Your recent article on animals suffering car encounters brings to mind those creatures killed even closer to home: our wondrous birds. There are many free-roaming cats which exact a terrible toll on our struggling avian friends. Bird numbers are down, in decline, and cats are estimated to take 1 to 4 billion birds a year. Owners equipping cats with brightly colored collars and bells (such as the “Birdsbesafe” collar) can really help (audubon.org/news/how-stop-cats-killing-birds and more here, allaboutbirds.org/news/faq-outdoor-cats-and-their-effects-on-birds/). Also, it will help distinguish feral cats from those cats who have “people” so the former can be spayed and neutered. But restraining your cat to your home is best for its health, its safety and this beautiful avian world around us which we are rapidly losing.
G. Bruno
GEN Z MUST LEAD NOW
In the wake of an election that has once again propelled Donald Trump to power, a palpable sense of urgency grips our nation—not just to act, but to lead. This is more than just a political setback; it signals that now, more than ever, it’s our turn to step up. History teaches us that every generation faces its crucible, a defining challenge that summons its collective spirit to action. Ours is no different, and the battlegrounds are dauntingly clear: climate change, soaring rents, global genocides and a fragile peace are not mere issues but calls to arms.
This moment must be our awakening, a catalyst for intense, action-oriented engagement. Our generation—interconnected, digitally native, and socially conscious—is uniquely equipped to challenge the status quo. We must channel our frustrations into mobilization, turning our online discourse into substantive real-world impacts.
It’s time for more than tweets of frustration or ephemeral protest marches. Why not us? Why shouldn’t we run for office, lead the charge, and make the decisions that steer our lives? We are the architects of new forums for dialogue, crafting platforms where truth outshines misinformation and where diverse voices aren’t just heard but are leading the narrative.
The plan is simple but ambitious: Dive into the fray. Run for office. Take those leadership spots we’ve been told to wait for because our challenges won’t wait. We need to channel our collective anxiety about the future into reimagining American politics, transforming our digital fluency into a tool for broad societal impact.
From advocating for climate resilience to demanding economic reforms, from championing civil rights to promoting global peace—our energy, our innovation, and our relentless spirit are imperative. We must step into the arena, not as spectators but as champions for humanity itself. This isn’t just about participating in democracy; it’s about transforming it.
We will be the ones historians write about—the young leaders who dared to step up when the world seemed stacked against us. Let this be the era where Gen Z doesn’t just inherit democracy but redefines it, driven by a relentless pursuit of justice and equity. Let’s harness this moment with everything we’ve got to forge a future that will not only be remembered for the challenges we faced but for the innovative and bold ways we overcame them.
Some people think the trend of buying vintage clothes is a way to help save the Earth; others think it just makes them look cool.
We go for both.
For decades Santa Cruz has been a capital for buying cool old things, gently used, as they say, but the competition has been better for consumers than for the businesses. Carefully curated vintage clothes are a big draw for downtown and a bunch of other locations around the county, a never-ending flea market, particularly after we have lost the great drive-in flea market that was a mainstay for years.
Fashion writer Morgan Guerra found great treasures downtown, from sweaters to rock band shirts, to boots and hats, masks, statement-making stuff that breaks wearers out of the mass-produced fast-fashion bland landscape.
Our stores are a tourist draw also. Where else besides Haight Ashbury here can you spend a day wandering shop to shop scoring one-of-a-kind treasures? We are to hippie cool what Carmel is to nose-up-in-the-air rich high fashion.
But do we have too much of a good thing? Is the competition killing business for individual stores? And is the seemingly endless construction choking shopping and making downtown a wasteland? Some say so.
Will there be a boom when residences are built and new people are able to do the downtown stroll? One would hope so. See what some of our vintage owners say in our cover story.
Who knew there was such a thing as New Zealand style ice cream? The new owners of Nico’s which just opened downtown with ice cream that blends fruit, are banking on it being a new draw. Read about it in Mark Anderson’s Dining column.
He also covers a special viewing of Food, Inc. 2 and a discussion with co-writer/producer/investigative journalist Eric Schlosser, happening Nov. 23, before a certain food-filled holiday.
This coming year is a big one for anniversaries (Good Times will celebrate its 50th) and the wonderfully collated Comic News has its 40th, defying the odds of a successful print publication. Check out DNA’s story about the great local funny news source.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
SEEING DOUBLE Reflection of the Walton Lighthouse in a puddle, photographed on an iPhone last month. Photograph by Brian Caulfield
GOOD IDEA
Santa Cruz officials stepped up two days after the election in which President-Elect Donald Trump vowed to deport millions of immigrants and refugees, to voice support for local undocumented immigrants and women. “We know this is going to be a very difficult time for our community. We know there’s going to be a lot of fear,” said Santa Cruz County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios. “But we are here to let you know that we will support you. We will do everything in our power to continue to provide every service that we can to our community and continue as we have been in the past.”
