Free Will Astrology

Astrology

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December 17, 2024

ARIES March 21-April 19

If you worked eight hours per day, seven days a week, it would take you 300 years to count to the number one billion. I don’t recommend you try that. I also discourage you from pursuing any other trivial tasks that have zero power to advance your long-term dreams. In a similar spirit, I will ask you to phase out minor longings that distract you from your major longings. Please, Aries, I also beg you to shed frivolous obsessions that waste energy you should instead devote to passionate fascinations. The counsel I’m offering here is always applicable, of course, but you especially need to heed it in the coming months.

TAURUS April 20-May 20

In 1951, minister and author Norman Vincent Peale was working on a new book. As he wrote, he would regularly read passages to his wife, Ruth. She liked it a lot, but he was far less confident in its worth. After a while, he got so discouraged he threw the manuscript in the trash. Unbeknownst to him, Ruth retrieved it and stealthily showed it to her husband’s publisher, who loved it. The book went on to sell five million copies. Its title? The Power of Positive Thinking. I hope that in 2025, you will benefit from at least one equivalent to Ruth in your life, Taurus. Two or three would be even better. You need big boosters and fervent supporters. If you don’t have any, go round them up.

GEMINI May 21-June 20

I love how colorfully the creek next to my house expresses itself. As high tide approaches, it flows south. When low tide is on its way, it flows north. The variety of its colors is infinite, with every shade and blend of green, gray, blue and brown. It’s never the same shape. Its curves and width are constantly shifting. Among the birds that enhance its beauty are mallards, sandpipers, herons, grebes, egrets and cormorants. This magnificent body of water has been a fascinating and delightful teacher for me. One of my wishes for you in 2025, Gemini, is that you will commune regularly with equally inspiring phenomena. I also predict you will do just that. Extra beauty should be on your agenda!

CANCER June 21-July 22

Just 81 billionaires have commandeered half of the world’s wealth. Even worse, those greedy hoarders are usually taxed the least. That’s hard to believe! How is it even possible that such a travesty has come to pass? I also wonder if many of us non-billionaires have milder versions of these proclivities. Are there a few parts of me that get most of the goodies that my life provides, while other parts of me get scant attention and nourishment? The answer is yes. For example, the part of me that loves to be a creative artist receives much of my enthusiasm, while the part of me that enjoys socializing gets little juice. How about you, Cancerian? I suggest you explore this theme in the coming weeks and months. Take steps to achieve greater parity between the parts of you that get all they need and the parts of you that don’t.

LEO July 23-Aug. 22

Anthropologist Robin Dunbar theorizes that most of us have limits to our social connections. Typically, our closest circle includes five loved ones. We may also have 15 good friends, 50 fond allies, 150 meaningful contacts and 1500 people we know. If you are interested in expanding any of these spheres, Leo, the coming months will be an excellent time to do so. In addition, or as an alternative, you might also choose to focus on deepening the relationships you have with existing companions and confederates.

VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22

Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century. It was written by a Virgo, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her story about the enslavement of African Americans in the US was not only popular. It awakened many people to the intimate horrors of the calamity—and ultimately played a key role in energizing the abolitionist movement. I believe you are potentially capable of achieving your own version of that dual success in the coming months. You could generate accomplishments that are personally gratifying even as they perform a good service for the world.

LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22

According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will be teased with an abundance of invitations to grow in 2025. You will be encouraged to add to your current skills and expertise. You will be nudged to expand your understanding of what exactly you are doing here on planet Earth. That’s not all, Libra! You will be pushed to dissolve shrunken expectations, transcend limitations and learn many new lessons. Here’s my question: Will you respond with full heart and open mind to all these possibilities? Or will you sometimes neglect and avoid them? I dare you to embrace every challenge that interests you.

SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21

Scorpio-born Rudolf Karel was a 20th-century Czech composer who created 17 major works, including symphonies and operas. His work was interrupted when Nazi Germany invaded and occupied his homeland. He joined the Czech resistance, but was eventually arrested and confined to Pankrác Prison. There he managed to compose a fairy-tale opera, Three Hairs of the Wise Old Man. No musical instruments were available in jail, of course, so he worked entirely in his imagination and wrote down the score using toilet paper and charcoal. I firmly believe you will not be incarcerated like Karel in the coming months, Scorpio. But you may have to be extra resourceful and resilient as you find ways to carry out your best work. I have faith that you can do it!

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21

What is the perfect gift I could offer you this holiday season? I have decided on a large square black box with nothing inside. There would be a gold ribbon around it bearing the words “The Fruitful Treasure of Pregnant Emptiness.” With this mysterious blessing, I would be fondly urging you to purge your soul of expectations and assumptions as you cruise into 2025. I would be giving you the message, “May you nurture a freewheeling voracity for novel adventures and fresh experiences.”

CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19

One of my paramount wishes for you in 2025 is this: You will deepen your devotion to taking good care of yourself. You will study and learn more about the sweet secrets to keeping yourself in prime mental and physical health. I’m not suggesting you have been remiss about this sacred work in the past. But I am saying that this will be a favorable time to boost your knowledge to new heights about what precisely keeps your body and emotions in top shape. The creative repertoire of self-care that you cultivate in the coming months will serve you well for the rest of your long life.

AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18

To fulfill your life mission, to do what you came here to earth to do, you must carry out many tasks. One of the most important is to offer your love with hearty ingenuity. What are the best ways to do that? Where should you direct your generous care and compassion? And which recipients of your blessings are likely to reciprocate in ways that are meaningful to you? While Jupiter is cruising through Gemini, as it is now and until June 2025, life will send you rich and useful answers to these questions. Be alert!

PISCES Feb. 19-March 20

Mysteries of the past will be extra responsive to your investigations in 2025. Persistent riddles from your life’s earlier years may be solvable. I encourage you to be aggressive in collecting previously inaccessible legacies. Track down missing heirlooms and family secrets. Just assume that ancestors and dead relatives have more to offer you than ever before. If you have been curious about your genealogy, the coming months will be a good time to explore it. I wish you happy hunting as you search for the blessings of yesteryear—and figure out how to use them in the present.

Homework: Get yourself a holiday gift that’s beyond what you imagine you deserve. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

Double the Pleasure

Dance
Stage

Mathew Chipman

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December 17, 2024

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The Nutcracker, a longstanding holiday tradition beloved for the beauty and familiarity of Tchaikovsky’s music and Petipa’s choreography, dates back to the 1890s, when it was first performed in St. Petersburg.

This weekend brings two Nutcrackers to local stages. Santa Cruz Dance Theater, under the direction of Conrad and Melanie Useldinger, promises splendor in The Nutcracker at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. And Santa Cruz City Ballet, in its 15th year at Cabrillo College’s Crocker Theater, conjures up The Nutcracker: Experience The Magic under the direction of Vicki Bergland and Shannon Chipman.

Santa Cruz Dance Theater Artistic Director Conrad Useldinger feels a powerful sense of community with his work at Santa Cruz Dance Theater, a new dance company centered around “bringing world-class contemporary and classical dance to Santa Cruz.” Useldinger’s goals this year and beyond are to wow the audience with splendor, skill and community.

“We go over the top with tech. In some moments, our Nutcracker feels more like a rock concert or a light show,” Useldinger exults. Part of his excitement is due to Santa Cruz Dance Theater bringing in top-level dancers, including Lucien Postlewaite, principal dancer at Pacific Northwest Ballet, and independent dancers from San Jose, San Francisco, Chico, Denver and New York City. The show also features student dancers and community members, such as Vice Mayor Renee Golder and City Councilwoman Sonja Brunner, who make guest appearances in the party scene and take part in the Nutcracker’s legacy.

“Live performance is not a given. It takes stewardship and fostering. Doing everything you can to support live performance makes a huge difference,” says Useldinger, who is also the artistic director of Agape Dance.

Santa Cruz Dance Theater’s The Nutcracker runs Dec. 21–22 at 1 and 4:30pm at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, 307 Church St., Santa Cruz. Tickets: $20.50-$70.50. Visit SantaCruzDanceTheater.org.

New Touches

Shannon Chipman, artistic director of Santa Cruz City Ballet, and veteran ballet teacher Vicki Bergland have co-directed Nutcracker: Experience the Magic since 2009. But their work together began in 1988, when Chipman was a teenager, playing the Snow Queen in the first Nutcracker at Cabrillo College, under the direction of Gene Dunphy with Bergeland as assistant director. After leaving Santa Cruz and attending the Juilliard School in NYC in 1990, Chipman reunited with Bergland and the duo have been training the next generation of local dancers at the International Academy of Dance, the official school of Santa Cruz City Ballet since 2006.

“The magic grows with each production. We delight in watching dancers grow up performing in the Nutcracker from tiny gingersnaps to solo roles. It is amazing to see the whole community working together, even parents rehearsing the party scene with their kids, and helping backstage in so many ways with the production,” Chipman says.

Something Santa Cruz City Ballet hopes to accomplish each year is to bring an entertaining, fresh take on Nutcracker while preserving the classical tradition with more than 100 local dancers and guest artists from the Bay Area and beyond. “This year audiences can enjoy a swing beat ‘Green Tea’ remix of Tchaikovsky’s music, along with new choreography and costumes, and colorful ‘Lion’ dancers from Chinatown. No two years are the same,” Chipman says.

The Nutcracker: Experience The Magic runs Dec. 21–22 at 1 and 4:30pm at Cabrillo College’s Crocker Theater, 6500 Lower Perimeter Road, Aptos. Tickets: $51–$61. cabrillovapa.universitytickets.com.

Tornado Injures Several in Scotts Valley

News

Brad Kava

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December 14, 2024

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At least 4-5 people were injured in a what witnesses described as a tornado in downtown Scotts Valley this afternoon, according to fire officials.

Cpt. Dennis Petteys, of the Scotts Valley Fire Protection District said around 15-20 cars were damaged, though he added he couldn’t say if afternoon extreme weather event was technically a tornado or not.

