As you think of Springtime returning, what comes to mind that makes you happy?
Sarah Jane
The sun fills me with joy. My boy was born during the big storm, and we came home to no power and all the trees were down. This winter was extreme. Now you can go out and see people and feel like the world is happening.
Sarah Jane, 42, artist and-musician
David Morabito
I go ride my skateboard and just go as far as I can. It’s electric, so I’m cheating. Spring is here and we can get out—time to enjoy the open space!
David Morabito, 62, painter
Phoebe Beitnes
Going hiking with friends. I like hiking in Henry Cowell—I used to go there for Girl Scout camp.
Phoebe Beitnes, 28, works at Perfumers Apprentice
Kaelen Ferguson
I think of all the flowers and fields. I think of everyone outside and doing their own thing.
Kaelen Ferguson, 15, student
Oona Coffey
I like all the animals coming out and being loud and interacting, I think that’s really fun, like how all the squirrels come out chittering and chewing on their nuts and acorns.
Oona Coffey, 21, UCSC Feminist Studies/psychology major
Tyler Branham
Springtime reminds me of reading books under trees and enjoying a nice cool breeze while being in the shade of warm sun—just very relaxing, very peaceful—and enjoying nature.
I suspect you will soon have far more beginners’ luck than you ever thought possible. For best results—to generate even more wildly abundant torrents of good luck—you could adopt what Zen Buddhists called “beginner’s mind.” That means gazing upon everyone and everything as if encountering it for the first time. Here are other qualities I expect to be flowing freely through you in the coming weeks: spontaneity, curiosity, innocence, candor, and unpredictability. To the degree that you cultivate these states, you will invite even more beginner’s luck into your life.
TAURUSApril 20-May 20
Taurus artist Salvador Dali was prone to exaggerate for dramatic effect. We should remember that as we read his quote: “Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature. Never try to correct them. On the contrary: Rationalize them; understand them thoroughly.” While that eccentric advice may not always be 100-percent accurate or useful, I think it will be true and helpful for you in the coming weeks. Have maximum fun making sacred mistakes, Taurus! Learn all you can from them. Use them to improve your life.
GEMINIMay 21-June 20
The professional fun advisors here at Free Will Astrology International Headquarters have concluded that your Party Hardy Potential Rating for the coming weeks is 9.8 (out of 10). In fact, this may be the Party Hardy Phase of the Year for you. You could gather the benefits of maximum revelry and conviviality with minimal side effects. Here’s a meditation to get you in the right mood: Imagine mixing business and pleasure with such panache that they blend into a gleeful, fruitful synergy.
CANCERJune 21-July 22
Cancerian author and psychotherapist Virginia Satir (1916–1988) was renowned as the “Mother of Family Therapy.” Her research led her to conclude, “We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” That 12-hug recommendation seems daunting to achieve, but I hope you will strive for it in the coming weeks. You are in a phase when maximum growth is possible—and pushing to the frontiers of hugging will help you activate the full potential. (PS: Don’t force anyone to hug you. Make sure it’s consensual.)
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
Have you been genuinely amazed anytime recently? Have you done something truly amazing? If not, it’s time to play catch-up. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you need and deserve exciting adventures that boggle your soul in all the best ways. You should be wandering out on the frontiers and tracking down provocative mysteries. You could grow even smarter than you already are if you expose yourself to challenges that will amaze you and inspire you to be amazing.
