How Safe are the Streets in Front of our Schools? Distracted driving is up in Santa Cruz County, according to a report filed by the county health department. Last year, a study by area students found that 8.3% of the drivers they observed were distracted. This year, 25.8% of the 2,500-plus drivers they observed were driving distracted. In a recent meeting to discuss this data, over 50% of youth attending, personally knew another young person who had been injured or killed due to distracted driving behaviors. Friday Night Live members observed driving habits outside of four local schools–Shoreline Middle School, Lakeview Middle School, Soquel High School, and Branciforte Middle School. Data…

Strange babies of the Renaissance We’ve seen a lot of these paintings in museums, but seeing them all in this context is bizarre, to say the least. Were babies uglier back then or just the paintings?? Check this link: https://www.boredpanda.com/ugly-renaissance-babies-art/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic&fbclid=IwAR1jhjyicT55F4GQD3i2FKMq-I-BdXsUcwtPEN14lPS_T6gSmN5_Je41AcE

What’s Healthier for Breakfast? Cereal or Pizza? Answer from one nutritionist here: https://www.foodandwine.com/syndication/pizza-more-nutritious-breakfast-cereal?utm_campaign=foodandwine&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&xid=soc_socialflow_facebook_fw&fbclid=IwAR0gFQcjY39mPyr3Zza0fSuTO6eH6ot3PHzDyrYSRQft1wX7frp99b-qM_k

Whooping Cough on the Rise in Santa Cruz Cough That Won’t Quit? Think Pertussis (Whooping Cough) SANTA CRUZ COUNTY – The number of local pertussis (whooping cough) cases has increased dramatically in recent months.  Since September 1st, the Public Health Division has received 66 reports of suspected and confirmed whooping cough cases, with most cases associated with school outbreaks.  The Public Health Division is managing the outbreaks through communication with schools, families, and clinicians; investigation of cases; and recommendations to control spread.   As we enter the holiday season with many residents traveling and gathering with family and friends, the Public Health Division would like to share the following information to help prevent…

Can Electronics Be Educational? Many of the Silicon Valley execs who created the apps and hardware that drive us all to the Internet—including kids—now say they cut down their kids’ web time and think their inventions are dangerous and addictive. There are some who argue the other side, but according to this article in the New York Times, a considerable number of CEOs keep their own kids off phones, iPads and the Internet for as long as they can, some until high school. Is it educational for kids to get an early start on electronics, or, as some mothers used to say about TV, does it rot your brain? We’d…

Bay and King Streets Changing to Protect Bikers and Pedestrians The City of Santa Cruz is scheduled to begin the Bay and King Streets Protected Left Turns and Streetlights Project on Monday, Nov. 26. The project will install five streetlights on Bay Street between Escalona Drive and King Street. It will also install two traffic signal poles (for new left-turn arrows) and three new corner curb ramps at the Bay/King intersection. Construction hours are from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays. Two-way traffic will remain in place, however, there may be delays due to construction activity. Parking, bike lanes and pedestrian access around the construction area will be affected. All work will be…

Gifts for Care Facility Residents Become a Holiday Helper by giving to the often forgotten care facility residents in Santa Cruz County. Many residents don’t have family or friends to visit them during the holidays. We help to make their holiday special! I-U Venture’s Holiday Helper program is now accepting donations and wrapped gifts through December 7, 2018.  Gift suggestions include:  New slippers, socks, shirts, lap blankets, scarves, stuffed animals, lotions, puzzle books and calendars.  Please mark the packages male or female, with sizes, ready for delivery to care facility residents.  It’s nice seeing the smile on their faces when they open their gifts! Please drop off all gifts between…

Capitola Mall Anniversary Thousands visit Capitola Mall to avoid smoke and celebrate anniversary Capitola Mall looked like the good old days–or the holidays all weekend as families took kids to get out of the smoke and the mall had a showcase for its 41st anniversary. The Children’s Museum of Discovery in the Mall had 500 people visit Saturday—with admission—and even more Sunday, its monthly free community day. Kids were pleasantly packed into Giggles N Wiggles and parents said it was the best option to an outdoor playground. No one wanted to bring kids into the smoke. Over by the food court, the Stellaria Aerial Show  acrobats got big applause. There…

Holiday Funny Photo Contest Send us your funniest or most charming holiday photo and you can win two free tickets to the great night holiday displays at Gilroy Gardens. We have 10 pairs of day and night tickets available.Just send in your photos and we’ll have a drawing for the winners. How to play:1. Follow growing up in santa cruz on Instagram2. Use hashtag #growingupinsantacruz on a fun or arty family or kids photo with a holiday theme.3. That’s it! Giveaway closes December 1. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Winner will be chosen randomly from entries and will be notified via Instagram Message. Winners must reply back to claim…

Free Days at Monterey Bay Aquarium Here’s a great deal: you can visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium for free during the first nine days of December, including bilingual feeding shows on both weekends.   Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito residents just have to bring a photo ID to get in.  They can also use student IDs, utility bills, or bus passes for ID.  The aquarium is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Guests or relatives can accompany residents, but will have to pay.