Elie Colby, 14, of Ben Lomond, was studying for finals in Starbucks with her friends when the funnel cloud rolled through.

cleanup intersection after tornado — CLEANUP – A tow truck works to right an SUV as first responders check to see if anyone else was injured. (Drew Penner / Press Banner)

“The door ripped open,” she said. “We didn’t understand what was happening.”

Evelyn Carter, a 14-year-old from Felton—who’d been deep into her biology review—said one of the doors was torn from its hinges.

Three students — STUDY SESSION INTERRUPTED – (L-R) Elie Colby, Braden Ramsey and Evelyn Carter were preparing for finals at Starbucks when the funnel cloud appeared in Scotts Valley. They said it was unclear what was happening.

“They told us to leave,” she said. “We all walked outside and the sun came out—which was weird.”

That’s when they saw the chaos of overturned vehicles and first responders arriving to care for the casualties.

Braden Ramsey, another Felton 14-year-old, said the whole thing was a bit crazy.

“It was just surprising,” he said.

Chris Wakeland, the Scotts Valley McDonald’s store manager on duty at the time, said the incident happened around 1:45pm.

“I saw trees flying through the air…not just little ones,” he said, adding the ground began shaking. “It looked like it was probably circling around our store.”

Wakeland told customers to remain inside. Some held the doors closed.

“I’ve never been in a tornado,” he said. “I never expected one to be happening in Scotts Valley.”

A Fond Bye-Bye to Bruce Bratton

Christina Waters

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December 13, 2024

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Hard to think about this town without his omnipresence, the inimitable Bruce Bratton, who left us just days ago. Santa Cruz fixture and perennial gadfly Bratton was hired and fired by every publication in town more than once.

At his death, six months after his 90th birthday, the tireless opinionator was either loved or hated by exactly everyone in town. Having been through thick and thicker with Bruce for almost 40 years, I fall into the category of affectionate friend.

Bruce adored opera, especially if he could see it for free. He nurtured and educated my own love of the operas of Richard Wagner. If I squint I can still see him holding forth from his well-worn bench in front of the Octagon, back when it was Lulu Carpenter’s. He would trade in fresh news, and even fresher gossip. All the while appearing to do no harm and giving passers by the full wattage of his off-kilter smile.

Bruce loved Santa Cruz, his adopted home after retiring from a broadcast career in Los Angeles and then San Francisco. Bohemian and yet somehow LA by way of Swanton Road, he and another beloved guy-about-town, John Tuck, hung out with each other for decades. Friday night happy hour at the Catalyst was one of their arenas for tall tales, verbal sparring and freestyle flirtation. Bruce was an original when it came to the ladies. Sly and sweet, his unexpected pick-up line was, “Would you like to take a walk with me?”

With his easy smile and unassuming dress code, Bratton was approachable and generous with his time. And with his opinions, highly sharpened and always available. Those oft ascerbic perspectives, added to his tendency to wander immediately off-topic in his perennial newspaper column, earned him the wrath of readers and editors alike. Bruce flattered himself that his writing style resembled the three-dot journalist Herb Caen. A little of this, a little of that, liberally laced with progressive politics and film reviews that rarely exceeded one sentence. That writing “style” gave ulcers to editors and journalists alike.

He pissed off 20 people before he’d finished his first cup of coffee: such taboo issues as the development of Lighthouse Point, the Town Clock, correcting the name of London Nelson Center, complaining about Girl Scout Cookies, fighting with Good Times founder Jay Shore, and insisting that Koyaanisqatsi was the greatest film ever made. And of course his laidback alliance with the Goodtime Washboard 3.

By adding film reviews to his newspaper pieces, and of course his ubiquitous radio shows, Bruce got into every theatrical event (he adored Shakespeare Santa Cruz) and film screening (the Nickelodeon was his second home) for free. He adored the movies, even though his every observation earned him the scorn of serious reviewers like Lisa Jensen of original Good Times fame, and Michael Gant (and myself) of the various Metro newspapers flourishing in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and later.

Bruce was a gifted interviewer and hosted everyone with talent, wit or just plain incendiary opinions in his various on-air gigs. He knew his way around a radio studio, most recently at his weekly shows up at KZSC. And before that a long career with KGO and KCBS.

May his rumpled joie de vivre continue to play washboard with the great jugband in the sky. You were an original, dear Bruce, and you will be missed by those of us who remember you in your naughty heyday. You helped make Santa Cruz what it is today—distinct, vibrant, and full of politically charged salons.

Farewell to Bruce Bratton

Richard Stockton

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December 13, 2024

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There’s a little pain in Santa Cruz hearts for longtime Santa Cruz media icon and commentator Bruce Bratton, who passed away this week.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, Bruce Bratton was not a Santa Cruzan. He was the Santa Cruzan.

As longtime event promoter Sleepy John Sandidge puts it, “He was a curmudgeon, a historian, one of our leading characters in town, and so important to the history of Santa Cruz.”

If you are from Santa Cruz, you’ve been influenced by Bruce Bratton. His byline appeared in virtually every newspaper in Santa Cruz—often in the Good Times—and his voice was regularly heard on every community radio station on the central coast.

