A viewing party in a Watsonville restaurant for President Donald Trump’s March 4 public address drew public attention, with more than 100 Trump supporters gathering inside for the private event, and dozens gathering outside for a counter-protest.
The event at Ella’s at the Airport was organized by Santa Cruz County Patriots.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a group member said that she wanted to hear what Trump was going to say about transgender issues and immigration, both issues on which the president has taken a hardline stance, and with which she said many supporters agree.
The group member said that she supported the protestors’ rights to assemble, as long as they stayed within the bounds of the law.
She added that Trump supporters have been subjected to bullying, intimidation and vandalism for their beliefs, and pointed to an incident on Feb. 15 in which someone used spray paint to vandalize a pickup bearing a “Trump 2024” sticker.
“We all have the right to hold those signs and hold those flags and let our voices be heard,” she said. “But when you cross the line and you’re not doing it legally or hurting someone or their property, that’s not okay.”
The front door of the restaurant was locked due to safety concerns, and attendees checked in at a table in the rear, with a security guard standing at the door.
“Trumpers have had to stay in and be very alone,” she said. “So to be somewhere that you’re allowed to be okay for the politician you vote for is a very big deal.”
The group will “absolutely” hold similar events, she added.
Ella’s at the Airport appeared to be suffering blowback from the community, with several people leaving negative online reviews before the website Yelp paused all commenting.
While there were five Watsonville Police officers stationed nearby to keep the peace, there were no reported incidents of violence, spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said.
One man in a large white pickup drove by several times shouting pro-Trump slogans, which elicited some back-and-forth shouting.
In front of the business, Santa Cruz Diversity Center member Maurice Carrillo expressed disappointment that Ella’s allowed the event.
He has attended several events there, and the restaurant catered his 80th birthday party. But he said he will no longer patronize the business.
He explained that many of the people attending the watch party likely held stances in opposition to LGBTQ people.
“We think there is so much hate on that side against who we are that we have to show up and speak up, because if we don’t, who’s going to speak for us?” he said.
Watsonville Charter School of the Arts student Julian Conaccio, 8, said he is worried that Trump’s anti-immigration policies will mean his friends will be deported.
“I am here today so I can continue the legacy of my ancestors to protect our USA from Trump,” he said. “I am very scared that he is going to do some terrible things to my town.”
Eileen Cark-Nagaoka of Watsonville expressed concern about the U.S. aligning with Russia instead of the Western Alliance and the United Nations.
“I am here because I feel like so many horrible things are happening to our country and I just want the people who are supporting Trump to be confronted with the pain they are causing and of the things that are being turned on their head in our country,” she said. “It just astounds me that our alliances have shifted and we didn’t vote for that. And add to that all of the gutting of federal programs.”
Nora Yerena, founder and director of Raíces y Cariño in Watsonville, said her organization received a letter from the Trump administration to stop using the words “equity” and “gender,” not to mention environmental justice and to eliminate entirely the word “justice.” The nonprofit also cannot mention immigration support and cannot work with anyone who was undocumented.
The directive from the federal office that funds the group was what drew Yerena to the protest.
“These guys don’t belong here,” he said. “This being proud to support this hatred is really disgusting, and it doesn’t belong here.”
There won’t be any plankton or tentacles but community radio station KSQD 90.7 is cooking up a colossal event for Squid Fest West: an all-day musical lineup with six bands, a music memorabilia auction, tasty bites, drinks and more, all in the name of everyone’s favorite mollusk. If you were looking for a calamari feed, well, you’re in the wrong place.
Squid Fest West is KSQD’s sixth birthday concert, taking place March 15, 1–6pm, at the Resource Center for Non-Violence and featuring live music by Painted Mandolin Trio, Sharon Allen & Dusty Boots, Samba Ngo and Manjou Koné, Dan & Laurel, Lucas Lawson and Ginny Mitchell.
KSQD is a community station, independently run by a nonprofit. “It is a fundraiser for our listener-supported, nonprofit community FM broadcaster and streamer,” station manager Dan Bean shares via email.
The station went on the air at 90.7 in 2019, “right before the pandemic,” says KSQD board chair Rachel Goodman, providing music and helping people find emergency information and resources. “We came in as a result of people wanting a local station. We are hyper-local. We reach the whole Monterey Bay.”
In addition to the initial 90.7 frequency, KSQD has added 89.5 and 89.7, reaching a potential audience of 600,000. “There are no commercials; that’s the best part. We are all listener funded,” Goodman says. KSQD is owned by the nonprofit Natural Bridges Media, formed specifically to run the station.
Dan & Laurel are among the music acts performing at Squid Fest West.
While KSQD always held a birthday party, this year promises to be the biggest yet. “Everything goes to support the station,” which costs about $2,900 a month in tower rent alone. “The money from this event will almost cover a year’s rent if we’re lucky,” Goodman says.
The silent auction includes vacation getaways, music memorabilia, local art and other treasures.
