I have gone to most of the MLK convocations over the past 40 years: listening to the likes of Yolanda King, Shirley Chisholm, Nikki Giozanni, and Cornel West. Also many lesser-known speakers. In every case, this event invigorated my activism and sense of political purpose. I was also heartened by the busloads of high school students who were bused in to participate in this event.
In this political moment, where so many challenges to freedom and democracy are ever-present, I was anticipating a great rallying for action. Instead, what I heard was a very successful and accomplished musician, Larry McDonald, ramble on about his own personal music career.
Not only was he uninspiring, but he was disorganized with no particular message. I admit I left before it was over, but my intuition was that the committee that chooses a keynote speaker for this event did not do its homework.
My wish is that next year the MLK convocation will again carry on the tradition of using MLK’s legacy to inspire youth and old people alike.
Thomas Witz | Santa Cruz
BLUE ZONE EATS
Ms. Borelli mentioned the Greek Island of Ikaria as one of the “Blue Zones” in her January 28 article. I spent a week on Ikaria a few years ago on a personal quest to better understand the habits of the “Blue Zone” residents.
I had a pork chop dinner with locals at their large garden, where they grew their own vegetables and made their own wine, aged in cement cisterns. This was quite typical of the local residents who used wine for bartering as well as their own consumption.
Ms. Borelli made no mention of this interesting and possibly significant fact. Restaurant dinners also came with a pitcher of local wine. I suspect the wine was rather low in alcohol, as I could feel no effects after two glasses.
I visited one commercial winery for a tasting and found it to be much better than the Greek wines that are generally available. This raises questions about alcohol in Okinawa and other Blue Zones. Do the Okinawans only drink tea, or do they also drink beer and wine and perhaps distilled spirits, as do the Ikarians?
Bob Young | Santa Cruz
MAKE CLIMATE POLLUTERS PAY
Every time a climate disaster hits, we see the same story. Families lose homes, roads are washed out, crops are destroyed, insurance rates spike, and taxpayers foot the bill, all while oil and gas companies rake in profits.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Climate superfund legislation — already law in Vermont and New York — would require the fossil fuel companies most responsible for this crisis to pay their fair share for the damage they knowingly caused.
The companies that profited from creating this mess would help fund the rebuilding of roads, homes, schools, and critical infrastructure.
That’s why I’m calling on local elected officials to support legislation to hold polluters accountable. This January’s Make Polluters Pay Week of Action is about shifting the cost of climate chaos off our communities and onto the polluters. It’s about fairness, because if you break it, you should buy it.
Stella Casillas | Santa Cruz
NEW SUPERVISOR CANDIDATE
I wanted to flag a compelling local political development: Watsonville native and longtime community leader Elias Gonzales is entering the race for the Fourth District seat on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, challenging incumbent Felipe Hernandez.
He has spent more than two decades leading community-based programs across Santa Cruz County, with a focus on underserved populations. Known for his inclusive, healing-informed leadership style, he has extensive experience managing complex programs, public funding, and collaborative partnerships.
His campaign highlights issues of affordability, community, and safety. Making this a timely and a relevant story for District 4 voters.
Thank you for your consideration. I’m happy to provide more information if helpful.
This week’s cover story celebrates a woman who worked her way up from a teenage barista at the Ugly Mug to CEO and co-founder of Eventbrite. There are a few messages here: 1. Hard work and ambition pay off. She started working as a young teen and never stopped. That’s impressive in a culture that sometimes values hobbies and surfing over hard labor. 2. She’s encouraging her kids to do the same: get jobs and learn a work ethic. I salute Julia Hartz for that.
As an aside, when I arrived in Santa Cruz, I’d go to parties and ask people what they did. They would answer: I surf, or I bike or I hike. “But what do you do?” I’d repeat. ‘’Oh, you mean for a job?” Then they’d tell me they were a lawyer or doctor or programmer. The job came second here, unlike the East Coast, where the first priority was the work.
A few other people have made news this week for their work.
Former County Supervisor John Leopold won a Grammy over the weekend for producing the best regional roots album for the albumA Tribute to the King of Zydeco, a tribute to Clifton Chenier including music by the Rolling Stones, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Jimmie Vaughan, David Hidalgo, Taj Mahal and Molly Tuttle.
Leopold’s bright red suit and boots were a red-carpet-worthy highlight. It’s a long way from sitting through endless hours of County Board meetings, although the televised show seemed endless.
“An amazing experience,”Leopold said by text Monday. ‘’Haven’t slept so it’s still hard to capture it.”
Local Remy Le Boeuf won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition, The Snow, which is a big-band jazz record. His twin brother, Pascal, won a Grammy last year.
Their mother Joanne Reiter was on the board of the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival, again keeping talent and work ethic in the family.
The twins were in the Cabrillo College Big Band when they were just 16, playing way above their ages.
And while we are speaking of music, the sold-out tribute to Americana songwriter Todd Snider Saturday at Kuumbwa Jazz Center was a giant hit, attracting some of the best and most ardent musicians around town and bringing in a national luminary, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, whose career started with Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
At 92, he took the stage to tell stories about touring with Snider and keeping the windows in the back of the bus open to let the smoke get out.
The show was a benefit for Encompass Mental Health Services. Musicians included
Todd’s former guitarist and Lacey J. Dalton bandmate Jim Lewin, Michael Gaither, Jackson Emmer, Andy Fuhrman, Ginny Mitchell, the Coffis Brothers, Jeff Meyer and KPIG DJ turned songwriter/singer, Ralph Anybody.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
SURE BIRD A Greater Yellow Legs shorebird shot at Pajaro Dunes. Photograph by Mark Bickerstaffe
GOOD IDEA
You can nominate your favorite unknown artist for the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission’s Spotlight Award, which honors excellent artists who are not widely known. The deadline for nomination letters is March 9.
The award will be given for visual, performing and literary artists. They should have been recognized by critics, educators, or arts professionals.
