Free Will Astrology

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Author Diane Ackerman says it’s inevitable that each of us sometimes “looks clumsy or gets dirty or asks stupid questions or reveals our ignorance or says the wrong thing.โ€ Knowing how often I do those things, I’m extremely tolerant of everyone I meet. Iโ€™m compassionate, not judgmental, when I see people who try too hard, are awkward, care for one another too deeply or are too open to experience. I myself commit such acts, so Iโ€™d be foolish to criticize them in others. During the coming weeks, Aries, you will generate good fortune for yourself if you suspend all disparagement. Yes, be accepting, tolerant and forgivingโ€”but go even further. Be downright welcoming and amiable. Love the human comedy exactly as it is. 

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus comedian Kevin James confesses, “I discovered I scream the same way whether Iโ€™m about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.” Many of us could make a similar admission. The good news, Taurus, is that your anxieties in the coming weeks will be the “piece of seaweed” variety, not the great white shark. Go ahead and scream if you need toโ€”hey, we all need to unleash a boisterous yelp or howl now and thenโ€”but then relax.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Here are famous people with whom I have had personal connections: actor Marisa Tomei, rockstar Courtney Love, filmmaker Miranda July, playwright David Mamet, actor William Macy, philosopher Robert Anton Wilson, rockstar Paul Kantor, rock impresario Bill Graham and author Clare Cavanagh. What? You never heard of Clare Cavanagh? She is the brilliant and renowned translator of Nobel Prize laureate poet Wisล‚awa Szymborska and the authorized biographer of Nobel Prize laureate author Czesล‚aw Miล‚osz. As much as I appreciate the other celebrities I named, I am most enamored of Cavanaghโ€™s work. As a Gemini, she expresses your signโ€™s highest potential: the ability to wield beautiful language to communicate soulful truths. I suggest you make her your inspirational role model for now. Itโ€™s time to dazzle and persuade and entertain and beguile with your words.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I cheer you on when you identify what you want. I exult when you devise smart plans to seek what you want, and I celebrate when you go off in high spirits to obtain and enjoy what you want. I am gleeful when you aggressively create the life you envision for yourself, and I do everything in my power to help you manifest it. But now and then, like now, I share Cancerian author Franz Kafka’s perspective. He said this: “You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be quite still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Letโ€™s talk about changing your mind. In some quarters, that’s seen as weak, even embarrassing. But I regard it as a noble necessity, and I recommend you consider it in the near future. Here are four guiding thoughts. 1. “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” โ€”George Bernard Shaw. 2. “Only the strongest people have the pluck to change their minds, and say so, if they see they have been wrong in their ideas.” โ€”Enid Blyton. 3. “Sometimes, being true to yourself means changing your mind. Self changes, and you follow.” โ€”Vera Nazarian. 4. “The willingness to change oneโ€™s mind in the light of new evidence is a sign of rationality, not weakness.” โ€•Stuart Sutherland.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “The soul moves in circles,” psychologist James Hillman told us. “Hence our lives are not moving straight ahead; instead, hovering, wavering, returning, renewing, repeating.” In recent months, Virgo, your soul’s destiny has been intensely characterized by swerves and swoops. And I believe the rollicking motion will continue for many months. Is that bad or good? Mostly goodโ€”especially if you welcome its poetry and beauty. The more you learn to love the spiral dance, the more delightful the dance will be.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): If you have ever contemplated launching a career as a spy, the coming months will be a favorable time to do so. Likewise if you have considered getting trained as a detective, investigative journalist, scientific researcher or private eye. Your affinity for getting to the bottom of the truth will be at a peak, and so will your discerning curiosity. You will be able to dig up secrets no one else has discovered. You will have an extraordinary knack for homing in on the heart of every matter. Start now to make maximum use of your superpowers!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Have you been sensing a phantom itch thatโ€™s impossible to scratch? Are you feeling less like your real self lately and more like an AI version of yourself? Has your heart been experiencing a prickly tickle? If so, I advise you not to worry. These phenomena have a different meaning from the implications you may fear. I suspect they are signs you will soon undertake the equivalent of what snakes do: molting their skins to make way for a fresh layer. This is a good thing! Afterward, you will feel fresh and new.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): According to legend, fifth-century Pope Leo I convinced the conquering army of Attila the Hun to refrain from launching a full-scale invasion of Italy. There may have been other reasons, in addition to Leo’s persuasiveness. For example, some evidence suggests Attila’s troops were superstitious because a previous marauder died soon after attacking Rome. But historians agree that Pope Leo was a potent leader whose words carried great authority. You, Sagittarius, won’t need to be quite as fervently compelling as the ancient pope in the coming weeks. But you will have an enhanced ability to influence and entice people. I hope you use your powers for good!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Singer-songwriter Joan Baez has the longevity and endurance typical of many Capricorns. Her last album in 2018 was released 59 years after her career began. An article in The New Yorker describes her style as โ€œelegant and fierce, defiant and maternal.โ€ It also noted that though she is mostly retired from music, she is โ€œmaking poignant and unpredictable art,โ€ creating weird, hilarious line drawings with her non-dominant hand. I propose we make Baez your inspirational role model. May she inspire you to be elegant and fierce, bold and compassionate, as you deepen and refine your excellence in the work youโ€™ve been tenaciously plying for a long time. For extra credit, add some unexpected new flair to your game.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian author and activist Mary Frances Berry has won numerous awards for her service on behalf of racial justice. One accomplishment: She was instrumental in raising global awareness of South Africa’s apartheid system, helping to end its gross injustice. “The time when you need to do something,” she writes, “is when no one else is willing to do it, when people are saying it canโ€™t be done.” You are now in a phase when that motto will serve you well, Aquarius.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I invite you to spend quality time gazing into the darkness. I mean that literally and figuratively. Get started by turning off the lights at night and staring, with your eyes open, into the space in front of you. After a while, you may see flashes of light. While these might be your optic nerves trying to fill in the blanks, they could also be bright spirit messages arriving from out of the void. Something similar could happen on a metaphorical level, too. As you explore parts of your psyche and your life that are opaque and unknown, you will be visited by luminous revelations.

