Although we publish a special issue for people over 50 later in the month (along with one for students a couple of months later), some of the biggest stories in this issue involve age.
Don’t miss Josué Monroy’s account of the aging of the county’s population. A couple of numbers stand out. People over 65 now account for 17.5% of the population, while those 25-54, who are counted as the biggest earners and spenders, make up only 12%.
That’s something to shake your head at, given the history of a community filled with surfers, artists and students that used to skew so young. And the fact that the cost of housing is so high younger people have to leave to live is changing the future right before our eyes.
There’s also a widening gap, and not more than a little ageism, between the young and old. Take a look at John Koenig’s Street Talk column, where no one has anything good to say about the age of our two political candidates. There was a time when age represented wisdom, but not so much anymore, based on the answers here.
There was some good news this week from a person of age (Can we use that expression, like we do “of color”?)
Music lover Mark Chambers-Bray has donated $1 million to the Santa Cruz Symphony in honor of his deceased partner, Roy Chambers-Bray. It’s the largest donation in the organization’s 67-year history and Chambers-Bray has promised even more to be left in his will. The generosity and love for this community he’s shown brings a tear to my eye, as does that of Rowland Rebele, whose family continues to support the arts after his death at 92.
When you see how some rich people spend their money on yachts, vacation islands, trips to Mars, you really have to salute those who choose to help their communities here on Earth.
Speaking of culture, which we have so much of here, and far more than in much larger cities, Santa Cruz Shakespeare is keeping the Bard alive for all ages to get a taste of the renowned playwright whose work has continued to thrill for four centuries.
Christina Waters’ piece shows how directors keep the spirit alive after all this time. And his plays are older than Biden or Trump.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
SMOOTH SAILING Here is a photo I took of the Santa Cruz Harbor Wednesday night race. Photograph by Susan Japinga.
GOOD IDEA
The California Public Utilities Commission has awarded $45 million to three regional internet service providers: Cruzio, Surfnet Communications and LCB Communications.
Over half of the nearly $73 million has been awarded to the Central Coast region to enhance broadband infrastructure and address critical issues in the digital divide in unserved and underserved rural and low-income communities.
Cruzio Media got up to $5.65 million for broadband to 759 unserved locations frequently at risk of natural disasters.
Surfnet got $10.08 million for service to 465 locations and LCB got $29.48 million for a network to 1,101 unserved locations.
GOOD WORK
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s online “Virtual Agent” chatbot now speaks Spanish, making it possible for taxpayers to get answers to common tax questions in both English and Spanish 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Taxpayers can access the Virtual Agent on cdtfa.ca.gov by clicking on the Chat button.
More than 20% of CDTFA’s customer service representatives speak Spanish and assist taxpayers who call in. CDTFA team members also provide interpretation services in 40 other languages.
In addition, CDTFA has resources in the 16 most common languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Attracting young people to see theater is the only way it’s going to keep going.” –Susan Dalian, director
Wilder Ranch State Park is named after dairyman Delos D. Wilder, but just the word “wilder” as an adjective works for me. Henry David Thoreau nailed it with In Wildness Is the Preservation of the World.
I performed a matinee standup comedy show at the most expensive fitness club in Palo Alto. They had valet parking. The rich will not walk to a treadmill.
I was talking to a woman who was about to get on a treadmill.
I said, “One can also walk to the gym.”
She said, “But this machine tells me my distance and speed, I can adjust the inclination for degree of difficulty.”
I’m stunned by the supposition that nature is obsolete. I can’t wait to get out to where every surface is uneven, where I am not just an interloper, a sideways glance, but where I am part of it all. Sometimes I can only find my spirit when I’m lost in the middle of nowhere, and when I do it tells me that if we are going to preserve our world, it will be by keeping it wild.
At least the treadmill lady is getting her steps in. The great news for Santa Cruzans is that we have hundreds, maybe thousands, of places to get your 3 to 4 miles in. We have the stunning Wilder Ranch State Park, just west of Santa Cruz on Highway 1. In just a few minutes you can drive north on Highway 1 from Santa Cruz to throw off your cares and leave the business of your office behind.
I walk through windswept grasslands on the bluffs towering over the waves crashing onto the rocks below. The wind off the ocean here can be unyielding and bracing, but today the sundrenched park has a languid summer vibe. There is a tendency to saunter here; my path today has no hills. There is no struggle to climb anything. You can see far into the distance in all directions, and as the sun gets lower in the sky it lays a river of fire on top of the ocean. Couples seem to want to hold hands here.
In mid-June they had a groundbreaking celebration for the construction of a bike path that will run alongside the railroad tracks coming from Santa Cruz, but unless you walk those railroad crossties from Santa Cruz, for now you’ve got to drive or bike up Highway 1. I park alongside the highway in a long line of parked cars. Every 100 yards or so is a path up the steep bank that leads to Wilder Ranch. I park with them but walk north on Highway 1 to come in the main entrance.
You can avoid the ten dollars parking fee by parking along Highway 1 and scaling the steep little paths into the park. Or you can chip in $10 to support the park and use the lot.
I walk by the attendant in the kiosk and into the parking lot where I meet two grizzled beer drinkers sitting on the tailgate of their pickup. They make a point that people ought to come in and pay the park $10 to park in the main lot: “The state park system is broke and this is a small way we can help.”
They gesture to a couple who had parked on the highway, climbed the bank alongside Highway 1 and are now walking across the field into the state park. I have always been one to park for free someplace and walk to the trailhead, but these two tailgate beer-swillers are making sense to me. If I’m going to pay for anything in this world, chipping in for Wilder Ranch State Park seems right.
The park does provide restrooms, and nothing feels better than to hike with intestinal clarity. This is good news because the night before had I indulged in Thai food, and for me that means acid reflux. No worries; two bowls of All Bran and I’m ready to strut my stuff again. But if ten dollars is an amount you don’t want to spend right now, no worries. Park along Highway 1, where you see all the cars and climb the bluff to enter the park.