One of his longtime colleagues—former Good Times editor Steve Palopoli—described Bratton as “an unstoppable force. As his editor on and off for years, we butted heads plenty of times and could drive each other crazy, but I always knew he cared deeply about Santa Cruz.

ºIt didn’t matter where he was writing at any given time, his Bruce Bratton-ness was a constant that both shaped and challenged how the community saw itself,” Palopoli said. “There won’t be another one like him.”

In the ’60s, Bratton was a founding member of the vaudeville band Goodtime Washboard Three. He played the washtub bass. I interviewed Bratton last May and asked him about his band.

“We got a record deal with Fantasy Records, did several singles and ended up on Bing Crosby’s TV show with Louis Armstrong,” Bratton said.

“We knew Bing from the Bohemian Club. We played the Hungry Eye, the Purple Onion.” he recalled. “We played with people like Woody Allen, Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce and Tom Lehrer. When I moved to Santa Cruz we played at the Bookshop Santa Cruz at their yearly birthday party for thirty years.”

Bratton was born in Buffalo, New York. The Bratton family moved to California when Bruce was 18 years old. He trained German shepherds for two years in the Army’s K-9 Corps, then attended UC Berkeley, majoring in communications and public policy. At Berkeley, he started working in radio at KPFA, wrote for the Daily Californian, and reviewed the first Monterey Jazz Festival.

After finishing college, Bratton was a science illustrator at the Biochemistry Virus Lab and is credited with doing some of the first illustrations of RNA and DNA chains. He married and had two daughters, Hillary and Jennifer. He lived in Davenport and Corralitos and finally in Arbor Cove, according to the community’s website.

He wrote columns for Santa Cruz Magazine, The News and The Express. During his last tenure with Good Times, he had a “major disagreement about spelling” with the editor, according to Coast News.

In addition to his written work, Bratton hosted Universal Grapevine, a weekly radio program on KZSC 88.1 FM—a show that reflected his deep engagement with the Santa Cruz community. He was a vocal advocate on Santa Cruz issues, including land-use battles and cultural initiatives. He was also on the KZSC morning show Bushwackers as a film critic.

The man spoke his mind and would not water it down; he would inspire people or rile them. His columns could be about any topic, from fluoride to Girl Scout cookies—“because I am so interested in so many things.” It could be local history, politics, performing arts, cinema, and community life. For more than 48 years, he penned weekly opinion columns featuring historical photographs of the area and has been a regular contributor to all the local papers, including the Santa Cruz Sentinel and Good Times.

Bratton Online was the last incarnation of his weekly opinion columns. For years I read his three-to-five-line critical reviews of films to determine what movie to watch. What you see on Bratton Online is what you will see in the film.

Bruce Bratton helped form the ’60s ethos of Santa Cruz and continued to be key in the evolution of the Santa Cruz mentality and sensibility. There’s never been anyone like him,. We’re gonna miss him. Farewell, Bruce.

Two Nonprofits Keep Local Cyclists Rolling Along

Kristen McLaughlin

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December 12, 2024

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Two Nonprofits Keep Local Cyclists Rolling Along

Nothing really compares to a bike ride along the Santa Cruz coast, wind in your hair, breathing the sea mist, free from the jammed highway with its air and noise pollution. Locals and visitors alike can agree on at least one thing: Santa Cruz County has incredibly diverse scenery, and there’s nothing quite as exhilarating as seeing it under your own pedal power.

Beyond the scenery, there are those of us just looking to get around without a car. Whether to avoid traffic, work those leg muscles or as primary transportation, it helps that so much of the county is easily navigable by bicycle.

The Good Times charitable initiative Santa Cruz Gives has identified two local organizations that look to introduce more people to this healthy mode of transport by advocating bicycle ownership and building a cycling habit: Community Bike Collective and the Bike Church are both on the 2024 list of grant recipients.

Breaking Down Barriers

Watsonville-based Community Bike Collective is a 501(c)3 non-profit that provides equipment, coaching and access to trails to underserved youth in Santa Cruz County. By partnering with the Housing Authority of Santa Cruz County, Monarch Services, Watsonville Youth Center and other nonprofits, CBC provides refurbished bikes to low-income residents and hosts community rides that provide essential mountain bike skills.

“We want to break down barriers to riding bikes by providing equipment, coaching and access to trails,” says Alex Ponick, CBC President. The collective aims for a positive bike experience by offering youth a progression of coordinated cycling skills with opportunities to earn badges, cycling gear and even a bike as they complete designated CBC Pathway levels.

“Our goal is to move youth from basic bike handling skills to engaging them in a lifelong activity that boosts physical and mental health, reinforces valuable life skills and builds community,” Ponick says. Healthy snacks are provided on the trips as well.

Explaining how the collective will use their Santa Cruz Gives funding, Ponick says, “Two of our largest needs are a new van and a new trailer to haul our bikes around.”