A nomination letter must include the name of the artist and their contact information (e-mail, website if available, phone and local address), a brief description of your relationship to the artist and why you are nominating them.
Send your nomination to: ka**********@***************ca.gov with the subject Line: Spotlight Award Nomination. Search Spotlight Award and Sanra Cruz for more info.
GOOD WORK
The new Capitola Avenue Overcrossing replaces the aging former structure and provides significantly enhanced bicycle and pedestrian facilities, creating a safe and accessible crossing for people walking and biking while maintaining vehicle access across the highway. It improves connectivity between Soquel Drive to the north and the future Coastal Rail Trail to the south, linking neighborhoods, schools, parks, beaches, transit, and nearby commercial centers.
The community is invited to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration for the Capitola Avenue Overcrossing on Feb. 26, from 4-5pm, at 911 Capitola Road. More information will be posted on the RTC website soon.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” –John F. Kennedy, 1962
I’m thrilled by your genius for initiating what others only dream about. I celebrate your holy impatience with fakery and your refusal to waste precious life-force on enterprises that have gone stale. I’m in awe of how you make fire your ally rather than your enemy, wielding it not to destroy but to forge new realities from the raw materials of possibility. Everything I just described will be in your wheelhouse during the coming weeks.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
How do I love you? Let me count some of the ways. 1. Your patience is masterful. You understand that some treasures can’t be rushed and that many beautiful things require slow nurturing through your devoted attention. 2. You have a knack for inducing the mundane world to reveal its small miracles and spiritual secrets. 3. You practice lucid loyalty without being in bondage to the past. You honor your history even as you make room for the future. 4. You know when to cling tightly to what needs to be protected and preserved, and you know when to gracefully loosen your grip to let everything breathe. In the coming weeks, all these superpowers of yours will be especially available to you and the people you care for.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
In carpentry, there’s a technique called “kerf bending.” It involves making a series of small cuts in wood so it can curve without breaking. The cuts weaken the material in one sense, but they make it flexible enough to create shapes that would otherwise be impossible. I suspect you’re being kerf-bent right now, Gemini. Life is making small nicks in your certainties, your plans, and your self-image. It might feel like you’re being diminished, but you’re actually being made flexible enough to bend into a new form. Don’t interpret the nicks as damage. They’re preparation for adjustments you can’t see yet. Let yourself be shaped.
CANCER June 21-July 22
In Irish folklore, “thin places” are situations or areas where the material and spiritual worlds overlap. They aren’t always geographical. A thin place may be a moment: like the pre-dawn hour between sleeping and waking, or the silence after someone says “I love you” for the first time. I believe you’re living in a thin place right now, Cancer. The boundary between your inner world and outer circumstances is more porous than usual. This means your emotions may affect your environment more directly. Your intuitions will be even more accurate than usual, and your nightly dreams will provide you with practical clues. Be alert. Magic will be available if you notice it.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
In traditional Korean jogakbo, scraps of fabric too small to be useful alone are stitched together into a piece that’s both functional and beautiful. Every fragment contributes to the whole. I encourage you to treat your current life this way, Leo. Don’t dismiss iffy or unfinished experiences as “wasted time.” Instead, see if you can weave all the bits and scraps together into a valuable lesson or asset. Prediction: I foresee a lovely jogakbo in your future.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
The Maori people of New Zealand practice mirimiri, a form of healing that works not by fighting disease but by restoring flow. The technique involves removing blockages so life force can move freely again. I think you need the equivalent of mirimiri, Virgo. There’s a small but non-trivial obstruction in your life. The good news is that you now have the power to figure out where the flow got stuck and then gently coax it back into motion. Let the healing begin! Here’s a good way to begin: Vow that you won’t hold yourself back from enjoying your life to the max.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
In the coming weeks, I encourage you to prioritize mirth, revelry, and gratification. For starters, you could invite kindred spirits to join you in pursuing experimental forms of pleasure. Have fun riffing and brainstorming about feeling good in ways you’ve never tried or even imagined before. Seek out stories from other explorers of bliss and delight who can inspire you to expand your sense of wonder. Then, with your mind as open as your heart, give yourself the freedom to enjoy as many playful adventures and evocative amusements as you dare.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
In the Inuktitut language of the Intuit people, the word ajurnarmat is translated as “it can’t be helped.” It acknowledges forces at work beyond human control. Rather than pure resignation, it reflects an attitude of accepting what can’t be changed, which helps people conserve energy and adapt creatively to challenging circumstances. So for example, when hunters encounter impossible ice conditions, ajurnamat allows them to refrain from forcing the situation and notice what may actually be possible. I suspect you’re facing your own ajurnarmat, Scorpio. Your breakthrough will emerge as soon as you admit the truth of what’s happening and allow your perception to shift. What looks unnavigable from one angle may reveal a solution if you approach it from another direction. Practice strategic surrender.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Your hunger for meaning is admirable! I love it. I never want you to mute your drive to discover what’s interesting and useful. But now and then, the hot intensity of your quest can make you feel that nothing is ever enough. You get into the habit of always looking past what’s actually here and being obsessed with what you imagine should be or could be there. In the coming days, dear Sagittarius, I invite you to avoid that tendency. Rather than compulsively pursuing high adventure and vast vistas, focus on the sweet, intimate details. The wisdom you yearn for might be embedded in ordinariness.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
In architecture, a “flying buttress” is an external support system that allows a massive building like a cathedral to reach greater heights without collapsing under its own weight. Because the buttress is partly open to the air rather than solidly built against the wall from top to bottom, it appears to “fly,” which is where the name comes from. In the coming weeks, I encourage you Capricorns to acquire your own equivalent of at least one new flying buttress. Who or what could this be? A collaborator who shares the load? A new form of discipline that provides scaffolding? A truth you finally speak aloud that lets others help you? To get the process started, shed any belief you have that strength means carrying everything all by yourself.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
The coming weeks will challenge you to think with tenderness and feel with clarity. You’ll be called on to stay sharply alert even as you remain loose, kind, and at ease. Your good fortune will expand as you open your awareness wider, while also firming up the boundaries that keep mean people from bothering you. The really good news is that cosmic forces are lining up to guide you and coach you in exactly these skills. You are primed to explore intriguing paradoxes and contradictions that have valuable lessons.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
In alchemy, solve et coagula is a Latin phrase translated as “dissolve and coagulate.” It means that transformation must begin with the process of breaking down before any building begins. You can’t skip over the dissolving phase and jump straight into creating the new structure. I mention this, dear Pisces, because I believe you’re now in the dissolving phase. It might feel destabilizing, even a bit unnerving, but I urge you to stick with it. When the moment comes to construct the beautiful new forms, you will know. But that time isn’t yet. Keep dissolving a while longer.