The two red-eyed drinkers offer me beer but wanderlush is not my mission today. I pass on their suds and walk to the fire road that heads toward the ocean.
Lover’s Lane
I meet more young couples on this walk than any trail I’ve walked in Santa Cruz County. Wilder Ranch does have an ethereal quality that might attract lovers to spoon and dream. Pretty cool that a hiking trail has become a Santa Cruz date choice.
There are such beautiful short and level trails, Wilder Ranch State Park makes sense for a first date; it’s easy to do and you get a romantic backdrop. A sunset hiking date will let you witness the sun lowering in the sky, setting fire to the top of the water. You can see the ocean disappear from view, showing that the earth is round, and you can watch night approach.
Your must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by
Wilder Ranch State Park can be a hike date. This couple appears to have broken the ice.
I walk along the edge of the bluff and my fear of heights kicks it. It is hard for me to get close to the edge of a cliff and the path is near enough to get my heartrate up to training level. I’m amazed to see people dozing on a blanket near the edge of the precipice.
Don’t you people understand the gravity of the situation?
Park facts: Wilder Ranch State Park is just west of Santa Cruz along Highway 1. The climate is mild, but the weather can change quickly. It’s a good idea to go with layered clothing. Hikes here can be strenuous or easy, trails can range from 85 feet in elevation gain up to 1,860 feet. There are no campgrounds, and a day-use parking lot provides access to a park museum. No dogs are permitted on the trails, but on many trails you can ride bikes or horses.
How to get there: take Highway 1 North out of Santa Cruz; the entrance is on the left.
The deteriorating state of road conditions in Santa Cruz County’s unincorporated areas is cited as being one of the “five most significant problems facing the County,” according to a Grand Jury Road Report published on June 5.
According to the report, more than 63% of local roads have been categorized as being in poor, very poor or failed condition since November 2019, when the last Pavement Management Program Update was conducted. Local resident complaints are frequently reported to road maintenance agencies along with the Santa Cruz County Department of Public Works and Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors.
The report focuses on analyzing the effectiveness of Public Works within organizations that overlook county road care, such as the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which conducts periodic reviews of road conditions. Throughout the investigation, aspects of the road network—such as the maintenance and repair sector, procedures and programs, and budgeting and funding mechanisms—were also analyzed for their efficacy in serving the community.
The biggest threat to the county’s roads, according to the report, is how the cost of the unfunded backlog of deferred maintenance on roads and culvert systems continues to climb, now reaching approximately $801 million.
Because the lack of reliable financial resources allocated by the General Fund alone does not cover the necessary costs for road and culvert maintenance, the issue of reliance on outside sourcing of funds from Special District 9D, Measure D, Measure K and the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Act is also detailed.
ROAD WORRIERS The report suggests that the Board of Supervisors increase funding to the Department of Public Works. PHOTO: Santa Cruz County Grand Jury PHOTO: Santa Cruz County Grand Jury.
According to the report, “Additional funding sources are helpful but wholly inadequate to address the current and projected deferred road and culvert maintenance.” All of these sources, with the exception of Special District 9D, fail to be reliable because the revenue made from them is unrestricted, meaning it is not guaranteed to go anywhere specific.
The Grand Jury concluded the report with 11 findings and eight “recommendations” with an end of the year deadline. These recommendations, carefully worded as suggestions, do not demand anything other than a required response within 90 days.
The first recommendation was for Public Works to complete a report that shows the prioritization of culvert and drainage maintenance to prevent more costly future repairs.
Another recommendation is that Public Works supply LAFCO with detailed reports of the expenditures within Special District 9D—made up of unincorporated areas outside of Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley—so the commission can issue a new review.
The Grand Jury also suggested that the Board of Supervisors increase funding to Public Works to allow the annual improvement of at least one local road segment in poor-failing condition. The report further recommended that the Board increase funding, add a consumer price index increase to Special District 9D and continue prioritizing a 10% minimum of Measure K funds to repair failing roads.
PATCHWORK A crew from Granite Construction at work in Watsonville—just the kind of repairs needed on many roads in unincorporated areas. PHOTO: Tarmo Hannula
The Grand Jury ended by recommending that Public Works “formalize its policy of abandoning pavement restoration on very poor and failed Local roads into a publicly available document in order to inform affected property owners and prospective buyers.”
The recommendation suggests that Public Works make one of two choices: formalize its practices for public view or change the way the department operates. Currently, pavement preservation is prioritized over pavement restoration, meaning streets that are at or above fair condition are maintained more frequently than failing roads are restored, because the cost to do minor repairs is significantly less than a full-on road restoration. Projects that are postponed are labeled as “deferred maintenance.”
In response to the deferred maintenance costs that have reached into the hundreds of millions, the Grand Jury wrote, “The more that is done sooner to maintain our roads, the less we will have to pay later.”
Santa Cruz County Child Protective Services workers prioritize reunifying children with their birth parents, and have been accused of insensitive treatment and intimidation of families, according to a report released June 17 by the Santa Cruz County Grand Jury.
The report is the first CPS review by the Grand Jury since 2002-03.
According to the report, over the past year, the Civil Grand Jury received complaints from Resource Families alleging that Santa Cruz County CPS prioritized reunifying children with their birth parents “at all costs.”
The Grand Jury expressed concerns over several issues:
• Disputes around visitation schedules, mainly when children express fear or resistance.
• Emotional distress caused by removal from stable foster placements. Hand-offs are not always warm, and lack of compassion was a constant theme.
• Complaints of false records by social workers.
• Social workers fail to consider established criteria meant to protect children at risk.
• Cases showing decisions consistently in favor of reunification over the well-being of children, including with potentially harmful birth parents who have not addressed issues leading to their removal.
• Concerns about insufficient information provided by CPS to Resource Families.
• Allegations that the county is not consistently applying “bypass” criteria in cases where reunification may not be appropriate.
A “bypass” in CPS refers to administrative or legal resolutions that deny reunification with parents. CPS offers various programs for birth families to retain eligibility for reuniting with the child.