The Editor’s Desk

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Santa Cruz California editor of good times news media print and web
Brad Kava | Good Times Editor

Itโ€™s staggering how our somewhat small city is a brand name across the globe. You travel anywhere and you are likely to see the words Santa Cruz on shirts, guitars, mountain bikes, a pickup, cookiesโ€ฆand the most famous skateboard company in the world.

I mean, you donโ€™t see branding like this for way bigger cities like Des Moines, Fresno, San Joseโ€ฆrun down the list. How did our little county (25th in the state with 264,000 people) and city (61,000) get such notoriety?

One answer is in Mat Weirโ€™s cover story tracing the history of the 50-year-old Santa Cruz Skateboards, which has created art and logos so popular that even non-skaters wear them. They are virtually everywhere. 

But it wasnโ€™t always always an easy haul. Mat traces the company from its high, to almost going broke and then, like a boarder flying over the lip, back to the top again. 

That company says everything great about our community. They make great products, they support the community in so many ways (including building local skate parks), they put us on the map with color and art and a vibe that screams SANTA CRUZ. 

You have to read Matโ€™s story whether you care about skating or not. This is quality business writing and reporting on the level of Rolling Stone or the New York Times. Iโ€™m so proud to be publishing a piece like this and itโ€™s given me the kind of joy that skaters have with their incredibly cool boards. I hope you share the joy. (There is a longer version at Goodtimes.sc)

There is so much great stuff in this issue, with features on cool things for students, profiles of important musicians and restaurants and our phenomenal street talk column where you get to hear from your neighbors, this week about UFOs.  Weโ€™ve also got serious news about a new speech learning center and what is in the future for our beloved, if rough around the edges, downtown. 

Enjoy and figure out where you want to go for your good times.

Brad Kava

Photo Contest

TAKE A HIKE Walking the trails in Scotts Valley. Photograph by Jo Gliddon.

Good Idea

October is museum month for Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Museum Partnership is making it easy to visit Santa Cruz Area Museums. In October, the partnership will be offering free and reduced admission to our local museums. Just pick up a Museum Month Pass at Wonderland Toys in Aptos, or at other locations sponsored by First5. Find the full list of locations at: museummonth.santacruzcountymuseums.org

Good Work 

Last Friday, Santa Cruz METRO Board of Directors approved the purchase of 57 hydrogen-powered, fuel cell electric buses (FCEBs)โ€” the largest acquisition of FCEBs in North American history. The new buses will start taking passengers in late 2024, mostly servicing the Watsonville area. The new vehicles will replace aging gas and diesel buses, converting 59% of METROโ€™s fleet to zero-emissionsโ€”all in support of one day transitioning to a 100% zero-emission technology fleet. 