Homework: What small burden could you let go that will provide a rush of freedom? Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
The revolution will indeed not be telecast. It’s being broadcast—on local FM.
“Edible on the Air” made its debut appearance on KSQD Community Radio last week.
I’ll let KSQD hostess Christine Barrington—a gifted interlocutor, producer and all-around great hang—take it from there: “We all have to eat, and we all love to eat good food, so KSQD is thrilled to bring you our first foodie program featuring the brilliance and deep epicurean knowledge of our region.”
Spoiler alert: That means me (!!) doing a lot of the reporting, tasting and talking. It also means high-calorie discussion of great restaurants, great recipes, and the compelling people and places that make it all happen, across the Monterey Bay Area.
For our first monthly installment—episodes beam out the final Friday of every month via 90.7 FM (that’s the main signal in Santa Cruz), 89.7 FM (Fremont Peak/Salinas), and 89.5 FM (Carmel/Monterey)—we swooped through the best new restaurants of 2025, fun eateries ahead in 2026, the most important (and ongoing) story of the moment (farmworker justice) and welcomed in a call from local travel author and flavor bloodhound Stuart Thornton.
io tasting of a sublime local spirit in apple-based Corralitos Vodka.
The next “Edible on the Air” sizzles 5pm Feb. 27; visit ksqd.org to listen in on the first recording and for more savory programming from the hardworking not-for-profit heroes over at KSQD.
BREAK NEWS
One of Santa Cruz’s great gastronomic breakthroughs of 2025 appeared in this space two weeks ago: The Cliffside Coffee cart—hand-built and adorable—started pouring Verve Coffee Roaster’s best-selling Aster roast in espresso and latte preparations 9am-1pm Wednesday-Friday and 8am-1pm Saturday-Sunday late last summer. A shining key to his success: securing a permit to park in Pleasure Point Park next to legendary Pleasure Point and The Point Market (23040 E. Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz). Only now he’s relocated to another dope surf spot, namely The Hook (511 41st Ave., Santa Cruz), while he awaits word on why the status of his park permit at Paradise Point is in flux, @cliffsidecoffee on Instagram.
GAME TIME
I can’t root for either the Seattle Seahawks or the New England Patriots on Sunday, so I’m pulling for epic food and drink. Hence I’m eyeing taking the Capitol Corridor train to an over-the-top affair called Players Tailgate, taking place at Mission College (3000 Mission College Blvd, Lot D, Santa Clara), a short run from Levi’s Stadium. From 11am–4pm it’s an all out tastebud blitz (had to do it) with a dozen plus chefs like Chris Cosentino, MasterChef champ Kelsey Murphy, Chopped judge Aarón Sanchez, Top Chef winner and James Beard semifinalist Tristen Epps, three-time James Beard Shota Nakajima and more. It’s not cheap, but it will be rich, search “Players Tailgate Santa Clara” for more.
SCREAM TEAM
The Penny Ice Creamery is all amped for National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day on Saturday, Feb. 7, and opening all of our stores early at 9am and serving up breakfast sundaes, Goldilocks porridge with scoops of ice cream, strips of bacon, pastries, and good old fashioned ice cream, and also whipping up Valentine’s Day heart-shaped ice cream pies Feb. 10-14, thepennyicecreamery.com…Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust’s next Get Hooked! dinner series installment is on the horizontal it happens at Hook + Line (105 Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz) on Feb. 24, to benefit the Community Seafood Program, eathookandline.com, montereybayfisheriestrust.org…Simple hack from a EnoBytes.com’s “The Simple Ritual That Saves a [Wine] Bottle”: re-cork immediately; store upright; refrigerate everything (even reds); keep it away from light and heat”…Alistair Cooke, dial us out: “I prefer radio to TV because the pictures are better.”
A go-to spot in Watsonville with a strong local following, Pho Kitchen has been serving traditional Vietnamese cuisine alongside a renowned beverage menu for the last four years. Eliup Brito has worked there for the last three years. She was raised locally and says she genuinely enjoys her job and being part of such a friendly social community. Her restaurant industry career started in fast food before she applied on a whim at Pho Kitchen because it seemed like a fun place to work.
She describes the ambiance as creative décor that complements aspects of Vietnamese culture and adds a touch of modernism. She starts the menu tour with the namesake pho, her personal favorite is also the best-seller: a classic beef combination of meatballs, tendon, brisket and eye round steak in bone broth with delicate noodles and herbs.
Other pho favorites include sliced chicken breast and seafood combo, and another if-you-know-you-know offering is the cold noodle vermicelli salad with choice of meat, pickled veggies and fish sauce. They also serve banh mi, a traditional Vietnamese sandwich with options of barbecue chicken, barbecue pork or tofu. The drink menu is rife with boba teas, slushies and Vietnamese coffee.
Why are the beverages so bussin’?