GOOD WORK
Cabrillo College has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to implement the Veterans Mental Health Demonstration Project. The two-year grant is one of ten awarded to community colleges statewide for the project term starting November 2024 through November 2026.
“The awarding of this Chancellor’s Office grant allows us to expand veterans mental health services, while creating professional development programs that enable all Cabrillo faculty and staff to participate in supporting our student veterans,” said Matt Wetstein, Cabrillo College president.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.” —Leo Tolstoy
A state of temporary suffering or purification after death in order for souls to be cleansed before reaching heaven. It isn’t hell, but a constant feeling of dread while trying to reach the other—hopefully more beautiful and easier—side.
It’s a state of being all too familiar to Mike Brandon, lead singer and guitar player for the Mystery Lights, a New York via Salinas garage psych band playing the Catalyst Atrium on Wednesday, Nov. 13 with Ron Gallo. They’re currently touring on the September release of their third full-length album of the same name.
For Brandon, purgatory was a period when the band was just going through the motions, saying he “forgot the point” of music and performance as important, life-changing elements in people’s everyday struggle.
“Purgatory has a bigger meaning than what people might think,” he admits. “The Mystery Lights lay dormant for four years and we were kind of lost, not sure of what was next. We were in a purgatory state. Are we going to give in, staying lost, succumbing to the shadow and end? Or are we going to come together, expand our sound and elevate ourselves?”
Thankfully for fans of fuzzy guitar rock everywhere, the five-piece went through what Brandon calls “an interesting purification” of getting back to their roots.
“It’s supposed to be a fun time!” he remembers. “We’re trying to get up there and have a party with our friends in the crowd. When we got back to the basics of connecting with people and inspiring ourselves, it all became fun again.”
This Wednesday will be the first time in two years that the Mystery Lights have played their—original—hometown area and promises to be a show not to miss. The band started in 2004 when co-founding member and lead guitar player Luis Alfonso (“L.A”) Solano saw Brandon practicing at the Salinas Skatepark.
“He watched me do these crazy 360s off a box and not-but-almost landing them,” Brandon says. “He just thought I was a crazy kid and we ended up having mutual friends in common who introduced us.”
It’s a rare thing for a band who started two decades ago to only have three albums out in the wild. However, for the Mystery Lights quality is always better than quantity and Purgatory delivers all of the raw, psychedelic garage energy needed in these post-election times. By pure coincidence—or maybe cosmic design outside of the group’s hands—their albums seem to always be around an election or some major world event.
“The math is crazy,” says Brandon. “The first record [2016’s self-titled] came out when Trump won the first time. The second [2019’s Too Much Tension!] was before Biden won, but during the Trump reign. And now Trump gets elected again! I don’t know why it happens this way.”
The new album shows a band that has finely tuned their sound with their now permanent lineup of Brandon and Solano on guitars, Alex Amini on bass, Lily Rogers on keys/organ and Zach Butler on drums. While the group’s sound draws from massively pivotal bands from the dawn of rock ’n’ roll like the Kinks, the 13th Floor Elevators, Blue Cheer and the Nuggets collections, they also list acts like Television, Ramones and Watsonville punks Los Dryheavers as influences.
The result is a crunchy yet poppy sound straight outta the 1960s with darker, deeper, spiritual and psychological themes about facing one’s demons and the state of society instead of romance and wanting to hold hands. Like the title track with the lyrics “I truly tried my best/to cleanse the sins off my chest/Sometimes, see, it just don’t come out,” or the opening lines to the driving track, “In the Streets” (“He preferred life living out in the streets/He found more freedom livin’ out in the streets”). Then there’s “Trouble” which nails the message home with lines like “I create my pain/Embrace my insanity/For it’s my own/I call it home.”
However, it’s not all dark and gloomy. Songs like “Sorry I Forgot Your Name” have a playful edge to them with a universal, all-too-human theme.
The irony of Purgatory is that it finds the band at their very best in years. They have walked through the fire and come out better for it, ready to spread the message to fellow travelers that things can get better with perseverance, love and a little insanity.
The Mystery Lights play at 8pm on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at the Catalyst Atrium, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Tickets are $24.56. 831-713-5492.