Quote of the Week

โ€œAging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been.โ€ 

โ€”David Bowie

Letters

TO NAME OR NOT TO NAME

Cabrillo College board member Adam Spickler said “Sometimes what the majority wants isn’t really what’s healthiest or best,…). That’s the same flawed reasoning used by the founders of our country, who gave us the electoral college, which enabled the popular vote loser to become president in 2016. The majority of US voters knew better. Apparently, Mr. Spickler feels that he and the Cabrillo board knows better than the majority of county residents, who tend to support retaining the college’s name. Has the board majority forgotten that they are there to serve the public? Such arrogance should not be rewarded; fortunately, we still have elections.

Sincerely,

Robert deFreitas | Santa Cruz


DRUG OF CHOICE

I’m a long time reader of the Good Times; however, I was taken aback by the term โ€œhorse dewormersโ€ in the September 20, 2023 Editorial Note which is a term used as a disparagement of Ivermectin, a valid human drug.

When COVID-19 hit, our government did not take an โ€œall hands on deckโ€ approach, but rather looked solely to vaccination as the only solution. If even one drug was effective in treating COVID-19, Emergency Use Authorization for vaccines to prevent COVID-19 could not be possible. EUA for these so-called vaccines(mRNA โ€œvaccinesโ€ are technically gene therapies) is still in effect in spite of magnitudes more adverse reactions than any other vaccine.

Slowly, but surely, people are realizing all the โ€œBigโ€ industries: Big Ag, Big Food, Big Oil, etc. have captured the very agencies that are supposed to regulate them. In short, the CDC and FDA are not looking out for the best interests of the American people, but rather the best interest of Big Pharma.

Clint Kraft | formerly Watsonville


MAKE FOSSIL FUELS A FOSSIL

Bank of America is certainly making the world worse, not better as the full-page ads in the Sentinel have claimed.

A recent report, โ€œBanking on Climate Chaosโ€ found that the 60 biggest private banks in the world have financed $3.8 trillion in fossil fuels in the five years since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2016.   JPMorgan Chase is the worst, followed by Citi, then Bank of America. 

According to Vox, Bank of America spent nearly $200 billion on financing fossil fuels in the past five years.

Randa Solick | Aptos

Fair A โ€œRoaring Successโ€

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The 2023 Santa Cruz County Fair wrapped up Sept. 17 with greater attendance than years past. 

From monster trucks and pig races to LEGO models, bonsai trees, antique tractors, live music, poodle shows and giant pumpkins, the fair unfolded under favorable weather and the mantle of a new CEO.

โ€œWe are pleased to announce attendance for the five-day Fair was up 3% overall compared to 2022,โ€ said spokeswoman Katie Marzullo. โ€œThis uptick in attendance is a testament to the strength of the Fair. We were able to thrive despite struggles earlier in the year, including turnover in management.โ€

Marketing director Ron Haedicke said that about 90% of the vendors of the past were back, plus some new names.

โ€œWe had new leadership but the same great fair,โ€ he said. โ€œI think the buildings looked better than ever with colorful and rich displays. We fit the bill of โ€˜Home Grown and Locally Shown.โ€™โ€

Haedicke added that fair organizers are currently satisfied with the fair being a five-day event โ€” Wednesday through Sunday.

โ€œThis yearโ€™s Santa Cruz County Fair was a roaring success,โ€ said Zeke Fraser, fair CEO and manager. โ€œAs I roamed the fairgrounds throughout our five days of fun, I saw only smiling faces and happy families enjoying everything we had to offer. It wasnโ€™t me who showed the community what it means to be home grown and locally shown; it was the community that showed me. I am honored to be a part of it all.โ€ย 

Final Chapter For Kellyโ€™s Books

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After 12 years running Watsonvilleโ€™s only bookstore, Kelly Pleskunas will hang up her closed sign at Kellyโ€™s Books for the last time Nov. 4.

โ€œI want to send a heartfelt thank you to all the customers who have supported me these past 12 years,โ€ she said. โ€œI will miss you all; I have made a lot of great friends here. Itโ€™s just not possible to stay open any longer than November 4.โ€

Pleskunas said that the pandemic sent many of her customers to shop for books on Amazon.