To date, CBC has given away over 400 bikes, according to Ponick. On average, Ponick says it costs just under $20 a bike to refurbish with parts such as tubes, tires, brake cables and other supplies. “We have a bunch of volunteer mechanics who help and members of the community who donate their used bikes, and parts as well.”

This is the second year the CBC has participated in Santa Cruz Gives.

Formed more than a decade ago, the CBC (formerly Trips for Kids) started with Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz. Ponick has been with the organization for eight years. An avid cyclist, he and his two daughters ride bikes to work and school every day. “I’m a transportation planner for Metro, so getting more people on bikes and out of their cars not only does the individual good in terms of health but it also benefits the environment,” he says. Community Bike Collective Is located at 345 Harvest Drive, Watsonville. For a form to request a bicycle, donate a bike or book a ride, visit communitybikecollective.org.

No Need to Fix What Ain’t Broke

Owning a bicycle is a substantial responsibility, one that the Bike Church doesn’t take lightly. For nearly three decades, the Bike Church has been committed to equipping people of all walks and abilities with a bicycle and basic bike maintenance skills, and selling solid, working bikes both new and used, based on a sliding scale.

Bike Church is open five days a week for repairs, bike education and monthly volunteer programs. The shop offers no-cost or low-cost bikes, along with ready-to-ride and “as-is” options. Learn-to-repair workshops allow use of the Bike Church’s tools with help from knowledgeable mechanics.

Five people posing for a photo in front of a blue building — **TAKE ME TO BIKE CHURCH** Volunteers equip people of all abilities with bicycles and basic maintenance skills at Bike Church. PHOTO: Kristen McLaughlin

“Transportation is basically a human need to survive in the world,” says Niko Hodgson, collective member and mechanic. “Bikes are more accessible than cars no matter what your experience or socioeconomic status.”

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I showed up at Bike Church with my GT all-terrain mountain bike with a broken chain, and no one laughed at my 30-year-old ride. They showed me how to use a link tool to add a new master link, two-and-a-half other links and reset the limit screw. They charged me $1.11 for parts, and the rest was a donation for labor. I was back in the saddle in no time.

From tune-ups to clunky shifters to just pumping air into tires, “We want to empower people,” Hodgson said. “We will meet you at your mechanic ability and socioeconomic status.”

“For such a radicalist enclave, it’s one of the last bastions of democracy,” says Jeremiah, a longtime bike builder and volunteer. “I think there’s a need for it now more than any other time in its existence.”

The shop’s dedication to sustainability is evidenced by its recycling of bike parts, and by using both new and used bike supplies. “This is a place to learn about bikes and grow as a community,” Hodgson says. “We can help people build an entire bike from the ground up.”

Santa Cruz Gives grant funding will expand Bike Church education programs, build out the volunteer program and establish a safety net for its inevitable relocation due to downtown’s housing development(s) and a push for rezoning. “If that happens, we would have 60 days to relocate,” Hodgson says.

The Bike Church is part of the Hub for Sustainable Living, a Section 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that also includes Sub Rosa Book Store, the Fabrica and Tenants Sanctuary.

Bike Church is located at 703 Pacific Ave., open to the public Wednesdays to Mondays, noon-5pm and Tuesdays 5-8pm for women, trans and femme (WTF) identifying people “because biking can be a very bro-y culture,” Hodgson says. Bike Church also dispenses NarCan, period products and free fentanyl test strips. Call 831-425-2453.

To donate, visit santacruzgives.org.

Coastal Watershed Council Finds Romance in Our River

Richard Stockton

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December 11, 2024

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Coastal Watershed Council Finds Romance in Our River

The Coastal Watershed Council wants you to fall in love. Since 1995, this nonprofit group has sought to ignite Santa Cruzans with a passion for the San Lorenzo River and the desire to explore, enhance and protect this waterway that flows through the heart of the city.

Painted on a cement wall along the Third Street Levee, a sign reads “Agua Es Vida—Water is Life.” The human body is 60% water, and in Santa Cruz that means we are the San Lorenzo River, and the river is us. When we drink water, wash our derrière, make our wine, water our gardens, we become the San Lorenzo River. It flows through the middle of our town and through every cell in our bodies.

The Coastal Watershed Council’s goal is to make people feel safe at the river and provide opportunities for people to connect with nature, to learn, to recreate.

Executive Director Laurie Egan tells me the CWC’s work is all about instilling love of the San Lorenzo River in kids. They work with communities adjacent to the river, and Egan says she hears kids on the school bus field trips saying, “Oh, that’s my aunt’s house,” or “Hey, my mom works there.”

Immersion Learning

The CWC staff and volunteers take them to the river to immerse them in nature. “We’ll have kids don their little waders and get to go into the river itself to look for aquatic bugs and species that help to indicate water quality,” Egan explains.

“Putting on waders is intimidating even for an adult,” she says. “Waders are these funky pieces of equipment and you’re stepping into them. And as you step into the water, it feels cool against your skin and vacuum seals the waders. The kids are trepidatious at first, so our educators will hold their hand to get them in the water.”

Egan says that by the end, “The kids are all smiles, having a blast, finding way more bugs in the river than they ever thought, seeing all the birds and different species. They have the best time.”