Currently, follow-ups when a child reunites with the birth family can last up to 18 months. The Grand Jury expressed concern that this may not provide adequate time to determine a proper living situation for children.
The entirety of CPS information is safeguarded by privacy laws. Access to the proceedings and documents is exclusive to CPS staff and the court system.
Consequently, the Grand Jury is unable to investigate individual complaints. Instead, it examines long-term trends, analyzing data collected over the past decade.
After listening to and reading complaints, the Grand Jury interviewed CPS staff to comprehend if their information could provide a pattern of systematic bias.
The Grand Jury report highlighted a need for more direction for interviews with CPS staff. The CPS website does not include an organized information chart regarding the outcome of their services.
One interviewee admitted that the organized chart was not listed on the website, and assured that it would be corrected soon.
Lastly, the report considered that the complaint process has little to no transparency, claiming “there is no formal complaint process” and suggesting that the path is “ineffective and results in a lack of accountability or follow-up on the complaint.”
Furthermore, CPS does not provide data on the number of complaints received year by year and the resolution status.
The Grand Jury suggested that CPS publish an organizational chart by Oct. 31, 2024.
The Grand Jury believes that lack of perception may prevent a sufficient number of Resource Homes from applying as a valuable service for the protection of neglected and abused children in Santa Cruz County.
In response to the report, Human Services Department spokesman Adam Spickler released a statement:
“The Grand Jury’s report found no evidence to support the false claims made about our agency’s role in reunifying children with their birth families.”
Human services department staff, he said, complied with the Grand Jury investigation to the greatest extent possible, “given the strict confidentiality laws we are bound to.” Spickler noted these laws “will also prevent the county from taking some of the actions suggested by the Grand Jury.”
Spickler added that the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has 90 days to respond to the report. Any changes would be noticed publicly on the Board of Supervisors agenda.
A Santa Cruz County Grand Jury report determined that the Behavioral Health Division struggles to meet the county’s mental health needs, and has neither the fiscal means nor staff resources to do the job.
Investigators also found severe gaps in addressing healthcare needs in South County.
In response, Health Services Agency Departmental Communications Officer Sandra Hughes pointed out a few missing items from the report.
She said the division provides community-based services to approximately 7,000 people annually. This, in turn, reduces or eliminates healthcare costs for patients, and 60% of the client base resides in South County, Hughes says.
Initially, the Grand Jury decided to look into the budget of the Health Services Agency, but found that the behavioral division had the most significant single budget because it provides services to address mental health, substance use and other public health programs, therefore making it the main focus of the investigation.
Within the same report, they found that the staff vacancy rate was 30%.
The organization struggled to find bilingual psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses and licensed mental health practitioners. Based on this year’s interviewees, finding adequate staff still needs to be solved.
Hughes pointed out that the behavioral health employee shortage challenge is a nationwide challenge.
“A recent survey in March 2024 indicated that the vast majority of BHD staff were satisfied with their jobs (66%) and were likely to remain in the BHD in the next five years (60%), and the overall survey response rate was 48%,” she said.
Another part of the report—the External Quality Review—showed that Santa Cruz County has three times the number of high-cost beneficiaries (HCB) compared to the state average for 2018 through 2020. HCBs are individuals with approved claims of more than $30,000 a year.
None of the officials interviewed could answer why Santa Cruz County was ranked higher than other counties within the state for having many high-cost beneficiary patients, and no data was provided to the Grand Jury for HCBs by zip code.
According to the Grand Jury report, the health agency data collection needed to comply with mandatory county and state requirements does not measure the outcome.
For example, the data collected may reflect the number of people a program serves. This, however, does not include the number of rehospitalizations or improvements in industry-approved scores. The Grand Jury also looked into the number of people transferred to out-of-county hospitals, which occurs when the county can’t provide a bed or offer available treatment services.
Along with these challenges, the department lacks the funding to provide the services the county needs.
However, Hughes argued that the Grand Jury report contains many erroneous statements.
“The reported numbers include out-of-county transfers from hospitals, which include physical health and emergency department transfers,” she says. “This approach exponentially inflates the problem.”
Hughes added that the numbers in the Grand Jury report lists are transfers from full-service hospitals, not psychiatric hospitals/facilities.
“This is irrelevant to Behavioral Health/Psychiatry,” she says.
Hughes also says that the upcoming Youth Crisis Stabilization Center and Youth Crisis Residential Program will add capacity and reduce the instances of children being transferred out of the county.
The statistics all point to a disturbing reality: Santa Cruz County, compared to other counties in California, is struggling to provide mental health services to a large, high-need population that the County can’t correctly handle because of a lack of resources.
While the Grand Jury had a lot of critiques about the behavioral health division, the report offered some recommendations to make the program more approachable to those in need.
This includes enhancing the effort put into case management to help reduce long-term healthcare costs, reducing the amount of out-of-county transfers by investing in local resources, addressing socioeconomic disparities in South County to improve health outcomes, and a transparency overhaul of the program outcomes and costs.
Residents in Santa Cruz County will face steep fines for using fireworks this Fourth of July, including at area beaches.
“Illegal fireworks can be a threat to public safety, spark wildfires, and be harmful to the environment, vulnerable residents, and pets,” Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin said in a press release.
Watsonville Police, meanwhile, will use drones to catch scofflaws.
The department’s basic tips:
• If it shoots up into the sky and explodes, it’s illegal.
• If it makes a loud, explosive sound, it’s illegal.
• if it doesn’t have the “Safe and Sane” seal from the California State Fire Marshal, it’s illegal.
Increased fines of up to $1,000 per firework are in effect during the Fourth of July holiday. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office will increase enforcement and patrols, particularly in coastal neighborhoods.
Here are reminders to enjoy a safe
holiday and avoid fines:
• Fireworks of any kind are not allowed in unincorporated Santa Cruz County and are banned on all beaches.
• Alcoholic beverages are not allowed on public beaches or in public outside of commercial establishments or residences. Fines of up to $1,000 are in effect around the Fourth of July holiday.
