Page 452 | Good Times

City Council Moves Ohlone Parkway Housing Project Forward

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July 8, 2021

City Council Moves Ohlone Parkway Housing Project Forward

Highlighting the city’s housing woes and the environmental checks and balances at the county level, the Watsonville City Council on Tuesday approved changes to plans for a large housing development on Ohlone Parkway.

Hillcrest Estates, previously known as Sunshine Vista, will have slightly fewer homes—falling from 150 to 144—than when it first received City Council approval in 2018.

Developers will also no longer have to remove all of the 35,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil at the 13-acre lot that served as a junkyard for roughly 60 years. They instead plan to bury much of the soil in a cement-sealed pit on the edge of the property.

The altered soil remediation plan, project manager John Fry, of CDM Crocker Fry, said, was needed to help the proposed development pencil out. And the project’s environmental consultant said he did not expect the plan to hit any speed bumps during County Environmental Health’s review, or the mandatory 30-day public review, which began June 25.

If the soil remediation plan does require a major correction, however, the project could return to the City Council at a future date.

The City Council approved the changes by a 4-3 vote. Mayor Jimmy Dutra and City Council members Rebecca J. Garcia and Aurelio Gonzalez voted “no.”

Gonzalez literally pounded the table after putting forth a motion to deny the approval. He said that the developer had failed several times to move the project forward over the course of three years and that they would continue to do so going forward.

He and Garcia also voiced concerns about the soil remediation plan, with the former saying that he wanted the developer to follow through on their original proposal to haul away the contaminated dirt.

“It’s not good,” Gonzalez said. “Disadvantaged communities are always taken advantage of.”

The motion to deny approval failed 4-3, with Dutra, Garcia and Gonzalez on the short end of the vote.

The project will construct five single-family units, 60 duplex-style townhouse units and 76 row-style townhouse units. The updated plans also included six “common areas” such as a bocce ball court, playfield and outlook area that Fry said would be shared with the nearby neighbors off Ohlone Parkway.

The homes, Fry said, will likely cost between $665,000-800,000, though final costs are still to be determined—that does not include the 29 homes that will be sold through the city’s affordable pricing standards.

The project will head to the Planning Commission next week seeking approval on a development agreement.

Watsonville Wetlands Watch (WWW) in a letter to the city before Tuesday’s meeting said the new proposed soil remediation plan is “unacceptable” and that it could “result in long-term environmental contamination to the wildlife and waters of Watsonville Slough System as well as the neighboring community.”

In a response, Fry said the plan will use “state-of-the-art technology supported by ‘best practices’ incorporating the highest professional and scientific standards.”

About a half-dozen people echoed WWW’s concerns during Tuesday’s meeting. They also said the proposed roundabout at Ohlone Parkway and Loma Vista Drive and entrance to the development through Loma Vista would negatively impact the surrounding neighborhood.

“Do deadlines matter more than the health and safety of your very own constituents?” asked Noriko Akiyama-Ragsac, contesting that the city should have waited for county health’s approval on the proposed soil remediation plan before bringing the item forward.

The project has made little progress since first receiving approval.

The property was listed on Loopnet—an online marketplace for commercial property—in 2019 as original developer Lisa Li worked to find investors after significantly surpassing its initial $60 million budget, she told this publication.

Since then, Fry joined as project manager, and it received a two-year extension last August.

It will be built in five phases. The first phase, including grading, is set to begin sometime this summer, according to developers.

Santa Cruz County Fair Plans Full Return

Tarmo Hannula

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July 8, 2021

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Santa Cruz County Fair Plans Full Return

Organizers for the Santa Cruz County Fair say they are preparing for a complete in-person return of the annual event in September.

Carnival rides, livestock shows, floriculture, arts and crafts, the Agricultural History Project, food booths, the pumpkin contest and the apple pie contest—they’re all coming back from Sept. 15-19.