โ€œAmazon won,โ€ she said.

Her store, which features new and used books for adults, a children’ s section, books in Spanish and unique local gifts, stems from Crossroads Books, which  opened its doors in the Crossroads Center across Main Street in 1994. Pleskunas bought the business from Jan Van Wordenberg in 2011 and moved across Main Street to her current spot in 2016.

โ€œItโ€™s been awesome to have a local place that is not the internet,โ€ said long time customer, Daryl Nelson. โ€œKelly is a wonderful person and her store will be missed.โ€ 

Pleskunas said that everything must go now, including books, bookcases and tables.

โ€œThere are still loads of new and used books here, gift items and cards,โ€ she said.

She recommends that book hounds visit Bookshop Santa Cruz in downtown Santa Cruz, Downtown Book and Sound in Salinas or Shop Two Birds on 41st Ave. in Capitola.

Ed Frost wandered into the shop Tuesday to pick up Stephen Kingโ€™s latest novel.

โ€œIโ€™ve been coming in here for years,โ€ he said. Of the upcoming closure, he simply added, โ€œIโ€™m heartbroken.โ€

For information, visit watsonvillebooks.com or call 728-4139. Special orders can be made up to Oct. 11.

Capitola Wharf Construction Underway

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Around a hundred people gathered on the wooden planks of the Capitola wharf Friday afternoon to watch city officials break ground and kick off construction on the iconic fixture.  

Past the chain-link fence that on most days keeps the public from walking on the damaged wharf, city officials spoke about the multi-year journey that has led to this point. 

โ€œThis project has been years in the making,โ€ said Capitola Mayor Margaux Keiser. โ€œThereโ€™s so much that we can do here that will make things not only more accessible but more enjoyable for people of all ages, families.โ€ย 

Starting in 2015, city leaders initiated discussions around how to make the wharf more resilient and reinforce the structure against crashing waves and climate events. In 2016, Capitola residents passed tax Measure F, which the city used to update various fixtures of the wharf in the following years. 

Following the infamous January storms that tore the wharf in two, Congressman Jimmy Panetta, who was in attendance at the groundbreaking event, secured $3.5 million in federal funds for the wharfโ€™s revival. Combined with state money, insurance payouts and Measure F contributions, the city now has more than $10 million to repair and reinforce the wharf.ย ย 

โ€œThis wharf for 130 years has been an essential part of this community,โ€ said Pannetta. โ€œThis wharf has been a cornerstone of this community. But most importantly, it’s a symbol of what we stand for in this community. It represents the resiliency of Capitola.โ€  

Separately, a community-founded fundraiser known as the Capitola Wharf Enhancement Project has raised over $150,000 to help โ€œbeautifyโ€ the structure: that money will go towards things like public art, educational signage, benches and more. 

โ€œIt just goes without saying we are a community and it really truly does take a village,โ€ said Keiser. โ€œThis is our village. Let’s bring it back.โ€ย 

Watsonville Hospital Announces New Leader

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The Pajaro Valley Health Care District Hospital Corporation on Thursday named the person they want to take the helm at Watsonville Community Hospital as CEO.

Stephen Gray was chosen after a four-month recruitment search by the corporation.

Gray is currently the chief administrative officer for Sutter Bay Medical Foundationโ€™s Santa Cruz Division.

He began there in 2012 as chief administrative officer, then served from September 2017-2019 as CEO for Sutter Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, returning to Santa Cruz in 2019. 

An 11-year resident of Capitola, he has a masterโ€™s degrees in business administration and in public health.

The Pajaro Valley Health Care District Hospital Corporation will meet Wednesday to publicly discuss the matter and vote to appoint Gray.

The meeting will take place at 5pm in the Community Room at 85 Nielson St. in Watsonville.

If his appointment is approved, Gray would begin on Nov. 1.

โ€œWe conducted an extensive search and were delighted to have four exceptional finalists,โ€ said Board Chair John Friel. โ€œWe are grateful to the hospital team and community stakeholders who helped interview candidates throughout this important process. We are excited to extend this offer to Stephen Gray, pending board approval, and look forward to a bright future for Watsonville Community Hospital.โ€ 

Former CEO Steven Salyer resigned abruptly in March.