The auction has garnered approximately $22,000 in prizes up for grabs, including a five-night cabin stay in Yosemite, a night at the River Inn in Big Sur, Snazzy Productions concerts, Warriors tickets and concert posters donated by Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. There will be handcrafted jewelry and art, MJA Vineyards wine and more. “We hope people come and bid generously,” Goodman said. “For collectors, it’s going to be a goldmine,” Goodman says.
Keep an eye out for autographed items—photos of musicians, a John Mayall CD, a Maria Muldaur CD—and wrapped vinyl records from Queen (not signed) and Coldplay (signed) donated by Hollywood Records Label.
Commenting on the entertainment lineup, Goodman says, “They’re really different, beautiful kinds of music.” The headliner is Sharon Allen and the Dusty Boots, a six-piece full country lineup with pedal steel player and guitar. Samba N’go performs music from the Congo, and three Painted Mandolin band members—Matt Hartle, Dan Robins and Larry Graff—play a cross of Grateful Dead and bluegrass to bring out the “rainbow crowd.” Homegrown talent Lucas Lawson is a young mandolin and fiddle player from the Bay Area; Ginny Mitchell and Steve Palozzo draw from a large repertoire of bluegrass, blues and country duets; and roots/folk duo Laurel Thomsen and Dan Frechette perform “acoustic Americana” on guitar and violin.
Of course there will be birthday cake with decorative squid on it—ornamental only, not a real cuttlefish. “That would be cannibalism,” Goodman quips. “Vegetarians or vegans are welcome.”
Goodman is host of Talk of the Bay and a producer of radio documentaries. When asked how she became involved in this extravaganza, Goodman says she has been on board since the station founding in 2019. “There are like six of us that have been here from the beginning, pushing to get the license and all that legal stuff,” she says. “I never started out to be a concert producer.” Goodman also teaches journalism at UC Santa Cruz.
It takes about 50 volunteers to pull off this event while operating a 24-7 radio station. All beer is provided by Steel Bonnet Brewery, wine from MJA vineyards, and there will be nonalcoholic beverages too. Sliders, veggie wraps and soups will be courtesy of Sawmill Restaurant in Boulder Creek.
Listen to KSQD on broadcast station 90.7 or download the app for free. Tickets to Squid Fest West start at $28.52. Visit KSQD.org for more information.
This article was originally published on the website CapitalAndMain.com.
Tesla workers at the automaker’s massive factory in Fremont are all too familiar with CEO Elon Musk’s efficiency approach that he’s now using to slash government programs as one of the most powerful members of President Donald Trump’s administration.
Back in April, Musk cut Tesla’s workforce by 10%, informing workers in a late-night company-wide email. The layoffs came in the wake of an 8.7% year-over-year drop in revenue at the automaker.
In the email to workers, he said: “There is nothing I hate more, but it must be done. This will enable us to be lean, innovative and hungry for the next growth phase cycle.” Since then, though its stock price has doubled, automotive revenue has declined again, dropping 6% for the year.
Musk has repeated that approach at his other companies. He fired 80% of X’s workforce and even auctioned off coffee makers and office chairs soon after buying the company in 2022, when it was known as Twitter. He dismissed employees at SpaceX who complained about his leadership and sacked whistleblowers at The Boring Co., his tunnel construction firm.
Musk’s modus operandi is “Take it over, ruthlessly purge anyone who he sees as opposition and crash operations to remake it in his worldview,” said Emily Horne, who was head of Twitter’s global policy communications before joining former President Joe Biden’s administration, in an interview with the Associated Press. It often backfired, as when Musk had to reach out to rehire several dozen software engineers at X whom he’d fired by mistake.
Now Musk is applying that ruthless management style to government, leading Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, where he has made headlines by claiming to have saved billions by eliminating long-standing agencies and firing thousands of essential workers such as air traffic controllers and food safety inspectors.
The slash-and-burn tactic can be disruptive in the private sector, but when applied to government, it can be disastrous and destructive to millions of Americans, management experts said.
“The question facing Americans isn’t whether government needs modernization; it’s whether they’re willing to sacrifice democracy in pursuit of Musk’s version of efficiency,” said Allison Stanger, distinguished endowed professor at Middlebury College in Vermont. “When we grant tech leaders direct control over government functions, we’re not just streamlining bureaucracy—we’re fundamentally altering the relationship between private power and public governance.”
Musk did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The focus on cutting costs without taking into consideration outcomes or effects—and neglecting to increase investment in government programs that have been shown to improve the lives of Americans—can be extremely harmful, experts said.
“If all we’re doing is focusing on the buck and not the bang, we’re not going to be able to get that far,” said Jason Saul, executive director of the Center for Impact Sciences at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy.
“At some point, you’re going to hit bone where you just keep cutting, to the point where you’re now reaching vital government services that your constituents depend on,” Saul added.