VIRGOAug. 23-Sept. 22
I invite you to perform a magic spell that will help prepare you for the rich, slippery soul work you have ahead of you. I’ll offer a suggestion, but feel free to compose your own ritual. First, go outside where it’s raining or misting, or find a waterfall. Stand with your legs apart and arms spread out as you turn your face up toward the falling moisture. As you drink it in, tell yourself you will be extra fluid and flowing in the coming weeks. Promise yourself you will stimulate and treasure succulent feelings. You will cultivate the sensation that everything you need is streaming in your direction.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
You are gliding into the climax of your re-education about togetherness, intimacy, and collaboration. The lessons you’ve been learning have deepened your reservoir of wisdom about the nature of love. And in the coming weeks, even further teachings will arrive; even more openings and invitations will be available. You will be offered the chance to earn what could in effect be a master’s degree in relationships. It’ll be challenging work, but rewarding and interesting. Do as best as you can. Don’t demand perfection from yourself or anyone else.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Now is not a favorable phase to gamble on unknown entities. Nor should you allow seemingly well-meaning people to transgress your boundaries. Another Big No: Don’t heed the advice of fear-mongers or nagging scolds, whether they’re inside or outside your head. On the other hand, dear Scorpio, the coming weeks will be an excellent time for the following actions. 1. Phase out attachments to alliances and love interests that have exhausted their possibilities. 2. Seek the necessary resources to transform or outgrow a frustrating fact about your life. 3. Name truths that other people seem intent on ignoring and avoiding. 4. Conjure simple, small, slow, practical magic to make simple, small, slow, practical progress.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Falling in love is fun! It’s also exciting, enriching, inspiring, transformative, world-shaking, and educational. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if we could keep falling in love anew three or four times a year for as long as we live? We might always be our best selves, showing our most creative and generous sides, continually expanding our power to express our soulful intelligence. Alas, it’s not practical or realistic to always be falling in love with another new person. Here’s a possible alternative: What if we enlarged our understanding of what we could fall in love with? Maybe we would become perpetually infatuated with brilliant teachings, magical places, high adventures, and great art and music. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to cultivate this skill.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
I’m perplexed by spiritual teachers who fanatically preach the doctrine that we should BE HERE NOW as much as possible. Living with full enjoyment in the present moment is a valuable practice, but dismissing or demeaning the past is shortsighted. Our lives are forged from our histories. We should revere the stories we are made of, visit them regularly, and keep learning from them. Keep this in mind, Capricorn. It’s an excellent time to heal your memories and to be healed by them. Cultivate deep gratitude for your past as you give the old days all your love. Enjoy this quote from novelist Gregory Maguire: “Memory is part of the present. It builds us up inside; it knits our bones to our muscles and keeps our heart pumping. It is memory that reminds our bodies to work, and memory that reminds our spirits to work, too: it keeps us who we are.”
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Controversial author William S. Burroughs was a rough, tough troublemaker. But he had some wisdom that will soon be extra useful for you. He said that love is the best natural painkiller available. I bring this to your attention not because I believe you will experience more pain than the rest of us in the coming months. Rather, I am predicting you will have extra power to alleviate your pain—especially when you raise your capacity to give and receive love.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
The planet Saturn entered Pisces in March 2023 and won’t depart for good until February 2026. Is that a bad thing or good thing for you Pisceans? Some astrologers might say you are in a challenging time when you must make cutbacks and take on increased responsibility. I have a different perspective. I believe this is a phase when you can get closer than ever before to knowing exactly what you want and how to accomplish what you want. In my view, you are being called to shed secondary wishes that distract you from your life’s central goals. I see this period as a homecoming—your invitation to glide into robust alignment with your soul’s code.
The exciting March program begins with the Matsuri Overture. Named for the Japanese word for festival the Matsuri Overture was composed in 2017 by Spain’s José González Granero. Now based in the Bay Area, Granero has been principal clarinet for the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 2010. The composer recalled that he was inspired by a trip to Kyoto, Japan, during which the Ebisu Festival at New Year’s made a powerful impression on him. During this Festival participants pay their respects and pray for success, using special branches of bamboo grass they hope will bring good luck. Granero’s Overture captures the feel and excitement of both the ancient Japanese festival as well as the modern vibrant pace of Kyoto.
Emotional and eloquent, the Schumann Cello Concerto is a popular piece for solo cello and orchestra. Flowing from meditative depths into a soaring conclusion, this stunning concerto casts a spell. The three movements begin with the main theme performed by the soloist, which then leads to variations and improvisations upon that theme by the orchestral instruments. The slow second movement gives way to a final sonata moving from A minor to a mood-altering A major. This concerto is much-performed and considered one of the greatest Romantic works composed for the cello.
