As a fairly new resident of Larkin Valley, I responded to a note in the paper to have lunch with my county supervisor, Zach Friend. This was held at the Seascape Golf Club sponsored by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce, though the $35 tab was a moneymaker for the thinly sauced rigatoni and some grilled sauceless chicken.
Being a fan of Sinclair Lewis, I have a great curiosity about what chambers of commerce (the name sounds a little ominous) actually do. Over 30 years of having a business in Santa Cruz, I have been invited once and asked later to join the local group. As Groucho might expect, I never received a follow-up call and I have yet to see a promotion they have executed for local businesses. I do see some social events, which might be the main idea.
The Aptos event was held on a weekday and attendance was dominated by what Democrats call “good old boys.” They obviously benefit from not having to work so much. There were women there, mostly my age (old). I sat at a table with three other old guys who eyed me with some suspicion—maybe I look like a Democrat—and who never spoke to me.
After way too long with the rigatoni and my tablemates, the supe was introduced as a great friend of the chamber and the community and he held forth on his career path and said notably that this was the best government job since you only had to convince two other people to go along with you. 100k a year with health benefits for life, and 100k a year for life if you get re-elected, not so bad for a part-time job. But then the Chief Administrator gets 300k for really running things. (Okay, I know, nobody put a gun to my head and said I had to own a restaurant.)
Then, of course, there was the obligatory Q&A. First a softball from an apparent fan who asked about his biggest recent accomplishments. He cited some library and park work and then no hands went up, so, naturally I got out the dagger and raised my hand and simply said “Highway 1.” Apparently to buy himself some time, he wanted to know if that was a question. I patiently explained that working downtown and living in his district, I couldn’t leave for work before 10 or come home before 7. He narrowed his eyes and threw up his hands and said people are talking about trains, and buses, and highway widening and HOV lanes but we needed to realize that this was not really a transportation issue but a planning issue. People simply needed to live where they work. Now my 9-mile commute seemed even longer and I envied his apparently very flexible hours even more. I left hungry.
I now see that the supe couldn’t vote on the rail trail issue because he has a house with an easement for the railroad. I suspect that much of the opposition to the rail is generated by folks who bought houses with easements 30 years ago for a hundred thousand and who are now terrified that the house will now be worth only 1.9 million instead of 2 even with a very quiet electric train going by occasionally.
It is odd that car-crazy Japan can do electric trolleys between towns and we find them quite exotic.
Paul Cocking
Santa Cruz
These letters do not necessarily reflect the views of Good Times.To submit a letter to the editor of Good Times: Letters should be originals—not copies of letters sent to other publications. Please include your name and email address to help us verify your submission (email address will not be published). Please be brief. Letters may be edited for length, clarity and to correct factual inaccuracies known to us. Send letters to le*****@go*******.sc
In the ’90s, Al Franken was the antidote to Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. His 1996 Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations was the first major mainstream pushback against the rising right-wing media that was already experimenting with how much they could get away with distorting the truth. He was then part of what Molly Ivins called “the great liberal backlash of 2003” with his book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, taking on the neocons of the George W. Bush era and their extremist media apologists like Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity.
Two decades later, everything Franken predicted about the consequences of all those lies have come to bear—in fact, it’s far worse than he could have imagined. But then, who could have imagined a supposed news organization like Fox would one day be able to smugly push false anti-vaccine information to its millions of viewers while actually requiring thatall of its talking heads telling those lies be vaccinated? It’s mind-boggling stuff that goes against any logic, but that’s where we are.
Franken, meanwhile, found success as a politician before resigning from the U.S. Senate in 2018 after allegations of sexual impropriety. The circumstances around that resignation have been debated to death, so it will be interesting to see the reception Franken gets on his current standup tour, which comes to the Santa Cruz Civic on Friday. In this week’s cover story, Steve Kettmann talks to Franken about everything from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to Tucker Carlson to the Capitol riot. A quarter-century after Franken first brought up the subject, there are more lying liars to talk about than ever.
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
CORRECTION
The Free Will Astrology column that ran in last week’s issue was actually intended for the week of April 6. It has been reprinted in this issue. We regret the error.
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
WHAT THE WRECK This sailboat washed ashore on Main Beach last week and was hoisted onto a waiting flatbed. Photograph by Ross Levoy.
Submit to ph****@go*******.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.
GOOD IDEA
IT TAKES TUITION
Last week, the county’s Immigration Project was selected to distribute scholarships that will cover legal application fees for local immigrant families. The Immigration Project, created by Community Action Board (CAB), was awarded the money from the state’s Department of Social Services. The money will fund scholarships for more than 1,200 Central Coast residents: 1,039 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applicants and 197 U.S. citizenship applicants. To apply for a scholarship, call 831-724-5667; funds are limited, so apply right away.
GOOD WORK
DIGITAL RESTORATION
This Saturday, celebrate the launch of a community archive that highlights local Filipino history. When Dioscoro “Roy” Recio, Jr. noticed that Filipino narratives were largely being left out in local historical records, he decided to do something about it. What ensued was a collaboration between local leaders, community members and UCSC faculty and students, who have all come together to create a new retelling of local history through the Watsonville is in the Heart Digital Archive. The free event will be at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History from 7-10pm.