ELIUP BRITO: Many of our customers ask us if we make our boba teas naturally or from powder, and most of them we make naturally. One of the best is our fresh strawberry with scratch-made strawberry jam and another popular pick is our Vietnamese coffee with a bold, strong coffee flavor and housemade cream topping to balance it out. I’m an avid coffee drinker and I really love it, it really is a coffee lover’s dream come true. We also offer a very popular horchata smoothie that is a beautiful blending of Mexican and Vietnamese culture and cuisine.
What do you love about your job?
It’s a family-owned restaurant and it’s casual, the owners really let us roam and do our thing. As long as the guests are happy, they are happy. They are also very supportive of us employees, they offer flexible time off and we also get free shift meals that really help us learn the menu and be able to help customers pick out menu items for themselves.
Tension was thick during an online meeting over the proposed demolition of the building that currently houses The Catalyst nightclub in Downtown Santa Cruz. Roughly 150 people were in attendance as City of Santa Cruz Senior Planner Rina Zhou moderated. The meeting was supposed to only last 90 minutes, but went over half an hour longer as concerned citizens queued up to have their opinions heard over cultural history, noise and affordability.
“We are not denying this is a complex project by any means,” said Peter Given of GSH Ventures in Mountain View, the company that submitted the pre-application with the city last November. “It’s a challenge but it’s one that we’ve brought on some of the best engineers in the business to support us with.”
The current GSH proposal demolishes the buildings at 1009, 1011 and 1015 Pacific Avenue to build a single, seven-story, multi-use complex. Retail and the Catalyst are proposed for the ground floor with luxury apartments on the second to seventh floors. Throughout the meeting Given–who said he used to live in Santa Cruz–maintained his company’s recognition of the Catalyst’s importance to the Santa Cruz and Bay Area community.
“We’re really not trying to remove The Catalyst,” he said. “We’re really trying to find creative ways to give it a home that it can actually thrive and grow into the future.”
Longtime Catalyst manager Igor Gavric, told the meeting GSH has been working closely with the music venue. He underscored the fact that the Catalyst’s current location at 1011 Pacific Ave. was originally a bowling alley and never meant to be a music venue.
“I think there’s a broader conversation here that people don’t understand,” he said. “The Catalyst building is quite long in the tooth in its own capacity. Independent of this project and sale of the building there has been conversation on our end about what that looks like for the Catalyst at the end of our lease.”
He said that there’s no guarantee The Catalyst can continue in the current location as it is because of the many renovations needed.
“This can be viewed as just a really good opportunity that the community can have for another 50 years,” he explained.
The Catalyst has been in its current building since 1976, moved from its original location in the St. George Hotel. At the time, the business and building were owned by Randall Kane, who died at the age of 85 in 2009. The current building is owned by the Kane family but is currently in escrow with GSH Ventures, though it has not been finalized.
Gavric said The Catalyst and GSH have been in conversation about the venue’s future every step of the way but is uncertain what that would look like if the current deal falls through.
“It’s all been in good faith with the appropriate line of questioning and correspondence with the developers,” he said. “If a different developer came into this project, they may not be as open to preserving a historical institution as this one is.”
However, a multitude of concerns surrounding the project were raised by the public and business owners when the meeting was opened up to community comments.
Alyssa Pullen, owner of the Tea House Spa on Elm Street–which has operated in Downtown Santa Cruz for 40 years–shares a wall with The Catalyst, and was concerned about the privacy of her guests.
“We operate tub and sauna rooms that are private but overlook a historic bamboo garden,” she said. “How will the developers maintain 100 percent privacy of the gardens and the open spa rooms?”
Jesse Cummings, owner of Old School Shoes, which operates next to the Catalyst at 1017 Pacific Ave., questioned the impact the project would have on his business. He explained the hardships owners have faced since the 2020 shutdowns in conjunction with all the new construction happening downtown that has eliminated parking for shoppers and added construction noise and closed off sidewalks.
“I cannot imagine us being able to survive you guys constructing this big thing that literally blocks out the sunlight from this business,” he said.
“I am urging you to oppose this project,” said Vision Sanctuary Gallery owner, Rachel Corvese. “The gallery benefits from The Catalyst having shows and will most likely lose revenue and possibly close with this project continuing. The downtown area is unique because of the quarkiness of our streets instead of bland, white, square high rises.”
Other business owners throughout the city also expressed their concerns.
Claire Wirt, co-owner of Santa Cruz Recording Studio on the Westside, maintained the project would have a far-reaching impact than just downtown.
“A lot of my business depends on bands coming through town and spending some time with us,” she explained. “What about artists and musicians and bands that count on The Catalyst for gigs or the chance to open for other acts? All of this is going to stop for a period of time and perhaps change because the vibe of The Catalyst will not be the same with 64 luxury units on top.”
Others raised concerns over the rationality of having apartments above a nightclub regarding noise ordinances. Given that GSH is working with an acoustics company to ensure the most soundproofing possible and pointed out similar plans have been executed in other cities across the United States.
Several community members discussed the online petition to save The Catalyst that was started after news of the project went public. Currently, there are over 10,000 signatures and organizers are in the process of making paper petitions as well.
“Yes, we do need housing,” said Hector Marin. “Affordability is a great issue that needs to be resolved within the city but demolishing The Catalyst ain’t it.”
Marin, an educator at Harbor High School and 2024 Santa Cruz City Council candidate, is one of the leaders of the petition. He told attendees the importance The Catalyst has for his students.
“We can still meet our state-mandated housing requirements without sacrificing the cultural space we have here that cater to so many Santa Cruzans,” he said.
Many noted the rapidly changing nature of Downtown Santa Cruz with all the new apartment buildings already being built, many of which remain empty of retail and residents. While some of the new project apartments are marked as “affordable housing,” Given admitted it’s not the entirety of the building, leading many in the community to claim the luxury apartments will only further drive up housing costs for the greater community.
“Who’s it affordable for? Definitely not me,” exclaimed one person, only identified as Blaire. “I’m really disturbed how quickly these bland, ugly luxury buildings are coming up when most of us who are working normal, full-time jobs can’t even afford to be here.”
