Under his Quinta Cruz label, Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard owner Jeff Emery has made a winner: the 2019 Souzão ($24) from San Antonio Valley is a brut sparkling wine that is perfect for any festive occasion, or just because you love a delicious drop of bubbly.
“The wines of our sister brand, Quinta Cruz, are made from grape varieties that originated in Spain and Portugal,” the winemaker says. Souzão is a variety that originated in Portugal.
This gorgeous sparkling wine has “aromas and flavors like nothing you have ever had in a red wine before,” Emery says. “Very deep berries, earth, tar, anise, floral and other subtle elements.”
Emery has several decades under his belt as an expert winemaker, and it shows in this unusual dry crimson-hued sparkling wine. Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard, 334 Ingalls St., Santa Cruz, 831-426-6209, santacruzmountainvineyard.com.
Problem-Solving Products
Stain Out is a red wine stain remover made by the Party Foul company. Spilled some Merlot on your carpet? Worry not! “Say goodbye to the panic that follows a party foul and hello to effortless clean-ups with Wine Stain Out,” says the company. Stain Out also works on ink, blood, coffee and other beverage stains. And Party Foul stands out for its commitment to sustainability. The small-size Stain Out is $8.99 and would make a great little gift. For a full range of products, including for pet odors and stains, visit partyfoulsealer.com.
Bevee’s Six-Drink and Twelve-Drink Carriers make it easy to carry multiple drinks at once—hot or cold—without struggling and juggling. Simply carry them out with one hand in a Bevee. The Bevee comes with a sturdy handle and folds for easy storage. Visit bevee.com for more info.
Some people drive by the Watsonville Wetlands and see a big useless swamp. Others see something that could be drained and replaced with giant Miami Beach-style condos. And you can be sure others see a place that could be drilled, baby, drilled for fuel.
But groups of heroic locals see a piece of nature and history that must be saved, despite a climate that seems to favor short-term profits over long-term wildlife sanctuary.
The Pajaro River, which flows 100 miles from Pinnacles National Park, to the Pacific Ocean through Watsonville, has been designated as the most endangered river in the U.S. because of pollution, problems with the levees, and neglect.
The things that aren’t obvious when you travel past it are that wetlands are the nursery of wildlife, Richard Stockton and Julie Flannery explain in their important cover story. “One-third of all bird species depend on wetlands,” says Land Trust Santa Cruz County Director Bryan Largay. “Wetlands are where all the amphibians go to lay their eggs. The frogs and salamanders will lay their eggs there. The wetlands are where biodiversity happens. We think of them as a nursery for life. They’re the cafeteria and snack bar.”
We should thank our good fortune that people who care about the environment live here and spend their time fighting the good fight to save things too many people overlook.
And not just overlook: there is a national proposal to stop funding projects that save and study wildlife in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which despite his claims otherwise, the incoming president has shown he is partial to.
And can environmentalists and the farmers who grow crops along the river get along? Read this story to see the answer.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
MOONSCAPE Taken Dec. 14 in Capitola. Photograph by Julie Bitnoff
GOOD IDEA
United States Representative Jimmy Panetta praised the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. This action follows Panetta’s letter demanding the Biden Administration take action to protect this iconic species whose remarkable migration and cultural significance are at risk due to environmental pressures. Panetta has been an outspoken leader on monarch conservation, passing legislation to support pollinator-focused habitat restoration and continuing to lead bicameral legislation to expand monarch preservation and protection.
GOOD WORK
The “Staging Area” at Año Nuevo State Park has been renovated to improve the visitor experience and the new space opened Dec. 15, in time for the start of Guided Elephant Seal Tours.
The more than $500,000 project provides park visitors with a greater area to shelter from inclement weather and allows for larger interpretive tours and talks. Coastside State Parks Association and Año Nuevo volunteer docents began a fundraising campaign in 2018 to improve the Staging Area. Fires and COVID slowed progress, but construction started in June of this year.