Such cost-cutting in government can backfire because it fails to take into account the role of government, Saul said. “The purpose of government is not to spend money and not to generate a profit—it’s to produce desirable outcomes for its citizens.”
Musk’s DOGE is so focused on cutting costs and targeting programs that are considered too “woke” by Trump—without centering its efforts on outcomes that will improve the lives of working Americans—that its destructive effect will far outweigh any savings to the budget.
“Wholesale dismissals, reductions-in-force, and probationary firings are a slash-and-burn approach,” said James K. Galbraith, who holds the Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. chair in government and business relations at the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, in an interview with The Daily Beast. “They will make the federal government less efficient: queues will get longer, maintenance will be deferred, more mistakes will be made, it will be harder to hire new people if they don’t think the jobs are secure.”
Even fellow Republicans have expressed alarm at Musk’s technocratic approach. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is upset that dozens of her constituents have been fired, telling ABC News that she agreed with reducing the size of government, but that “his approach is bringing confusion, anxiety, and now trauma to our civil servants. Indiscriminate workforce cuts aren’t efficient and won’t fix the federal budget, but they will hurt good people who have answered the call to public service to do important work for our nation.”
Musk’s approach may just be the latest and most controversial iteration of a long-standing behavior, but “the history of trying to make government more efficient has come up as a failure time and again,” Saul said. And much of that is due to the failure to focus on outcomes: examining “the cost per outcome of every government initiative and program.”
He suggested that every single federal program be tagged with a desired outcome. “We’re doing this school busing program because we want to increase student attendance. We’re doing this food security program and preventative health initiative because we want to reduce emergency room visits.”
The next step is to collect data to assess whether that program is achieving those outcomes, he added.
Between DOGE’s slash-and-burn strategy and wasteful spending is “something in the middle, which aims to create twice the impact for half the cost,” Saul said. “That’s what efficiency is. It’s not just half the cost, but about a better cost per outcome.”
Musk is squandering an opportunity to transform government for the better, said Forbes contributor Robert B. Tucker, whom the publication calls an “innovation guru.” “He needs to acknowledge that the federal government does function: Air traffic controllers keep planes flying. Polluters get punished. Medicare checks go out. Warfighters get trained and armed. FEMA workers show up at disasters, and taxes get collected.”
Rather than mock and denigrate federal workers, Musk should “figure out ways to inspire and empower them instead,” Tucker said “Find ways to lift them up while challenging them to do better. My advice: Make everyone in government a hero. Challenge them to join you in this once-in-a-lifetime endeavor to upgrade and revitalize the federal government.”
The extent of Musk’s cuts to government have shocked many of his employees at Tesla, even those who likely voted for Trump, said a person close to the workforce at the automaker who asked not to be identified because he’s concerned about retaliation against workers. “They’re like, ‘What’s our boss doing?’ This is bizarre,” the person said. And they’re worried for their own sakes and those of their loved ones, the person added: “When your boss has become not just the most powerful auto exec, but one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful person in the country, it’s intimidating. They know what he’s capable of.”
Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s governing board on Feb. 25 rejected two proposals to reduce teachers and staff, and approved other layoffs, including 45 teachers, during a raucous, contentious meeting that included bickering between trustees and heckling from attendees in the packed boardroom.
That heckling came to a head when board President Olivia Flores refused to relent in her decision to limit public speaking to 30 minutes. She explained that many of the members of the audience had already spoken on the same issue during the Feb. 12 meeting.
Several audience members shouted their disapproval. The meeting was halted—and the board was forced to briefly recess—when PVFT negotiations chair Brandon Diniz called for a caucus among the audience members to choose those who would speak.
“If you’re going to play that game, then the community deserves the opportunity to identify our speakers,” he said. The trustees returned after about 20 minutes.
The special meeting was convened when Trustee Joy Flynn asked for it to return after a Feb. 12 meeting during which the board rejected all the cuts.
Flynn explained that she had more questions that weren’t answered during the previous meeting, and said she was concerned that the reductions at the previous meetings were all lumped together.
“It was an attempt to bring forward some more clarity and transparency around what I’ve been calling a peanut in a cake,” she said. “And if you’re allergic to peanuts that means the whole cake has to go.”
On the table for the first round of reductions were teacher positions recommended by the district’s Sustainable Budget Team (SBT) and approved by the board on Feb. 12. The SBT was convened last year to help balance the budget after the district spent one-time Covid relief funds on ongoing staff positions.
But the board rejected that after the trustees voted down two motions by Medina to table the item and then to put all the cuts at zero.
This included 4.5 assistant principal positions, five counselor positions, 12 elementary release teachers and eight elementary release teachers.
Navarro then made a motion to approve the reduction, which failed after trustees Jessica Carrasco, Carol Turley, Medina and Flynn voted no. Trustee Daniel Dodge Jr. was absent.
The trustees then rejected a proposal to cut classified positions—also recommended by the SBT—including three mental health clinicians, three technology support technicians, one communication technician, a child welfare and attendance analyst, a warehouse and delivery driver and a payroll technician.