It is not yet clear how much Gray will earn as CEO. The details of his contract will become public when the board agenda is released.

Increased Frequency

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Frequency: noun. โ€œThe rate at which something occurs or is repeated over a particular period of time or in a given sample.โ€ With this definition in mind, itโ€™s no wonder the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH) decided to rebrand the GLOW: A FESTIVAL OF FIRE AND LIGHT to FREQUENCY: A FESTIVAL OF LIGHT, SOUND AND DIGITAL CULTURE.

After all, the immersive and interactive exhibit of light and sound occurs at a frequency of every other yearโ€“down from (almost) yearly when it was GLOW. Yet, thereโ€™s also another reason for the name switch up.

โ€œWeโ€™ve obviously had a lot of challenges with fire in this part of the world,โ€ explains MAH Executive Director, Robb Woulfe.

โ€œSo we decided to look at it differently and explore digital art. Which gave us the opportunity to look at a variety of different artists in the digital world.โ€

The enveloping exhibit runs from 5pm to 10pm on September 21 through the 24th. Itโ€™s billed as โ€œmostlyโ€ free because while many of the sculptures and exhibits are outside, the ones inside the museum require an admittance fee of $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.

But that small amount is well worth it.

โ€œItโ€™s eye and ear candy!โ€ Woulfe says.

Part installation, part immersive experience, FREQUENCY spins participants in a kaleidoscope of different realities. There’s even a silent disco by HUSHconcerts from 7pm-10pm in the sculpture garden for anyone needing a well deserved dance break.

HYBYCOZOโ€“a collaborative studio from artists Yelena Filipchuck and Serge Beaulieuโ€“will exhibit two installations, โ€œDodiโ€ a laser-cut steel geometric light sculpture and โ€œPoint of Lightโ€ which celebrates form and pattern.

Orlosky Studiosโ€“run by Andrea and Kevin Orlosky out of Richmond, Virginiaโ€“blends poetry, sculpture and light for their โ€œPoems of Positivityโ€ installation.

Then thereโ€™s Tom and Lien Dekyvere who will exhibit two installations, โ€Rhizomeโ€ and โ€œIVY2.0.โ€ The first is a massive web of intertwined luminescent strings that appear similar to the laser security beams guarding the largest diamond in a heist movie. โ€œIVY2.0โ€ builds a futuristic creeping vine made out of old circuit boards.

The Dekyveres also have an immersive experience called โ€œElantia, Streamโ€ described as โ€œAn installation of e-waste, moss and mirrors.โ€

โ€œThe one returning artist is Aron Altmark, a local artist,โ€ Woulfe says. โ€œHe runs a company called Visual Endeavors and heโ€™ll be doing an immersive, projection mapping project.โ€

Aptly named, โ€œSpectral Passageโ€ this piece looks equally haunting as it does stunning, and is projected in the museumโ€™s loading tunnel on Front Street for extra ambiance.

FREQUENCY first timersโ€“locally based Liminal Space Collectiveโ€“debuts the โ€œCrystal Note Grove,โ€ an imaginative world built for sanctuary.

โ€œI liken this to playing a video game and youโ€™re in a safe zone where you can heal,โ€ explains artist, Wendy Frances.

โ€œCrystal Note Goveโ€ is based on a previous installation by Frances and her fellow artists at the now defunct Circle Church last February. This installation will have alien trees, psychedelic plants and even a six-foot-tall creature named Lumin at the MAHโ€™s entrance.

โ€œWe came up with a whole story about both worlds colliding right there,โ€ says Weston Mossman, one of the Liminal Space founders.

โ€œFrom outside people just see a box thatโ€™s the MAH but the people inside will see the trees that are from our planet.โ€

According to Frances, the collective has about 200 people but for this project they are using 50 people across 12 teams.

โ€œThereโ€™s an electronics team that are creating crazy light designs,โ€ Frances divulges. โ€œAnd weโ€™ve laser cut some large crystals that will light up and glow under the tree. Itโ€™s going to be nuts!โ€

FREQUENCY goers will also get a sneak peek at the upcoming โ€œThe Last Chinatownโ€, set to open in 2024.

โ€œItโ€™s a reliving of what it would be like to walk through the last Chinatown right here in Santa Cruz,โ€ Woulfe says, noting the exact location of the area is right outside the MAH along the San Lorenzo River Levee.

