Santa Cruz

WASHINGTON -- Three nights ago, California's Proposition 209 -- a legal juggernaut against affirmative action -- reached another community, ending much of the city of Santa Cruz's plan to assure minorities and women more jobs on the city payroll and in private industry.The City Council there, firmly opposed to Proposition 209 and hoping that it will someday be struck down, gave in reluctantly but unanimously. The city did not want to spend the tax dollars needed to pay for a court fight seeking to save its affirmative-action plan, City Attorney John G. Barisone said.

The book "Guardians of the Capes" asserts that "most of the marine casualties on the bay have been minor in nature. " But 33 years ago, the bay was the scene of a spectacular tragedy. On Oct. 20, 1978, the collier M/V Santa Cruz II, loaded with 19,500 tons of coal, was steaming southbound on the Chesapeake Bay when it collided with a northbound Coast Guard cutter, the Cuyahoga. The collision happened 3.5 miles from Smith Point, at the mouth of the Potomac River, near the Maryland-Virginia border.

The book "Guardians of the Capes" asserts that "most of the marine casualties on the bay have been minor in nature. " But 33 years ago, the bay was the scene of a spectacular tragedy. On Oct. 20, 1978, the collier M/V Santa Cruz II, loaded with 19,500 tons of coal, was steaming southbound on the Chesapeake Bay when it collided with a northbound Coast Guard cutter, the Cuyahoga. The collision happened 3.5 miles from Smith Point, at the mouth of the Potomac River, near the Maryland-Virginia border.

Annapolis police are looking for any information that could lead them to whoever killed a 22-year-old California man Wednesday. Kenneth Andrew Gram of Carlsbad, Calif., a former Edgewater resident who was back in the area to see friends, was found stabbed in an area near the Newtowne 20 public housing complex. Police said they received a call about 2:20 a.m. Wednesday that a person was lying on the sidewalk on Skippers Lane, near South Cherry Grove Avenue. He had been stabbed in the neck and upper body, police said.

Two liberal organizations are each $1,000 richer, thanks to conservative radio kingpin Rush Limbaugh and a Santa Cruz bookstore owner who linked Mr. Limbaugh's latest book to the price of bologna and gave away the profits.The National Organization for Women and the Santa Cruz AIDS Project will receive the $1,000 donations soon, says Neal Coonerty, owner of Bookshop Santa Cruz.Mr. Coonerty, who stepped down as mayor of Santa Cruz this year, gained national attention in mid-November when he began the bologna-book fund-raiser.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- All derrieres are not created alike, say a group of fat activists who have launched a campaign to equip Santa Cruz movie theaters with special seats for people of plumpness.The problem, says Mary Atkins, a 300-pound film buff, is that squishing everything into those one-size-fits-all movie seats can be a pain.vTC "It's like when you go to school for a parent conference and sit in a children's chair," says Ms. Atkins, 51. "That's what movie theaters are like for the super-sized."

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- A unique project started in Santa Cruz 17 years ago to increase California's dwindling population of peregrine falcons has made so much progress that researchers will stop breeding the birds after the spring.In what environmentalists are calling an encouraging success story similar to the recovery of the California gray whale, scientists at the Predatory Bird Research Group on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus say peregrines don't need their help to reproduce anymore.

Fifty years ago, Page Smith struggled to write a novel as he convalesced in Baltimore from serious wounds he had suffered in Italy during World War II. It was not going well, and finally he decided his real interest was history, even though he had majored in English at Dartmouth College.While teaching at the Gilman School, his alma mater, Mr. Smith persuaded Harvard University to admit him for graduate studies. The rest, as they say, is history.He established himself as an unconventional but widely respected American historian, author of a popular eight-volume "People's History of the United States" and many award-winning books, including critiques of small-town life, higher education and chickens.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Mix a little sun-tan lotion with a little ingenuity, and summer no longer has to mean endless frustration for people in wheelchairs.A new invention -- the first of its kind on the West Coast -- is hitting Santa Cruz beaches this summer, allowing wheelchair users to roll across sands that once stopped them in their tracks.The Surf Chair is no run-of-the-mill wheelchair. With its inflatable orange wheels, white plastic frame and sun umbrella, the contraption looks more a giant Fisher-Price toy than the hippest new development in disabled-access equipment.

Q: We are planning a trip to the Galapagos Islands but do not know where to start in our arrangements. How does one go about it?A: The most convenient way is to buy a two-week package that includes a cruise to the islands -- typically four to eight days -- with the balance devoted to other parts of Ecuador, withinwhose territory the islands lie.It is also possible to fly to the Galapagos and make your own arrangements, staying at one of Santa Cruz Island's...