Trustees Flynn, Carrasco and Medina voted no and it failed. PVUSD Superintendent Heather Contreras told the board as the meeting drew to a close that she is “really concerned” that those cuts were not approved.
“We are choosing to keep those positions that were added with one-time dollars for another year,” she said. “Those positions will carry forward, and that’s $5 million worth of positions that will continue next year.”
Contreras warned that a larger number of reductions will return to the board next year.
“Those were one-time funded positions,” she said. “We no longer have those dollars.”
The trustees then approved a proposal to eliminate just over 46 teacher positions, which staff recommended as the district faces at least a decade of projected declining enrollment. According to PVUSD Chief Business Officer Jenny Im, who announced her retirement several days after the meeting, the district will lose an estimated 600 students next year, amounting to losing millions of dollars.
Navarro called the cuts a “worst-case scenario” that may be reduced or eliminated by the number of retiring teachers and those who are leaving the district.
“There’s a possibility these positions don’t actually get laid off,” she said.
Navarro also warned that many districts have recently been forced to issue layoff notices to their employees and are making “deep cuts.”
“Anyone who does not realize over the next four years that things are going to get worse has their head in the sand,” Navarro said. “We need to be grown-ups now and make tough decisions now, otherwise next year we’re going to make double cuts and it will hurt even worse.”
A motion to cut just over 10 instructional assistants then passed, with Turley, Navarro, Flynn and Flores in favor.
Amber Monaghan’s journey into sound healing wasn’t just a career shift—it was a calling. Decades ago, she experienced what she describes as a spiritual awakening, one that sent electrical sensations through her body and left her searching for answers. That search led her to Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, founder of the Neuroacoustic Research Foundation in San Diego, and his work in therapeutic audio research.
Thompson had developed a method of recording personalized sounds said to shift the nervous system from a state of stress and imbalance into a space of deep healing, emotional release and spiritual clarity. From the moment Monaghan lay down on his table and heard the resonant hum of her own biotone—a tone unique to her nervous system—something clicked. Her upbringing as the daughter of a chiropractor and a recording studio owner suddenly made sense. Sound wasn’t just something you hear; it was something you feel, something that could heal.
Today, Monaghan runs Light and Sound Spas, a Santa Cruz-based practice where she guides clients through the seven stages of Bio-tuning. The process uses custom soundtracks embedded with a client’s biotone in multiple octaves, along with binaural beats designed to synchronize the brain hemispheres.
As someone who struggles with sleep fluctuations, I thought this was something to look into. She walked me into a cozy office hardly large enough to hold more than the massage table, but when relaxation is your goal, what else do you need? Clients lie down on the table and Monaghan supplies ear plugs that pipe in soothing music while a small biosensor at the wrist monitors vital signs.
As the music induces a state of deep relaxation, the sensors monitor the client’s biorhythms to find the tone that matches the balance of the nervous system. Once that tone is captured, Monaghan sends it to a lab that provides the client with a 20-minute soundtrack to help induce sleep at home.
The first soundtrack focuses on Delta brainwaves, encouraging a state of deep, restorative rest. Layered with nature sounds in 3D, these tracks help the nervous system relax and recalibrate. I was cautiously optimistic. Lying awake at 3am is no joke, and the multiple deep relaxation techniques I’d tried haven’t been foolproof.
That night, I listened to the audio before I went to sleep and slept soundly through the night. Probably the placebo effect, I reasoned, but I was happy it worked. The next night, the same thing happened. The third night, there I was at 3am, wide awake and wondering what went wrong. So, I listened to the audio, and fell asleep soon after.
As the weeks went by, the 3am wakeups became fewer, and I used the audio to get back to sleep much faster than I’d been able to before. Placebo? Maybe. But waking up was much less stressful when I had a tool to manage it.
Months later, I’m no longer using the audio because I haven’t needed to. That said, my experience only touched the surface of what this program offers.
Unlike generic meditation apps, each client’s biotone is unique, and the soundtracks are customized to their nervous system’s needs. “It’s like having a toolkit for your well-being,” Monaghan says. “If you need deep sleep, you use the Delta tracks. If you’re processing emotions, you turn to Theta. It becomes a lifelong resource.”
Monaghan says her clients range from those struggling with chronic insomnia to high-stress professionals looking to optimize their performance. “Sleep issues are often the entry point,” she says, “but what they uncover goes much deeper.” She also works with individuals overcoming illness, grief or burnout—anyone seeking to reset their nervous system and reconnect with their inner balance.
The work is conducted in stages staggered over the course of two to three months, starting with Stage 1, Deep Delta Sleep. “Everything starts with sleep,” Monaghan explains. “So many of us are stuck in stress cycles, and deep sleep is where our bodies can begin to repair.”
Once sleep patterns begin to improve, deeper healing can take place. The second stage works with lower octaves of sound that penetrate into the bones and tissues, supporting physical recovery.