The petition calls for the City to save The Catalyst and possibly recognize it as a historic landmark. However, Zhou told the meeting that the City has no involvement in discussions between the developers and building owners. She also explained that even if the building were to receive a historic designation, it would not retroactively impact the current proposal.
“The city has very limited ability to require changes to the project outside of objective standards and conditions that were in place prior to the submission of the complete pre-application,” said Zhou.
She also noted that since the project is within half a mile of a “major transit stop”–the newly designed Downtown Metro station that is still under construction–the city cannot require parking for the site.
At the end of the meeting, Given expressed his gratitude for the community airing their concerns and said an open conversation is welcome. He said this is just the first of many as the project is currently still in an exploratory phase. There will be two in-public open houses at the Catalyst on February 25 and March 25, both from 9:30am to 11:30am where the community can come to discuss the project face-to-face with developers and business owners.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Chris Clark told reporters Thursday that local law enforcement will not cooperate with federal officials if they come to the Central Coast as part of the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policy.
Clark spoke at a press conference led by Rep. Jimmy Panetta that included elected officials, nonprofit leaders, education professionals and medical professionals. Speakers shared a similar message: The community will protect its immigrant population.
The roundtable discussion that preceded the press conference followed the shooting deaths in Minneapolis of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Local law enforcement will not sit idly by in such situations, Clark said.
“If we are present, we see things like excessive use of force or blatant violations of the law, we have a duty to intercede,” Clark said.
Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell said his office would support that enforcement.
“We will investigate it under state authority,” he said. “And if somebody deserves to be prosecuted, we will work on that and we will prosecute to the best of our abilities.”
Panetta said he heard many common themes during the roundtable.
“The words that we heard were fear, frustration, but most importantly, it’s about trust,” he said. “It’s about trust, not just with our law enforcement, but with all community organizations and with our communities to make sure that the people of Santa Cruz, of the Central Coast, of the 19th Congressional District continue to have trust in the institutions that do so much.”
Panetta criticized federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“Instead, they are acting like a lawless, marauding mob posing as police,” he said. “At the federal level, we are doing what we can to make sure that we prevent further deadly shootings of U.S. citizens and the violation of civil liberties by ICE and CBP agents.”
Panetta said he has called for the resignation of DHS adviser Stephen Miller and Secretary Kristi Noem.
“If there’s not the removal of those two administration officials, you will see impeachment resolutions in the House that I will support,” he said.
Second Harvest Food Bank CEO Erica Padilla-Chavez said the organization is working to help families who are afraid to get food lest they be targeted by immigration officials.
Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah said the county’s schools prohibit federal officials from their campuses.
“We do not collect information about immigration status and we do not allow immigration officers on our campuses without a warrant signed by a judge,” he said.
“We know that students cannot learn if they’re feeling fear,” Sabbah said. “And for the past year, we have witnessed a constant attack on immigrant families, our most vulnerable communities, and public education.”
Sabbah called it “a devastating campaign of injustice and intimidation.”
“Every child has a right to a public education regardless of immigration status,” he said.
Though Super Bowl 60 will take place Feb. 7 in Santa Clara, Watsonville will roll out its own red carpet at Watsonville Municipal Airport this week.
Shaz Roth, CEO of the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, said preparations are underway to welcome as many as 26 planes to the tarmac in Watsonville, where folks can park their aircraft and head over the hill to watch the Seattle Seahawks take on the New England Patriots.
“We will be doing a red carpet welcome again for folks flying into Watsonville Airport for the Super Bowl,” Roth said. “We’ll be giving them local treats, including berries, an item from Annieglass, Martinelli’s, local Rivas honey, and Belle olive oil, something from Bargetto’s, along with an assortment of things from La Bahia Hotel. We’re also handing out a certificate for ice cream from Penny Ice Creamery.”
Roth said Visit Santa Cruz and a list of local businesses have stepped in to make the welcome “special.”
The Chamber ran a similar event for Super Bowl 50 10 years ago, Roth said. This year will be bigger.
“We want people to feel welcome to come here; we want them to return and we want to show them that Watsonville is a great option for small jets to land in a nice, welcoming place,” Roth said. She added that they are expecting visitors from around the U.S.
Gary Air, an air taxi service at the airport, is also staging its own welcoming party as part of the event, where others are invited as well, Roth said.
On deck are even bigger preparations for the World Cup coming in June.
“That’s what Santa Cruz County as a whole will be preparing for, and it’s going to be big,” Roth said. “People will be coming in from around the world, but that event is an entire week, not just one day like the Super Bowl.”
Where do million, billion and trillion dollar ideas come from? Do the ideas just linger languidly in the ethers until the right person (or people) tune into the right frequency, at the right moment? This was Teilhard de Chardin’s co-theory, developed in the 1920s, which he called the noosphere. For the vivacious Julia Hartz, CEO and co-founder of Eventbrite, a $435 million ticketing company, the vision manifested through a lifetime of stacking and integrating core lessons, many of which took place in Santa Cruz.
One could point to Santa Cruz as a sublime alchemical cauldron for innovators, divergent thinkers, and entrepreneurial mavericks, who then manifested their passions into worldwide brands. Netflix, Joby, the Screaming Hand, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Santa Cruz Bicycles, and Plantronics, to name a few. And in Hartz’s case, Eventbrite.
A Different World
Hartz, 46, was born in Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose and spent her earliest years in the Rose Garden District near Willow Glen. The area is known for attractions such as the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden and the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. Hartz’s baby eyes were often bombarded with a myriad of roses and ancient sarcophagi. The vibrant immediate moment and the dusty past intertwining into something new.
The divorce revolution of California might have peaked in the 1970’s, but Hartz’s parents still got swept up in the undertow, and mutually separated when she was 2 years old, and her brother, 7. While divorcing was no longer considered a novelty, Hartz’s parents did come up with the freshly innovative idea of co-parenting. An idea new and old at the same time. An idea that harkened back to when America was still like a village.