• If you see what looks like a homemade explosive, stay back, call 911, and wait for law enforcement.
• Pack your trash.
• If your pet is disturbed by loud noises, exercise them before sunset and keep them indoors in a quiet, safe environment. Ask a vet about ways to alleviate anxiety if your pet is seriously distressed by loud noises.
To report illegal fireworks in Watsonville, call 471.1151.
Aptos is famous for its Fourth of July parade, which may have been the world’s shortest at one point in history. Nowadays, it takes a respectable amount of time for all the participants to march from one end to the other. Still, the parade is a perfect way for parents of kids and/or dogs to spend their Independence Day, with flag waving, much cheering and potentially a horse in the mix. When the parade is over (it takes a little longer than you might think!), the celebrations continue at “Party in the Park,” where attendees can enjoy shopping, eating and live music. JESSICA IRISH
INFO: 10am, Aptos Village Park, 448 Granite Way, Aptos. $5 donation. 688-1467.
FRIDAY 7/5
AMERICANA
DECKED OUT Diggin’ Trails members (from left) Mat Warren, Don Mackessy, Sean James (standing), Johnny Dodd and Lauren Miroyan PHOTO: ADAM KELLY
DIGGIN’ TRAILS
Diggin’ Trails is blazing its way down the mountains with a bit of bluegrass, some country, a pinch of punk and a lot of rock ’n’ roll. The five-piece band finds a lead in John Dodds, whose twangy voice immediately gets feet stomping. Don Mackessy’s banjo adds old-timey texture, while Sean James drums forcefully. For a preview of the show, the band’s 2023 album of raucous originals, Over by June, is the place to go. With songs like “Cannery Row” and “Bixby,” Santa Cruz crowds will feel right at home. [see this weeks A&E feature] ADDIE MAHMASSANI
The Charities are up from Hermosa Beach to get the crowd at Moe’s Alley dancing with their signature eclectic mix of funk, soul, Motown, disco and other sounds you can shake your ass to. Plan to arrive on time, as you won’t want to miss the opening act, when Sweet Lew of San Francisco kicks things off with his brand of “radical soul love.” DJ Archive 65 will be on hand from Salinas to fill the gaps. KEITH LOWELL JENSEN
The Ameripolitan Awards are a big deal for country music that sounds like authentic country music, as opposed to the jingoistic truck commercials too often served up on “country” stations these days. This year’s winner in the Western Swing category is Santa Cruz’s own beloved country, hillbilly, rockabilly outfit, the Carolyn Sills Combo. Come see what the fuss is about when they take the stage at El Vaquero Winery, a perfect place to have a glass or two of vino before kicking up some dust under the stars. KLJ
Say this three times fast: three free bands! That’s not just a tongue twister but also what Discretion Brewing has on tap this weekend for their annual Independence Day celebration. The day kicks off with local Americana trio Dirt Rakers, who hails from the Santa Cruz Mountains. Later, the vibe shifts (subtly) from rootsy to bluesy with Virgil Thrasher, who can often be found performing around Capitola as one part of the Back Porch Boys. Rounding out the celebration is Seven Shades of Grey, a classic rock band from the South Bay that really knows how to get the party going. AM
Born José Luis Maldonado Ramos, Guadalajaran rapper C-Kan has been dropping heat for almost 20 years, and he’s only 36. At the age of 12, his father died, sending C-Kan into a life on the streets. Surrounded by violence and drugs, he found his refuge in hip hop. C-Kan has strong beliefs about the Mexican government and its powerful manipulation of the public through the media, citing that social media is the answer. Because of this, C-Kan has utilized his socials to build his celebrity. He also claimed he wouldn’t step foot in the United States while Trump was president, so hip hop fans might want to get on it, as the fate of the November election still seems uncertain. MAT WEIR
In what can only be described as an explosion of melodies, rhythms and sounds, Las Cafeteras invigorates listeners with their passionate music. They fuse genre, language and culture into one unified performance. Traditional instruments such as the jarana, requinto, quijada and tarima are transformed into modern, electric instruments. Las Cafeteras provides a contemporary take on folk music in the truest form. Each beat reverberates in your bones as you’re pulled into the story of each song. Listen carefully, and you will hear the five languages they sing: Spanish, English, Spanglish, justice and love. These modern troubadours know no borders. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
For those of us who kept on chooglin’ (if you know, you know) throughout all these years, the wait is over, as local stoner psych rock outfit Highness returns for a single night of space dosing! Throughout the early twenty-tens, Highness was one of several staples in the music scene that always drew a Who’s Who crowd of tattoo artists, poets, musicians, bartenders and Caffe Pergolesi baristas—the finest longhaired tattooed kooks this town has to offer. Highness is reuniting for a double bill with Seattle grunge-riff trio Wild Powwers, who are touring on their latest release, Pop Hits & Total Bummers Vol. 5, released on July 2. This show will remind the people that haircuts are for cops. MW
INFO: 9pm, Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 423-7117.
AUTHOR EVENT
OLIVIA GATWOOD
Olivia Gatwood doesn’t only write poetry, though she is beloved for her lyrical takedowns of the patriarchy and the infantilization of women. Keep the subject matter and swap the poetry for prose to glean Gatwood’s first novel, Whoever You Are, Honey, which explores womanhood and identity with Santa Cruz as its backdrop. There’s something particularly satisfying about reading a book set somewhere familiar, and what could be more familiar than West Cliff Drive? Gatwood will be in conversation with fellow feminist writer Liza Monroy. For anyone who loves stories of women, friendship and secrets, this event is unmissable. JI
INFO: 7pm, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 423-0900.
Sometimes it’s good to wait, exclaims Johnny Dodd to the Zoom camera.
The singer, guitar player and songwriter and his bandmates are discussing why it’s sometimes better to sit on a creative project—in this case the song “American River”—instead of releasing something immediately after it’s finished.
But really, he could also be talking about his latest band: five-piece, rootsy, folksy, country rock outfit Diggin’ Trails, which plays with Tommy V and the T-Hawks at the Crepe Place this Friday, July 5.