Valencia Elementary School was closed Friday after numerous students were sickened by what is likely norovirus. The school will reopen Tuesday.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District notified parents in an email on Nov. 7.
“The purpose of the school closure is to stop the additional transmission of the virus,” the email states.
Families should keep their children home if they have any of these symptoms, and keep them home until 48 hours after symptoms have ended, Pajaro Valley Unified School District officials said.
According to PVUSD Impact and Resource Development Officer Andrea Carlos Willy, 236 students were absent on Thursday.
In a public alert from the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency (HSA), 33 additional cases of gastrointestinal illness were reported in a workplace setting in late October, with no known connection between the two outbreaks.
There have been no known hospitalizations or deaths.
A school employee who asked not to be identified said that more than 80 students were absent on Wednesday, followed by well over 200 the next day.
The employee expressed concern that the school was not closed on Thursday, and that the employees were not warned the cause of the sickness was norovirus.
In a text message, PVUSD Superintendent Heather Conrtreras said that the district has been in contact with the HSA since Wednesday, and has monitored the situation with that agency’s guidance.
“We always take closing schools very seriously,” Contreras stated. “We also keep the health and safety of our students as a top priority. As we monitored the situation and as the numbers of student absences increased, we made the decision to close the school.”
Contreras added that school and county officials determined on Wednesday that “the number of absences reported for nausea and vomiting didn’t conclusively indicate a school closure, and that the deep cleaning and sanitization of the site that occurred during the night would work to contain and mitigate the spread.”
According to the HSA, viruses such as norovirus are easily transmitted via surfaces contaminated by stool or vomit, or close contact with an infected person. Schools and other places where many people are in close proximity with each other are therefore particularly vulnerable.
“Noroviruses are extremely contagious, since high viral loads are present in both stool and vomit, and only a few viral particles are required to transmit illness,” the HSA stated in a public service announcement.
Even after symptoms resolve, individuals are still highly infectious—especially during the first 48 hours, but up to two weeks after the symptoms resolve.
Treatment should include supportive care with fluids.
Advice from the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency
Practice frequent handwashing with soap and water. Alcohol-based sanitizers are NOT effective against norovirus.
Always wash hands with soap and water • Before and after contact with an ill or suspected ill individual • After using the toilet • Before AND after preparing food • After touching potentially contaminated objects such as doorknobs, counters and keyboards
Use Contact and Standard Precautions when caring for ill or suspected ill individuals. • Stay home if you experience symptoms, and do not return to work until you have been symptom-free for 48 hours. • Clean and disinfect frequently. • Use disinfectants recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency. • Use a 1:10 dilution of bleach to water for surfaces soiled by bodily fluids. • Wash soiled linen in hot water and dry at the hottest setting possible.
The Santa Cruz Boardwalk Giant Dipper has drawn over 60 million thrill-seekers to scream while careening around the roller coaster’s hairpin turns. But more than 65,000 motorists a day know that roller coaster ride pales compared to the high-speed, white-knuckle turns it takes to get to and from Santa Cruz by driving over Highway 17.
On one of the most dangerous highways in the state, the stakes are high for people and even higher for animals. In 2012, Caltrans installed median barriers at a particularly treacherous piece of the road known as Laurel Curve that increased safety for people but made it even more difficult for deer, bobcats, foxes and mountain lions to cross.
Extensive roadkill data showed Laurel Curve to be the deadliest section Highway 17 for wildlife. In three years there were 12 recorded deer-vehicle collisions and four recorded mountain lion collisions, according to the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County.
In December 2022, Caltrans and the Land Trust built a wildlife tunnel under Highway 17 at Laurel Curve. It’s been more than a year since the Highway 17 wildlife crossing was completed, and on Nov. 9 at the Rio Theatre, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County representatives will share the results.
This event will feature ecologists and researchers Tanya Diamond and Ahíga Snyder from Pathways for Wildlife, with an introduction by Chris Wilmers, Ph.D., from the Santa Cruz Puma Project. The event is sold out, but a recording of the presentation, complete with footage of wildlife using the crossing, will be available at landtrustsantacruz.org in December.
Everything That Breathes Needs Three Things
Ahíga Snyder of Pathways for Wildlife says, “It’s a law of nature: if you don’t move, you don’t survive. It’s true for people and it’s true for animals. They are driven to mate, to find food and water, and to find territory.”
Land Trust of Santa Cruz County Conservation Director Bryan Largay agrees and adds, “The canary in the coal mine is the mountain lion; it’s a big animal so there aren’t very many of them. There are only 50 or 60 adult breeding mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains and if they can’t cross Highway 17 to mate, inbreeding can lead to genetic defects.”