The concert’s final offering, Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka, is another beloved piece of music created for ballet, and was written in 1911 for the famous Ballets Russes company of Sergei Diaghilev. The composer was inspired by folk music to help create music for the crowds gathered to enjoy a traveling festival. Stravinsky wrote new melodies for the central character, the puppet Petrushka, who suddenly comes to life. The ballet was named for a puppet character well-known in Russian carnivals, much like Punch in English “Punch and Judy” puppet shows.
This popular and innovative piece of modern 20th century music contains unexpected orchestration, drumming, and dazzling sound design filled with energy and romantic descriptions of the private emotional life of the puppet. Poor Petrushka falls in love with a ballerina puppet in Stravinsky’s piece, and this ill-fated love is juxtaposed musically with the frenzy of the orchestral crowd scenes. Petrushka’s beloved ballerina prefers another puppet, the two rivals fight a duel, and well, you’ll find out how it ends. With its Paris premier starring the great ballet star Nijinsky, Petrushka’s music, design, and dance made it a very popular production.
Guest soloist, Gaeun Kim will perform during this wide-ranging concert that brings together in a single performance festival music inspired by Japan, Russia, and one of the masters of the Romantic period of European music. Kim, a 20-year-old cellist based in New York, has won worldwide competitions and prizes since the age of four. This year she appears in Santa Cruz as part of a schedule which includes solo performances in New York, Poland, Switzerland, Korea, and Germany.
With its upcoming Festivalsconcerts the Santa Cruz Symphony has programmed another musical event the entire family can enjoy. Selections this time include classical music created for dance, a cello concerto to be performed by solo virtuoso Gaeun Kim, and a cross-cultural creation inspired by an ancient Japanese festival. Maestro Daniel Stewart leads the always memorable Symphony through these provocative pieces. Bring the whole family and let your ears be dazzled.
Festivals plays at 7:30 pm March 23 at Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium (talk at 6:30pm) and March 24 at 2pm at Henry J. Mello Center for the Performing Arts, Watsonville. Tickets $40-$110. SantaCruzSymphony.org
“I don’t feel like we’re working smarter,” laughs Lorna Heptinstall.
“But we’re still working hard,” adds her husband, Dan, with a chuckle as their 4-year-old daughter crawls up in the Zoom interview to see what mum and dad are doing.
Along with parenting, the Heptinstalls are two-thirds of British folk-punk outfit Skinny Lister, who make their Santa Cruz debut March 21 at Moe’s Alley.
They’re describing the “absolutely mental” schedule the band had in 2011 that earned them the title, “Hardest Working Band in the UK” by British music copyright collective, Performing Rights For Music (PRS).
“We were doing three, four, sometimes five festivals in a weekend,” Dan recalls. “So when it came time to register all our performances in the UK with PRS, we came out on top. Above Ed Sheeran!”
An impressive feat for a band that not only plays a traditional style of music outside the eye of mainstream media, but also one that started off only as a bit of fun between friends at their local pub.
However, it’s easy to see why the group is so well loved in the U.K., throughout Europe and across the pond here in the U.S.
Formed in 2009, Skinny Lister was birthed by friends Dan Heptinstall, Lorna (then Thomas and dating Heptinstall), her brother Maxwell Thomas, Dan Gray and Sam “Mule” Brace. The later two of which had played with Dan previously in an indie band called The Alps.
“We used to live in a house in Greenwich and every Tuesday the pub next door had Folk Night,” remembers Dan. “So we would go down and get involved in the pub songs and shanties.”
Eventually the five friends decided they wanted to take the fun and camaraderie on the road and to festivals. Taking the name Skinny Lister–a nickname for an old school friend of Dan’s–they started touring locally around Britain.
Three years later, in 2012, Skinny Lister was invited to play America for the first time, hitting the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas along with the Vans Warped Tour. One year later they were back in the states rocking sets at Coachella and on tour opening for Irish punk outfit, Flogging Molly. It proved to be a match made in heaven’s own pub. .