The members of Diggin’ Trails—Lauren Miroyan on standup bass, Sean James on drums, Don Mackessy on banjo and Mat Warren on tenor guitar—all at one time or another (with the exception of Mackessy) played in the phenomenal local folk punk outfit Tater Famine.
For those of us who were around for Tater Famine’s existence (2007-2013), it’s a time not easily forgotten. OK, maybe a little foggy through all the whiskey shots and beer, but there was always something magical about TF playing at the Parish on the Westside, busking on the street or double-billing with their musical brethren in Fire Whiskey.
“It was not intended that we’d break up,” Dodds recalls about the last TF show. “We were just going to go on a hiatus.”
Yet as the saying goes, so are the best laid plans of mice and musicians. Life had another direction when one Tater Famine member moved away and a little while later Dodd became a father. As a new parent with a full-time job, he put down the guitar and focused on what was in front of him.
But all that changed in 2021.
Just as the world was reopening from the pandemic. Dodd ran into old friend and Parish Pub owner Joel Sawtell and accidentally introduced him to his daughter as “Sean.”
“I know a lot of redheaded Seans and Joel’s also a redhead,” he laughs. “So I wrote this song and sent it to Sean [James] and he was like, ‘Dude, we need to play that song.’”
That track was “Se-Joel” the fifth song on Diggin’ Trails’ 2023 debut album, Done By June. It’s an upbeat, catchy number with a signature sense of humor that’s sewn throughout many of the bands’ songs. Like “The Roosevelt,” a song from the perspective of a rich person telling their kids they need to work for the family or else they’ll be cut off and become long-haired hippies “brainwashed by hard bodied progressive girls.”
Then there are the more serious songs. Tom Waits famously once said he loved “beautiful melodies telling me terrible things,” a sentiment that’s prevalent throughout country, bluegrass and Diggin’ Trails. Songs like “Cannery Row,” “The Last Glass” and “Roanoke Pl.” are all bangers musically with lyrics that carry the themes of heartbreak, regret and the all-too-human feeling of being on a path that isn’t working out anymore.
What ties them all together is the fine line that Diggin’ Trails rides playing Americana with a punk rock attitude while still falling firmly outside of the folk punk genre.
For Mackessy, bluegrass and the punk rock attitude go hand-in-hand.
“Something happened when ‘old-time’ became an offshoot of punk,” he says. “Punk adopted Americana for a hot minute.”
As for their writing process, it’s a family affair.
“Johnny will come with a song, usually just the acoustic, jam version of it,” Warren explains. “But for me at least, I can hear the [complete] song. It’s usually already pretty polished, but when you add in all of us, it’s perfect.”
“When you bottle it all up, it’s sweeter than Yoo-hoo,” James agrees.
Recorded at Compound Recordings in Ben Lomond by Henry Chadwick with artwork by Shaun Logan (aka Slogan, the man behind designs for the Expendables, Cali Roots and the new, Giant Dipper 100th anniversary mural), Done By June got its name because the band thought they’d be done by—you guessed it—June in 2022. That’s when their previous guitar player, Tommaso Procicchiani, had plans to return to his home country of Italy.
However, just as their name suggests, Diggin’ Trails is blazing their own way and won’t let anything stop them.
“I played up until I was seven months pregnant,” exclaims Miroyan.
But she wasn’t out for long.
“The second you had your baby—I think it was the next week—you said, ‘When’s the next practice?’” Dodd laughs.
It’s this passion for playing, along with their love and camaraderie for each other, that drives Diggin’ Trails to keep forging on. In fact, they’re currently working on the new batch of songs for a follow-up album.
“They’re songs I’ve written in the last two years since we were actually recording,” Dodd states. “I started writing a lot of songs in a row because when you’re in that process you’re a lot more inspired.”
“There’s a lot more punk rock songs,” Miroyan says about the new tracks.
She specifically mentions “American River,” a song Dodd had written 15 years ago during the old Tater Famine days.
“It’s about a family cabin we had in Tahoe but it burned down in the Caldor Fire three years ago,” he says. “So I rewrote it as a different song.”
“The way we play Tater Famine songs now as covers is different,” James explains. “They’re a little slower and a little more thought out.”
It’s a great representation of where the band members—and their friends and fans—are today. While Tater Famine was the fast, whiskey-fueled sound of their 20s, Diggin’ Trails is the music of mindful adults, backed by intention, with a few more scars—and kids—to boot.
And the music is better for it because, after all, sometimes it’s good to wait.
Diggin’ Trails plays at 8pm on July 5 at the Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, 429-6994. $10.
The “nirvana fallacy” is the belief that because something is less than utterly perfect, it is gravely defective or even irredeemably broken. Wikipedia says, “The nirvana fallacy compares actual things with unrealistic, idealized alternatives.” Most of us are susceptible to this flawed approach to dealing with the messiness of human existence. But it’s especially important that you avoid such thinking in the coming weeks. To inspire you to find excellence and value in the midst of untidy jumbles and rumpled complexities, I recommend you have fun with the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. It prizes and praises the soulful beauty found in things that are irregular, incomplete and imperfect.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
You are coming to a fork in the road—a crux where two paths diverge. What should you do? Author Marie Forleo says, “When it comes to forks in the road, your heart always knows the answer, not your mind.” Here’s my corollary: Choose the path that will best nourish your soul’s desires. Now here’s your homework, Taurus: Contact your Future Self in a dream or meditation and ask that beautiful genius to provide you with a message and a sign. Plus, invite them to give you a wink with either the left eye or right eye.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
Last year, you sent out a clear message to life requesting help and support. It didn’t get the response you wished for. You felt sad. But now I have good news. One or both of the following may soon occur. 1. Your original message will finally lead to a response that buoys your soul. 2. You will send out a new message similar to the one in 2023, and this time you will get a response that makes you feel helped and supported. Maybe you didn’t want to have to be so patient, Gemini, but I’m glad you refused to give up hope.
