after the November 2007 passage of a Santa Cruz law that makes it illegal to be in a parking lot or garage, unless you have a vehicle there (and then only for fifteen minutes), police officers began harassing people for playing music, sharing food and hanging out in the Cathcart Parking Lot during Farmers Market. The Cathcart Parking Lot, also called Lot No. 4, is located at the corner of Cedar Street and Cathcart Street in downtown Santa Cruz. People both inside and outside of cars have also reported surveillance and harassment by the police while they were in other parking lots.
With support from the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra and others, musicians were able to bring the beat up a notch and maintain a drum circle during the Farmers Market on January 9th without any threats or citations from the police, despite their occasional presence. Read More and View Photos
A tree-sit on Science Hill at UC Santa Cruz is entering its third month since it began on November 7th, 2007, as a protest against UCSC’s 2005 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). The tree-sit has opened up a social space, both below and beyond the trees, for students and community members to visualize their contempt for the LRDP and solidarity with the county-wide movement to limit university expansion. In response, the university is seeking a court order to prohibit the tree-sit and all activities they deem in support of the demonstration. 
The Wednesday afternoon of August 15th, 2007, seemed like a typical day at the Santa Cruz Farmers Market. Farmers, or their employees, were busy selling fruits and vegetables grown in the Monterey Bay Area, and throughout California. Meanwhile, customers of the market and other folks gathered in the parking lot alongside the market to share vegetarian food and enjoy the music of a community drum circle. Unfortunately, this traditional weekly community gathering has recently been repressed by the Santa Cruz police and deemed illegal thanks to the passage of a new city ordinance that prohibits people from being in a parking lot or garage, unless they have a vehicle there (and then only for fifteen minutes). 
Hundreds of people marched down Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz on December 31st, 2007, as part of the Last Night DIY Celebration while hundreds of spectators lined the sidewalks and cheered. The parade ended with a street party at the intersection of Cooper and Pacific that featured firedancers, lots of musicians, free hugs, unicyclists, a fire barrel, brazen square dancing, a pillow fight and much more!
In 2003, the Princeton Review ranked UC Santa Cruz as having the ‘most beautiful campus’ in the nation. This year’s rankings are in and UCSC placed 8th in the ‘most beautiful campus’ category for “The Best 366 Colleges: 2008 Edition.”
After receiving standing ovations on Pacific Avenue and during the Christmas - Chanukah - Quanzaa - Solstice Celebration at the Friends’ Meeting House, Santa Cruz Art and Revolution sang songs of holiday cheer and liberation in Capitola on December 22nd as part of their 8th Annual Post-WTO Anti-Corporate Xmas Caroling mini-tour. Anti-corporate Xmas carols were performed in front of a busy credit union, the Capitola Mall and “Traitor Joze.” The familiar tunes with unfamiliar lyrics brought smiles to many people passing by, but were met with resistance from the Capitola Mall Security Guards who objected to songs about “how all the corporations in the mall are evil.” 