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.

After almost 14 years of service, the director of the Annapolis planning and zoning department resigned yesterday to take a similar position with a larger department and budget on the West Coast.Eileen P. Fogarty will begin her new job on Sept. 15 as director of Planning and Community Development for the city of Santa Cruz, Calif. She will be responsible for planning and zoning issues as well as housing and building permits.Although her department has won several state, national and international awards during her tenure, Fogarty said yesterday that "it was time to move on."

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.

Some immigrants take longer to assimilate than others.Such was the case with pinot noir, the distinguished red wine grape of Burgundy, when it moved to California.For decades, while its sister chardonnay and cousin cabernet sauvignon were winning acclaim as All-American wines, pinot noir remained a bumbling foreigner with a funny accent. Its track record was dismal. Some critics suggested it never should have left the Old Country.In 1986, the distinguished British wine writer Jancis Robinson damned the typical California pinot noir with this pithy description: "very plummy, sometimes almost burnt, and often has an unnerving suggestion of overboiled cabbage about it."

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."

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.

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. -- 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.

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.

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.