“They lived down the street from each other in San Jose,” says Hartz from her corporate office in San Francisco. “My mom eventually met a fireman who was building a house in Santa Cruz. It was emblematic of those times. Back when they had this ‘manship’. San Jose Fire Department dudes would go to Santa Cruz on the weekends and help build another fireman’s home.”
The fact that Hartz returns to this memory is not random. Within this tale of almost Amish values, raising each other’s barns, and lifting each other up, is what would eventually become a core value of Eventbrite –- the democratization of ticketing.
GROWING UP IN SC Julie Hartz (far left) has always been a dancer more than a surfer. PHOTO: Contributed
Family Matters
Hartz lived between San Jose and Live Oak until she was 4, which is when her mother finally married her firefighting, soon-to-be stepfather. At which point, the couple (with kids in tow)moved full-time to Santa Cruz. Co-parenting was still a goal, and before the ink had dried, the newlyweds approached Hartz’s biological father and gave him the nuptial news and an invitation to join them. Not so much an ultimatum, but more of a question, with the desired goal of doing what was best for the children. “They asked him, ‘What do you think?’ And my dad’s like, ‘I always wanted to live on the beach. Let’s go,’” Hartz recalls.
The extended family landed with all 10 feet on the ground, and Hartz went to Live Oak Elementary, Del Mar and Soquel High School. Her family was intact, albeit in separate homes. Hartz was an early transplant who soaked up the Santa Cruz lifestyle and experience, and was able to see that valuable lessons were everywhere – like ciphers in the sand.
Cheers
Teenagers getting jobs in Santa Cruz has always been a badge of honor born out of boredom, a mandatory requirement or just the thirsty necessity for summer cash. The Boardwalk’s extensive hiring net caught as many potential ride operators and ice cream scoopers as possible, but there were also smaller unique businesses that were also involved in churning the youth into, hopefully, responsible citizens.
On the corner of Soquel and Porter is the Ugly Mug Coffeehouse. Opened by Steve Volk in 1996, it was, and remains, a throwback coffee spot that is a cultural and community center. Volk always loved the beatnik spunk and vigor in the cafes that he worked at in San Francisco, as a teenager. Volk aimed to create not only quality coffee, but a specific vibe.
Regarding a certain young employee, named Julia Hartz, Volk lets loose with some very Ferlinghetti thoughts.
“As much as I can remember anything that happened 30 freakin’ years ago,” Volk begins. “I kind of have a foggy memory of it. I was 28 and they were 17, if I look at their birth date and when we opened. And they were either just out of high school or in high school. And of course, the other employees were college kids, and they were crazy. So they were probably the least crazy of them.
“I’ve heard interviews over the years, and what I heard was that she had trouble with a certain customer on Saturday mornings who was never happy. I can remember that customer,” Volk laughs.
Hartz definitely remembers that customer. “I would get to work at 5am on a Saturday to open the shop. And I always had this really difficult customer who would stand outside and wait for me to open at 6am. And she’d come in, and it would still be dark out. And I’d be the only one in there. I’d make her whatever she ordered.
“And she would just tear me to shreds on how awful my barista skills were. I went home the third time that this happened, and I told my mom. My mom, who has been the constant throughout my whole story, said, ‘I think it sounds like she needs someone to talk to. It sounds like it might not be about your coffee.’
“So the next time I took my parents’ Sunday Times from their doorstep and brought it with me. I laid it all out on the counter. Section by section. I started to point out stories and ask, ‘What do you think about that?’
“And that was the first Sunday that she didn’t tear me to shreds. She really did want someone to talk to. It was my first lesson in connecting with people and customer service. And that’s all I remember about it, except for the fact that I learned how to massively caffeinate myself, which is very dangerous at that,” Hartz laughs.
When pressed on what he was really trying to impart to his crew, Volk said that he wanted a level-headed employee who also knew how to take away lessons from every situation.
The concept that every single encounter in one’s life offers possibilities, with potential outcomes that are advantageous, lands somewhere between Eastern mysticism and Hogwarts. But it was a huge takeaway that Hartz carried in her pocket for the future.
The Wonder Years
Hartz got an internship with Dina Ruiz when Ruiz was the local TV news anchor at KSBW-TV (and future ex-wife of Clint Eastwood). Hartz was savoring the invisible electric life of being behind-the-scenes of a live news television show. There was the constant motion of multiple people, in very specific jobs, all pushing the same rock up the hill, until the countdown began and America was suddenly watching. The experience ignited a career interest.
Hartz applied to Pepperdine University, as it ticked off the boxes that Hartz sought, with a solid news broadcasting program, and it being a small liberal arts college that was near the water. Santa Cruz had a deeper impact on Hartz than meets the eye. “It felt very disorienting if I was not near the water.”
Hartz had a solid emotional support system growing up, but when she did not receive any financial support to attend Pepperdine, things looked dire.
“I couldn’t afford to go, and then in the 11th hour, my mom suggested that I write them a letter. I did. And, they ended up giving me a full financial aid package, which included student loans,” Hartz said.
Working two jobs to pay back the student loans, Hartz realized that it was less news broadcasting and more television production that she wanted to pursue. Which led to her work at the television channel, FX.
But don’t miss the through-line in these remembrances. Besides being able to hear and comprehend the tutelage of her mother’s wisdom, Hartz got into Pepperdine because she attempted a Hail Mary missive, an outside-the-box attempt to break through the bureaucracy, and it successfully glided into an individual’s arms.
Over the years, Hartz has tried to find the person who read her letter and thereby granted her a second chance. This core lesson that one-on-one attention can amplify smaller voices also became an Eventbrite trademark.