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. // A slogan often encountered in this compact city nestled along the north side of Monterey Bay, where the midsummer temperature hovers around 70 and the sky can be a startling blue, makes a simple, hard-to-resist plea: "Keep Santa Cruz Weird." Sure enough, there is some weirdness here, including a much-talked-about cross-dressing man decked out in pink who, shaded by a parasol, strolls at a snail's pace along the main drag. But just "offbeat" might be a better description for this diverse and tolerant community where a huge, century-old boardwalk and amusement center along the spacious beach provides one level of entertainment, and an ambitious celebration of new music held in a modest 1939 auditorium provides another.

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - Departing President Carlos Mesa and other leaders warned of an impending civil war as a conservative senator prepared yesterday to become the country's next president. Hormando Vaca Diez, who could be sworn in today, told reporters that a "bloodbath" could result if radical groups oppose his presidency. Vaca Diez is president of the Senate and next in line to be president after Mesa's resignation Monday. Groups representing Indians, agricultural workers and unions that have laid siege to La Paz and other Bolivian cities said yesterday that they would vehemently oppose a Vaca Diez presidency because he represents the nation's "eastern oligarchy."

A Memorable Place Majestic redwoods brave fire, time By Peg Silloway SPECIAL TO THE SUN Standing before a towering redwood tree in cool, dappled September sunshine was awesome. If the bald eagle is America's symbol in the sky, the redwood is the emblem on the land. My husband and I encountered these stately giants during five days in Santa Cruz, Calif., which is tucked into the curve of Monterey Bay, south of San Francisco. With its face to the broad Pacific and its back in the mountains, Santa Cruz County harbors boutique wineries, scores of artists, miles of astonishing beaches and a mini-castle right out of the Highlands of Scotland.

Americans have been whooshing from place to place for more than a century, in ever-increasing numbers and at ever-increasing speeds. Beginning today, those who whoosh their way to Washington's Smithsonian Institution can see just where they've been going, how they've been getting there and why any of that makes any difference. Step inside the National Museum of American History, and visitors will find themselves strolling down a genuine piece of blacktop from the fabled Route 66, "riding" a car on Chicago's elevated line in December 1959, listening in as a traveler tries to rent a tourist cabin at a Laurel-area motor court in the 1930s or experiencing the tumult surrounding the New York City docks in the 1920s.

One of the hardest things in pop music is coming up with uplifting songs that are poignant, not just cheerful - and this Dublin quintet's ability to do it so consistently makes this one of the most enchanting rock debuts in years. Like Ryan Adams, the Thrills weave their influences into the music so freely and proudly that their first album, So Much for the City, invites you to draft a list of them as you listen. The Thrills' primary touchstones range from the wistful introspection of Neil Young to the heartfelt, country-flavored rock tones of Gram Parsons.

Transactions Baseball CARDINALS: Traded P Dustin Hermanson to the Boston Red Sox for 1B Luis Garcia, OF Rick Asadoorian and1B-3B Dustin Brisson. MARINERS: Acquired 3B Jeff Cirillo from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for P Jose Paniagua, P Dennis Stark and P Brian Fuentes. Basketball NBA: Fined Houston G Cuttino Mobley $7,500 for publicly criticizing officials. MAVERICKS: Activated F Donnell Harvey from the injured list. Placed G-F Johnny Newman on injured list. WARRIORS: Fired coach Dave Cowens; Named Brian Winters interim coach.

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia - Departing President Carlos Mesa and other leaders warned of an impending civil war as a conservative senator prepared yesterday to become the country's next president. Hormando Vaca Diez, who could be sworn in today, told reporters that a "bloodbath" could result if radical groups oppose his presidency. Vaca Diez is president of the Senate and next in line to be president after Mesa's resignation Monday. Groups representing Indians, agricultural workers and unions that have laid siege to La Paz and other Bolivian cities said yesterday that they would vehemently oppose a Vaca Diez presidency because he represents the nation's "eastern oligarchy."

It's common wisdom that disasters bring out the worst and the best in people. The same can be said of animals.While some will be relatively untouched by the stress, in others the changes can be dramatic. Friendly animals may be too scared to come when called. Gentle animals may become fear-biters.Such unpredictability is a reason why some disaster-relief experts say the one thing animal-lovers shouldn't do is try to help animals directly in a time of crisis."If you want to help, make sure you're channeling your efforts properly," said Eric Sakach of the Humane Society of the United States.

WASHINGTON -- Three nights ago, California's Proposition 209 -- a legal juggernaut against affirmative action -- reached another community, ending much of the city of Santa Cruz's plan to assure minorities and women more jobs on the city payroll and in private industry.The City Council there, firmly opposed to Proposition 209 and hoping that it will someday be struck down, gave in reluctantly but unanimously. The city did not want to spend the tax dollars needed to pay for a court fight seeking to save its affirmative-action plan, City Attorney John G. Barisone said.