“When we started there was something in the air about pub music,” Dan says. “Mumford & Sons and all that was happening. It felt reasonable that we could get further ahead with it than even a few years before.”
And get further they did.
Last year Skinny Lister released their sixth studio album, Shanty Punk. It’s 11 tracks range from beautiful–like the lamentful yet inspiring “Broken, Bruised & Battered”–to the blistering like “Unto The Breach.”
In true pub tradition, Skinny Lister’s magic comes in the form of songs about drinking, fighting, friendship, traveling and tall tales. Some are fiction, while others are ripped straight from their lives.
“We’re storytellers,” Dan admits. “The essence of Skinny Lister is our stories, some more story than others.”
For instance, “Pittsburgh Punch Up” off Shanty Punk is about their bus driver on an early U.S. tour who started a drunken brawl at one of their gigs. Then there’s older tracks like “Hamburg Drunk,” about the band getting into a bit of shenanigans after a night of drinking in Hamburg, Germany. Or “Trouble on Oxford Street,” about a fight Dan got into–where else–on Oxford Street.
Those paying attention might also notice that, along with storytelling, Skinny Lister is also all about family. Of course there’s Dan and Lorna’s nuptials and the sibling bond between Lorna and Maxwell but it goes even further up the family tree.
And when it comes to Skinny Lister fandom, their father has become a story in his own right. He wrote and performed Shanty Punk’s second to last track, “William Harker.”
“He’s otherwise known as ‘Party George,’” Dan laughs. “And he’s become a bit of a legend at our shows. We took him out across Europe on the tour we just did and he performed every night with us. He really does get the party started!”
PULL QUOTE:: THEThree years later, in 2012, Skinny Lister was invited to play America for the first time, hitting the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas along with the Vans Warped Tour. One year later they were back in the states rocking sets at Coachella and on tour opening for Irish punk outfit, Flogging Molly. It proved to be a match made in heaven’s own pub.
As UCSC’s Dean of the Arts, Celine Parrenas Shimizu is no stranger to thinking critically about the craft of storytelling. Her latest book, The Movies of Racial Childhoods: Screening Self-Sovereignty in Asian/America, explores the portrayal of Asian and Asian American children in films from the last decade, tackling issues of race and sexuality within the stories often told about these communities and engaging with immigrant narratives as well as stories about queer Asian American youths. Dean Shimizu asks how films like Spa Night and Minari might affect the worldviews of these children, and then she identifies the answers. JESSICA IRISH
INFO: 5pm, Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz. Free. 459-3606.
JAZZ
OWEN BRODER QUINTET
Honored by Downbeat last year as a rising star alto saxophonist, Owen Broder is touring with his show Hodges: Front and Center to celebrate one of the most influential, early voices on his chosen instrument and a longtime pillar of the iconic Duke Ellington Orchestra, Johnny Hodges. The program presents classic tunes from Hodges’ historic collaborations with fellow Golden Era greats Ben Webster, Clark Terry, Gerry Mulligan, and his longtime boss, Ellington. At Kuumbwa, Broder will collaborate with trumpeter Noah Simpson, pianist Carmen Staaf, bassist Emiliano Lasansky, and drummer Bryan Carter. DAN EMERSON
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $31.50/adv, $36.75/door. 427-2227.
FRIDAY 3/22
SKA
VIC RUGGIERO
Victor Ruggiero goes by many names: Vic, Rugaroo, Bad Vic and Lord Sluggo, to name some. Since the ’90s, the Bronx-born singer-songwriter has concocted truly original blends of ska, reggae, blues and good old-fashioned folk. He is best known as the frontman of the Slackers, but the multi-instrumentalist and producer also maintains a prolific solo career. His dexterity on the organ pairs perfectly with a penchant for dark humor of the wry New York City cabaret variety. His West Coast tour finds him sharing the stage with Julian Leon, Sealion Rudies and Blue Lagoon master-of-ceremonies DJXXIIHRS. ADDIE MAHMASSANI
INFO: 9pm, The Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 423-7117.