Fearless
“I had just got recruited by FX Networks and I got to work with John Landgraf,” Hartz says. “This was the beginning of the FX power era, where we were giving HBO a run for its money. The Shield redefined television. I worked with Denis Leary on Rescue Me, which was his poignant love letter about his own coping with 9/11.
“It was so thrilling to see something come to life that was so familiar to me. I grew up in firehouses, and around that culture, and around those men and women. I remember the first woman firefighter in San Jose, who went on to be a captain, and was a dear friend of my parents. It was a full circle moment for me to be involved.”
Mad about you
“It was love at first sight,” Hartz says about her husband, Kevin. He was an entrepreneur in the Bay Area, working on his second start-up and an early investor in PayPal. “We were head over heels for each other. We would go to PayPal parties at an apartment. And he would come down, and I would take him to the MTV Movie Awards. It was a funny juxtaposition of two industries. Entertainment that was actually in decline, and one that was in its early infancy, which was technology and the Internet.
“During those couple of years, I was able to see through his eyes what was going to happen. How disruption was going to accelerate, and I wanted to be on the side of the disruptor. I also had gotten a little jaded as far as how things work in Hollywood, and I didn’t quite fit in. It’s all about who you know and not really as much about meritocracy,” Hartz reveals.
Hartz had a job offer to join Current TV. That was the Joel Hyatt and Al Gore startup cable network. Hartz was finally making decent money. “I had an assistant. I’m not really sure why. And I had a window office in Fox Plaza in Century City,” Hartz laughs.
DOG BEACH Julia and her brother, Jeremiah, share a moment on the beach with a furry friend. Photo: Contributed
Northern exposure
Hartz decided to head north from Hollywood, back to her family, to become involved in Kevin’s newest startup. “We laugh about it now, but we had really big debates about whether or not he was going to move to LA and run his tech company from LA, or if I was going to move to San Francisco. I really thought about how I need to be careful dealing with serial entrepreneurs, because they will convince you of crazy ideas,” Hartz chuckles.
Crazy idea?
How do you take the reins away from legacy ticketing agencies like Ticketmaster and Ticketron, and make it intuitively easy for even the smallest event producers to access and use?
The original idea on the Eventbrite whiteboard was “To make event ticketing as effortless and accessible as creating a web page — open to anyone, not just big promoters.”
From tiny church groups that were putting on an inspiring play and wanted to sell tickets, to Rotary Clubs that were about to have a fundraiser, to humble comedians just trying to make strangers laugh in dive bars, Eventbrite swung that door wide open.
Their 2011 imaginative, forward-thinking, integrative partnership with Facebook, whereby individuals could eventually create “event pages” that were as good as websites and sell tickets, blew the doors off the building.
Designing Women
The harsh reality is that it is unusual to have Hartz be a CEO at such a high level. Not like a unicorn on a rainbow level, unusual. But close. Out of all the CEOs in America, including the Fortune 500, roughly 10% are women. Hartz has the platform to raise other women, all women, up. Hartz’s good friend, Brit Morin, also understands the mission.
Morin has used her platform to educate women and non-binary people about finance and the future.
Morin is legendary in Silicon Valley. Business carded as an American venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and technologist, who came about by leaving Google (working on Google Maps, Google TV and iGoogle) at age 25, to build her own empire.
“Julia is a chameleon,” Morin says over emails. “She is likable by literally everyone. She reads the room better than almost anyone I know — understanding when to pipe up or down, what questions to ask (or not), and how to empathize with people. This has amounted to her success in numerous ways, from her ability to hire and retain talent at Eventbrite, to the volume of partnerships she has done over the years, to the PR she has been able to acquire for herself and the company, and of course, to all sorts of personal matters — from friendships to family. She has had several colleagues that have stayed on for 10+ years at Eventbrite which is an anomaly in Silicon Valley where the average tenure is 16-18 months.”
Who’s the boss?
“I now understand that the secret of Kevin and I as a partnership, whether it be husband and wife, or co-parents, or life partners, or co-founders, is that he sees the possibility where other people would have a chip that would filter it out. I believe in his ideas. But, I make them work. It’s the yin and yang of a strong founding team. How do you actually bring a big vision into the world?” Hartz asks.
For the budding Hollywood executive, Hartz, it was putting every penny she had into her soulmate’s starry-eyed startup, and then having her brother drive her back home. “I have blocked that memory from my archives,” Hartz laughs. “I moved into my tiny plywood office in 2005 and our official launch event was January 2006.”
This January 2026, Eventbrite was valued at $437 million dollars. In 2025, Eventbrite sold over 83 million tickets. Last month’s sale of Eventbrite to the Italian high-growth technology company, Bending Spoons, hasn’t changed the top tier, Julia Hartz remains the CEO and co-founder.
Blossom
Hartz’s dedication to innovation, channeling the flow of modern times, and always leaning towards increasingly intuitive platforms, is such a Santa Cruz ethos and attitude. So you might assume that Hartz was a surfer, and you would be incorrect. “I was not. I went to a ballerina dance studio. So I was dancing all the time and so I didn’t surf. Funny enough, I ended up marrying a surfer and my kids surf. We’ve traveled around the world to different surf spots, and I’m really patient. I’m a really great surf watcher,” says Hartz.
Patient, observant and waiting for the next big thing.
MIKE SHERM A staple of the underground West Coast hip-hop scene, Mike Sherm has risen to fame through his no-nonsense delivery and his social media savvy. Born in Antioch, but making his way to Oakland, Mike has developed a distinct Bay-Area flow. His teen years were spent absorbing the slang and sound of Bay Area hip hop and he’s gained a strong following by posting his original tracks on YouTube and SoundCloud. Creating viral hits like “HotBoy” and “Cookies” that explore themes of street life and aspirations, he shows off a nonchalant confidence, clever wordplay, and distinct flow. SHELLY NOVO
INFO: 9pm, Catalyst, 1101 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, $51.85-$121.30, 713-5492.