Explaining what those might be, Largay says, “Tails can get disjointed and kinked, and they’re more vulnerable to disease and not as effective at surviving. The kinked tail is a classic sign of inbreeding and lack of fitness.”
Largay says that an adult male lion has a territory of about 8,000 acres. “The forest of Nisene Marks would be the territory for one adult male, and the females have a territory of about 4,000 acres, so an area that size might support two female mountain lions and one male.
“One way lions die is being killed by older, bigger lions.” Largay explains. “When a young mountain lion starts to grow up, it must find its own territory because if it stays near where other adult mountain lions are, it’s likely to be attacked and killed.”
Mountain lions, deer, bobcats and foxes must be able to cross Highway 17 to survive, and have all been caught on camera trying to cross. Data from the Land Trust made it clear: a crossing was critical for providing a path for wildlife to safely travel between habitats—and for ensuring driver safety by keeping wildlife away from the highway.
The tunnel at Laurel Curve provides wildlife with a safe way to get to a mating ground across the highway. Research by the Santa Cruz Puma Project’s Wilmers shows extensive use of the area by mountain lions. Wilmers called Laurel Curve “the best opportunity for maintaining puma connectivity across Highway 17 in Santa Cruz County.”
The $12 million allocated for this wildlife crossing tunnel is a drop in the bucket compared to the total economic cost of wildlife-vehicle collisions in California. Over the past five years, vehicle collisions with wildlife have cost Californians an estimated $1 billion (newsweek.com/wildlife and pewtrusts.org ).
Land Trust of Santa Cruz Marketing and Communications Director Vicki Lowell tells me that on Nov. 9, UCSC puma tracker Wilmers will open the event and Land Trust Executive Director Sarah Newkirk will also make opening remarks. Two scientists from Pathways for Wildlife will show videos from the Laurel Curve Highway Tunnel and explain their findings.
Expert ecologists and researchers Tanya Diamond and Ahíga Snyder will share their year-one findings and footage of wildlife using the Highway 17 crossing. They will discuss the work of the Puma Project at the University of California Santa Cruz and Pathways for Wildlife that provided the necessary science.
The Puma Project is a partnership between UC Santa Cruz and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Lowell says, “The Puma Project put collars on mountain lions that collect movement and location data from each animal.”
That research offers insight into how these animals are affected by the humans that increasingly surround them. According to Wilmer, “We played recorded sounds of people talking and sounds of frogs. When mountain lions heard the frogs, they would look up for a second and then continue eating. When they heard a human voice, they would run away. People influence everything these animals do.”
TUNNEL OF LOVE Californians have spent $12 million for a tunnel under Highway 17 to save the lives of threatened animals. Pictured are workers in front of the tunnel. Photo: Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
Why Laurel Curve?
Largay, the Land Trust’s conservation director for 12 years, explains that the leap toward Laurel Curve was motivated by the Puma Project’s data from collared mountain lions. “Animals like to follow topography in the sense of approaching saddles. They’re not going to walk over the top of a mountain if they can walk over the saddle between two mountaintops, where it’s lower. It turns out that both deer and mountain lions really like forest cover.”
Laurel Curve consists of relatively large parcels of forest on either side of the highway, Largay says, and is the least developed area between the city of Scotts Valley and the summit of Highway 17. “The Land Trust protects 190 acres on the west side and 280 acres on the east side of Laurel Curve, for a total of 470 acres—sufficient acreage to create and sustain the wildlife corridor across Laurel Curve.”
Santa Cruz County approved Measure D in 2016, which the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission put on the ballot to fund the underpass. Local construction firm Graniterock built the crossing.
Largay says the primary toolkit for Land Trust Santa Cruz is to purchase land and acquire rights to an easement. “A conservation easement is typically a deed restriction where we purchase the rights to develop the property. At Laurel Curve, all three of the properties adjacent to that project are now owned by others with conservation easements on them.”
Animals love having good vegetation cover, and they also tend to follow trails, Largay says. “One of the cool things the Puma Project did is with all of their radio collars on mountain lions, they were able to track the motion of dozens of animals around the Santa Cruz Mountains over 15 years and then develop powerful statistical models of where they like to go.”
The Santa Cruz Puma Project has provided a map with the home range center of each collared animal tracked in 2017. Go to santacruzpumas.org/puma-tracker and select a mountain lion from the list on the right. Use the time slider above the map to animate the track to see where each puma ranged. The Puma Project says it’s just a rough guide, but it is fascinating to watch where each of these cats travel and migrate from one of our communities to another.