ROCK
SARAH AND THE SUNDAYS
Don’t attend this Friday’s Sarah and the Sundays show with the Brazen Youth at the Catalyst Atrium expecting to meet Sarah, although she may be in the audience. The five-piece indie dream rock band got their name as a fluke. Originally called the Sundays, fans of the ’90s British rock group of the same name had some issues. After the band’s first show, the lead singer’s sister, Sarah, took a picture with them. And voila! Sarah and the Sundays was born. Their music is like a creeping vine, growing on the listener before completely drawing them in. MAT WEIR
INFO: 8pm, The Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $22/door. 713-5492.
SATURDAY 3/23
FOLK
ROY ZIMMERMAN
Singer-songwriter Roy Zimmerman achieved his widest fame in the ’90s as founder and writer for the comedy folk quartet the Foremen, who revived the tradition of satirical lyrics combined with four-part harmonies popularized by some of the early ’60s folk groups. The Foreman recorded two albums for Reprise Records and extensively toured the national folk circuit. Zimmerman is still practicing his craft today, producing eleven potent albums cowritten with his wife, the guitarist-vocalist Melanie Harby. Their songs are often showcased on major media outlets like HBO and Showtime. The couple’s newest release is a best-of compilation of 25 songs from Zimmerman’s 25 years as a solo artist. DE
INFO: 7pm, The Ugly Mug, 4640 Soquel Dr., Santa Cruz. $30/adv, $35/door. 477-1341.
ROCK
CASINO YOUTH
Oh, how time flies when one’s having fun, eh? On Saturday, March 23, local pop-punk rockers Casino Youth will celebrate the first anniversary of their album It Won’t Last Forever at SubRosa. They’ve been making big waves for the past year or two, playing as much as they can around downtown as part of an up-and-coming rock scene rising from the ashes of the pandemic, and we’re here for it. Casino Youth will play their album in its entirety, and they’ll be joined by Evening Spirits and fellow locals Nothing Over Silence for a night that would’ve been on the Warped Tour. MW
INFO: 7pm, SubRosa, 703 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 426-5242.
FESTIVAL
OSTARA DELIGHT
The days are longer, and spring is in the air. To celebrate the change of seasons, Santa Cruz Mountains Priestess Temple presents “Ostara Delight,” a spring equinox benefit at Lille Aeske Arthouse. Led by Head Priestess Julie Grant, the night features a scrumptious 3-course dinner and music from pianist and singer Sarah Zae Deranleau, who recently fulfilled a lifelong dream of recording her first album, A Darkness in the Light. Before the meal, guests can also enjoy “Animal Instincts,” Lille Aeske’s current exhibition featuring the work of Jennifer Hennig, Jennifer Wildermuth Reyes, and Sarah Nielsen. AM
Marnie Stern shreds Tuesday Night at Moe’s Alley PHOTO: Nick Johnson
MARNIE STERN
Marnie Stern doesn’t just play guitar; she shreds. Known for her unique tapping style of playing, she’s made the ranks of Rolling Stone and Spin’s “100 Greatest Guitarist” lists. But her instrumental virtuosity is only part of what makes her great. Her songs conjure the best of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the surf-rock influence of Rogue Wave, and the high-energy bounciness of Architecture in Helsinki. Her experimental sound is bold, a bit punk and totally exciting. Any mid-aughts indie fan will love Stern’s eclectic catalog, and boy, is it made for bouncing up and down in front of a stage. JI
Neko Case brings her intensely emotional take on pop, folk and Americana to the Rio this week, intimately exploring a spectrum of emotions and experiences from her life. Her latest album, Wild Creatures, explicitly delves into the theme of “feral joy,” where each song, woven by the perspective of herself and others, bursts with a tapestry of musical moods and genres, evoking tears of delight and sorrow. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
INFO: 8pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $49.50/adv, $56/door. 423-8209.
Mindful Meditation has been a buzzword of late, but our cover story by writer DNA, is more buzz than cliche. (Yes, that’s his legal name!)
The focus is on Joe Clements, a punk rocker who fell into drug abuse, a path anyone who watches celebrity biopics knows all too well. But Clements pulled out of his downward spiral before a fatal mind crash.