Al Franken made his name as a writer and performer on the original Saturday Night Live in the ’70s and ’80s, and went on to establish himself as a leading critic of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. Born in New York, he moved as a boy with his family to Minnesota, where he started performing comedy routines in high school, along with a partner, Tom Davis. Franken and Davis teamed up as SNL writers from its 1975 debut onward, with Franken making his mark as a performer on the show via characters like Stuart Smalley.
Franken went on to author a string of books combining political satire and unapologetic left-wing views, including Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations, and was a talk show host on Air America before running for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota in 2008, and narrowly winning.
Franken was re-elected in 2014, but resigned in 2018 after several women accused him of inappropriate conduct, including unwanted touching and kissing during photo shoots. Condemnation of Franken was widespread at the time, with his own Democratic colleagues in the Senate calling for him to resign. After he did so, however, there seemed to be a backlash to the backlash, with many of the senators who had demanded his resignation expressing regret at having done so. Franken said in a statement at the time that “I feel terribly that I’ve made some women feel badly, and for that I am so sorry, and I want to make sure that never happens again.” In his resignation speech, he said that while he felt acknowledging hurt he may have caused was the right thing to do, “because all women deserve to be heard, and their experiences taken seriously,” “I also think it gave some people the false impression that I was admitting to doing things that, in fact, I haven’t done.” He reiterated that he should have had the opportunity to defend himself against the allegations before the Senate Ethics Committee, as he had requested soon after the scandal broke.
Is the country ready for Al Franken’s return? Clearly, to some degree, yes, as he now has a popular podcast. But a bigger test may be his current return to his comedy roots with a standup tour, which comes to the Civic this Friday, April 8.
The idea for the tour started as a lark, Franken told Good Times. “I’m a comedian, right?” he said. “But I never did standup, really, as a single, and I really admire and love great standup.” In 2021, he started showing up at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village and “working on an act.” For his Santa Cruz show, he’ll perform standup and answer audience questions. While he has yet to truly address the allegations or his resignation in interviews or on stage during this tour, telling the New York Times that to do so was a “no-win” situation, he did speak to GT about recent global events and how the right-wing media of which he was once a leading critic has evolved.
The world has been struck by events in Ukraine, watching Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian who got into politics in a highly unlikely way, stand up to Russian brutality with courage and defiance. For you as a comedian who also got into politics, what has it been like watching Zelensky? When did you first become aware of him?
AL FRANKEN: I was aware of him when he became president as a former comedian. He had done a TV show about a high-school history teacher who goes on a tirade about corruption, and puts it online or something. Then everyone follows him and he becomes president. I’ve heard ideas like that float around for years, where someone just goes nuts, it gets online, and then suddenly everyone wants him to be president. That was what happened to Zelensky.
Everybody always would say, “Wow! That’s really weird, because he’s a comedian.”
I’d go, “Well, is it?” I was very aware of him, and Frank Foer, who has family from Ukraine, actually wanted me to come to Ukraine with him, and do an interview with Zelensky.
How do you think he’s done during this crisis?
He’s done magnificently. Having been a performer is really beneficial in government. It’s not faking something, it’s just being effective. Zelensky knows what he is doing when he is communicating, and he knows how to do it. Before this happened, he wasn’t terribly popular. He was having some problems with a couple things. He certainly rose to this occasion. I think he’s the guy who’s going to put an end to Putin.
What do you make of Tucker Carlson and his antics on Fox News?
I think he’s a smart guy, and a talented guy. I think that makes it all the worse. He knows exactly what he’s doing. I don’t know what his motivation is. I guess it’s a typical one: money and power. It’s disgusting. He has this very common thing of doing, “What is this really about?” Then he proceeds to tell people exactly what it isn’t about, like basically, “I’m just asking a question,” and then he asks questions. He goes, “Why won’t they tell us if the vaccine is safe?”
Well, no. They tell you all the time it’s safe. Or “Why won’t they tell us if it’s effective?” No. They tell you all the time it’s effective. You’re not just asking questions. You’re lying. He has this thing which is maddening because his audience doesn’t watch anything else, I guess. They’re getting their information delivered to them by him, and he is lying to them. That’s what Fox News does.
I wrote Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right back in 2003, and they haven’t stopped. If anything, they just got worse. Rush Limbaugh didn’t stop until he died [in February 2021]. Basically, what I was saying at the time was that the right-wing is putting out this information and it’s very dangerous. I don’t know what happened with that idea.
Does it take the sharpness of humor to break through that? Why does so much media coverage fall into the trap of treating both sides the same?
I do think the media is very afraid. There’s all this false equivalence. Sometimes they’ll say, “Well, one side says the earth is round like this cantaloupe, and the other side says it’s round like this plate. Both have good points.” And you say, “What? Come on, you guys, really?” They are often caught in this false equivalence now. There is no equivalence. I talk in my act about how they’re very invested in not getting jokes, the media. I give a number of examples of that. It’s too bad that the media sometimes is just a little bit lamer than it should be—no, very much lamer than it should be.