The project is the brainchild of UC Santa Cruz Film & Digital Media Assistant Professor, Susana Ruiz, Emmy Award nominated director, producer, Huy Truong, and UCSC LIterature professor, Karen Tei Yamashita. Itโ€™s an augmented reality, where patrons can use their phones to โ€œseeโ€ through history to Santa Cruzโ€™s last Chinatown, which was flooded and destroyed by the San Lorenzo River on Christmas Eve 1955. The digital monument will show what it looked like, how people lived and include a fictionalized story based on historical evidence.

โ€œThereโ€™s the theatrical narrative written by K.T. Yamashita and then thereโ€™s the documentary side,โ€ Truong explains, adding the FREQUENCY sneak peek will only feature 15 minutes of the full documentary.

โ€œItโ€™s a complete augmented reality experience through the lens of a photographer who grew up in Santa Cruz in the early 1900โ€™s by the name of George Lee .โ€

Longtime Santa Cruzans might be aware of George Lee and his nephew, George Ow Jr. The latter of whom has spent his life keeping the memory and history of Santa Cruzโ€™s Chinatown alive, and was an instrumental part in installing the Chinatown Bridge memorial.

โ€œThe Last Chinatownโ€ is the result of five years of work and received a $150,000 boost in 2022 when Ruiz and Truong were bestowed the Hewlett 50 Arts Commision grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

โ€œIt became very inspiring for us,โ€ Ruiz says. โ€œHow can this tiny, California city not have any remnants of a Chinatown? Or no contemporary Asian grocery stores? That became interesting for us.โ€

โ€œItโ€™s a project we actually commissioned and it will be set up in our garden room,โ€ Woulfe says. โ€œWeโ€™ve received a lot of questions about it so we wanted people at Frequency to see how that project is coming together.โ€

Frequency: A Festival of Light, Sound & Digital Culture. Sept. 21-24, 5pm-10pm. Mostly free. $10adult/$5children admission to Museum of Art And History. 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. www.santacruzmah.org/frequency

Music For Abolition

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Terri Lyne Carrington is a jazz drummer, educator and author who grounds her projects in feminism, spiritual liberation and the movement to abolish prisons and police.

Her latest album New Standards – Volume 1 received the 2023 Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Album and is a companion to Carringtonโ€™s book New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers (Hal Leonard – 2022). These projects were inspired by her realization that the go-to book for jazz musicians โ€“ the Real Book โ€“ contained very few songs by women.โ€œWeโ€™re part of a new canon in jazz,โ€she says. โ€œWe’re celebrating women composers.โ€

Carrington will be performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival Sunday at 1:50pm with her band New Standards. Later Sunday sheโ€™ll be at the Pacific Jazz Cafรฉ in a panel discussion with Angela Davis and Gina Dent. Carrington works closely with Davis and Dent as curator for the Music for Abolition Project of the UCSC Institute for the Arts and Sciences (IAS). The acclaimed drummer is also founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.

NEW STANDARD

JM: Tell me how the book and album – New Standards Vol. 1 – came together.

Terri Lyne Carrington: I noticed there were very few jazz compositions available by women. I created this book to expand that and I decided to record 11 songs. One of my favorite tracks is โ€œThrow it Away.โ€ I arranged that to have an African flavor. The lyrics are from Abbey Lincoln who was a master storyteller and songwriter.

JM: I really enjoy your drumming.

Terri Lyne Carrington: I’ve never really been in the habit of practicing! (laugh) I’m laughing because this is the first year I won Drummer of the Year for the Downbeat Critics Poll and I feel maybe this album has something to do with it. But it’s ironic because my technique is not like it was 20 years ago, but that’s okay!

MUSIC FOR ABOLITION

JM: The website for the IAS says the Music for Abolition Project is, โ€œThe soundtrack for – and heartbeat to – the shared struggle for a future in which prisons, policing and racial violence are things of the past.โ€ Tell me about the panel discussion at the Monterey Jazz Festival with Angela Davis and Gina Dent.

