Cruz

[Greg]

I have another SC friend who is a little closer to the San Lorenzo River. He's having problems.

[thatguy]

Hey, I helped build that park by the Felton covered bridge! I used to live up the street from there...

I guess I'm not going in to the office this week

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/C...704415.php

News// Bay Area & State
California storm updates: Extreme flooding closes Highway 101 near Gilroy
Amy Graff, Katie Dowd, Ariana Bindman, SFGATE
Jan. 9, 2023
Updated: Jan. 9, 2023 3:46 p.m.


Highway 101 'a moving river' as flooding closes road
Jan. 9, 3 p.m.

Flooding on U.S Highway 101 in Gilroy CA on Jan. 9, 2023
NWS Bay Area
Highway 101 near Gilroy is closed this afternoon because of flooding that's turned the roadway into "a moving river." Caltrans advises 101 is closed from 2 miles south of Gilroy at the junction of state Route 25 to 10th Street in Gilroy. The National Weather Service's Bay Area office posted video of the highway, showing water rushing down the freeway like a river.

Officials are asking drivers to avoid the area. According to CHP logs, people have been trying to circumvent the closures and get onto the highway anyway; even 6 inches of water is enough to sweep a vehicle into floodwaters, so motorists should turn around immediately if they encounter flooded routes.

--tg

[Greg]

Good plan.

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

The president’s choppers shook the bungalow…

[Greg]

"Get to the Chopper"

--A. Schwarzenegger

[Drunk Monk]

I just saw a bald eagle fighting with a crow from our bungalow window. It was too far away to catch on video, but wow! So cool. Perfect lunchtime viewing.

[thatguy]

'MERIKA!

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

‘Cookie Monster’ sightings unsettling locals; police say not to engage

Source: Lookout Santa Cruz

Quick Take

Santa Cruzans have recently seen a man dressed as the Cookie Monster from “Sesame Street” loitering around the Beach Boardwalk and wharf area. Although the man has not been charged with any crimes locally, police are encouraging those who encounter him not to interact.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines [i][b]here.[/b][/i]
The Santa Cruz Police Department is encouraging people not to engage with a man dressed in a Cookie Monster costume who has been seen around the Santa Cruz wharf and Beach Boardwalk in recent days.
SCPD spokesperson Joyce Blaschke said the department has received calls from concerned residents saying the man dressed as the iconic "Sesame Street" character is creepy and uncomfortable.
Blaschke said the man has been known to “badger people,” but he has not been charged with any crime.
A Los Angeles Times article from 2016 identified the man as Oregon-born Adam Sandler (no, not that Adam Sandler).
According to several media reports, he has faced criminal charges in other cities, including New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, for threats against tourists, other street performers and store owners.
His unsavory antics include antisemitic tirades caught on video, threatening business owners and residents in multiple cities, and even finding himself in an extortion case involving the Girl Scouts, for which he reportedly once worked as a temporary employee on a short-term computer programming project.
In New York, where he frequented Central Park dressed as the "Sesame Street" character Elmo, the New York Times reported that Sandler was captured on video in 2012 shouting antisemitic and xenophobic remarks.
In San Francisco in 2014, Sandler was charged with being a public nuisance and threatening a business owner on Fisherman’s Wharf who had put up a sign saying the costumed man was not a store employee.
He pleaded guilty to being a public nuisance and was banned from several tourist locations in San Francisco, including Fisherman’s Wharf, Union Square and the Embarcadero, for five years, according to the Los Angeles Times report.
Lookout searched the beachfront area and wharf Tuesday, looking behind businesses and on side streets adjacent to the Boardwalk to ask Sandler about his appearance in town and the accusations against him, but he was nowhere to be found.

[Greg]

I knew DM's cookie monster outfit would some day come in handy.

[Drunk Monk]

I knew DM's cookie monster outfit would some day come in handy.

[thatguy]

I was wondering if there was some connection to Pacific Cookie Company's "Baked in Santa Cruz" tagline...

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

Santa Cruz Sentinel
☰ Menu

Seacliff State Beach: Damaged pier to Cement Ship will be demolished this month

• PK Hattis
  
  
• PUBLISHED: February 17, 2023 at 9:36 a.m. | UPDATED: February 17, 2023 at 3:31 p.m.
  

California State Parks announced it will demolish the pier leading out to the Cement Ship at Seacliff State Beach later this month. (Courtesy State Parks)
APTOS — California State Parks has announced that it plans to demolish what’s left of the pier at Seacliff State Beach that leads to the iconic Cement Ship after more than half of it was swept out to sea during an onslaught of heavy winter storms earlier this year.
According to a State Parks release, assessments of the remaining pier structure – left battered and undulating – determined that it is “in a state of imminent collapse” and plans have been made to take it down later this month.
Save Our Shores, in partnership with State Parks and its local operating partner Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, has organized a beach cleanup at Seacliff from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, which will include an opportunity for volunteers to bid the historic pier one last fond farewell.
“Everyone is feeling really sad about it. It’s a tremendous loss even if we were expecting it,” Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks Executive Director Bonny Hawley told the Sentinel. “We just want to give people a chance to come and say their goodbyes and be together.”

Hawley said there will be opportunities to take photos, share memories and contribute to an art project that will be displayed on driftwood at the site.
Unfortunately, Hawley continued, this is not the first time a Santa Cruz County state park has had to recover from a devastating natural disaster. She recalled that after most of Big Basin Redwoods State Park was burned during the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex fire, there was an opportunity for public input about “how to rebuild a resilient redwood park.”
“I’m hoping out of this tragedy and loss the public will have an opportunity to envision a resilient coastal park that could be a model in an era of climate change,” said Hawley.
Asked if there are plans to build a new pier at Seacliff Beach, State Parks spokesperson Douglas Johnson said officials are carefully considering “how to provide recreational facilities that are resilient to the reality and challenges of sea level rise in a changing climate,” and that after the clean-up phase is complete “a public planning process will be announced.”
The pier, originally constructed in the 1930s, wasn’t the only piece of public-serving infrastructure that was severely damaged by the merciless tide. The park’s campground was hit extremely hard and State Parks said it will be closed for the remainder of 2023.

The storms also destroyed nearly all of the seawall and most of the fill material that serves as the foundation for the campground. The accompanying underground facilities and pavement were swept out to sea. Continuing landslides at the beach bluffs on the inland side of the campground have created road access issues and crews are planning to remove hazardous debris later this month in hopes of restoring limited public access.
“State Parks looks forward to working with the community, scientists, and environmental stewards to build resilience to sea-level rise and extreme event impacts so that more generations can continue to fall in love with Seacliff State Beach,” said California State Parks District Superintendent Chris Spohrer in the release.
Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend, who accompanied President Joe Biden during his tour of the storm-ravaged park in January, said the pier is an “iconic part” of the imagery at Seacliff and promised an opportunity for public input in the rebuilding process.
“For decades the pier has been central in creating memories for tens of thousands of families,” Friend told the Sentinel. “It’s exciting to see what the future holds as State Parks begins the rebuild process and the community’s voices will be integral in reimagining what’s possible in the park for future generations.”