“The Coastside Board of Directors is pleased that the project is being completed this week, meaning we will be ready for the annual breeding season as planned,” said Coastside Treasurer Janet Oulton.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”
A three-generation-and-counting family business with a prominent role in the community, Freedom Meat Locker was founded in 1969 by Sarah Lewis’ grandfather. She started working there as a 9-year-old, passing out food samples every Saturday until she was 21. After doing medical assisting for several years, health issues inspired a career change and she went back to work for the family, learning the ropes of the business from her mom and dad. Four years ago, she asked for an opportunity to prove herself as general manager. “I crushed it, and I’m not holding my breath anymore,” she says.
Freedom Meat Locker is a specialty retail butcher shop with a deli featuring “choose-your-own-adventure” handcrafted sandwiches. Her fave is the spicy mesquite-marinated tri-tip with pepper jack cheese, mayo and grilled onions. Others include the turkey/bacon/avocado and barbecue-glazed slow-smoked brisket (all sandwiches can also be made into a salad). Wildly popular French fries and onion rings stand out, as well as macaroni and potato salads. For dessert they feature lemon bars, brownies, cheesecake and pie. Food can be enjoyed amidst picnic-style dining with a chill farmhouse feel.
Tell me the business’s origin story.
SARAH LEWIS: My father, Howard Jr., started cutting meats with my grandpa at age 8 while standing on a milk carton. Inspired to open his own butcher shop, my grandpa and grandma started this place and worked so hard to make it successful. Then when my parents took over, they continued this hard-working legacy, often putting newspaper over the windows at night and working until the wee hours of the morning. A major family value of ours is hard work and earned success.
Describe your commitment to community.
It’s something we are proud of and take very seriously. We make a concerted effort to support fairs and many other local events, contributing especially to the youth because they are our future. I grew up in 4H going to many of these same community events that we now support, and it is our honor to give back.
The Dalai Lama gets it. He believes all humans deserve happiness. He cultivates warm-heartedness. He advocates for forgiveness, tolerance and self-discipline.
In other words, you’re not going to catch me disagreeing with His Holiness much.
But he did say, “Happiness is not something ready made.”
And I have evidence to the contrary, courtesy of a Watsonville icon.
Jalisco Mexican Cuisine (618 Main St., Watsonville) enjoys plenty to recommend it—including classic especialidades de casa, high-value combos and a historic Coast Counties Gas & Electric building that was built in 1931—but the most remarkable element is its ready-made happiness.
Jalisco’s happy hour(s) stretches 3-7pm weekdays, plus every time there’s an NFL game on, which translates to Sundays and extended time on Mondays and Thursdays (and all the other days the league is doing holiday games these days).
The bargains transport me to a bygone era of real-deal happy hours: The solid house margaritas, salty dogs, Cuba libres and screwdrivers are $5. Chicken or carne asada nachos run $10, bacon-wrapped jalapeños $8, flautas $7, sliders and fries $6 and hot dogs $5.
Tell me a better happy hour around Santa Cruz County via @MontereyMCA on IG and I’ll buy.
The lunch specials merit a mention too: Ten options, from shrimp enchilada-relleno combos to wet burritos, start at $11.95.
Bonus tasty news from another Mexican food favorite in Watsonville: El Frijolito (11 Alexander St, #B) emerged from two years worth of renovations to reopen last month, equipped with a larger kitchen, double-sized dining room and ambitions on an expanded menu. Like Jalisco, this 39-year-old spot also plays the hits, with popular chile rellenos, camarones a la diabla and formidable burritos, plus tacos, tortas and more. As one staffer told me, “un poquito de todo.” She also predicted Frijolito’s locally famous “Hole in the Wall” takeout window will leap back to life in January. Hours are 10am–8pm daily, until 7pm Sundays. @el_frijolito831 on Instagram.