Terri Lyne Carrington: The discussion is based on the โ€œMusic for Abolitionโ€ videos we created during the pandemic that were part of a symposium that UCSC did called Visualizing Abolition headed by Rachel Nelson and Gina Dent. I curated all these videos and thereโ€™s a lot of amazing artists involved; Cรฉcile McLorin Salvant,Dianne Reeves, Orrin Evans, Maimouna Yousef aka โ€œMumu Fresh,โ€ Queen Cora Coleman and others.
Weโ€™ll show parts of the videos and talk about why abolition is important.
SHARE THE VISION

JM: After George Floyd was killed by police in 2020, many people called out to defund or abolish the police. That movement has dissipated. Whatโ€™s important about visualizing the end of police and prisons?

Terri Lyne Carrington: It’s important to envision it because it will never happen if it’s not envisioned. And lots of people are invested in having us not share that vision. There’s the for-profit aspect of prison systems. Also, when we look at the reasons that crime happens we see that if everyone had what they needed, then weโ€™d be shocked at how much crime doesn’t happen. If we take mental illness seriously, itโ€™s the same. We need equity.

SPIRITUAL LIBERATION

JM: What role does spirituality play in your music and activism?

Terri Lyne Carrington: It’s all connected. If you believe you’re part of one human family then there’s some kind of spiritual connection. That’s the same belief that makes you fight for your brother or sister. This disconnection between church and state has always been something that doesn’t make sense to me. Once I decided to put my beliefs first and let the art support that, I’ve been moving in the direction of accomplishing a mission I believe I was put here to do. Iโ€™m a practicing Buddhist. I just want to make my contribution to the world and make it meaningful.

Listen to this interview with Terri Lyne Carrington at noon on Thursday on โ€œTransformation Highwayโ€ with John Malkin on KZSC 88.1 FM / kzsc.org.

For more about the Institute for Arts and Sciences read the March 7, 2023 story in Good Times by Christina Waters.

One-Time Homelessness Funding Ending

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In June 2021, Senator John Laird secured $14 million in homeless funding for the City of Santa Cruz. $4.6 million in pandemic relief supplemented the cityโ€™s efforts to curb homelessness.

As of June 2023, $12.6 million of that one-time funding has been spent to stand up shelters and provide services to the cityโ€™s 1,028 unhoused residents. Current funding will run out by June 30th, 2024.

Deputy City Manager Lisa Murphy said the city is โ€œexploring the opportunityโ€ of putting a sales tax measure in front of voters to bring in more funding for homeless services. An initiative to raise the cityโ€™s sales tax by 0.5% for general city needs failed narrowly in 2022.

Combatting homelessness is historically the countyโ€™s domain, but the one-time funding marked a paradigm shift in the cityโ€™s response to the homeless. The city created a three-year homeless response plan, which the city credits with its 30% drop in homelessness. A total of 74 people who participated in city programs moved to permanent housing in the city, county, and elsewhereโ€”although it’s unclear how many of those people maintained their housing, as the city does not have long term data on people who rehouse.

โ€œWe are cautiously optimistic that the programs that we have stood up are working. Our momentum is very strong right now,โ€ said Murphy.

The crown-jewel of the cityโ€™s homeless response is the Armory shelter at the National Guard Armory at DeLaveaga Park, which provides 135 beds, three meals a day, healthcare and transportation. According to the city, 32 people moved to permanent housing from the Armory. The city has spent $5.4 million on the Armory after taking over responsibility from the county, which discontinued services in June of last year.

California Governor Gavin Newsom did not provide โ€œlong-term sustainable homeless fundingโ€ in the state budget this year according to Murphy. Instead, funding comes in the form of one-time grant money that counties and the 13 largest cities fight over. The county isnโ€™t much better off: HUD gives the countyโ€™s Continuum of Care around $5 million yearly.

โ€œYou got to give people someplace to go, while they are waiting for this housing to drop out of the sky,โ€ said Murphy. โ€œThe city canโ€™t operate this alone. We need help from our partners. Our partners include the state. It includes the county. It includes the other cities. Us having this shelter benefits the whole county.โ€

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One-Time Homelessness Funding Ending

Combatting homelessness is historically the countyโ€™s domain, but the one-time funding marked a paradigm shift in the cityโ€™s response to the homeless. The city created a three-year homeless response plan, which the city credits with its 30% drop in homelessness. A total of 74 people who participated in city programs moved to permanent housing in the city, county, and elsewhereโ€”although it's unclear how many of those people maintained their housing, as the city does not have long term data on people who rehouse.
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