CANCER June 21-July 22
The Fates have authorized me to authorize you to be bold and spunky. You have permission to initiate gutsy experiments and to dare challenging feats. Luck and grace will be on your side as you consider adventures you’ve long wished you had the nerve to entertain. Don’t do anything risky or foolish, of course. Avoid acting like you’re entitled to grab rewards you have not yet earned. But don’t be self-consciously cautious or timid, either. Proceed as if help and resources will arrive through the magic of your audacity. Assume you will be able to summon more confidence than usual.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
All of us, including me, have aspects of our lives that are stale or unkempt, even decaying. What would you say is the most worn-out thing about you? Are there parts of your psyche or environment that would benefit from a surge of cleanup and revival? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to attend to these matters. You are likely to attract extra help and inspiration as you make your world brighter and livelier. The first rule of the purgation and rejuvenation process: Have fun!
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
On those rare occasions when I buy furniture from online stores, I try hard to find sources that will send me the stuff already assembled. I hate spending the time to put together jumbles of wood and metal. More importantly, I am inept at doing so. In alignment with astrological omens, I recommend you take my approach in regard to every situation in your life during the coming weeks. Your operative metaphor should be this: Whatever you want or need, get it already fully assembled.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
When Adragon De Mello was born under the sign of Libra in 1976, his father had big plans for him. Dad wanted him to get a PhD in physics by age 12, garner a Nobel Prize by 16, get elected President of the United States by 26, and then become head of a world government by 30. I’d love for you to fantasize about big, unruly dreams like that in the coming weeks—although with less egotism and more amusement and adventurousness. Give yourself a license to play with amazing scenarios that inspire you to enlarge your understanding of your own destiny. Provide your future with a dose of healing wildness.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
“Your horoscopes are too complicated,” a reader named Estelle wrote to me recently. “You give us too many ideas. Your language is too fancy. I just want simple advice in plain words.” I wrote back to tell her that if I did what she asked, I wouldn’t be myself. “Plenty of other astrologers out there can meet your needs,” I concluded. As for you, dear Scorpio, I think you will especially benefit from influences like me in the coming weeks—people who appreciate nuance and subtlety, who love the poetry of life, who eschew clichés and conventional wisdom, who can nurture your rich, spicy, complicated soul.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
The coming weeks will be prime time for you to re-imagine the history of your destiny. How might you do that? In your imagination, revisit important events from the past and reinterpret them using the new wisdom you’ve gained since they happened. If possible, perform any atonement, adjustment or intervention that will transform the meaning of what happened once upon a time. Give the story of your life a fresh title. Rename the chapters. Look at old photos and videos and describe to yourself what you know now about those people and situations that you didn’t know back then. Are there key events from the old days that you have repressed or ignored? Raise them up into the light of consciousness.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
n 1972, before the internet existed, Capricorn actor Anthony Hopkins spent a day visiting London bookstores in search of a certain tome: The Girl from Petrovka. Unable to locate a copy, he decided to head home. On the way, he sat on a random bench, where he found the original manuscript of The Girl of Petrovka. It had been stolen from the book’s author, George Feifer, and abandoned there by the thief. I predict an almost equally unlikely or roundabout discovery or revelation for you in the coming days. Prediction: You may not unearth what you’re looking for in an obvious place, but you will ultimately unearth it.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Aquarius-born Desmond Doss (1919–2006) joined the American army at the beginning of World War II. But because of his religious beliefs, he refused to use weapons. He became a medic who accompanied troops to Guam and the Philippines. During the next few years, he won three medals of honor, which are usually given solely to armed combatants. His bravest act came in 1944, when he saved the lives of 70 wounded soldiers during a battle. I propose we make him your inspirational role model for the coming weeks, Aquarius. In his spirit, I invite you to blend valor and peace-making. Synergize compassion and fierce courage. Mix a knack for poise and healing with a quest for adventure.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
What types of people are you most attracted to, Pisces? Not just those you find most romantically and sexually appealing, but also those with whom a vibrant alliance is most gracefully created. And those you’re inclined to seek out for collaborative work and play. This knowledge is valuable information to have; it helps you gravitate toward relationships that are healthy for you. Now and then, though, it’s wise to experiment with connections and influences that aren’t obviously natural—to move outside your usual set of expectations and engage with characters you can’t immediately categorize. I suspect the coming weeks will be one of those times.
Homework: Who is the most important person or animal in your life? I invite you to give them a surprising gift. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
In dark times, we all need a little pick-me-up now and then, and Mike Madrid is here to offer a full jolt of optimism, albeit long-term optimism. Here in Santa Cruz, it’s not at all hard to believe that in the United States we are now living through “The Latino Century,” as Madrid, a longtime political operative and data expert from California, puts it in his new book.
Madrid believes that over time—over decades—the political and cultural importance of our growing Latino population will shift the country in new and unpredictable ways, primarily toward more optimism and tolerance of others.
The Hispanic population of Santa Cruz County swelled over the years from less than 10 percent in 1970 to 34.2 percent in 2020, and continues to grow.
At my local Bay Federal Credit Union branch in Capitola, I’ve often had customers both in front of me in line and behind me in line step up to the teller and dive into fluent Spanish; but as Madrid points out, second- and third-generation Latinos are much less likely to speak Spanish, and they are focused on issues beyond immigration and border security, despite what many Democrats lazily assume. Eighty percent of new Hispanic voters are U.S-born, and most speak more English than Spanish.
These new Latino voters just might save the country, Madrid believes—and they might even do it this year, as Madrid will discuss at Bookshop Santa Cruz on Monday, July 8, at 7 p.m., in conversation with former Santa Cruz Supervisor Ryan Coonerty about his new book. The Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy.
“Honestly, I feel like this is the most important book to read if you want to understand the next two decades of American politics,” Coonerty says.
“Madrid is this crazy mixture of an artist, a demographer, and a cold-blooded practitioner of brass-knuckle politics. He brings each perspective to his book and it creates this rich analysis. He doesn’t pull punches about how bad the parties have been about reaching out to Latinos, but the underlying message is so hopeful—Latino politics is fundamentally optimistic.”