Have you been following the Congressional investigation into the storming of the U.S. Capitol last January 6 to try to overthrow the results of the 2020 Presidential election? Do you think the committee will be able to break through the noise at all?
Well, that’s the question. The testimony they’ve gotten is a start. I can’t wait till they have hearings, first of all [planned for June and July]. Secondly, I can’t wait until we see more and more of the evidence they’ve gathered. They did make a filing that included some of the interviews, questioning with people close to Trump who were basically saying he knew he lost the election. It was very clearly explained to him. They told him many times. This is going to be very interesting, because they’re going to be presenting real proof that this was a plot to overthrow the government. That’s what it was. There isn’t much worse than that you can do.
The question will be: what will (Attorney General Merrick) Garland do? I think Garland should just appoint a special prosecutor. We had one in Watergate, Archibald Cox. It takes it out of (Garland’s) hands. He should get somebody who is respected, and neutral. I hope that happens. I hope Garland takes action.
It’s all fraught with “My God, you’re going after the former president, actually prosecuting him, and pursuing a penalty for that as well as potentially prison.” If you put the former president in prison, do we look like a banana republic? Well, he tried to turn us into a banana republic. And it would be a banana republic if we had let him. On the other hand, you actually don’t want a civil war—a shooting war—with these nut cases who stormed the Capitol, people who have automatic weapons or semiautomatic weapons. But you’ve got to pursue the law. That’s what we’re about. That’s what the country is about.
Rolling Stone has reported that apparently Trump and many people close to him were all using burner phones on January 6. And Bob Woodward and Robert Costa had a major exclusive in the Washington Post reporting on Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sending highly inflammatory texts to Trump’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows. But will it be dramatic on television during the hearings? You can’t really show a text on a screen, and expect it to be that dramatic or can you?
Well, that’s the thing. Remember we were talking about Zelensky and performance. That’s part of the job of a committee member. That’s why you want someone not Jerry Nadler asking that question. You want someone who’s really going to bring that home, and be able to do that. It might be [Jamie] Raskin.
Franken at a Pride celebration in Minneapolis in 2017.
Do you think Ginni Thomas’ open political activism for extreme right-wing causes is a national scandal?
It is. Also, the fact that Clarence Thomas was the only dissenting vote on releasing those Trump White House documents from the National Archive. He refused to recuse himself from that. That’s unconscionable. “And by the way, my wife went to the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally at the Capitol.” “Did she tell you?” “Yeah.”
What was the political importance of the Ginni Thomas texts to Meadows?
Well, of course the Supreme Court is self-regulating. The other eight Supreme Court Justices can’t just say, “Clarence, you’ve got to go.” It would have to be him deciding, “I’ve got to go,” and he’s not going to do that. What will the effect be? More outrage on top of the outrage. It’ll be felt mainly by people who get outraged about this stuff who are the same people who care about democracy, and the Constitution, and the country, and probably won’t affect that much.
John Roberts would have to find a way to deal with the situation, but maybe that’s too optimistic.
I think you’re more of an optimist than I am. John Roberts has fallen down a lot. Why doesn’t John Roberts go, “You know what? Shelby County was wrongly decided. It’s clear.” Isn’t that clear? Wasn’t Ruth Bader Ginsburg right in her dissent? [She wrote that undermining the Voting Rights Act “when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”] It’s like throwing away your umbrella. That’s what they did. Immediately North Carolina did what they did, and the Fourth Circuit said they’re targeting African Americans with almost surgical precision. How is that not saying, “Oh, OK, we’ve got to restore pre-clearance right now”? How does Roberts not say that? That’s what happened, and is what is continuing to happen. Roberts to me is very crafty, but he’s not a good guy.
Would you run for office again?
Well, I would have to discuss it with my family. I would have to think about where to run. I would have to figure out what would I be getting into, even if I won … I think it all hinges on whether my wife will let me get a dog.
Would you consider it?
I haven’t ruled it out.
Do you think Trump is running for President again in 2024?
I think he is. And as of right now, I think we don’t know how it will turn out for him. I keep thinking that him saying that what Putin did in Ukraine was genius would hurt him. Then I went, “No, Al, come on.” I thought it was the end of him when he took a shot at John McCain, a former P.O.W. in Vietnam, by saying, “I like people who weren’t captured.” With him, I don’t understand it, but I think if he runs, and wants it, he is the prohibitive favorite.
There’s something sui generis about him. He somehow embodies the sort of Mussolini figure that people coalesce behind because of charisma or something, whatever it is. I don’t see it, but Republicans sure do.
What do you think it would take on the Democratic side to beat him? Do you want Joe Biden to run again?
Well, that will be up to Joe, how he feels. I think he’s handled [standing up to Putin] really well. I think the way he assembled this coalition—he did so many great crafty things in this, one of which was he took a risk, and he released our intelligence. That carries with it a couple risks: one that they’re fooling us, that we’re getting intelligence that isn’t true, that they are deliberately putting out there that is fake. They’re going to attack. But he put it out there. And two, you’re jeopardizing the people who are getting us the intelligence. But the reason for putting that out was to tell our allies, to tell Europeans, that he’s going to do this, and that gave us time. You don’t put sanctions together in a week. It gave him time to put these very comprehensive sanctions together that could kick in right away.