And now, the beauty part, he’s helping so many others recover and thrive. We all love happy endings and the best is like a Horatio Alger story, going from the bottom to the top. The true winners are those who remember where they came from and help others achieve their goals.
We salute Clements for that and we salute DNA for bringing him to our attention.
Anyone who looks around knows we are in a frightful place because of drug abuse and the ease with which we can be addicted.
If you followed the news last week, you heard Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s chilling address to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
“More than 40 percent of the American people know someone who has died from an opioid overdose,” he said. “Synthetic drugs are now the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 45.”
The message hits too close to home right here in our beautiful cul-de-sac of a county and it’s a problem that money alone can’t solve. It takes people like Clements willing to reach a hand down and lift up others who are struggling. Actions like that put the good in Good Times.
In other must-read news, the Live Oak School District lost its leader, after fallout from some bad financial moves. I’m afraid schools will be in the news more than ever, as we see attendance dropping because families can’t afford houses here. It’s also distressing to see administrators making hundreds of thousands of dollars while teachers are paid minimum wages.
When did kids become so unimportant?
And we looked in on families recovering a year after the Pajaro flood. Would things have moved more quickly in a more affluent community?
If you like American, Mexican and Italian food, you won’t want to miss a tucked-away location featured in our Foodie File by sleuth Andrew Steingrube. I thought I knew this county pretty well, but every week he manages to point me to something new. Do you have suggestions for him? Let us know at ed****@we*****.com
And then there’s a great column by Elizabeth Borelli, steering us to a book, restaurant and Bookshop Santa Cruz talk by Toriano Gordon, who has mastered the art of cooking meatless soul food. Who knew?
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
Photo Contest
SPRING SPRANG Wild mustard thrives in between rows of apple trees in the Pajaro Valleymarking the first day of Spring Tuesday. Photograph by Tarmo Hannula
Good Idea
Pajaro Valley Unified School District on Friday named its new superintendent, Heather Contreras, who spent the last four years as the Assistant Superintendent of School Leadership for Modesto City Schools, with roughly 30,000 students.
Contreras holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from CSU Stanislaus, and has been serving in education for 22 years.
Her experience includes teaching primary, intermediate and junior high school grades, serving as a site administrator at several schools and district office leadership for the past seven years.
Good Work
An unveiling was held last week at the completion of Willowbrook Park in Aptos for Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller who was gunned down in June, 2022 while on duty.The long-standing park, on Willowbrook Lane near Cabrillo College, was a common place for Gutzwiller to visit with friends, family and his dog, Shasta. He grew up in Santa Cruz County, owned his first home in the Willowbrook neighborhood and served with the Sheriff’s Office for 14 years.
The park features benches, a kid’s play area, restrooms, new paths, signage, barbeques stations, a fountain, a new flagpole and seven metal plaques with words of honor for Gutzwiller and service to the community.
Quote of the Week
“It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country” Donald Trump speculating on losing the 2024 election
Then I guess that makes all carnivorous animals unkind by nature’s design. And what does that say about Venus fly traps?If a man fertilizes plants with fish, does that make the plants mean. The good news is nobody should be pushing crickets or maggots for human consumption cause like, hey man, no nice way to kill bugs
Henry Hank Sutherland
WHO ARE THE BEST SANTA CRUZ BANDS EVER?
The Devil Makes Three, Shady Groove, & The Mermen… & Matthew Hartle and all of his entourages Jenn Ulmer
Rock guitarist Pat McCormack played with Ronnie Montrose John Brooks
The Fruit and Nut Festival Ray Gabriel
Expendables Boyd Christensen
The Humans Tomas Salvage
Pele Juju Cat McDowell
Cat McDowell And their friends Special Fun! Gail McCloskey
Blood-alcohol tests often aren’t really conclusive when it comes to determining whether a person is too impaired to drive. Many people who are over the legal limit are probably perfectly fine to drive, even if doing so might get them into legal trouble. But many aren’t, and the line has to be drawn somewhere. Even if you think the common blood-alcohol limit of 0.08% is set too low, at least it’s a meaningful number that everyone can agree is the standard even if they disagree that it should be. And most sane people would agree that a person with a blood-alcohol level of three or four times the legal limit shouldn’t be behind the wheel.