Pumas Don’t Want to Eat Your Pets
People who worry about their dogs or cats being eaten by a 140-pound mountain lion should know that this tunnel makes it less likely that mountain lions will kill their pets. Largay asserts, “It gives pumas a path to good quality habitat where they can eat deer. Chris Wilmers’ data sampled a lot of mountain lion scat, and 98 percent of the DNA in mountain lion scat in our area is deer. They’d much rather eat a deer.”
Director Largay contends that the Santa Cruz Mountains are like an island, and islands are where extinctions happen. “We want to connect the Santa Cruz Mountains to the mountain ranges next door, so that all sorts of different wildlife can move back and forth across the landscape,” he says.
He describes mountain lions as the canary in the coal mine. Because their numbers are so low, they will have genetic problems first. Other species are probably having genetic and habitat problems as well, such as badgers or western pond turtles. Those problems will just show up later.
“The key for all these species is for migration to be easier, so new animals can come into the Santa Cruz Mountains and bring genetic diversity,“ Largay says.
Another project in the works in neighboring San Benito and Monterey counties will open up more avenues for wildlife to leave their mountain island.
“In ecosystems and in genetics, with diversity comes stability and vigor. Caltrans and the Land Trust of Santa Cruz will create a crossing at Highway 101 for wildlife to safely journey between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Gabilan Range, with a new crossing at Rocks Ranch,” Largay says.
GETTING THEIR STEPS IN There are only 50 or 60 adult breeding mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains and if they can’t cross Highway 17 to mate, inbreeding can lead to genetic defects. An adult has a territory of 8,000 acres. Photo: Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
Driving Smarter, Slower
Over one million collisions occur yearly between cars and large wild animals in the U.S., causing approximately 200 human deaths, 26,000 injuries and at least $8 billion in property damage, according to a 2008 Department of Transportation report to Congress.
The Humane Society and the Animal Protection Institute estimate that 1 million animals die on the road every day in the U.S., about twice the number of animals killed by hunters. Largay says, “We’ve had over 800 deer crossings through the wildlife tunnel, and those are deer that aren’t on the highway.”
Slower is safer on Highway 17. I saw a bumper sticker on a car going exactly the speed limit that said, “Yes, I see you behind me. And no, I won’t speed up.”
The Land Trust of Santa Cruz offers these tips on how you can reduce the risk of accidents involving game:
Many animals are on the move at night or at dusk. Be especially careful then.
In addition to deer traffic, poor visibility in autumn increases the risk of accidents. Adjust your speed to the visibility conditions.
Drivers should take the danger sign “Wildlife Crossing” seriously, reduce speed and keep an eye on the edge of the road.
As soon as an animal comes into view, drivers should switch to dipped headlights so that the animals are not blinded.
Many animals travel in groups: if one animal appears, expect more.
Avoid radical evasive maneuvers with your car; crashes happen so fast.
Be safe out there, and in December check out the video footage of wildlife using the new Laurel Curve Highway 17 crossing at landtrustsantacruz.org.
Preliminary results posted Tuesday night by the Election Department showed that Kim De Serpa is ahead of Kristin Brown for the Santa Cruz County Supervisor District 2 seat.
As of 8:50pm, De Serpa has 50.53%% of the vote, compared to Brown, with 48.62%.
De Serpa has served on the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees since 2010.
“I’m so grateful for the amazing support of my community and colleagues,” De Serpa said. “The best part of this campaign was meeting the wonderful people that care so much about our county. I will be an independent voice for District 2.”
De Serpa works as social services manager for the Salinas Valley Health Medical Center.
Brown joined the Capitola City Council in 2016. She served as mayor in 2020, and did so again in 2024, when she terms out.
She is vice president of government relations for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, where she works with jurisdictions on issues such as housing development and transportation.
The pair made it through the March Primary Election, the top two vote-earners in a pool of five challengers to take the seat vacated by Zach Friend.
New Music Works is at it again. The adventurous performances of the 2024-25 season swing into high gear on Nov. 9 with “Three’s Company,” a series of sparkling musical works involving trios.
Armed with a wild diversity of sounds, instruments and styles, the upcoming concert includes a trilogy of bongo drums by NMW veteran Steed Cowart. Trios by violins, trios by sopranos, even a trio that includes sonic contributions by a talented parrot.
From folkloric influences to inventive riffs on world music, this varied program is a perfect introduction for the newcomer to music written by living composers. And the exceptional level of performance will blow away the most savvy listener.