He didn’t threaten anything that he wasn’t willing to do. I think he has his own personal style of diplomacy. A lot of people said, “Well, why don’t you threaten him more?” He goes, “Well, I don’t want to.” His style is he doesn’t want to threaten something he’s not going to do. He thinks his credibility counts.
I think he’s done this beautifully. The American people seem to be behind him on this. I’ll be curious. I don’t know how this is going to play out. It’s a terrible, terrible tragedy.
I’d like to see us—I’m sure the Russians won’t accept this—but just say, “Look, we would like to send in food, and medical supplies, and have a safe route to do that.” It could be NATO. We could say: We’re not going to fight. We’ll protect ourselves if attacked, but this is not offensive, this is just to get people humanitarian aid. If the Russians turn it down, that’s just another piece of evidence, as is if we need it, of who they are. But if they don’t turn it down, then we can help people.
My heart is really heavy. This is horrible. This is horrible, and yet we don’t have the option of enforcing a no-fly zone. We don’t, because the guy has played the madman theory. Putin certainly makes that point.
Pulse Productions presents “An Evening with Al Franken” at 8pm on Friday, April 8 at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, 307 Church St. in Santa Cruz. Tickets are $34.90-$77.90, available at santacruztickets.com. This show was rescheduled from an earlier February date that was postponed due to Covid. Tickets purchased for the original date will be honored.
A horrific car collision along Cayuga Street in the early morning of March 27 that left one person dead and another critically injured is sad but not shocking, according to neighborhood residents.
Just days before the crash, Cayuga resident Rafael Jara Simkin gathered two dozen neighbors in her front yard to meet with Santa Cruz Mayor Sonja Brunner and Lt. Wes Morey—of the Traffic Division for Santa Cruz Police—to express “concerns about how dangerous the road is and our frustrations from decades of neighbors trying to fight for change from the city.”
The SCPD says a 38-year-old driver was traveling at a “high rate of speed” around 5:45am when he lost control of his vehicle and wrapped it around a utility pole at the intersection of Cayuga and Effey streets. He remains in critical condition. The Santa Cruz County coroner’s office identified the 48-year-old passenger who was killed in the collision as Mike Toledo.
The crash is part of an ongoing investigation in which police say they have reason to believe the driver was intoxicated.
“After speaking with an independent witness and looking at door cam videos in the area we are looking into the possibility another vehicle was involved,” explains Lt. Morey, adding the vehicles might have been racing.
While not designated as a main traffic artery, motorists often use Cayuga as a cut through from Soquel Avenue to Seabright State Beach. It runs parallel to Seabright Avenue, but lacks many of the speed-inhibiting features of that road. Morey says Cayuga is wider than other residential roadways around Santa Cruz because of a trolley line dating back to the 1800s that is now paved over.
Previous Efforts
“There’s tons of kids in the neighborhood,” says longtime Cayuga and Seabright neighborhood resident Tawn Kennedy. No stranger to motor collisions along Cayuga, his wife’s car was hit in 2015 at the Windham Street intersection.
“She was in the intersection and someone, presumably, blew through the stop sign,” he remembers, saying her car was totaled and she suffered injuries.
A new parent himself, Kennedy highlights that the recent fatal crash occurred within a block of Gault Elementary School and the Honalee Children’s Center, a family home child care program.
Kennedy is also co-chair of the Community Traffic Safety Coalition (CTSC) organized by the County Health Services Agency. The CTSC has been instrumental in embracing a Vision Zero Task Force. First adopted in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero is a strategy jurisdictions implement in hopes of eliminating traffic fatalities and injuries.
Kennedy says while Cayuga has always been problematic, fatal car crashes are part of a growing trend on the national level.
“We’ve seen a crazy spike in traffic-related deaths between 2020 and 2021, even with the dip in people driving during the pandemic,” he says, citing a National Safety Council report showing 2021 motor vehicle deaths were 19% higher nationwide than in 2019.
Neighbors say they’ve vocalized their concerns about Cayuga for over two decades.
“It was 11 o’clock at night. I was watching Jurassic Park and I thought it was my new subwoofer,” recollects Cayuga resident Rolf Pot. “But my girlfriend said, ‘That wasn’t a subwoofer, that was something outside.’”
On the night of Sept. 22, 2001, Pot was one of the first people on the scene when an intoxicated driver ran a stop sign at the intersection of Windsor and Cayuga, striking a minivan and killing Amanda Wagner, 16, and her 14-year-old sister, Carrie Wagner.
“That’s when I got involved,” Pot says.
At the time, he gathered over 200 signatures from local residents petitioning the city to make traffic changes along the corridor. Everything from three roundabouts on Cayuga to traffic diverters that would cause vehicles to slow down and take other side streets were discussed. Pot tells GT a three-month trial diverter plan was approved, but the momentum for the changes slowed with city officials citing budgetary concerns.
“By December [2002] they said the budget ran out,” he remembers. “There was no willingness on the part of the technical staff.”
In November of 2015, Kyle Pape, a 25-year-old Whole Foods employee, was struck and killed in a pedestrian crosswalk at Cayuga Street and Soquel Avenue.