POLITICAL OPTIMIST According to author Mike Madrid, America is changing in ways that will restore confidence and trust in democratic institutions. PHOTO: PHIL DESMANGLES
Madrid, born and raised in Southern California, splits time between Sacramento and Mexico, and yes, he is a painter (that’s his artwork on the cover of the book). He’s a former political director of the California Republican Party who worked on the George W. Bush presidential campaign of 2000, but in 2018 he crossed party lines to work with former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on his (ultimately unsuccessful) campaign for California governor.
Knowing what he knows about both parties, Madrid has advice for both on doing better with Latino voters, but above all he has a warning: If Democrats don’t wake up, now, this month and next, and adjust their message to Hispanics for the 21st century, they risk losing.
Madrid watched last week’s presidential debate between Biden and Trump in Colorado, where he was appearing on debate panels at the Aspen Ideas Festival.
He joined many of us in finding the debate hard to watch, but here’s his take as a longtime expert on elections: “Debates don’t make a significant impact on the trajectory of a presidential campaign—they just don’t,” he says. “Trump is going to be sentenced on July 11, and that’s going to swallow up the news cycle. Then on to whatever is next.”
Democrats are known for panicking, but the post-debate frenzy surprised Madrid. On Twitter, he wrote that maybe the post-debate panic might be the jolt that some rank-and-file Democrats needed to wake up and fight the very real specter of a Trumpist takeover.
Madrid cited Animal House to suggest maybe the bad debate performance wasn’t the end of the story for Biden in 2024, as many appeared to believe, quoting the line, “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”
He also observed to his nearly 150,000 Twitter followers that Democrats seemed to be reliving the trauma of Trump’s 2016 win over Hillary Clinton all over again.
“After writing this book and experiencing how both parties approach Latino voters, it’s also becoming clear to me that both parties have a fundamentally different approach to campaigns—and democracy,” he said last Friday in a phone interview. “Republicans have a much more zero-sum, winner-take-all attitude. Democrats still think this is a high-school debate club, and that winning ideas wins campaigns.”
What did the debate show that was really new?
“Democrats have nominated a feeble, frail old man, but the choice is between that and a lying lunatic who is unhinged,” Madrid says. “Those are the choices. We’ve known all this for at least the past two years, so there was no new information in this debate. But somehow for people seeing that was jarring and unnerving.
“Biden had a weak performance, there’s no question about it, but so did Barack Obama, his first time as incumbent, and so did George W. Bush, and so did George Herbert Walker Bush. It’s not uncommon.
I think what happened is Democrats are reliving 2016: There’s this outpouring of deep-seated fear and grief and anxiety. If they’re not able to channel that into action they’re going to be paralyzed and they won’t win the race and they won’t win America forward. So many people are paralyzed by fear.”
On the flip side, if Democrats can make a few adjustments, Madrid believes Biden can defeat Trump nationally. His advice is to focus more on pocketbook issues and an optimistic vision for working families, not divisive cultural issues.
“Until the Democratic Party reengages as the idea of who they think they are, which is an FDR, New Deal, working man’s party, they’re going to continue to lose votes,” Madrid said last month in Sacramento at the launch party for his book.
Madrid rails against what he calls “sombrero politics,” which has been the standard Democratic approach to Latinos for generations, playing mariachi music and talking about farm workers and expecting that to play well with middle-class voters thinking about college for their kids.
Democrats get a lot of bad advice from so-called Latino experts, he thinks, and trip themselves up on even trivial details like what to call their Hispanic outreach effort. “Latino Americans for Trump” lands a lot better with working-class Hispanics than “Latinos con Biden-Harris.”
Given the potentially disastrous consequence of a Trump return to office (from increasingly compromised abortion rights to radical right-wing courts run amok to the likely de facto destruction of NATO with Putin puppet regimes targeted for Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), Madrid’s warning has vital importance.
As he likes to point out, 10,000 new Latino voters are being added to the rolls every day, on average, a community with a dramatically different world view than the bitter, angry invective of aging white males, the group that drives support for Trump’s MAGA movement.
“The over-age-sixty-five cohort, which is much whiter, wealthier, educated, home-owning, has the most negative views of the country,” Madrid said in an interview. “A lot of them just believe America has gone anyway. Even though they’ve had all the privilege and all the blessings of the most comfortable generation America’s ever had, they (fear) they’re being replaced. They’re tearing it down on the right and the left. There’s just no confidence in it.
The Latinos are coming up going, well, we have this natural belief and trust in social institutions because of the way that we’re culturally constituted. That’s helpful. That’s that glue that a society needs to hold itself together.”
Madrid was a co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project and played a decisive role in its work helping defeat Trump in 2020, but subsequently left the group and has no affiliation with it. He grew up admiring Reagan and, later, George W. Bush, but thinks the Republican Party of the Trump era represents a singular danger that could end up destroying the best in our democratic tradition, always deeply flawed, but at least aspirational.
“We need Electoral College reform,” he said. “We need campaign finance reform. We need ranked choice voting. Those all may or may not be true. …. But that’s not what’s going to save democracy.
What’s going to save democracy is literally us changing who we are and we’re blessed at this moment to see that literally our own DNA is changing, we are changing. America is changing, and it’s changing with the attributes we need to restore confidence and trust in those institutions.”
More immediately, key races in November will go down to states where Latino voters play a decisive role—especially in certain House races in California, for example Central Valley Republican Congressmen John Duarte and David Valadao both face tough reelection fights, as well as Nevada and Arizona.
For anyone in the Santa Cruz area who would like to see Trump lose in November and also wants to see Democrats flip the House of Representatives, removing Trump lackey Mike (“God talks directly to me, like Moses”) Johnson from his position as Speaker of the House, in favor of Biggie-quoting Hakeem Jeffries, Madrid recommends getting involved through phone-banking and door-to-door canvassing.