Clients progress through five transformative stages. First, they release stored emotional tension, uncovering connections between thoughts, emotions, and pain. Next, Theta waves enable deep subconscious processing of stress or trauma. As emotions clear, Alpha waves enhance intuition and creativity. Integration follows, fostering balance and alignment. Finally, Gamma waves bring heightened awareness and clarity.
“The body knows how to heal,” Monaghan says. “We’re just giving it the right frequency to do so.”
Elizabeth Borelli is the author of the new book Tastes Like La Dolce Vita. To learn more about her, visit ElizabethBorelli.com. To learn about biotones, visit LightandSoundSpas.com.
I would want unlimited motivation, so I could do anything. With unlimited motivation you’re able to chase everything you want.
Judi Banderas, 21, San José State University Social Work Major
OCTAVIO
I’m thinking of superpowers, like immortality. The best thing about immortality would be not fearing death, but then you also don’t appreciate life as much. Knowing that life ends makes it more valuable.
Octavio Valdivia, 20, San José State University Computer Science Major
ESMERELDA
I would want the power to just snap my fingers and be invisible—just to sneak into places and overhear conversations.
Esmerelda Cruz, 21, Retail Sales
JESSICA
I would want the ability to magically cure people’s illness.
Jessica Vrab, 26, UCSC Biology Major
CATALINA
I would want the ability to play any musical instrument, like the violin or cello, but most of all the saxophone, jazz saxophone, like bossa nova. My Dad would always play the saxophone, so that would be really cool.
Catalina Popke, 26, MRI Tech
SUSY
I would cure everyone’s food allergies, so they could eat whatever they want, whenever they want it. I have food allergies and I know how miserable they are. I would snap my fingers and suddenly no one’s allergic to peanuts or gluten or dairy, so if you crave something you can just eat it!
Four decades ago, Watsonville’s cannery industry was bustling, packing up the vast amount of agricultural products grown in the Pajaro Valley and preserving them for shipment around the world.
The lifeblood of this industry was provided by its thousands of workers—most of them women, and the vast majority Mexican immigrants.
In 1985, two Watsonville plants—Richard A. Shaw Inc. and Watsonville Canning and Frozen Food—proposed pay cuts and slashed family health benefits. In response, nearly 2,000 workers from both plants walked off the job and staged a months-long strike.
The action drew international attention and to this day is seen as a pivotal moment in the history of United States labor issues.
Often overlooked in this story are the children who watched their parents’ struggles. Inspired by what they saw, many of them have gone on to lead successful lives and become community leaders.
SHOW OF STRENGTH Employees of Watsonville Canning link hands along Walker Street during a strike in 1985. PHOTO: Kurt Ellison/Watsonville Register-Pajaronian via Pajaro Valley Historical Association
That’s the focus of Daughters of the Strike, a documentary by Jon Silver that focuses on the now-grown children of the strikers.
The film will be shown on March 8 along with the 1989 documentary Watsonville on Strike, also by Silver. The screenings are part of the Watsonville Film Festival, which runs March 6–25.
Ezperanza Torres, one of the strikers, said her daughters saw their house turned into a meeting place and refuge for strikers for its proximity to the plant. They also saw many getting arrested.
“I would explain what was happening to my children,” she said through a Spanish interpreter. “I told them that now you should be studying and preparing themselves so that you in your lives will not have to be in the situation that we found ourselves today. I think this really helped them in getting into college. It was an inspiration.”
YESTERDAY AND TODAY Sylvia Baltazar (center), a former Watsonville Cannery Striker, poses with daughters Sylvia Baltazar (left) and Wendy Baltazar. They are featured in the documentary ‘Daughters of the Strike.’ PHOTO: Jon Silver
Immigrants’ Tales
Many of the films focus on the experiences of immigrants, Watsonville Film Festival Director Consuelo Alba said, an issue that has become topical in the current political climate—especially in a community where many increasingly feel themselves in the crosshairs.
“This year it’s even more important and urgent that we create a space to tell our stories from our perspective and to create common ground for all of us through empathy and understanding,” she said. “And storytelling. Film is a very powerful tool to bring people together and to talk about these challenges, joys and contributions of our community to the U.S.”
Attendees can see “They Call Me the Cross Man,” a short film about artist Alvaro Enciso, who places crosses in the Sonoran Desert where people have died crossing the border.
Reina Grande, who produced that film, will be in attendance for the premiere. She will also be at the Watsonville Public Library for a book signing and reception in celebration of her book Somewhere We Are Human, an anthology on the immigrant experience.
The film festival offerings span many genres, from documentaries to experimental to narrative, Alba says.
“It’s really inspiring to see the talent we have in our region,” she adds.