CLOSING NOTES
La Bahia Hotel & Spa (215 Beach St.), geo-located right next to the Beach Boardwalk and across from the Main Beach sand, aims to open this summer, and is bringing a motherlode of culinary intrigue along with it: Its four-sided flavor equation includes a live music-bolstered bar and grill (Low Tide), a Pacific Rim inspired upscale restaurant (High Tide), a pool bar (Plunge) and a Champagne bar (Pearl), labahiahotel.com…Bummer alert: Flower Bar (912 River St., Santa Cruz), the downtown café–flower shop hybrid, closed abruptly earlier this month, after a three-and-a-half-year run peddling floral arrangements, high-end chocolates and an espresso bar with pastries, sweets and sandwiches…Monterey Bay Farmers Markets has developed a holiday gift guide to maximize your Santa game with items like farmstead cheeses, holiday wreaths, cold-pressed walnut oil and fresh-baked pies at Aptos Farmers Market (Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive) 8am-noon Saturdays, montereybayfarmers.org/holiday-guide…Pebble Beach Food & Wine (April 10–13, 2025) has announced its slate of stars, somms, lunches, dinners, grand pavilions, panels and more, with Giada De Laurentiis, Jonathan Waxman Nancy Silverton and Alice Waters among the 135 chefs participating across 40 events, pebblebeachfoodandwine.com…“Food is art, and food is love,” Mark Bittman once said. “And we should show love and appreciation for those who cook it by eating it with relish.”
If you worked eight hours per day, seven days a week, it would take you 300 years to count to the number one billion. I don’t recommend you try that. I also discourage you from pursuing any other trivial tasks that have zero power to advance your long-term dreams. In a similar spirit, I will ask you to phase out minor longings that distract you from your major longings. Please, Aries, I also beg you to shed frivolous obsessions that waste energy you should instead devote to passionate fascinations. The counsel I’m offering here is always applicable, of course, but you especially need to heed it in the coming months.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
In 1951, minister and author Norman Vincent Peale was working on a new book. As he wrote, he would regularly read passages to his wife, Ruth. She liked it a lot, but he was far less confident in its worth. After a while, he got so discouraged he threw the manuscript in the trash. Unbeknownst to him, Ruth retrieved it and stealthily showed it to her husband’s publisher, who loved it. The book went on to sell five million copies. Its title? The Power of Positive Thinking. I hope that in 2025, you will benefit from at least one equivalent to Ruth in your life, Taurus. Two or three would be even better. You need big boosters and fervent supporters. If you don’t have any, go round them up.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
I love how colorfully the creek next to my house expresses itself. As high tide approaches, it flows south. When low tide is on its way, it flows north. The variety of its colors is infinite, with every shade and blend of green, gray, blue and brown. It’s never the same shape. Its curves and width are constantly shifting. Among the birds that enhance its beauty are mallards, sandpipers, herons, grebes, egrets and cormorants. This magnificent body of water has been a fascinating and delightful teacher for me. One of my wishes for you in 2025, Gemini, is that you will commune regularly with equally inspiring phenomena. I also predict you will do just that. Extra beauty should be on your agenda!