The Coastal Watershed Council’s goal is to get Santa Cruz to embrace the river as a focal point of our community—as our drinking water source, as critical habitat for threatened and endangered species, and as a place we can all spend time in nature in our daily lives. She says there will come a day when we can drink our double-lattes on a fancy Front Street coffee-shop patio while we gaze over this stunning river.

Recovering Our River History

“The San Lorenzo River is alive, a live thing that is part of our life’s blood,” Egan says. When the indigenous Awaswas people lived in this area, thriving for 10,000 years, they knew better than to build permanent structures in the floodplain. The mouth of the San Lorenzo River used to be a wetland, and the Awaswas would migrate as the estuary changed size.

Egan says that all changed when the Spanish colonizers came: “They built more permanent structures. We lost that connection to nature.”

The CWC wants to repair that connection by working with the schools through “watershed rangers, environmental education programs and climate change education.”

Two women with clippers in front of heavy vegetation; in the background, a river with a construction project above it — ELIXIR OF LIFE: The San Lorenzo River flows directly through downtown Santa Cruz, and new housing developments will have a bird’s-eye view. PHOTO: Coastal Watershed Council

The CWC has hosted events like the Share a Meal and Share a Story event in San Lorenzo Park, where people from different backgrounds eat together and share their stories. The Wes Modes Secret History Project interviewed and filmed over 20 people about their connection to the river. The CWC’s Watershed Rangers youth education program also shares stories about people who love the river.

And hundreds of volunteers removed invasive species. Egan says, “We’re not only removing the invasive species but we’re seeding new native ones. We’re increasing the biodiversity in these spaces on the river. We worked with over 300 volunteers last year.”

The Coastal Watershed Council is roots driven, community focused and dedicated to engaging both young and old residents to work for what the future holds for this river. Egan says, “Really, instilling love of this river is what is key for us.”

To learn more, visit coastal-watershed.org.

Giving Time

From now through Dec. 31, readers can donate to SantaCruzGives.org. Founded by Good Times in 2015, Santa Cruz Gives has raised more than $5 million to help local charities (63 this year). These are some of the participating groups along with a very brief description of the projects these donations will fund.

Diversity Center of Santa Cruz County—Producing a documentary about people who saved lives during the AIDS crisis.

Ecology Action—Organizing leadership training to prepare locals for climate change impacts.

Queer Youth Task Force—Putting together a website resource to raise awareness about trans issues.

Regeneración: Pajaro Valley Climate Action—Mentoring 10 or more students on how they can advocate for climate action.

San Lorenzo Valley Museum—Crafting an educational program on early San Lorenzo Valley industries.

Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery—Creating the Enchanted Forest Adventure, a new exhibit at the museum.

Shared Adventures—Making the group’s activities for individuals with mobility challenges more family oriented.

Veterans Surf Alliance—Serving the community with beach cleanups and storm cleanups, and providing help to other organizations.

Vets 4 Vets Santa Cruz—Connecting veterans with each other and the broader community through community-focused events.

Watsonville Wetlands Watch—Planting projects on school campuses that offer hands-on learning opportunities.

Santa Cruz Gives is funded by the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Applewood Foundation, Joe Collins, Driscoll’s, Inc., Monterey Peninsula Foundation, 1440 Foundation, Santa Cruz County Bank, and Wynn Capital Management, as well as the generosity of the readers of Good Times, Pajaronian and Press Banner.

Cabrillo College Housing Project Takes Shape

Todd Guild

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December 11, 2024

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Cabrillo College Housing Project Takes Shape

In a little less than a year, Cabrillo College will break ground on a sprawling, multi-story housing project on its Aptos campus, a development that will offer 624 beds for students attending both the college and UC Santa Cruz.

Groundbreaking is estimated to begin in November 2025, after being delayed from this year as UCSC and Cabrillo officials hammered out the complexities.

It is expected to open in 2027.

Once complete, the project will include a child care center, situated underneath 25 family apartments. It will also include laundry facilities.

There will also be four-bedroom apartments with two bathrooms and a mini-kitchenette.

It includes offices for both academic and mental health counseling and a space for health services.

A sky study lounge on the upper floors will offer ocean views, and there will be a rooftop garden, outdoor study areas and a pavilion for outdoor gatherings.

The development will be located on Cabrillo’s lower campus—off of Cabrillo College Drive—in a grassy field used for soccer games by the college and other community members on weekends.

“That’s one concern,” Cabrillo President Matt Wetstein said. “We’re going to lose some community soccer space.”

But with housing costs in Santa Cruz County among the highest in the nation—and with a recent survey of 65,000 community college students showing that roughly 20% are facing homelessness at any time—the project meets a critical need, he said.

The project will also help Santa Cruz County meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation requirements set by the state, Wetstein said.

“This student housing project will greatly benefit our students, 20% of whom are housing insecure, and will help alleviate the housing crisis in our local community,” he said.

To qualify for the housing, students must be taking 12 units, be making progress toward a degree and be earning a C average or better. They must also be considered low-income, earning 30% to 50% of the median household income.