Making its California premiere is “The Long Valley” a short film about the people and sights of Salinas Valley’s agriculture region. That film is fresh off successful showings at the Sundance and SXSW festivals.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES ‘The Vanishing Japantown’ focuses on the closure of Watsonville’s last Japanese-owned business. Photo: Credit
Featuring local residents Mas and Marcia Hashimoto, “The Vanishing Japantown” focuses on Watsonville’s historic Japantown and the closure of its last Japanese-owned business.
For example, filmmaker and former punk artist Mabel Valdiviezo captures the story of her reunion with her family in Peru after 16 years of estrangement.
Through her photo-paintings of the family, Valdiviezo’s full-length documentary Prodigal Daughter—screening in Santa Cruz on March 9—gives audiences a different angle on the experience of living in another country that challenges the prevailing narrative of “good immigrant” versus “bad immigrant.” As the director describes it, Prodigal Daughter “explores and humanizes the nexus of family reconnection, gendered migration, mental health, and art as a source of empowerment.”
Closer to home and much lighter in subject matter is the work of director Eugenia Renteria, a Watsonville-based director, cinematographer and editor. Born in Zacatecas, Mexico, she moved to California at age 12. Her film, “Fake It ’Til You Make It,” is a 13-minute love story.
EMBRACING THE PAST In ‘Prodigal Daughter,’ filmmaker Mabel Valdiviezo reconnects with her family in Peru. Photo: Credit
Everyday Stories
Hector Aguila, whose short drama/comedy “916” will premiere on March 7, began as a volunteer with the festival and now serves as program manager.
Since its inception 12 years ago, the festival has expanded, with more than 50 films in the lineup as well as other happenings later in March.
The festival has also expanded in its geographical scope, with events in Santa Cruz and Salinas.
Aguila says he hopes to expand the number and types of people who attend the event.
“I would love for the people—your everyday families—to know about the festival,” he says. “I want people to know that truly we exist to bring value to the artists of our community, and to introduce our community to filmmakers in the Central Valley, California and beyond.”
Aguila also hopes to encourage more people to tell their stories through film.
“You don’t have to go to Hollywood, you don’t have to go to New York,” he says. “There are stories everywhere, and everybody has a story to tell. And most importantly we want people to value themselves and their stories, because if they value themselves and their stories, then they value their communities and they value their life. That’s part of the mission of who we are and what we do.”
FIREBRAND Strike leader Gloria Betancourt (second from left) joins a boisterous rally in 1985. Photo: Kurt Ellison/Watsonville Register-Pajaronian via Pajaro Valley Historical Association.
Watsonville Film Festival
March 6
Opening Night—6-8pm, CineLux Green Valley Cinema, 1125 S. Green Valley Road, Watsonville. Screening of seven films, including “The Long Valley.”
March 7
Location: CineLux Green Valley Cinema, 1125 S. Green Valley Road, Watsonville, unless noted.
Emerging Cinema/Cine Emergente—5-7pm. Screening of seven films.
Creative Joy/Alegría Creativa—7:30–9:30pm. Screening of six films, including “Fake It Till You Make It’ And “Dear Watsonville.”
After Party—9:30–11:30pm, Buena Vista Brewing Company in Watsonville. Live music with Valley Roots.
March 8
Location: CineLux Green Valley Cinema, 1125 S. Green Valley Road, Watsonville, unless noted.
Youth Voices/Cine Joven—11am–12:30pm.
Si Pudiera Quedarme/If I Could Stay—1:30–3:15pm. Screening of 75-minute documentary on families staying together in the face of deportation.
Our World/Nuestro Mundo—4–6pm, Documentary shorts telling stories from Costa Rica, Cuba, China, Los Angeles and Watsonville.
Watsonville on Strike and Daughters of the Strike—6:30–8:30pm. Marking the 40th anniversary of the Watsonville cannery strike.
After Party—9-11pm, Buena Vista Brewing Company in Watsonville. Live music with Rasquache Liberation Front.
March 9
Location: 418 Project Movie Theater, 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz
Screening of Prodigal Daughter with the short film “Heaven in a Wild Flower”—1pm.
WWF in Santa Cruz/Un Cachet de WFF en Santa Cruz—4–6pm.Screening of several films from opening-night program.
March 14
WFF in Salinas/Un Cachito de WFF en Salinas—6–8pm at Maya Cinemas, 1153 Main St., Salinas. Screening of eight films.
After Party—9–1pm at XL Public House.
March 25
Leading Change/Lideres del Cambio—5–7pm at Cabrillo College Horticultural Center, 141 Calabria St., Aptos. Program featuring films by professional and emerging filmmakers will raise awareness about the use of pesticides in the community.
Watsonville Cannery Strike Photo Exhibition
Featuring photos from Pajaronian photographers Keith Ellison, Chip Scheuer, Diane Varni and Sam Vestal, the exhibit will be on view March 1–May 30 in the 2nd Floor Community Room at the Watsonville Public Library, 275 Main St. On March 15, Watsonville Cannery Strikers, their children and supporters will share stories with a reception to follow, starting at 1pm.
