THANKS, JOHN LAIRD

As California finalized its state budget for this year, Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County—your food bank and the first established in the state—extends our deepest gratitude to State Senator John Laird for his steadfast leadership and unwavering commitment to ending hunger in our community and beyond.

Thanks to Senator Laird’s steadfast advocacy, the CalFood program—which supports food banks across California—was funded at $60 million for the 2025–26 fiscal year, a significant increase from the $8 million proposed in the governor’s May revision. This landmark investment underscores Senator Laird’s deep-rooted commitment to food security on the Central Coast and throughout the state.

Working alongside Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, Senator Laird helped secure critical funding that enables food banks to purchase fresh, California-grown food—nourishing families while investing in our state’s farmers and food producers. This funding helps us provide not just more food, but better food—nutritious, locally sourced and rooted in dignity.

Erica Padilla-Chavez | CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank | Santa Cruz County

POETRY EVENT

Círculo de Poetas & Writers’ annual conference is at the MAH on Aug. 23 and then online on Aug. 30. You can go to our website for all the details.

I’m hoping Good Times could write about the conference for two reasons—it’s our 10th anniversary, and the first Círculo conference was held at Cabrillo College; then we have a Tribute to a Living Writer series, and this year Lorna Dee Cervantes will be there. I think this would make a great story.

Adela Najarro | Author of ‘Variations in Blue’

ONLINE COMMENTS

REBUILDING AFTER CZU FIRE

I started out after the CZU fire with deep sympathy for the people in planning and building. They also had been through a trauma, there are regulations that they must comply with. They are hard-working people, who are part of our community. Codes are in place to keep all of us safe.

I was in contract with an architect by September 2020, and I manage design projects in my profession. I had enough hubris to think that I could make everything come out okay.

I had to build a bridge to access my land, which was a uniquely challenging barrier to getting started with the cabin. To do this I had to learn how to work with civil engineers, geotechnical engineers and structural engineers. Get approval from Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Water Quality District, and from Planning, Building, Roads, and the fire chief. Then I had to build the darn thing in the three-month period you are allowed to build in a riparian corridor.

Now I have had plans for a cabin in for permit for almost a year. The response time is slow, there is little consistency in the comments. It truly seems like the plan checkers are TRYING to find a way to deny my permit.

The fire was a devastating trauma. But the process of rebuilding is incremental, slow torture.

Kirstin | Goodtimes.sc

PRIMUS

Primus at the UCSC Quarry was truly a magical night—great sound, magical atmosphere in the redwood forest, and a legendary band that still knows how to rock every generation with their unique weirdness.

Retro Bowl | Goodtimes.sc