Having been attending New Music Works concerts for many decades, I can safely say that artistic director and guiding maestro Philip Collins has outdone himself in programming that opens wide the portal of transcendent musical experience. Listeners will find themselves experiencing auditory ideas that color outside the lines of expected melodic and harmonic boundaries. Music beyond borders.
Here’s an idea of what to expect from the ensemble of professional musicians performing a sparkling handful of short, musical episodes.
Three soprano soloists with deep roots in regional performance—Sheila Willey, Emily Sinclair and Jen Park—will present Alleluia, Amen, by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer David Lang. In the key of highly unusual, there’s Bird Trio, ‘at my window’ by Oakland composer Wendy Reid.
The composer herself will be on hand to perform on violin, in musical dialogue with recorded birdsong and percussion played by William Winant. The recorded bird collaboration showcases the sonic musings of Reid’s 17-year-old African grey parrot, Lulu.
An extraordinary riff on afterlife odysseys, Karma Passage, will be played on tenor saxophone by its virtuoso composer, Hafez Modirzadeh, a professor of world cultures at San Francisco State’s School of Music. A Grammy nominee and senior Fulbright scholar, Modirzadeh can tear up your preconceptions of how new American music should sound.
A wizard on saxophone, Modirzadeh will be joined by Stan Poplin on double bass and Jason Lewis on drums. Bold, eccentric and searing in its emotional power, this piece is as intense as it is memorable. As with every offering on this program, it’s best experienced live.
From the mind of prolific American composer Augusta Read Thomas, Grammy winner and University of Chicago professor of composition, comes Pilgrim Soul, performed by a trio of unexpected instruments: an English horn and two violins.
Known to be playful in her widely performed concert works, Thomas has been called “a true virtuoso composer” by the New Yorker. A sought-after composer-in-residence at orchestras the world over, Thomas avoids predictable outcomes in her compositions. The work chosen by NMW artistic director Phil Collins for this concert will be performed by violinists Shannon D’Antonio and Samantha Bounkeua with Peter Lemberg on English horn.
And yes, there’s more! From Bay Area composer Gabriela Lena Frank—whose fame just keeps growing, most recently due to her 2022 opera El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego—NMW has programmed Four Folksongs for Piano Trio, an interweaving of melodic motifs from Frank’s ancestral Peruvian homeland. The piece will be performed by Bay Area musicians Shannon D’Antonio on violin, Kristin Garbeff on cello and Jesse McMilin on piano.
Sonic experience to open your mind to the potent pleasures of new music.
New Music Works Concert II: Three’s Company takes place at 7pm on Nov. 9 at Peace United Church of Christ, 900 High St., Santa Cruz. Tickets: $20–$35. newmusicworks.org
This November, keep your secret formula safe and get ready, because everyone’s favorite adorable yellow sponge, genius squirrel, shorts-wearing starfish and more are coming to Cabrillo College’s Crocker Theater for SpongeBob: the Musical, with tunes written by John Legend, David Bowie, Panic! At the Disco and others.
Under the guidance of Cabrillo Stage Artistic Director Andrea Hart, Cabrillo Theater Arts is inviting the Santa Cruz community into the colorful and vibrant world of Bikini Bottom at a time when the world really needs more “unexpected delight.”
She and colleague Skip Epperson, the chair of Cabrillo Theater Arts and resident scenic designer, “thought it would be perfect, for various reasons. It’s a joyful show and we wanted to do something that was joyful and upbeat,” Hart explains. “It has this message of what do you do in the face of catastrophe? Which is such an important message right now and being able to look at it from a lighthearted, playful perspective is refreshing and allows you to reflect on your own response.”
As with the original series, SpongeBob SquarePants, the stage musical also celebrates kindness and friendship in the face of the constant ebb and flow of our relationships, highlighting the struggles of Patrick and SpongeBob as they try to save the town they love.
“The show has a message about being kind and how you treat your friends. There will be some audience participation along the lines of ‘Are you Team Patrick? Or are you Team SpongeBob?’ Patchy the Pirate might get you on your feet for a singalong. These big kids acting like little kids will be a lot of fun,” Hart says.
Admitting that Patrick and SpongeBob are favorites, Hart says, “Patrick is a really lovable character; Tristan Hahn, who is playing him, is super locked in, and the relationship between SpongeBob and Patrick is really adorable. It’s something I wish our society celebrated more. This really close friendship between boys is really sweet and loving.”