Too bad Good Times has missed the fact that women are tired of being used as sex objects—why would the hamburger on your cover have bare legs and high heels? It’s 2025 and that is not how many (dare I say, most) women want to be represented—we are not meat for your consumption. Please think twice next time.
Kate Clark | Santa Cruz
BURGER WEEKS
First of all I am very pleased that burger week is now more than a week. Went to Santa Cruz Diner for the Monte Cristo burger. They didn’t have the tater tots, but the substitute onion rings was fine. And I have a lot of perimeters. I want a side, and hand formed, 1/2 pound, angus beef are important. My brother and I will partake of more burger week with the added days, yum.
Thank you
Summer Goodwin | Santa Cruz
BURGER LOVE
My favorite is the double cheeseburger at East End gastropub.
The beef has a great flavor. All the condiments are well balanced.
I substitute cheddar because I personally like that better than American cheese.
For me, it is the closest thing to a Zip burger from Zip’s cafe, which is a famous burger from my hometown in Cincinnati.
Thomas Wenstrup
BURGER HATE
It was jaw-dropping to see the 2-21-24 issue of the Good Times weekly featuring “Santa Cruz Burger Week”! Are we living in the past or has no one heard the world’s leading scientists warning we are moving toward extinction of life on Earth?
This extinction disaster is due to global warming, climate change, pollution, deforestation, lessening water resources and accelerating species extinction, all largely attributable to raising beef and other flesh products to consume.
One burger requires nearly 2,000 gallons of water to produce. In the U.S., 55% of all water consumption is used by animal agriculture. It accounts for 91% of Brazilian Amazon Rainforest Destruction (136 million acres destroyed yearly). Animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gases than all transportation put together.
Livestock consumes 50% of all grains grown, increasing world hunger and using 45% of the entire Earth’s ice-free land. It’s a leading cause of species extinction; USDA is killing 2.7 million wild animals yearly to protect land for livestock grazing.
Additionally, livestock production is a leading cause of freshwater pollution; resulting in ocean dead zones and the Great Barrier Reef die-off.
What can we do about it? We can rapidly move toward a plant-based diet and thereby each and every person will daily save 1,300 gallons of water; 30 sq. ft. of forested land; 45 pounds of grain and 20 lbs. of polluting CO2 equivalent gases per day.
Human behavior is consuming and destroying our Earth. Shifting our harmful behaviors to ecologically sustainable ways is a solution. Promoting Burger Week is not.
Bill Meade | Associate Producer “What The Health” on Netflix | Watsonville
At a time when the strength of labor unions and protests have been devalued by a federal administration that extols dictators, it’s never been more important to ponder the moments when, in Patti Smith’s words, “people have the power.”
Four decades ago in Watsonville 2,000 workers—mostly women and mostly immigrants from Mexico—walked off their jobs for 18 months to protest low wages, a daring move for people who were already struggling and trying to make a better life for their families.
Todd Guild’s cover story previews two documentaries about these events, Daughters of the Strike (2024) and Watsonville on Strike (1990), both by director Jon Silver, who brings the struggle and its aftereffects to life. The first film looks at the children of the strikers, the ones who suffered during their parents’ struggles.
They will be shown March 8 as part of the Watsonville Film Festival, the area’s largest film festival, which runs March 6–25. This important festival has grown significantly under the leadership of Consuelo Alba and her team and it proudly puts Watsonville on the international map.
It features 50 films in 11 venues, a diverse aggregation with local and worldwide interest.
Making its California premiere is “The Long Valley,” a short film about the people and sights of Salinas Valley’s agricultural region. That film is fresh off successful showings at the Sundance and SXSW festivals.
Featuring local residents Mas and Marcia Hashimoto, “The Vanishing Japantown” focuses on Watsonville’s historic Japantown and the closure of its last Japanese-owned business.
On the food front, we’re happy to see Andrew Steingrube’s Foodie File about Panda Inn in Aptos. We stumbled onto that place with its new owners and were delighted to taste authentic Szechuan spices and recipes, comparable to the area’s other great newer restaurant, Special Noodle. So nice to have Asian cuisine with zing.
One of the best meals I’ve ever eaten was my first one in the city of Shenzhen at a cheap noodle house where my mouth exploded with new flavors. I’ve been looking to repeat that experience ever since and am so glad to have found it here.
We’ve got plenty more treats inside this issue.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
BUGS R US “It looks like St. Joseph Church has new colors. God must have loved bugs. He made so many of them.” Photograph by Russ Levoy
GOOD IDEA
Cabrillo Gallery presents Our Earth, Our Future, an exhibition of artists sharing a common interest in promoting environmental sustainability and stewardship.
In this exhibition you can immerse yourself in a room-sized deep blue cyanotype printed on fabric by Tanja Geis that depicts future ocean life adapting to life amongst a sea of garbage; encounter a human-scale nest of kelp; and witness a conversation between a pelican and an Ohlone woman about dying kelp forests in a short film, among other exhibits.