CANCER June 21-July 22
Just 81 billionaires have commandeered half of the world’s wealth. Even worse, those greedy hoarders are usually taxed the least. That’s hard to believe! How is it even possible that such a travesty has come to pass? I also wonder if many of us non-billionaires have milder versions of these proclivities. Are there a few parts of me that get most of the goodies that my life provides, while other parts of me get scant attention and nourishment? The answer is yes. For example, the part of me that loves to be a creative artist receives much of my enthusiasm, while the part of me that enjoys socializing gets little juice. How about you, Cancerian? I suggest you explore this theme in the coming weeks and months. Take steps to achieve greater parity between the parts of you that get all they need and the parts of you that don’t.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar theorizes that most of us have limits to our social connections. Typically, our closest circle includes five loved ones. We may also have 15 good friends, 50 fond allies, 150 meaningful contacts and 1500 people we know. If you are interested in expanding any of these spheres, Leo, the coming months will be an excellent time to do so. In addition, or as an alternative, you might also choose to focus on deepening the relationships you have with existing companions and confederates.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century. It was written by a Virgo, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her story about the enslavement of African Americans in the US was not only popular. It awakened many people to the intimate horrors of the calamity—and ultimately played a key role in energizing the abolitionist movement. I believe you are potentially capable of achieving your own version of that dual success in the coming months. You could generate accomplishments that are personally gratifying even as they perform a good service for the world.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will be teased with an abundance of invitations to grow in 2025. You will be encouraged to add to your current skills and expertise. You will be nudged to expand your understanding of what exactly you are doing here on planet Earth. That’s not all, Libra! You will be pushed to dissolve shrunken expectations, transcend limitations and learn many new lessons. Here’s my question: Will you respond with full heart and open mind to all these possibilities? Or will you sometimes neglect and avoid them? I dare you to embrace every challenge that interests you.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Scorpio-born Rudolf Karel was a 20th-century Czech composer who created 17 major works, including symphonies and operas. His work was interrupted when Nazi Germany invaded and occupied his homeland. He joined the Czech resistance, but was eventually arrested and confined to Pankrác Prison. There he managed to compose a fairy-tale opera, Three Hairs of the Wise Old Man. No musical instruments were available in jail, of course, so he worked entirely in his imagination and wrote down the score using toilet paper and charcoal. I firmly believe you will not be incarcerated like Karel in the coming months, Scorpio. But you may have to be extra resourceful and resilient as you find ways to carry out your best work. I have faith that you can do it!
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
What is the perfect gift I could offer you this holiday season? I have decided on a large square black box with nothing inside. There would be a gold ribbon around it bearing the words “The Fruitful Treasure of Pregnant Emptiness.” With this mysterious blessing, I would be fondly urging you to purge your soul of expectations and assumptions as you cruise into 2025. I would be giving you the message, “May you nurture a freewheeling voracity for novel adventures and fresh experiences.”
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
One of my paramount wishes for you in 2025 is this: You will deepen your devotion to taking good care of yourself. You will study and learn more about the sweet secrets to keeping yourself in prime mental and physical health. I’m not suggesting you have been remiss about this sacred work in the past. But I am saying that this will be a favorable time to boost your knowledge to new heights about what precisely keeps your body and emotions in top shape. The creative repertoire of self-care that you cultivate in the coming months will serve you well for the rest of your long life.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
To fulfill your life mission, to do what you came here to earth to do, you must carry out many tasks. One of the most important is to offer your love with hearty ingenuity. What are the best ways to do that? Where should you direct your generous care and compassion? And which recipients of your blessings are likely to reciprocate in ways that are meaningful to you? While Jupiter is cruising through Gemini, as it is now and until June 2025, life will send you rich and useful answers to these questions. Be alert!
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
Mysteries of the past will be extra responsive to your investigations in 2025. Persistent riddles from your life’s earlier years may be solvable. I encourage you to be aggressive in collecting previously inaccessible legacies. Track down missing heirlooms and family secrets. Just assume that ancestors and dead relatives have more to offer you than ever before. If you have been curious about your genealogy, the coming months will be a good time to explore it. I wish you happy hunting as you search for the blessings of yesteryear—and figure out how to use them in the present.
The Nutcracker, a longstanding holiday tradition beloved for the beauty and familiarity of Tchaikovsky’s music and Petipa’s choreography, dates back to the 1890s, when it was first performed in St. Petersburg.
This weekend brings two Nutcrackers to local stages. Santa Cruz Dance Theater, under the direction of Conrad and Melanie Useldinger, promises splendor in The Nutcracker at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. And Santa Cruz City Ballet, in its 15th year at Cabrillo College’s Crocker Theater, conjures up The Nutcracker: Experience The Magic under the direction of Vicki Bergland and Shannon Chipman.
Santa Cruz Dance Theater Artistic Director Conrad Useldinger feels a powerful sense of community with his work at Santa Cruz Dance Theater, a new dance company centered around “bringing world-class contemporary and classical dance to Santa Cruz.” Useldinger’s goals this year and beyond are to wow the audience with splendor, skill and community.