Game Plan
“The [March 27] fatal car crash is so devastating and has accelerated the push from neighbors and public safety concerns,” Mayor Sonja Brunner wrote in an email to GT. “This is a public safety priority.”
After Sunday’s collision, the mayor met with Morey and city engineers, along with the Public Works Department, to explore short-term and long-term solutions.
Nathan Nguyen, the assistant director of the Public Works Department and a city engineer, says a project for Cayuga is included in Santa Cruz’s Active Transportation Plan (ATP), a document that identifies projects and initiatives to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety.
“The initial concept is to either install bike lanes, or turn that street into a neighborhood greenway,” he says.
In turning a street into a neighborhood greenway, jurisdictions make structural changes to prioritize pedestrians. Solutions previously mentioned such as diverters and roundabouts, along with enhanced lane striping and beautification medians with trees or plants, have all been shown to be effective in large cities such as Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. In states like Hawaii and Virginia, along with countries such as the United Kingdom, zig-zag traffic lines have statistically proven effective in slowing traffic.
Nguyen says the city’s plan has more than 250 active transportation projects.
“The city has recently applied for a Caltrans grant to revise the ATP,” he says. “Since 2016, we feel there has been a lot more public involvement and sentiment in regards to equity and health. So we want to take a fresh look at the plan because, while fairly recent, it is six years old at this point.”
According to the ATP, the estimated cost for bike lane installation along Cayuga from Soquel Avenue to Hiawatha Avenue will be anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000. Nguyen says it could end up costing up to $200,000.
Since its 2017 adoption, the city has completed a variety of projects within the ATP. That includes the first phase of the Rail Trail segment from Natural Bridges to Pacific Avenue and the installation of Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) at 35 intersections.
In March 2021, the city was awarded two additional Highway Safety Improvement Program grants, totalling $1.5 million, to be used on improving citywide traffic signals and pedestrian crossings by 2023.
“We are using part of that to install an additional five RRFBs throughout the city,” Nguyen says.
As for the Vision Zero plan, he says the pandemic and low staffing levels have delayed the project. The city has been without a transportation manager and two programs managers, but it is working on getting staffing levels back to pre-pandemic numbers.
“As we get these critical roles filled, hopefully by later this year, the plan is to start moving forward with Vision Zero,” he says.
Despite not being fully staffed, the city has moved forward with parts of Vision Zero like the Local Roadway Safety Program (LRSP) which contains an analysis of citywide collision corridors. Cayuga Street was not named among the most frequent collision corridors; however, multiple Broadway Street intersections—including one that intersects with Cayuga a block away from the site of the March 27 crash—were named. The LRSP found that between 2015 and 2019 there were 2,496 reported collisions, and rates of aggressive, distracted and impaired driving were all on the rise. The data also shows 90% of collisions in Santa Cruz occurred at or within 250 feet from an intersection.
While Cayuga Street neighbors know large traffic alterations will take several months to design, let alone complete, Kennedy says that there are smaller but effective initiatives that the city could undertake in the meantime. He points to studies that show painted intersections, like Portland’s neighborhood street murals, calm traffic while also having the added benefits of building and beautifying the community.
“They slow people down and remind drivers it’s a neighborhood, not a thoroughfare to get from point A to B,” he says.
Jara Simkin says that the neighborhood is encouraged by how receptive mayor Bruner has been to their concerns, even before the crash.
“But I and other residents fear [the city] will offer the most minimal solution that won’t make a huge difference. Painting a single line down this massively wide street won’t stop people drag racing down it. There needs to be a comprehensive, physical restructuring of the street. It’s way too big,” Jara Simkin says.
About 15 people sat quietly in rows of chairs facing an altar of votive candles, flowers, photographs and memorabilia in a carport near downtown Watsonville on Sunday.
Just hours prior, an 18-year-old man who, family says, had moved to the U.S. from Oaxaca, Mexico a year ago to work in the Pajaro Valley’s well-known strawberry fields was gunned down a few feet from the altar.
Feliciano Martinez Perea was shot several times around 8:45pm on April 2 on the 100 block of Riverside Drive at a two-story apartment complex. He was taken to an out of county trauma center where later he died, Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said.
His family said he would have turned 19 in eight days.
They said Martinez Perea was working in agriculture to send money back to his family in Mexico.
“He was not in a gang; this has nothing to do with him being in a gang,” said a young woman who chose not to reveal her name.
The incident is the first homicide in Watsonville this year, Pulido said.
Martinez Perea’s brother, Renaldo Martinez, described Martinez Perea as a “gentle person.” He said he was a good basketball player and was a “very private person.”
Family members, on Tuesday, showed two gashes in the concrete floor of the carport where bullets ricocheted during the spray of gunfire that followed a shoving match where they said two men—who spoke English—pushed Perea back and forth between them.
WPD has released few details about the shooting.
A neighbor, who asked not to be identified and has lived in the area for several years, said the incident is unusual for the quiet, residential street, which lies three blocks from WPD headquarters and close to Watsonville High School.
“This just doesn’t happen around here,” he said.