FRIDAY 1/30
CINEMA
HAROLD LLOYD’S SAFETY LAST! For all the dappers and flappers out there, there’s a real nifty silent flick everyone from rag-a-muffins to the cat’s pajamas needs to see. Considered one of the great pieces of the American silent age cinema, Safety Last! starring Harold Floyd, came out in 1923, was beloved by critics and audiences alike, and continues to entertain audiences 103 years later. Lloyd plays a country boy trying to do right by his mother and fiancée, who moves to the big city to find success. When things don’t go his way, he ends up scaling a 12-story building in which Lloyd—who did most of his own stunts—infamously hangs from the face of a clock. MAT WEIR
INFO: 7pm, The Landing, 251B Kings Village Rd., Scotts Valley. $10.
INDIE FOLK
FRUIT BATS Fruit Bats is an indie-folk band led by Chicago-based singer-songwriter Eric D. Johnson. Fruit Bats is also the name used for Johnson’s solo concerts and projects. And it’s the latter that will feature in this performance at the Rio Theatre. Fruit Bats began as Johnson’s home recording project. Through its various iterations (and a two-year hiatus), the project has yielded 18 albums, seven of which are live sets. 2025’s Baby Man is Fruit Bats’ latest, continuing Johnson’s wry and introspective lyrics combined with folk-flavored pop that draws from ’70s and ’80s pop, all with an alluring groove underpinning it all. BILL KOPP
INFO: 8pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $42. 423-8209.
SATURDAY 1/31
EXPERIMENTAL
MARGUERITE BROWN With phenomenal precision and a microtonal temperament, Marguerite Brown is renowned for her refretted guitar work and her focus on intonation. Indexical is proud to host the accomplished composer’s piece, “Tuning To,” which conceptualizes the electric guitar as a celestial body. Brown acts as a scientist, using planetary tuning forks, hardware, and experimentation. Brown’s dedication to stretching beyond conventional tuning and expanding the sonic possibilities of string instruments has given way to ear-catching, brain-stimulating compositions. This multi-instrumentalist’s work is mesmerizing to behold, offering a profound journey into sonic physics. SN
INFO: 8:30pm, Indexical, 1050 River St. #119, Santa Cruz. $16. (509) 627-9491.
ROCK
A TODD SYIDER TRIBUTE Not a lot of musicians fall under the category of “beloved”. But this posthumous tribute to Todd Snider combines 20 local musicians performing their favorite Todd Snider songs. Come celebrate the singer/songwriter’s life with favorites like Bryn Loosely, Kellen & Jamie Coffis, and JAM and a Buttered Biscuit. Todd Snider was well known, but in Santa Cruz he was one of our adopted celebrities, with KPIG and Snazzy Productions raising Snider up to rockstar level. People obsess on death (Snider apparently died of walking pneumonia), but this show is all about the life, wit, charm, and scores of songs that Snider left us with. DNA
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Street, Santa Cruz. $50/adv, $60/door. 427-2227.
SUNDAY 2/1
CLASSICAL
JON NAKAMATSU Pianist Jon Nakamatsu made history in 1997 when he became the first American in more than a decade to win the prestigious Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The San Jose-born classical musician’s breakthrough was followed by more high-profile achievements: he has toured with the San Jose Youth Symphony, performed with more than 150 orchestras around the globe, headlined at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center, and co-directed the annual Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival. A Stanford graduate, Nakamatsu has released ten albums, including a 2007 set that climbed the upper reaches of Billboard’s Classical Albums chart. BK
TROPICAL FUCK STORM Imagine an Aussie B-52s where the beats were harder, the intensity greater and lyrical content just as tasty. Tropical Fuck Storm sounds like more than just a foursome. Lead guitarist Gareth Liddiard’s (The Drones) Fender Jaguar makes searing sounds that bend time and space. Lauren Hammel (High Tension) crushes the drums with the kind of selfless percussion that keeps everything speeding out of the outback. Erica Dunn (Mod Con, Palm Springs) has an art rock appeal with some breakout songs and fine tonal guitar playing. Holding down the bass is Fiona Kitschin, who combines some backup harmonies that make TFS a band not to miss. DNA
NICK HEXUM It’s always interesting to see artists branch out and explore their horizons. Phases of Hope and Hollow, the new album by 311 singer Nick Hexum, is definitely a left turn for the artist, with soft melodies and folk pop stylings. True, 311’s melodies were always pleasant and catchy, like their hit single “Amber,” but to hear Hexum singing instead of rapping over a Father John Misty by way Bonnie Prince Billy song, well, it was shocking—in a good way. On Tuesday, he brings his new phase to the Santa Cruz Mountains to show he’s not a one-trick pony. That’s probably what he meant when he sang, “All entertainers come original.” MW
GEORGE SAUNDERS Our world and society are more complex than most people realize. The impact humans have on each other and the environment goes beyond the immediate day-to-day social interactions. Author of 13 novels, George Saunders, reflects on the effects of globalization and capitalism through a creative and playful novel called Vigil. An oil company CEO is quietly passing to the afterlife when Vigil comes to escort him to the afterlife, in her favorite black pumps. During his last night, images and visions of the past, present, and future flood the room, examining the broader effects of his life. The story pulls together modern issues of capitalism mixed with moral questions of good and evil. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
INFO: 7pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz. $34. 423-8209.
Readers weigh in on the UCSC Martin Luther King Jr. convocation, lessons from global “Blue Zone” diets, holding climate polluters financially accountable, and a new candidate entering the Santa Cruz County supervisor race.
Editor Brad Kava reflects on the Santa Cruz work ethic, spotlighting Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz’s journey from teen barista to tech leader, and celebrating Grammy wins by John Leopold and Remy Le Boeuf.
ARIES March 21-April 19
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Imagine an Aussie B-52s where the beats were harder, the intensity greater and lyrical content just as tasty. Tropical Fuck Storm rocks Moe's Alley on Monday.