But there is nothing like that for cannabis, though courts and law-enforcement agencies have been pretending otherwise for years. The equation began to change when states started legalizing weed for adult use about a dozen years ago. As with alcohol, weed is now legal to possess and use, but that use might lead to trouble when it comes to driving.
But unlike with alcohol, there’s no reliable measure of “impairment.”
THC, the cannabinoid that is most associated with the high cannabis provides, stays in the body long after the effects wear off. Testing a driver’s blood for the presence of THC is therefore meaningless. This has been widely known all along, but that didn’t stop cops, prosecutors, and courts from leveling criminal charges against people “caught” driving days, weeks, or even months after the last time they got high.
The federal government, at least, seems to be waking up to this fact, albeit with frustrating (and typical) slowness. Most recently, as reported last week by Marijuana Moment, a Justice Department researcher declared that law enforcement and the courts should accept that measuring concentrations of THC in the bloodstream is not a reliable measure of impairment.
“Maybe what we need to do is kind of get away from that idea that we can sort of have a number when it comes to marijuana and have that mean that you’re impaired,” said DOJ researcher Frances Scott during an episode of the “Justice Today” podcast published last month. “And it may get into some different types of measures than we’re used to doing. So maybe it’s not a blood measure or a breath measure.”
Scott, a physical scientist with the National Institute of Justice’s Office of Forensic Sciences, explicitly stated what most of us have known all along: “If you have chronic users versus infrequent users, they have very different concentrations correlated to different effects. So the same effect level, if you will, will be correlated with a very different concentration of THC in the blood of a chronic user versus an infrequent user.”
Leaving aside her use of the phrase “chronic users” (which is both funny and problematic, for different reasons) that’s just the start of what makes blood tests useless for cannabis impairment, especially as compared to blood-alcohol tests. The same amount of the same weed will affect even the same person (whether a “chronic” user or not) differently at different times. That’s true of booze, too, but much less so than with cannabis.
What’s more, it’s not even clear that being high is particularly problematic when it comes to driving, as the federal government has previously stated.
While being high certainly can negatively affect things like response times and motor skills, some research has shown that such effects aren’t particularly troublesome in the aggregate. One major study, published in 2019 by the journal Addiction, “found no increase in crash risk, after adjustment for age, sex, and use of other impairing substances” in drivers with less than 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood.”
Not that any of this should make anyone comfortable with the idea of, say, their pilot getting stoned before takeoff, their surgeon being high, or even of their cabdriver being wasted. If a reliable, simple test of impairment could be devised, it could be useful. But so far, there simply is no such thing.
Perhaps the real reason weekends are two days long is so it’s possible to go to two great coffee shops for a leisurely breakfast.
At least that feels like the case on the Westside.
A recent Saturday meant basking in a welcome break from yucky weather at a great AM spot that provides: indoor-outdoor airiness, big city-grade coffees, robust salads, sandwiches and wraps and, yes, an apricot scone up to the legend that precedes it.
Ivéta Westside—with a sister bistro on Pacific’s west end, and UCSC campus spots also brewing good things—does a memorable latticed spinach-feta croissant bar and fire smoothies too.
Sunday translated to 11th Hour’s greenery-graced backdrop and another challenge deciding what to order. The winner there: queen-of-the-jungle biscuit sandwich with wonderfully slender-but-substantial house biscuit with ample avocado, poached egg and spicy mayo.
Sometimes the most helpful news can be ol’ reliables remain great.
GOODER GOODIES
Pretty Good Advice #2 (1319 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz) is finding traction, figuratively and foot-traffic wise.
General Manager Page Traeger reports eaters, compared to their loyal regulars in Soquel (3070 Porter St.), are less familiar and more adventurous with the menu. She notes the top sellers are the spicy-crispy chick’n sandwich, Mike’s Good Morning Deluxe and the California ranch “burger.”