Friends who heard the shooting unfold said they heard multiple shots. They said Martinez Perea was struck six times.
“He was a gentle person,” a friend said. “He had a brother and sister here in Watsonville and he was the youngest in his family.”
On social media, a friend of the family was circulating a flier that stated the family had hoped to raise funds to transport Martinez Perea’s body back to San Martín Peras, Oaxaca, Mexico—a small town of about 12,000 people far removed from the state capital—to be buried.
Anyone with information related to the shooting, call 831-471-1151. Anonymous tips, call 831-768-3544. To donate to the family, call 831-794-7451 or 805-512-5708.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): To provide the right horoscope, I must introduce you to three new words. The first is “orphic,” defined as “having an importance or meaning not apparent to the senses nor comprehensible to the intellect; beyond ordinary understanding.” Here’s the second word: “ludic,” which means “playful; full of fun and high spirits.” The third word is “kalon,” which refers to “profound, thorough beauty.” Now I will coordinate those terms to create a prophecy in accordance with your astrological aspects. Ready? I predict you will generate useful inspirations and energizing transformations for yourself by adopting a ludic attitude as you seek kalon in orphic experiments and adventures.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I love your steadfastness, intense effort and stubborn insistence on doing what’s right. Your ability to stick to the plan even when chaos creeps in is admirable. But during the coming weeks, I suggest you add a nuance to your approach. Heed the advice of martial artist Bruce Lee: “Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.”
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini-born basketball coach Pat Summitt won Olympic medals, college championships and presidential awards. She had a simple strategy: “Here’s how I’m going to beat you. I’m going to outwork you. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.” I recommend that you apply her approach to everything you do for the rest of 2022. According to my analysis, you’re on course for a series of satisfying victories. All you have to do is nurture your stamina as you work with unwavering focus and resilient intelligence.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): In Britain, 70 percent of the land is owned by one percent of the population. Globally, one percent of the population owns 43 percent of the wealth. I hope there’s a much better distribution of resources within your own life. I hope that the poorer, less robust parts of your psyche aren’t being starved at the expense of the privileged and highly functioning aspects. I hope that the allies and animals you tend to take for granted are receiving as much of your love and care as the people you’re trying to impress or win over. If any adjustments are necessary, now is a favorable time to make them.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): TV show creator Joey Soloway says, “The only way things will change is when we’re all wilder, louder, riskier, sillier and unexpectedly overflowing with surprise.” Soloway’s Emmy Award-winning work on Transparent, one of the world’s first transgender-positive shows, suggests that their formula has been effective for them. I’m recommending this same approach to you in the coming weeks, Leo. It will help you summon the extra courage and imagination you will need to catalyze the necessary corrections and adjustments.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain,” wrote mythologist Joseph Campbell. I don’t think his cure is foolproof. The lingering effects of some old traumas aren’t so simple and easy to dissolve. But I suspect Campbell’s strategy will work well for you in the coming weeks. You’re in a phase of your astrological cycle when extra healing powers are available. Some are obvious, and some are still partially hidden. It will be your sacred duty to track down every possible method that could help you banish at least some of your suffering and restore at least some of your joie de vivre.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You know who Jimi Hendrix was, right? He was a brilliant and influential rock guitarist. As for Miles Davis, he was a Hall of Fame-level trumpeter and composer. You may be less familiar with Tony Williams. A prominent rock critic once called him “the best drummer in the world.” In 1968, those three superstars gathered in the hope of recording an album. But they wanted to include a fourth musician, Paul McCartney, to play bass for them. They sent a telegram to the ex-Beatle, but it never reached him. And so the supergroup never happened. I mention this in the hope that it will render you extra alert for invitations and opportunities that arrive in the coming weeks—perhaps out of nowhere. Don’t miss out! Expect the unexpected. Read between the lines. Investigate the cracks.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Poet Anne Carson claims that “a page with a poem on it is less attractive than a page with a poem on it and some tea stains.” I agree. If there are tea stains, it probably means that the poem has been studied and enjoyed. Someone has lingered over it, allowing it to thoroughly permeate their consciousness. I propose we make the tea-stained poem your power metaphor for the coming weeks, Scorpio. In other words, shun the pristine, the spotless, the untouched. Commune with messy, even chaotic things that have been loved and used.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian author Martha Beck articulated the precise message you need to hear right now. She wrote, “Here is the crux of the matter, the distilled essence, the only thing you need to remember: When considering whether to say yes or no, you must choose the response that feels like freedom. Period.” I hope you adopt her law in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. You should avoid responses and influences that don’t feel liberating. I realize that’s an extreme position to take, but I think it’s the right one for now. Where does your greatest freedom lie? How can you claim it? What shifts might you need to initiate?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I’m glad you have been exploring your past and reconfiguring your remembrances of the old days and old ways. I’m happy you’ve been transforming the story of your life. I love how you’ve given yourself a healing gift by reimagining your history. It’s fine with me if you keep doing this fun stuff for a while longer. But please also make sure you don’t get so immersed in bygone events that you’re weighed down by them. The whole point of the good work you’ve been doing is to open up your future possibilities. For inspiration, read this advice from author Milan Kundera: “We must never allow the future to collapse under the burden of memory.”