In addition to shanty-singing pirates and creative, wild costumes by Maria Crush, Cabrillo’s longtime costume designer, the production will have an elaborate set derived from the minds of Epperson and technical director Marcel Tijoe. There isn’t a missed detail in this fun-packed production.
Affectionately calling them “the best kind of yes men,” Hart explains, “The great thing about Skip and Marcel’s collaboration is that Marcel is a very creative technical director. If you have an idea he will bring you three different options on how that idea might be done. And Skip is a great, collaborative designer who digs into the script to find what the set might need. This show is like playing ‘The Floor is Lava,’ and that playfulness brings in wild, unexpected things the audience won’t expect.”
The community college’s theater arts program provides a space for students to learn about professional theater while taking the fullest advantage of the facilities provided to them, and that commitment does not fall short in this production.
“I think what’s really important about Cabrillo theater arts is that it is providing a middle ground between youth theater and professional theater,” Hart says. “When you come here you are in an amazing space, with fantastic facilities and people who’ve made this their life’s work. The theater arts department here is just really special and every show you see is going to have a level of excellence based on producing the best possible plays and musicals.”
SpongeBob: the Musical will run on the Crocker Theater main stage, Nov. 8–24, 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays (except Nov. 15) and 2pm on Sundays, with a 10am student matinee on Nov. 15. Tickets are $10–$26. cabrillovapa.universitytickets.com
As of 11pm on Nov. 5, all but two of the 16 ballot measures put before voters in Santa Cruz County have more “yes” votes. Here are the current stats:
Measure D
Aromas-San Juan Unified School District bond Bond amount: $44 million ($2.7 million annually) Impact on voters: Roughly $55 per $100,000 of assessed valuation
Yes: 80% No: 20%
Measure L
Bonny Doon Elementary School District bond Bond Amount: $456,000 annually Impact on voters: approximately 3 cents per $100 assessed value on properties in the district
Yes: 65.51% No: 34.49%
Measure M
Pajaro Valley Unified School District bond Bond Amount: $315 million ($18.3 million annually) Impact on voters: $60 per $100,000 of assessed valuation
Yes: 54.74% No: 45.26%
Measure N
Live Oak School District Bond Bond amount: $45 million ($3.3 million annually) Impact on voters: $30 per $100,000 of assessed valuation
Yes: 45.6% No: 54.4%
Measure O
Scotts Valley School District Bond Bond amount: $85 million ($5 million annually) Impact on voters: $49 per $100,000 of assessed valuation
Yes: 54.49% No: 45.51%
Measure P
Soquel Union Elementary School District Bond Bond amount: $73 million ($4 million annually) Impact on voters: 3 cents per $100,000 of assessed valuation
Yes: 54.39% No: 45.61%
Measure Q
Santa Cruz County’s Water and Wildlife Protection Parcel Tax Parcel Tax: $ 7.3 million annual revenue Impact on voters: $87 per parcel
Yes: 57.78% No: 42.22%
Measure R
Santa Cruz County Central Fire District Bond Bond amount: $24.5 million ($1.7 million annually) Impact on voters: $17 per $100,000 of assessed valuation
Yes: 56.21% No: 43.79%
Measure S
Scotts Valley Fire Protection District Bond Bond Amount: $24,5 million ($1.7 million annually) Impact on voters: $17 per $100,000 of assessed valuation
Yes: 62.04% No: 37.96%
Measure T
Zayante Fire Protection District Tax Amount to be raised: $440,000 annually Tax amount: $50 for vacant parcels less than five acres, $100 for larger vacant parcels and $290 for residential, commercial and other improved parcels.
Yes: 72.49% No: 27.51%
Measure U
San Lorenzo Valley Water District Fixed Charge What: would repeal all fixed water charges and limit future increases to 2% per calendar year until Jan. 1, 2049
Yes: 34.97% No: 65.03%
Measure V
Watsonville Charter Amendment – Boards and Commissions What: Would allow all Watsonville residents to serve on city boards and commissions, regardless of citizenship status No financial impact.
Yes: 55.62% No: 44.38%
Measure W
What: Would make several changes to Watsonville’s charter, including: • Allow council members to receive employment benefits • Make the Library Board a commission • Let the city hire attorneys to assist the city attorney • Revise the requirements when hiring city managers
Yes: 57.05% No: 42.95%
Measure X
Scotts Valley Business License Tax Estimated annual revenue: $1.1 million Would raise the base rate from $90 to $150 per business.
Yes: 72.92% No: 27.08%
Measure Y
Capitola Sales Tax Estimated revenue: $2.2 million annually What: Would replace the city’s quarter-percent sales tax with a half-percent sales tax.