Most Dangerous Toys of 2018 Every year before the holidays the group called World Against Toys Causing Harm, releases an annual report  of  the toys most likely to hurt kids. This year’s batch includes a Black Panther claw, a unicorn marketed to infants that isn’t safe in cribs,  a Nerf gun,  a Ninja sword with a blade that juts out, and a xylophone. So, fess up: do you have any of these? Do you think the organization is overstating the risks or doing a great public service. We confess…we almost bought that Black Panther claw for a certain 2-year-old, but it looked too dangerous. Have you seen toys that should…

Masterclass Gets an “A+” Here’s something I never thought I’d see. The CEO of  Master Class, a  San Francisco company I took an online class from, sent out a hand written note suggesting other classes. Hand written!!! There are those who think millennials can’t even write by hand. Hell, I can barely hand write anymore. It certainly endeared me to this company. I took a Master Class in photography from Annie Leibovitz, one of my favorite shooters. It was OK, but frankly, I learn better in person. The company gets some big names, as you can see in the letter, including Tom Morello, from the band Rage Against the Machine,…

Santa Cruz County Schools Receive Almost $1 Million in Additional Funding with Assist from MBEP Scholars and the SC Warriors Local Students To Win Warriors Tickets This Season for Perfect or Improved School Attendance With help from the Santa Cruz Warriors and the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership’s MBEP Scholars Program, Santa Cruz County Schools have received $986,500 in additional district funding since 2016, the organizations announced today. This increased state funding to local school districts is a result of improved school attendance over the last two years, which the MBEP Scholars Program aims to incentivize through Santa Cruz Warriors game tickets for local students and their families.   The MBEP…

Voting Ballot for Kids We love these ballots our writer, Ann Carin Niland made for her 6-year-old to get her interested in voting and pick issues she would be interested in. Next election, we’ll print one in the paper. What do you think??

Legos World Record Brad Kava What are your thoughts on Legos? My kids love, love, love them. I despise them. Why? Well, there are the things they’ve done to my feet, as they sneak up everywhere I walk barefoot. Then, there’s the fact that they are so small, only kids can see them. When I was a kid, Legos were big brick pieces. Now, they are theme sets for Jurassic World and super heroes. Anyway, I thought I had the world record for stepping on Legos, but apparently not. Check this video:

Drive for Schools Raised $702,000 for Local Schools this Year Drive for Schools, the largest school fundraiser in Santa Cruz County, raised $702,000 for local schools this year. Sponsored by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Subaru of Santa Cruz and Toyota of Santa Cruz, Drive for Schools has raised over $6.1 million for Santa Cruz County schools since the program started in 2005. In addition to the significant money raised, 100 donated prizes were awarded to parents and community members who purchased tickets to support a school. This year’s Grand Prize winner, selected during a ticket drawing at the Boardwalk on October 28, was Hilario Gonzalez of Watsonville. The Gonzalez…

Did You See “Thriller” on the Wharf? Hundreds of people showed up to see Santa Cruz zombies perform “Thriller” on the Santa Cruz Wharf Saturday. Even some dinosaurs showed up…no, not the SC old timers. Almost real dinosaurs. The whole thing was a blast and is part of the Wharf’s 13 days of Halloween. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6hBjWfl3Pw&feature=youtu.be

Want to Know how California Kids are Doing in 2018? Free report and seminar here: Join Children Now for a tour of the 2018-19 California Children’s Scorecard of Children’s Well-Being on October 30. The Scorecard helps inform local efforts to improve the lives of kids. It provides a snapshot of how children are faring in each of the 58 counties, over time, and by race and ethnicity. The free webinar will discuss trends in children’s health, early childhood, education, and child welfare, and opportunities to improve children’s outcomes. Sign up for the free seminar here: https://tinyurl.com/yce4qt33

New Baby Bottle Invention! News You Can Use Frustrated with the time it took to give his baby bottled breast milk, an Israeli biochemist came up with a new invention that heats and cools milk twice as fash and, yes, looks like a mother’s breast. He now sells the product from South Carolina. Check this article in CNN here. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/25/success/nanobebe-startup-fresh-money/index.html