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian historian Mary Frances Berry offered counsel that I think all Aquarians should keep at the heart of their philosophy during the coming weeks. She wrote, “The time when you need to do something is when no one else is willing to do it, when people are saying it can’t be done.” I hope you trust yourself enough to make that your battle cry. I hope you will keep summoning all the courage you will regularly need to implement its mandate.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): What’s the leading cause of deforestation in Latin America? Logging for wood products? Agricultural expansion? New housing developments? Nope. It’s raising cattle so people everywhere can eat beef and cheese and milk. This industry also plays a major role in the rest of the world’s ongoing deforestation tragedy. Soaring greenhouse gas emissions aren’t entirely caused by our craving for burgers and milk and cheese, of course, but our climate emergency would be significantly less dramatic if we cut back our consumption. That’s the kind of action I invite you to take in the coming months, Pisces. My analysis of astrological omens suggests that you now have even more power than usual to serve the collective good of humanity in whatever specific ways you can. (PS: Livestock generates 14.5 percent of our greenhouse gases, equal to the emissions from all cars, trucks, airplanes and ships combined.)
It’s wonderful when new wineries pop up in our area. Charmant Vineyards is one of them. Winemaker Eug Theron owns and operates Charmant Vineyards with his wife, Julie.
The Therons are from South Africa, but they left their native country in 1989 and emigrated to the United States. In 2014, they fell in love with a piece of property high up in the Aptos hills and purchased it—naming it Charmant. Then in 2017, Eug and Julie took over the vineyard lease, farming operations and winemaking, eventually bottling their first vintage of Charmant Estate Pinot Noir.
Eug also makes a 2019 Chardonnay ($38) with grapes from the well-known Tondré Grapefield in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Considering Eug doesn’t have decades in the biz, he is producing some excellent wines, including this one. It comes with an abundance of flavor—pome fruits such as apple and pear to the fore—and some aromatic banana and pineapple aromas. “Our Chardonnay reflects the fullness and complexity of a year in barrel and is perfect to enjoy while relaxing with friends,” he says.
The Therons have already set up a wine club with the usual advantages for members, such as free wine tastings for two and member discounts on wine and events.
This delightful duo also participates in wine events far and wide, including the upcoming Grand Wine Tasting on April 24 at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga. scmwa.com.
On a winter trip to Palm Desert, we bought several pounds of Medjool, Deglet Noor, Barhi and Thoory dates. Thoory, also known as the bread date, is naturally dry and chewy with a hard texture. They originated in Algeria, where nomads could keep these non-sticky dates in their pockets for a healthy snack. Also, dates are high in fiber and disease-fighting antioxidants.
Paul Cocking worked as a line cook at Howard Johnson’s while in college in SoCal. After 20 years teaching English at a Los Angeles high school, HoJo’s all-you-can-eat fried clams began beckoning Cocking—or, maybe, he just grew tired of the traffic and yearned for a change in his life. Not only did the former educator move to Santa Cruz, where his parents had been living, he decided he wanted to get back into the restaurant biz.
In 1992, Cocking found an available spot for rent in downtown Santa Cruz—he fell in love with the location, on a nice quiet side street. Over 30 years later, Gabriella Café is still a local favorite for Northern Italian cuisine, including traditional pasta Bolognese with a red meat sauce and sandwiches made on freshly baked focaccia bread. The Meyer lemon panna cotta highlights the dessert menu.
Gabriella is open Tuesday-Friday for lunch, Tuesday-Saturday for dinner and Saturday and Sunday for brunch. Cocking chatted with GT about his two careers and why he loves owning a “date-night” restaurant.
What are the biggest differences between teaching and running a restaurant?
PAUL COCKING: I always say the difference between teaching and owning a restaurant is that everyone wants to be at a restaurant, including the teachers. Teaching English properly is also very difficult, and owning a restaurant often feels like hosting a party. I find it a lot more enjoyable, and I also have an intense fear of loneliness, so I really love the highly social aspect of being here. I’m getting old, and people ask why I don’t retire, but it feels like I’m already half retired, and I’ve never been happier.
What is your favorite memory at Gabriella?
One of the most enjoyable things is seeing couples come in; being a date-night restaurant is very pleasing. My favorite memory from 30 years in business was when a young man got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend. A video crew snuck in behind her and captured the moment, and the whole restaurant applauded when she said yes, and it was very fun.
910 Cedar St., Santa Cruz, 831-457-1677; gabriellacafe.com.
The parklet was an al fresco answer to a restaurateur’s prayers during the pandemic. Who doesn’t like to sidewalk-cafe their dining, out in the pleasant weather (yes, we are lucky that this isn’t Buffalo), chatting with fellow diners away from the Covid-prohibited indoor scene. Lupelo and Hula’s pioneered the happy new dining turf, but then the shutdown triggered many new innovations in outdoor seating that helped bring folks downtown and keep many businesses, well, in business. So, now that things have opened up, what’s to become of the wildly popular seating areas, with the weather-proofing accessories of tents (Gabriella), booths (Bantam) and heaters (Tramonti)?