“We go over the top with tech. In some moments, our Nutcracker feels more like a rock concert or a light show,” Useldinger exults. Part of his excitement is due to Santa Cruz Dance Theater bringing in top-level dancers, including Lucien Postlewaite, principal dancer at Pacific Northwest Ballet, and independent dancers from San Jose, San Francisco, Chico, Denver and New York City. The show also features student dancers and community members, such as Vice Mayor Renee Golder and City Councilwoman Sonja Brunner, who make guest appearances in the party scene and take part in the Nutcracker’s legacy.
“Live performance is not a given. It takes stewardship and fostering. Doing everything you can to support live performance makes a huge difference,” says Useldinger, who is also the artistic director of Agape Dance.
Santa Cruz Dance Theater’s The Nutcracker runs Dec. 21–22 at 1 and 4:30pm at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, 307 Church St., Santa Cruz. Tickets: $20.50-$70.50. Visit SantaCruzDanceTheater.org.
New Touches
Shannon Chipman, artistic director of Santa Cruz City Ballet, and veteran ballet teacher Vicki Bergland have co-directed Nutcracker: Experience the Magic since 2009. But their work together began in 1988, when Chipman was a teenager, playing the Snow Queen in the first Nutcracker at Cabrillo College, under the direction of Gene Dunphy with Bergeland as assistant director. After leaving Santa Cruz and attending the Juilliard School in NYC in 1990, Chipman reunited with Bergland and the duo have been training the next generation of local dancers at the International Academy of Dance, the official school of Santa Cruz City Ballet since 2006.
“The magic grows with each production. We delight in watching dancers grow up performing in the Nutcracker from tiny gingersnaps to solo roles. It is amazing to see the whole community working together, even parents rehearsing the party scene with their kids, and helping backstage in so many ways with the production,” Chipman says.
Something Santa Cruz City Ballet hopes to accomplish each year is to bring an entertaining, fresh take on Nutcracker while preserving the classical tradition with more than 100 local dancers and guest artists from the Bay Area and beyond. “This year audiences can enjoy a swing beat ‘Green Tea’ remix of Tchaikovsky’s music, along with new choreography and costumes, and colorful ‘Lion’ dancers from Chinatown. No two years are the same,” Chipman says.
The Nutcracker: Experience The Magic runs Dec. 21–22 at 1 and 4:30pm at Cabrillo College’s Crocker Theater, 6500 Lower Perimeter Road, Aptos. Tickets: $51–$61. cabrillovapa.universitytickets.com.
At least 4-5 people were injured in a what witnesses described as a tornado in downtown Scotts Valley this afternoon, according to fire officials.
Cpt. Dennis Petteys, of the Scotts Valley Fire Protection District said around 15-20 cars were damaged, though he added he couldn’t say if afternoon extreme weather event was technically a tornado or not.
Elie Colby, 14, of Ben Lomond, was studying for finals in Starbucks with her friends when the funnel cloud rolled through.
CLEANUP – A tow truck works to right an SUV as first responders check to see if anyone else was injured. (Drew Penner / Press Banner)
“The door ripped open,” she said. “We didn’t understand what was happening.”
Evelyn Carter, a 14-year-old from Felton—who’d been deep into her biology review—said one of the doors was torn from its hinges.
STUDY SESSION INTERRUPTED – (L-R) Elie Colby, Braden Ramsey and Evelyn Carter were preparing for finals at Starbucks when the funnel cloud appeared in Scotts Valley. They said it was unclear what was happening.
“They told us to leave,” she said. “We all walked outside and the sun came out—which was weird.”
That’s when they saw the chaos of overturned vehicles and first responders arriving to care for the casualties.
Braden Ramsey, another Felton 14-year-old, said the whole thing was a bit crazy.
“It was just surprising,” he said.
Chris Wakeland, the Scotts Valley McDonald’s store manager on duty at the time, said the incident happened around 1:45pm.
“I saw trees flying through the air…not just little ones,” he said, adding the ground began shaking. “It looked like it was probably circling around our store.”
Wakeland told customers to remain inside. Some held the doors closed.