The exhibit runs March 17 to April 18. It will be closed for Spring Break March 31 to April 4.
GOOD WORK
California State Parks and Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, in partnership with the Monterey Bay Living Shoreline Program and Groundswell Coastal Ecology, will be hosting a community planting day at Rio del Mar State Beach to support the Rio del Mar Living Shoreline Pilot Project.
Planting will be March 15, 9am to noon. Space is limited and volunteers are encouraged to preregister on Eventbrite.
They will be planting native dune plants in an area of the beach adjacent to the Rio del Mar Esplanade. The plants selected are well-suited to the local coast, helping to stabilize loose sand and trap more sand over time to keep the dunes intact.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” —Thomas Jefferson
Here comes history, not so much repeating itself, but improving itself, in a decidedly sweet way.
Three years back Stephen Beaumier and Katy Oursler shuttered Mutari Chocolate House on Front Street. Now Beaumier has hatched The Chocolate Studio (912 Cedar St., Santa Cruz), a three-month pop-up in the former Flower Bar space—ICYMI: Flower Bar closed in November—with hopes of making things permanent.
Four highlights to prioritize on premises: 1) Oursler’s Mutari craft chocolate (like dark sipping chocolate, truffles and bottled hot chocolate mix); 2) coffee and espresso from Ikon Roastery; 3) Beaumier’s White Label Chocolate Co. bars (including the 58% salted brown butter milk); and 4) sumptuous baked goods from adored Dani O Bakeshop (home base: Capitola Mall, 1855 41st Ave.), like day-fresh breads, pastries and croissants with White Label chocolate tucked within.
Chef/owner Beaumier aims to expand offerings soon, with more savory selections, cheese, charcuterie, beer, wine and a variety of nonalcoholic drinks on the horizon.
“The vision is to create a space similar to a Parisian café,” he says.
Hours unfold 9am–6pm, Wednesday through Sunday. Updates appear via Instagram @thechocolatestudiosantacruz.
And (!) Mutari will be launching weekly Friday pickups at the café ASAP for its popular brownies and cookies, with pre-orders advised at mutarichocolate.com.
GRAB AND GRUB
Community-supported-fishmonger Ocean2Table (427 Swift St., Unit C, Santa Cruz) has intro’d new pickup options for customers in Felton, Santa Cruz, Live Oak, Soquel and Silicon Valley. Subscribers can order fresh catch at their website, collect away at seven sites without delivery costs, and with the option for foraged mushrooms, produce and pantry stuffs too. The inventory available arrives rich with partner producers, so on top of local catch (as this goes to press there is black cod and Dungeness crab whole, cleaned or all meat) or fresh frozen (including albacore, halibut and black cod), there are also items like Pajaro Pastures eggs, Lavandine lavender mists and Belle Farms extra virgin olive oil, getocean2table.com.
TRIPLE PLAY
A three-pack of good news from Watsonville: 1) As of 6am yesterday (March 4), Silver Spur #2 is now officially open and slinging hot coffee, nine-grain pancakes and three-egg omelets (1040 E. Lake Ave.); 2) Slice Project continues to dish a sublime slice of cupping pepperoni downtown (300 Main St.) and staffers tell me SP #2 opens mid-month in the former ScoopDog (45 Aviation Way #6); and 3) A recent visit reveals Watsonville Public House (625 Main St.) continues to be a welcoming space with great house beers, Santa Cruz Cider Company sippers, shiny solid wood bar and My Mom’s Mole doing items like emoladas and roasted vegetable nachos.
KEEP IT COMING
Burger Week rumbles on through March 9, and if you can look over the lineup of creations featured and not be consumed with craving, you’re stronger than me, santacruzburgerweek.com….Aspiring foodie fermentation fans: Noma Projects, from the same team behind the late great Copenhagen restaurant often ranked #1 in the world, now does innovative products, such as sauces and pantry staples, that bring its legendary Nordic creativity into home cooking, nomaprojects.com…The 19th annual California Artisan Cheese Festival layers flavor all over Sonoma later this month, March 21-23, tickets and volunteer slots remain for everything from cheesemaking demos to immersive sensory experiences to the 100-vendor Artisan Cheese Tasting & Marketplace, artisancheesefestival.com…American author Beth Harbison, see us on our way: “Age is of no importance unless you’re a cheese.”
KSQD 90.7 is cooking up a colossal event for Squid Fest West: an all-day musical lineup with six bands, a music memorabilia auction, tasty bites, drinks and more.
Amber Monaghan’s journey into sound healing wasn’t just a career shift—it was a calling. She experienced what she describes as a spiritual awakening...
In addition to films of particular local appeal, a wide range of subjects and styles are represented in the dozens of films at the Watsonville Film Festival.
Too bad Good Times has missed the fact that women are tired of being used as sex objects—why would the hamburger on your cover have bare legs and high heels?