“The temporary outdoor dining program is scheduled to end on December 31,” Rebecca Unitt of Santa Cruz’s Economic Development Office told me. But not to worry. “We’re also working on a citywide permanent parklet program,” she explained. By mid-summer, Unitt expects to have plans finalized for several design models eateries can choose from.
“We’re working with landscape architects,” she explained. “We wanted to take the burden off businesses.”
And while those designs won’t be mandatory, “we will streamline the whole process if businesses adopt one of the models,” she says. Unitt acknowledged that “some parklets do take up on street parking,” and says the city will be working with businesses on rearranging or shrinking down some of the current installations. “We understand the value of these spaces to restaurants, and will work to create vibrant environments for visitors and residents alike.”
Like so many downtown diners, I look forward to creative al fresco dining situations to continue on and on and on. Unitt’s office appears willing to collaborate on continuing the parklets in win-win style.
Parker Does Pizza
Reinventing himself is one of chef Todd Parker’s specialties. The former Manresa and Bad Animal cuisinartist just last week joined forces with GM/sous chef Meghan O’Connell to transform the kitchen of Sante Adairius into a pizza parlor worthy of the house craft brews. Bookie’s is the name, and “inauthentic Detroit-style” pizza’s the game. The new house pizzas take their cue from Motown’s thick-crust, seasonal square format. But the toppings will set these pizzas apart. For one thing, organic flour. Add to that unique sauces and toppings sourced locally, Fogline Farms chicken, artichokes and dairy-free feta. Pizzas will run $21-$24, with starters ($10-$16) like chicken wings and sourdough pretzels, and a few special salads.It all started as an underground project; the pizzas would pop up at the craft brewery to the delight of regulars. Well, it got so popular that Parker decided to pivot from the global fusion offerings he was famous for, and dial in to a single specialty with a multitude of incarnations. Consider a pizza with mushrooms, dandelions and preserved lemon. Or a vegan pie with carrot harissa, black lime, mint and artichoke. I’m going to have to be sold on that thick crust idea, but then again since this is Todd Parker cooking, that crust is going to be fantastic. Bookie’s Pizza is located inside Sante Adairius Rustic Ales at 1315 Water St., Santa Cruz. Open Sun-Thurs noon-9pm, til 10pm on weekends. bookiespizza.com.
Tidbits
Had a great brunch last week at Gabriella and this charming dinner house continues to offer original artwork as an appetizer to every meal. The spring dinner menu has got fresh local halibut with my favorite chimichurri sauce. Fat asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and brie—a life-changing appetizer, especially with a new vermentino from Mendocino (sounds like something Astrud Gilberto would sing) and a Crianza tempranillo from Spain. Outdoors or in, you’ll be charmed.
Since February, a small group of women has been hard at work, learning the detailed world of the beauty industry in Watsonville’s new—and Santa Cruz County’s only—cosmetology program.
The new program began with just six students, although Watsonville/Aptos/Santa Cruz Adult Education Director Nancy Bilicich expects that number to grow as it gains in popularity and a Spanish component is added.
In getting ready for classes to begin, the adult school converted the lobby of the Institute of Language and Culture in downtown Watsonville—where classes are held—into a teaching salon that will one day host walk-in customers.
That included setting up the required electricity and plumbing for the hair-washing stations and getting approval from the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology.
“We’re pretty excited,” she said. “Once we get going, people will come in.”
During the yearlong, two-semester program, the students learn such topics as hair and skin care. They will also touch on anatomy, physiology and scalp disorders, in addition to boosting the communication skills they will need to interact with clients.
“It’s a lot more eclectic than you might think,” said instructor Zack Herrington.
Herrington has been teaching in the industry throughout the U.S. for 15 years.
The program is not an easy one, he said, with classes running from Tuesday through Thursday from 9am until 3pm.
The days include intensive classroom study of a thick textbook and two separate workbooks, in addition to practical, hands-on experience.
But at just $4,500—a fraction of the $30,000 such programs normally cost—it is an ideal and cost-effective way to launch a career in the beauty industry, Herrington said.
“This is like boot camp, it’s a lot of work,” he said. “But I think I can help get them through this time, get them confidence, give them a good skill set and hopefully set them out to do what they want to do.”
The next evolution for the program, Herrington says, will be opening the lobby doors on Rodriguez Street to customers, who can pay “hard-core discounted prices” for services provided by the senior-level students under instructor supervision.
Student Hailey Barnholt, 21, from Aptos, was working as an EMT and studying to be a medical assistant when she realized that the high-pressure world of the medical industry wasn’t a good fit for her.
When she discovered the adult school’s new program, she said the price, coupled with the convenient location—not to mention her love for the beauty industry—convinced her to sign up.
“I want to love what I’m doing,” she said. “I can do so much, and it’s never going to be boring. And making people beautiful is fun … Everything that we’re learning is really interesting. It’s everything I thought it would be and more.”
Araceli Gonzalez, 40, says that she and her fellow students have formed a tight-knit group of friends who study together and, better still, teach other their various skills gleaned through various occupations—one knows hair weaves and eyelashes, for example, while another is skilled at hair coloring.
“I’m very excited to be here,” she said. “We work better together.”