“I’ve never been in a tornado,” he said. “I never expected one to be happening in Scotts Valley.”
Hard to think about this town without his omnipresence, the inimitable Bruce Bratton, who left us just days ago. Santa Cruz fixture and perennial gadfly Bratton was hired and fired by every publication in town more than once.
At his death, six months after his 90th birthday, the tireless opinionator was either loved or hated by exactly everyone in town. Having been through thick and thicker with Bruce for almost 40 years, I fall into the category of affectionate friend.
Bruce adored opera, especially if he could see it for free. He nurtured and educated my own love of the operas of Richard Wagner. If I squint I can still see him holding forth from his well-worn bench in front of the Octagon, back when it was Lulu Carpenter’s. He would trade in fresh news, and even fresher gossip. All the while appearing to do no harm and giving passers by the full wattage of his off-kilter smile.
Bruce loved Santa Cruz, his adopted home after retiring from a broadcast career in Los Angeles and then San Francisco. Bohemian and yet somehow LA by way of Swanton Road, he and another beloved guy-about-town, John Tuck, hung out with each other for decades. Friday night happy hour at the Catalyst was one of their arenas for tall tales, verbal sparring and freestyle flirtation. Bruce was an original when it came to the ladies. Sly and sweet, his unexpected pick-up line was, “Would you like to take a walk with me?”
With his easy smile and unassuming dress code, Bratton was approachable and generous with his time. And with his opinions, highly sharpened and always available. Those oft ascerbic perspectives, added to his tendency to wander immediately off-topic in his perennial newspaper column, earned him the wrath of readers and editors alike. Bruce flattered himself that his writing style resembled the three-dot journalist Herb Caen. A little of this, a little of that, liberally laced with progressive politics and film reviews that rarely exceeded one sentence. That writing “style” gave ulcers to editors and journalists alike.
He pissed off 20 people before he’d finished his first cup of coffee: such taboo issues as the development of Lighthouse Point, the Town Clock, correcting the name of London Nelson Center, complaining about Girl Scout Cookies, fighting with GoodTimes founder Jay Shore, and insisting that Koyaanisqatsi was the greatest film ever made. And of course his laidback alliance with the Goodtime Washboard 3.
By adding film reviews to his newspaper pieces, and of course his ubiquitous radio shows, Bruce got into every theatrical event (he adored Shakespeare Santa Cruz) and film screening (the Nickelodeon was his second home) for free. He adored the movies, even though his every observation earned him the scorn of serious reviewers like Lisa Jensen of original Good Times fame, and Michael Gant (and myself) of the various Metro newspapers flourishing in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and later.
Bruce was a gifted interviewer and hosted everyone with talent, wit or just plain incendiary opinions in his various on-air gigs. He knew his way around a radio studio, most recently at his weekly shows up at KZSC. And before that a long career with KGO and KCBS.
May his rumpled joie de vivre continue to play washboard with the great jugband in the sky. You were an original, dear Bruce, and you will be missed by those of us who remember you in your naughty heyday. You helped make Santa Cruz what it is today—distinct, vibrant, and full of politically charged salons.
There’s a little pain in Santa Cruz hearts for longtime Santa Cruz media icon and commentator Bruce Bratton, who passed away this week.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, Bruce Bratton was not a Santa Cruzan. He was the Santa Cruzan.
As longtime event promoter Sleepy John Sandidge puts it, “He was a curmudgeon, a historian, one of our leading characters in town, and so important to the history of Santa Cruz.”
If you are from Santa Cruz, you’ve been influenced by Bruce Bratton. His byline appeared in virtually every newspaper in Santa Cruz—often in the Good Times—and his voice was regularly heard on every community radio station on the central coast.
One of his longtime colleagues—former Good Times editor Steve Palopoli—described Bratton as “an unstoppable force. As his editor on and off for years, we butted heads plenty of times and could drive each other crazy, but I always knew he cared deeply about Santa Cruz.