As a data expert who has been squinting through reams of poll data for decades, Madrid warns against following horse-race polling too closely. His own read of the data shows an advantage for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, but it’s a narrow one.
On social media, Madrid—@Madrid-Mike at Twitter—has kept close tabs on the odd phenomenon of double-digit protest votes in Republican primaries, even after former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley pulled out of the race.
“The magic number for Trump is 10 percent,” Madrid tweeted in early June. “If Trump is losing more GOP votes than that on Election Day he’s very likely toast. It may not sound like much but that kind of hemorrhaging isn’t unprecedented but you gotta go back pretty deep to get to those numbers in presidential history.”
The struggle at hand is about much more than just winning one election, though in this case, democracy itself will likely rise or fall this November.
Ron Steslow, a fellow Lincoln Project cofounder—who now has a popular podcast, politicology.com—had this to say about Madrid’s message in The Latino Century: “In the right hands, with the skill and courage to wield it, this book is a weapon for winning—not just campaigns, but the battle for the soul of our nation.”
Madrid believes there are serious risks to Democrats in emphasizing progressive issues that turn off more centrist voters.
The very term “Latinx” bothers him, since it’s used by a very small number of Latinos. “The problem with a lot of white, college-educated progressives is they’re so unrelatable now to these constituencies that they’re literally speaking a different language,” Madrid said in an interview.
“People of color is part of that. It is a meaningless term, and I don’t want to suggest that African-Americans specifically consciously use the term the coalition builds because they knew that they were numerically never going to have the numbers.
“At a time when they were trying to break through, it’s been in use really since about the ’70s. They were trying to add other people to the coalition to make their case more and push more. The problem is it equates the quote-unquote oppression of all of these people as one and the same and even worse, it creates a binary structure where what it really means is non-white.
“That’s a meaningless term, especially for Latinos. Because again, the third- and fourth-generation Latinos, first of all, are racially white. Hispanics are white. We’re an ethnicity, not a race. That’s an important part of it.”
“The other part is when two thirds of Latinos by the third generation don’t see themselves as different than ‘a typical American,’ it’s not hard to infer that they don’t see themselves as people of color. They don’t see themselves as racially, even ethnically distinct.”
“It really comes down to the need of Democratic elites to explain their policy positions and their own projection of ethnic sensitivity as the primary issue through which non-white people view the world.”
Mark Chambers-Bray has donated $1 million to the Santa Cruz Symphony in honor of his deceased partner, Roy... The generosity and love for this community he’s shown brings a tear to my eye, as does that of Rowland Rebele, whose family continues to support the arts after his death at 92.
Santa Cruz County Child Protective Services workers prioritize reunifying children with their birth parents, and have been accused of insensitive treatment and intimidation of families, according to a report released June 17 by the Santa Cruz County Grand Jury.
The report is the first CPS review by the Grand Jury since 2002-03.
According to the report, over the past year, the...
Olivia Gatwood’s first novel, Whoever You Are, Honey, explores womanhood and identity with Santa Cruz as its backdrop. In-store appearance at Bookshop Santa Cruz, July 10, 7pm
The Editor’s Desk
Although we publish a special issue for people over 50 later in the month (along with one for students a couple of months later), some of the biggest stories in this issue involve age.
Don’t miss Josué Monroy’s account of the aging of the county’s population. A couple of numbers stand out. People over 65 now account for 17.5% of the population, while those 25-54, who are counted as the biggest earners and spenders, make up only 12%.
That’s something to shake your head at, given the history of a community filled with surfers, artists and students that used to skew so young. And the fact that the cost of housing is so high younger people have to leave to live is changing the future right before our eyes.
There’s also a widening gap, and not more than a little ageism, between the young and old. Take a look at John Koenig’s Street Talk column, where no one has anything good to say about the age of our two political candidates. There was a time when age represented wisdom, but not so much anymore, based on the answers here.
There was some good news this week from a person of age (Can we use that expression, like we do “of color”?)
Music lover Mark Chambers-Bray has donated $1 million to the Santa Cruz Symphony in honor of his deceased partner, Roy Chambers-Bray. It’s the largest donation in the organization’s 67-year history and Chambers-Bray has promised even more to be left in his will. The generosity and love for this community he’s shown brings a tear to my eye, as does that of Rowland Rebele, whose family continues to support the arts after his death at 92.
When you see how some rich people spend their money on yachts, vacation islands, trips to Mars, you really have to salute those who choose to help their communities here on Earth.
Speaking of culture, which we have so much of here, and far more than in much larger cities, Santa Cruz Shakespeare is keeping the Bard alive for all ages to get a taste of the renowned playwright whose work has continued to thrill for four centuries.
Christina Waters’ piece shows how directors keep the spirit alive after all this time. And his plays are older than Biden or Trump.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
SMOOTH SAILING Here is a photo I took of the Santa Cruz Harbor Wednesday night race. Photograph by Susan Japinga.
GOOD IDEA
The California Public Utilities Commission has awarded $45 million to three regional internet service providers: Cruzio, Surfnet Communications and LCB Communications.
Over half of the nearly $73 million has been awarded to the Central Coast region to enhance broadband infrastructure and address critical issues in the digital divide in unserved and underserved rural and low-income communities.
Cruzio Media got up to $5.65 million for broadband to 759 unserved locations frequently at risk of natural disasters.
Surfnet got $10.08 million for service to 465 locations and LCB got $29.48 million for a network to 1,101 unserved locations.
GOOD WORK
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s online “Virtual Agent” chatbot now speaks Spanish, making it possible for taxpayers to get answers to common tax questions in both English and Spanish 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Taxpayers can access the Virtual Agent on cdtfa.ca.gov by clicking on the Chat button.
More than 20% of CDTFA’s customer service representatives speak Spanish and assist taxpayers who call in. CDTFA team members also provide interpretation services in 40 other languages.
In addition, CDTFA has resources in the 16 most common languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Attracting young people to see theater is the only way it’s going to keep going.”
–Susan Dalian, director