College officials briefly considered placing the project on the hilly area above the horticulture building, but opted for the flatter soccer field because it’s easier to develop and nearer the necessary infrastructure, he said.

To pay for the project, UCSC will issue bonds and the state of California will pay them. Neither Cabrillo College nor taxpayers will be responsible for the costs.

UCSC will contribute an additional $70 million to the construction costs, bringing the total project cost to $181 million.

“We are thrilled to see this student housing project advancing to the next phase,” said UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive. “It will provide essential, affordable housing for our students and Cabrillo students. The project will also strengthen the transfer pathway between our institutions, giving students the opportunity to start at Cabrillo, then finish with a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Cruz, all while living in the same housing. That is both unique and extremely beneficial.”

The complex is one of three joint student housing projects between the UC and the state Community College systems, and the first such partnership between these segments in the state’s history.

The other two are between Riverside City College and UC Riverside, and Merced College and UC Merced.

Son of Fishbone

Music

Bill Kopp

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December 11, 2024

0

Releasing a new song about a presidential candidate days before the election—and calling that song “Racist Piece of Shit”—is a surefire way to get noticed. But Fishbone has never really had any difficulty attracting attention.

The band formed in Los Angeles in 1979 has made a career out of confounding those who would try to categorize its music, and the lyrics have never shied away from social commentary. Fishbone comes to the Rio Theatre on Dec. 18.

When Fishbone came on the scene, there was no other band like them. An all-Black lineup of musicians playing a stylistic mashup of ska, punk and hardcore metal, Fishbone confused some but won the devotion of others. “We were just playing music that we liked,” Angelo Moore says with a shrug. “We weren’t really caring about what other people thought.”

Moore name-checks some of the artists who inspired Fishbone: “Funkadelic, James Brown, Sly Stone, Louis Jordan, John Coltrane, [Charles] Mingus and Sun Ra,” he says, implicitly challenging the notion that his group fits neatly into any one genre.

Another hot band of the era, the BusBoys, gave the group its first break. “Our very first gig was at Madame Wong’s,” Moore says. The L.A. club was a hub for the city’s punk, new wave and power pop scenes, and exposure there gave acts a foot in the door to bigger audiences. But an opening spot for the BusBoys was no guarantee of success. “I felt like we had to win over a lot of the audience,” Moore says, “because the color of our skin didn’t match with the stereotype.”

Moore says that Fishbone impressed the concertgoers with their music. “We didn’t have too much trouble winning over white people, because we were playing a lot of rock and fast-tempo stuff,” he says. Paradoxically, with audiences of color it was a different story. “We weren’t playing the kind of music Black people were used to hearing,” he explains. “You’ve got the whole Black rock scene—Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles—but it’s small compared with the overall Black scene of R&B, funk and hip hop.”

Somehow, Fishbone found a way to earn fans across the musical and racial landscapes. Four of the group’s albums made it onto the Billboard 200 charts between 1988 and 1996, and two Fishbone singles—“Sunless Saturday” and “Everyday Sunshine,” both from 1991—reached the upper registers of the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Moore has remained quite busy inside and outside of Fishbone. Under his own name and/or using his alter ego moniker Dr. MadVibe, he has released six albums since 2000; his latest was released just this year. Moore has also collaborated and/or guested on numerous tracks by other artists, variously providing vocals, sax and Theremin for acts as diverse as Ugly Kid Joe, Avenged Sevenfold, Gwen Stefani and Bad Brains.

But even those projects can’t contain his creative impulses. Moore’s Brand New Step project has three albums to its credit, and his description of the music makes it clear that his eclecticism knows few bounds. “It’s electronic dance music on the poppy side,” he says. “We’ve got guest rappers; we’ve got all kinds of stuff on there. It’s a whole ‘nother world I’ve created, man.”

Yet Fishbone remains Moore’s primary focus. Over the past decade-plus, Fishbone has continued to tour, but the group wasn’t heard on record for some time. Fishbone’s most recent studio album, Still Stuck in Your Throat, was released more than 18 years ago.

But the group hasn’t taken the route of becoming a nostalgia act, touring on the strength of decades-old material. “Racist Piece of Shit” is merely the latest in a resurgent release schedule from Fishbone. In 2023 the group released a self-titled five-song EP, highlighted by “Estranged Fruit,” a collaboration with NOFX. Earlier this year, Fishbone debuted another collaborative release, the single “Growing Up Punk” featuring MC Homeless.

Those releases are the sound of Fishbone getting warmed up; at the time of our conversation, Moore is in the recording studio making final tweaks to the mixes of a clutch of new songs. Tentatively set for release in early 2025, the new material will take the form of not one but two Fishbone albums. “We’re going to call it Son of Fishbone: The Stockholm Syndrome,” Moore says.

Fishbone’s major-label era ended in the mid ’90s, but the group pressed on with a constantly shifting lineup, taking on additional musical styles and continuing to earn critical praise. Today Moore and fellow founding member Christopher Dowd front a six-man lineup of younger players. The through-line that connects Fishbone’s body of work is its social perspective.