ºIt didn’t matter where he was writing at any given time, his Bruce Bratton-ness was a constant that both shaped and challenged how the community saw itself,” Palopoli said. “There won’t be another one like him.”
In the ’60s, Bratton was a founding member of the vaudeville band Goodtime Washboard Three. He played the washtub bass. I interviewed Bratton last May and asked him about his band.
“We got a record deal with Fantasy Records, did several singles and ended up on Bing Crosby’s TV show with Louis Armstrong,” Bratton said.
“We knew Bing from the Bohemian Club. We played the Hungry Eye, the Purple Onion.” he recalled. “We played with people like Woody Allen, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce and Tom Lehrer. When I moved to Santa Cruz we played at the Bookshop Santa Cruz at their yearly birthday party for thirty years.”
Bratton was born in Buffalo, New York. The Bratton family moved to California when Bruce was 18 years old. He trained German shepherds for two years in the Army’s K-9 Corps, then attended UC Berkeley, majoring in communications and public policy. At Berkeley, he started working in radio at KPFA, wrote for the Daily Californian, and reviewed the first Monterey Jazz Festival.
After finishing college, Bratton was a science illustrator at the Biochemistry Virus Lab and is credited with doing some of the first illustrations of RNA and DNA chains. He married and had two daughters, Hillary and Jennifer. He lived in Davenport and Corralitos and finally in Arbor Cove, according to the community’s website.
He wrote columns for Santa Cruz Magazine, The News and The Express. During his last tenure with Good Times, he had a “major disagreement about spelling” with the editor, according to Coast News.
In addition to his written work, Bratton hosted Universal Grapevine, a weekly radio program on KZSC 88.1 FM—a show that reflected his deep engagement with the Santa Cruz community. He was a vocal advocate on Santa Cruz issues, including land-use battles and cultural initiatives. He was also on the KZSC morning show Bushwackers as a film critic.
The man spoke his mind and would not water it down; he would inspire people or rile them. His columns could be about any topic, from fluoride to Girl Scout cookies—“because I am so interested in so many things.” It could be local history, politics, performing arts, cinema, and community life. For more than 48 years, he penned weekly opinion columns featuring historical photographs of the area and has been a regular contributor to all the local papers, including the Santa Cruz Sentinel and Good Times.
Bratton Online was the last incarnation of his weekly opinion columns. For years I read his three-to-five-line critical reviews of films to determine what movie to watch. What you see on Bratton Online is what you will see in the film.
Bruce Bratton helped form the ’60s ethos of Santa Cruz and continued to be key in the evolution of the Santa Cruz mentality and sensibility. There’s never been anyone like him,. We’re gonna miss him. Farewell, Bruce.
Nothing really compares to a bike ride along the Santa Cruz coast, wind in your hair, breathing the sea mist, free from the jammed highway with its air and noise pollution. Locals and visitors alike can agree on at least one thing: Santa Cruz County has incredibly diverse scenery, and there’s nothing quite as exhilarating as seeing it under your own pedal power.
Beyond the scenery, there are those of us just looking to get around without a car. Whether to avoid traffic, work those leg muscles or as primary transportation, it helps that so much of the county is easily navigable by bicycle.
The Good Times charitable initiative Santa Cruz Gives has identified two local organizations that look to introduce more people to this healthy mode of transport by advocating bicycle ownership and building a cycling habit: Community Bike Collective and the Bike Church are both on the 2024 list of grant recipients.
Breaking Down Barriers
Watsonville-based Community Bike Collective is a 501(c)3 non-profit that provides equipment, coaching and access to trails to underserved youth in Santa Cruz County. By partnering with the Housing Authority of Santa Cruz County, Monarch Services, Watsonville Youth Center and other nonprofits, CBC provides refurbished bikes to low-income residents and hosts community rides that provide essential mountain bike skills.
“We want to break down barriers to riding bikes by providing equipment, coaching and access to trails,” says Alex Ponick, CBC President. The collective aims for a positive bike experience by offering youth a progression of coordinated cycling skills with opportunities to earn badges, cycling gear and even a bike as they complete designated CBC Pathway levels.