Yes: 68.99% No: 31.01%
Measure Z
Santa Cruz Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Estimated revenue: $1.3 million annually What: 2 cents per ounce tax on sweetened beverages
“For 12 hours I am the horror story,” exclaims Jack Grisham in his jovial manner.
“I’m the guy knocking someone’s teeth out with a hammer and stuffing them into the floorboards.”
Before anyone calls the cops, it would be good to explain that Grisham—a novelist and singer for the seminal Southern California punk band T.S.O.L.—is talking about the new book he’s writing, a murder story from the killer’s perspective.
Our interview was supposed to be about T.S.O.L. headlining the Blue Lagoon on Nov. 8 with Give You Nothing, Since We Were Young, Mokosos and F.U.X. However, Grisham is a powerhouse of personality who’s able to talk in-depth about his life (“I’m a fucking idiot,” he laughs), political beliefs (America has “never stood accountable for the wrongs we have done”), his alcohol and drug recovery (“I’ve been sober for over 35 years”) and the current state of the punk scene (“I don’t like playing with a lot of these big punk rock bands because they’ve turned into what we fought against”).
For the uninitiated, T.S.O.L.—an acronym which has fluctuated between a couple of different meanings before they settled on “True Sounds of Liberty”—is one of the first Southern California punk bands, formed in Long Beach in 1978. They emerged on the scene with a bang, literally. To acquire their first instruments, the band cased a music shop and then did a smash-and-grab after it closed.
“That’s how we got most of our stuff,” Grisham admits. “Smash-and-grabs, churches and restaurants.”
Their formative self-titled EP came out in 1981, putting the band on the map outside of their hometown. It’s a heavily politically charged five songs about the state of America at that time, anarchism and the looming specter of World War III. Later that year, the band released its debut full-length, Dance With Me, a must-have for any punk record collection. It’s still a huge fan favorite today that blends political messages with dark humor in songs like the title track, “Sounds of Laughter” and “Code Blue.”
“Back then you could borrow from people but you couldn’t be an exact copy,” he says. “Everybody had their own sound, and I enjoyed that.”
Over the years T.S.O.L. went through several lineup changes (with Grisham in and out of the band), broke up twice, and would change their sound to everything from synth rock to hair metal. During that period other members of the band were able to get the rights to the name, one of the very few regrets Grisham carries today (the original members won back the rights in a 1999 legal case).
“I should’ve said ‘no,’” he says of selling the name. “That caused unlimited problems and was such a fucking bummer.”
Today, the band consists of Grisham, original guitarist Ron Emery, original bassist Mike Roche, keyboardist Greg Kuehn and drummer Antonio Val Hernandez.
This year was a big one for Grisham and the band.
He released his sixth book, The Coffee Maker—about a man in recovery who questions the methods—and the band put out their 11th studio album, A-Side Graffiti. True to their anarchist roots, A-Side Graffiti is a mix of original and, surprisingly, cover songs. However, even the covers have a special T.S.O.L. twist. On Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” Grisham sings the chorus as a question, “And I say to myself/Is this a wonderful world?” as he brings up topics of war and the ugliness of humanity.
Then there’s the cover of “1 Thing” by R&B singer Amerie.
“I loved the beat of the song! And then I was listening and thought, ‘What if she was singing to a government instead of a boyfriend?’”
Now 63 years old, Grisham says the band will no longer do lengthy tours, partly because original bassist Mike Roche was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease earlier this year (Brandon Reza has stepped up to fill in). However, that won’t stop them from doing what they want, like they’ve always done. In fact, T.S.O.L. already has their first tour of China planned for next year.
“I’ve gone all over the world and met so many wonderful people,” he says. “I don’t want to use the same fucking tired cliche, but people aren’t the problem, the government is.”
T.S.O.L plays at 8pm on Nov. 8 at the Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-423-7117. $25/adv, $35/door.
The Santa Cruz Boardwalk Giant Dipper has drawn over 60 million thrill-seekers to scream while careening around the roller coaster’s hairpin turns. But more than 65,000 motorists a day know that roller coaster ride pales compared to the high-speed, white-knuckle turns it takes to get to and from Santa Cruz by driving over Highway 17.
On one of the most...
Everyone’s favorite adorable yellow sponge...shorts-wearing starfish and more are coming to Cabrillo College’s Crocker Theater for SpongeBob: the Musical
T.S.O.L. is one of the first Southern California punk bands... To acquire their first instruments, the band cased a music shop and then did a smash-and-grab