Traeger also adds, “Don’t sleep on the salads.” Two to flag: the kale and roasted delicata squash with golden raisins, shaved fennel, pepitas, and a date-balsamic dressing and the mandarin arugula with braised beet, feta, hazelnut and mint in a yuzu vinaigrette.
Hours are 9am-6pm, with PGA2 hoping to expand them soon. Soquel PGA hours remain 8am-5pm. prettygoodadvicerestaurant.com.
TRIPLE SIZZLE
Flashbird Chicken’s third location (830 41st Ave., Santa Cruz) is now open 11am-9pm daily, in the former Pink Godzilla Sushi, which is now a vibrant yellow.
Here comes FBC’s signature house-brined and -battered fried chicken sandwiches, hen-of-the-woods mushroom number, and local wine on tap. Meanwhile the OG location at Abbott Square Market and the second location in Scotts Valley keep clucking.
flashbirdchicken.com
GOING UPPER
Family-owned Upper Crust Pizza & Pasta (2415 Mission St. and 2501 Soquel Drive, Santa Cruz) wins points for a stacked menu—thick-crust Sicilian pies and muffulettas, wings, salads, meatballs, house-made spaghetti—and now has a creation that 1) merges those first two; and 2) felt like a must-do.
The muffaletta pizza rocks dough kissed with sesame seeds, olive oil and Italian spices and layered with thin-sliced ham, shredded carrots, pesto, Monterey Jack, mozzarella and provolone cheese, all toasted in the brick oven, at a nice $6 price per slice (house ranch recommended).
uppercrustsc.com
NEWS SNACKS
The Midway (1209 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz) and chef-owner Katherine Stern are now doing dinner, with a $75 three-course prix fixe menu Thursday-Saturday. The menu shifts weekly, with recent plates including braised lamb with lentil and beet salad, and grilled asparagus in a roasted onion-walnut sauce, themidwaysantacruz.com…Bonny Doon Vineyards is on course to debut a wildly lighter and fully-recyclable Frugalpac paper wine bottle, bonnydoonvineyard.com.
Three years ago, Jay Garcia founded Evarista’s Comal, a popular family-run Eastside eatery named after his mother, serving traditional Mexican fare alongside Italian and American favorites.
This Jalisco, Mexico native cooked at around town for over 25 years, perfecting his techniques. Breakfast options include huevos rancheros, chilaquiles and a pulled pork machaca omelet, and American choices include corned beef hash and Eggs Benedict. Lunch munchies include carne asada, Baja-style fish tacos and a classic quesabirria. An Italian lunch stand-out is the penne pomodoro, prawns and veggies married with white wine sauce. Beverages include micheladas, Bloody Marys and mimosas, and an authentic café de olla, a cinnamon-spiced coffee with piloncillo brown sugar. Open Wednesday-Monday 9am-4pm.
Where does your love for food come from?
JAY GARCIA: I started cooking as work, and little by little, my passion for food grew. I developed my skills and talents working with a wide variety of cuisines. Those, combined with my knowledge of Mexican food from my mom, gave me the ability to cook with diverse flavors and ingredients.
Make a case for the quesabirria?
JG: Part of my state, Jalisco, is known for cooking a traditional and authentic-style slow-cooked beef called birria. I like featuring authentic food from my state. I am proud to bring the traditional food of Jalisco to my menu here so that people can taste food that’s the same as they would get there. The dish is like a quesadilla filled with the birria (tender, slow-cooked meat) and served with consommé, the juice from the meat garnished with raw onions and fresh cilantro. You can either eat it as soup or dip into it.
2-1245 East Cliff Drive Unit A, Santa Cruz, 831-484-7586; santacruzfamilyrestaurant.com
As you think of Springtime returning, what comes to mind that makes you happy?
The sun fills me with joy. My boy was born during the big storm, and we came home to no power and all the trees were down. This winter was extreme. Now you can go out and see people and feel like the world is happening.
Sarah...
ARIES March 21-April 19
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