SC City Council discussed the Hotel-Convention Center Project on Tuesday night, 25 January, at 809 Center St. People opposed to convention-hotel at the Dream Inn site, along with a 6-story parking garage, came to the city council meeting to keep the pressure on the council to not pass this deal with the developers and replace one eyesore for another on our coast.

After two public hearings last week, including one that went past midnight, the City Council is poised to make a decision on financing $30 million for this project tonight. Many residents have already voiced their disapproval of this plan which seems to be broadly flawed.

A particularly convincing argument against the project was that these types of ventures are not bringing in substantial dollars for the cities that invest in them and many are in the red, according to a recently published Broookings Institute study. Read more about the study at Bruce Bratton's website or on Brookings Institute online.

Food Not Bombs has been feeding without discrimination since 1981 (Boston, Mass.), and is now in over 270 countries around the world. We act in defiance of weapons of mass destruction, and believe that as Martin Luther King said "Peace is not the absence of tension, but the presence of justice."

We are a small and young collective seeking experienced cooks and other volunteers. Donations of reusable spoons and bowls would be wonderful! If you are interested please email johndoe3332145 (at) yahoo.com or contact a food not bombs Santa Cruz collective member and express your interest. We are also starting gardens.

[ johndoe3332145's Gardening Page I Food Links from Bagelhole.org I Food Not Bombs News I Food Not Bombs Menu ]

Within Santa Cruz County there is an entity separate from the City yet still directly connected to it. This entity is the Redevelopment Agency. The purpose of the redevelopment agency is to, separately from the City, "improve" blighted areas, not to blight improved areas -- yet it has just this in mind.

In an sneaky deal between the Redevelopment Agency and the Coast Hotel, plans have been devised to demolish the current hotel and its parking lot and replace it with a five-story convention center and gigantic matching parking structure. Because of its controversy the City has been planning in secrecy for about two years, and information about it has just been released to the public. Aside from incredibly biased photographs portraying the plans blocking Cowell's beach from public access, included in this package is a payoff for the Redevelopment Agency alone -- no direct revenue is paid to the City yet at the same time the City would be forced to pay for the construction.

One Commenter writes: Public Hearing on the Redevelopment of the Coast Hotel is 7 pm Tuesday, January 18 in City Council Chambers, 809 Center St. and 7 pm Wednesday, January 19, in the Civic Auditorium, 307 Church St.

Report Backs: Y Swami Y Given Special Mayoral Escort I Rotkin Sent Third Brown Act Demand on Public Comment Censorship

See Related: SC Coast Hotel project--Sentinel article analysis

Previous Coverage: California CoastWatcher on Santa Cruz City Council

This list was prepared by the Homeless Persons Health Project and the Homeless Services Center of Santa Cruz. These 30 deaths occurred between December 22, 2003 and December 21, 2004. This list is considered an undercount.

see also: [ Human Rights Organization fundraiser raises $1840.00 I HUFF Santa Cruz I National Coalition for the Homeless ]

On Wednesday, November 10, hundreds of people demonstrated and bargined at UC Santa Cruz for better wages and working conditions for AFSCME members at the nine University of California (UC) campuses and five medical centers. Local 3299 AFSCME members (American, Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees) are employed by the UC to serve food; clean bathrooms, dorms, labs, offices, and hospitals; drive shuttle buses, and park cars.

In addition to a large rally in the Baytree Plaza, AFSCME workers, UC students and community members entered the bargining meeting that took place in Conference Room D above the Baytree Bookstore.

The rally and bargining meeting effectively demonstrated that AFSCME workers, UC students and members of the Santa Cruz community, including Mardi Wormhoudt, the Chair of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, and newly elected Santa Cruz City Council member Tony Madrigal, are committed to improving the working conditions for service workers in the UC system.

Photos: [ Workers, Students and Community Members Rally in Baytree Plaza I Estudiantes y Trabajadores Undios a UCSC ]

Audio: UC Bargining Committee Hears from Workers and Supporters

Previous IMC Coverage: [ (5/20/04) UC Workers Hold Statewide Marches I (10/17/04) UC Service Workers Converge on Berkeley Campus ]

la chusma insurrecta desea l,a destruccióln del paraiso.....

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NOVEMBER 4th URGENT CALL FOR DONATIONS AND VOLUNTEERS*

Hurricane Relief Needed in Native American Communities of Southern Louisiana

*Visit www.intuitivepath.org/relief.html for more information.*

This is eating the poor for lunch, GOP style. If you have a voice and a conscience, the time to speak out is NOW!

This past week saw law enforcement in Contra Costa County California evict the homeless from their camps.

Rocky Delgadillo wants to be California's next Attorney General. He'll do anything to get there -- even sell out his working class roots for political profit.