“From where I’m standing as a visionary and a creative, I make sure that [people] hear and see my opinion,” Moore says. He tries to stay positive but observes that the United States is in an evil time; that’s reflected in the lyrics of Fishbone’s latest single, a song about a familiar orange-hued real-life character. “We all know that the Joker is funny, and he’s colorful,” Moore says. “He’s one of my favorite characters in Batman. But you don’t vote for him for president!”

Fishbone plays at 8pm on Dec. 18 at the Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, 831-423-8209. Tickets: $42. riotheatre.com

PULL QUOTE:: When Fishbone came on the scene, there was no other band like them. An all-Black lineup of musicians playing a stylistic mashup of ska, punk and hardcore metal, Fishbone confused some but won the devotion of others

A New Tradition

Stage

Christina Waters

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December 11, 2024

0

Aglow with sprightly carols and melodramatic musical effects, Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s new and utterly delightful A Christmas Carol has already enchanted half the town.

Small wonder, with its vivacious cast of five adults—playing dozens of characters—and two youngsters, Christmas Carol is a timeless tale. And from the tireless imagination of arch story teller Charles Dickens, to the astute adaptation by SCS Artistic Director Charles Pasternak (something in the name Charles?), comes a tale of tight-fisted greed in the person of Ebenezer Scrooge transformed into a better man thanks to the eye-opening visitations of a trio of spirits.

Full disclosure: I went through at least three tissues in an effort to maintain my composure during this shamelessly uplifting tale of a life redeemed on the eve of Christmas. Perhaps it was the suite of traditional Yuletide carols sung in close harmony by the company. Or maybe it was simply that Dickens’ story is, sentimentally speaking, perfection.

Whatever the reason, I was touched to the core and I wasn’t alone.

The casting was also perfection. I expected nothing less from the amazing Julie James, playing at least half a dozen characters with word-perfect delivery, energy and bravado. Julie’s ability to morph into myriad characters without missing a beat is the stuff of legend. Also, I looked forward to the sensitive and energetic performance by Charlotte Munson, equally nimble portraying many genders and ages, from Scrooge’s nephew to a Cratchit family child.

Amplifying the dazzle in this production were SCS newcomers Robert Zelaya as Bob Cratchit, among others, and a feisty Andrea Sweeney Blanco as Mrs. Cratchit and the shimmering Ghost of Christmas Past. These two players added their singing, dancing and nimble acting skills to the high-spirited capers inspired by Pasternak’s direction. Incomparable casting helped infuse the well-known story with new relevance and joy.

But it was Mike Ryan, crafting the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge from grim tightwad to a generous Santa, that generated the most resounding moments of surprise and delight. Not to mention stagecraft. As many performances of his as I’ve seen, I’m still amazed by Ryan’s evolving power as an actor. Scrooge’s enchantment by his younger self, his pain overhearing his former sweetheart denounce the greed and wealth that have replaced her in his heart. Scrooge’s emotional isolation was most poignantly revealed in the scenes where he is shown the humble pleasures of the Cratchit family. Without wealth, they are rich in happiness and love. Again, praise to Pasternak the director, who not only created the stage adaptation of the story but sculpted miniature yet eloquent scenes to illuminate the age-old themes.

Ryan seemed as entranced by these poignant memories as if they were his own. And of course that’s the job of a fine actor, to disappear into the character and in the process create fresh embodiment of the author’s insights. A spellbinding bit of stage magic.

And by the time Scrooge is shown his own future death—unmourned, unacknowledged—his transformation is complete. “I am not the man I was,” he cries out, asking for a second chance. Fabulous physical acting, graceful, bold, and all of it underscored by the spectacular costuming of B. Modern. The tassled nightcap and brocade dressing gown of Scrooge, the lovely little Jane Austenesque gowns of the party scenes, and the sparkling finery of the spirits showing Scrooge the realities of his life.

Pasternak unleashed some inner genius in setting the action throughout the aisles, stairs and stage of Vets Hall, whose intimate interior brought the audience into a close community, gathered to hear this sweet, harrowing and joyful tale. The production opens with the players carrying candles and singing; it ends with a full-throated invitation to “Come, all ye faithful!” A seamless job of lighting (Stephen Migdal) and music (Luke Shepherd) gave the actors a gorgeous fictional world in which to work. As Belinda Cratchit, Sigrid Breidenthal looked fetching. And young Lincoln Best was the perfect Tiny Tim.

The players took turns narrating the scenes, introducing what was to come, and each episode of Scrooge’s spiritual journey was reinforced by a traditional English carol, beautifully sung in close harmony by the quintet of actors. I reached for my Kleenex with each sweet, familiar Yuletide song. The magic of the season is matched by the magic of live theater in what, if Charles Pasternak gets his wish, will become a holiday tradition in this lucky town.

A Christmas Carol, Vets Hall, 846 Front St., downtown Santa Cruz. Through Dec. 24. The show runs almost 90 minutes with no intermission. Tickets at santacruzshakespeare.org.

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