The nearby San Lorenzo River forms an informative backdrop as Jessica Carmen and Augie WK create a mural last week on Third Street in Santa Cruz along the river's levee.
"Now, in the time of Santa Cruz’s growing pains over how to develop our rare and precious real estate, San Lorenzo Park is our largest central community open space," writes Leslie Wooding in a Guest Commentary. "Please add your voice to restore the 10-acre, incredibly preserved park on the banks of the San Lorenzo River. Your feedback can help balance our needs for open space, recreation, and environmental restoration. Make your voice heard by attending the Jan 8th redesign meeting to help finalize the proposed design."
The measure, called the Santa Cruz County Safe Drinking Water, Clean Beaches, Wildfire Risk Reduction and Wildlife Protection Act, would levy an $87 per parcel tax across the county that is estimated by organizers to raise about $7.5 million annually in locally-controlled funding.
A local artist and social justice activist behind the downtown Black Lives Matter street mural is expanding her focus to include another weighty local topic: homelessness.