“Our goal is to move youth from basic bike handling skills to engaging them in a lifelong activity that boosts physical and mental health, reinforces valuable life skills and builds community,” Ponick says. Healthy snacks are provided on the trips as well.
Explaining how the collective will use their Santa Cruz Gives funding, Ponick says, “Two of our largest needs are a new van and a new trailer to haul our bikes around.”
To date, CBC has given away over 400 bikes, according to Ponick. On average, Ponick says it costs just under $20 a bike to refurbish with parts such as tubes, tires, brake cables and other supplies. “We have a bunch of volunteer mechanics who help and members of the community who donate their used bikes, and parts as well.”
This is the second year the CBC has participated in Santa Cruz Gives.
Formed more than a decade ago, the CBC (formerly Trips for Kids) started with Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz. Ponick has been with the organization for eight years. An avid cyclist, he and his two daughters ride bikes to work and school every day. “I’m a transportation planner for Metro, so getting more people on bikes and out of their cars not only does the individual good in terms of health but it also benefits the environment,” he says. Community Bike Collective Is located at 345 Harvest Drive, Watsonville. For a form to request a bicycle, donate a bike or book a ride, visit communitybikecollective.org.
No Need to Fix What Ain’t Broke
Owning a bicycle is a substantial responsibility, one that the Bike Church doesn’t take lightly. For nearly three decades, the Bike Church has been committed to equipping people of all walks and abilities with a bicycle and basic bike maintenance skills, and selling solid, working bikes both new and used, based on a sliding scale.
Bike Church is open five days a week for repairs, bike education and monthly volunteer programs. The shop offers no-cost or low-cost bikes, along with ready-to-ride and “as-is” options. Learn-to-repair workshops allow use of the Bike Church’s tools with help from knowledgeable mechanics.
TAKE ME TO BIKE CHURCH Volunteers equip people of all abilities with bicycles and basic maintenance skills at Bike Church. PHOTO: Kristen McLaughlin
“Transportation is basically a human need to survive in the world,” says Niko Hodgson, collective member and mechanic. “Bikes are more accessible than cars no matter what your experience or socioeconomic status.”
On a recent Sunday afternoon, I showed up at Bike Church with my GT all-terrain mountain bike with a broken chain, and no one laughed at my 30-year-old ride. They showed me how to use a link tool to add a new master link, two-and-a-half other links and reset the limit screw. They charged me $1.11 for parts, and the rest was a donation for labor. I was back in the saddle in no time.
From tune-ups to clunky shifters to just pumping air into tires, “We want to empower people,” Hodgson said. “We will meet you at your mechanic ability and socioeconomic status.”
“For such a radicalist enclave, it’s one of the last bastions of democracy,” says Jeremiah, a longtime bike builder and volunteer. “I think there’s a need for it now more than any other time in its existence.”
The shop’s dedication to sustainability is evidenced by its recycling of bike parts, and by using both new and used bike supplies. “This is a place to learn about bikes and grow as a community,” Hodgson says. “We can help people build an entire bike from the ground up.”
Santa Cruz Gives grant funding will expand Bike Church education programs, build out the volunteer program and establish a safety net for its inevitable relocation due to downtown’s housing development(s) and a push for rezoning. “If that happens, we would have 60 days to relocate,” Hodgson says.
The Bike Church is part of the Hub for Sustainable Living, a Section 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that also includes Sub Rosa Book Store, the Fabrica and Tenants Sanctuary.
Bike Church is located at 703 Pacific Ave., open to the public Wednesdays to Mondays, noon-5pm and Tuesdays 5-8pm for women, trans and femme (WTF) identifying people “because biking can be a very bro-y culture,” Hodgson says. Bike Church also dispenses NarCan, period products and free fentanyl test strips. Call 831-425-2453.
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Cpt. Dennis Petteys, of the Scotts Valley Fire Protection District said around 15-20 cars were damaged, though he added he couldn’t say if afternoon extreme weather event was technically a tornado or not.
Elie Colby, 14, of...
