Alex Darocy Photography

In response to the planned closure of the River Street homeless campground, community members in Santa Cruz have established a survival camp at the downtown post office. At 11pm on November 15, nearly two dozen individuals had set up spaces to sleep along the sidewalk in front of the large postal building, which is a landmark downtown. "Please join us for a peaceful night's sleep while celebrating the constitution and supporting the human right to sleep. Everyone is welcome, whether you have a home or not," an event announcement for establishment of the survival camp read. Earlier in the day on November 15, the City of Santa Cruz announced the closure of five parks due to fire danger, including Pogonip, Arana Gulch, Moore Creek, DeLaveaga, and Arroyo Seco. These latest park closures in Santa Cruz follow the closures of San Lorenzo and Grant Street Parks in October, which were literally fenced off from the public for "public safety" reasons, according to the...

Due to a recent string of "suspicious" fires, the City of Santa Cruz announced on November 15 the closure of the following parks: Pogonip, Arana Gulch, Moore Creek, DeLaveaga, and Arroyo Seco. "Police and Fire Investigators have aggressively investigated every fire, which has resulted in five arrests in the past four weeks," a press release from the city states. The parks will be closed indefinitely. The Rincon Fire While police have arrested at least two individuals specifically for arson, a press release issued by Cal Fire on November 9 charges that some of the fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains originated from "illegal campsites." The Rincon Fire has been the largest of the recent fires in the area, burning 17 wooded acres and coming very close to homes in the Paradise Park area along Highway 9. The homeless community has received some backlash from individuals on social media. Some of the comments have been preserved by the group "Take Ba...