“It’s looking really good; we’re attempting to repeat the 2019 fair because it was spectacular and we are all looking to just skip over this Covid year and get back to our normal lives,” said County Fair manager Dave Kegebein. “I think we’re set to do everything we normally do. The food concessions, various exhibits, all the entries that we’ve taken in for many years, entertainment: We see it all getting ready to return.”

The fair was one of many county events that landed on a lengthy pandemic-related cancellation list, from parades and concerts to festivals and theater—for starters.

Fair organizers did, however, hold alternatives adjusted for the mask-wearing, social distancing, hand sanitizing world. That included the Holiday Lights drive-thru during Christmas, put on by the Fairgrounds Foundation and the Agricultural History Project, and the drive-thru Crab Feed. The fairgrounds also held two Fair Food drive-thrus.

The fairgrounds were also used on numerous occasions for Second Harvest Food distributions and were a major site for mass Covid-19 vaccinations, said Ron Haedicke, director of the Fairgrounds Foundation board and a fairgrounds volunteer.

“I just couldn’t be more excited that the fair is coming back,” Haedicke said. “It is the heartbeat of our community and it is the thing we wait for each fall. As the fairground’s friend Diane Cooley once said, ‘The fair is what unites our community and the fairgrounds is what brings people together.’ It’s like a giant family reunion.”

Kegebein added that if changes do arise because of rising Covid-19 cases, “We’ll just adjust.”

“But right now everybody is excited, the people that are involved with the fair are excited to make it all happen again,” he added.

Things To Do in Santa Cruz: July 7-13

GT Staff

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July 7, 2021

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A weekly guide to what’s happening.

ARTS AND MUSIC

“LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF ANTHONY ARYA” CD RELEASE PARTY! “Listen to the Voice of Anthony Arya” release party at Lille Aeske in Boulder Creek. The Voice EP: a collection of songs from Anthony’s journey on Season 15 of NBC’s The Voice, including the three songs he performed on the show, two songs he played during the audition process and a special duet with another Season 15 contestant, Sarah Grace. Friday, July 9, 6-9pm. lille æske, 13160 Central Ave., Boulder Creek.

BANFF CENTRE MOUNTAIN FILM VIRTUAL FESTIVAL All the programs! If you’ve been too busy getting after it outdoors, or just haven’t made the time yet, now’s your chance to catch all our Virtual World Tour Programs. Join us online for a mixed program of award winners from the 2020, 2019 and 2018 Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festivals. Catch up on missed films or relive some of the best that Banff has to offer. For more information and tickets, visit riotheatre.com or call 831-423-8209. Wednesday, July 7-Tuesday, July 13.

BOOMERIA ORGAN EXTRAVAGANZA Boomeria is a beloved place in the Santa Cruz mountains that is a monument to creativity in art, music, and science. The brainchild of Preston Boomer (longtime San Lorenzo Valley High School physics and chemistry teacher, now retired), Boomeria’s grounds are known for a working Baroque-style tracker pipe-organ built by Boomer and his students incorporating recycled and European organ pipes and recent work by organ builder Bill Visscher and friends. The “Kingdom of Boomeria” also includes a castle built for climbing (most especially for those with short legs) in a beautiful forest of redwood, bay-laurel, oak and madrone. Santa Cruz Baroque Festival’s annual Boomeria Organ Extravaganza—always occurring on or near Bastille Day—features organ performances by premier organists, a brass ensemble, a barrel organ, and a fencing demonstration. In-between enjoying the performances, guests can enjoy the gourmet snacks on offer, quaff some excellent wine, and enjoy gathering with fellow early-music enthusiasts in the beautiful setting. Saturday, July 10, 1-5pm. Boomeria, 60 Verde Drive, Santa Cruz.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION: STORYTELLING THROUGH MURALS Join the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH) in a community conversation centered around the value of acknowledging community truth, struggle, and resilience through murals with local artists. Together with MAH Outreach Coordinator, Helen Aldana, artist Guillermo Aranda, Ray Cancino of Community Bridges, and Mireya Contreras Gomez gather to share and talk about land acknowledgment, representation, collaboration, and the censorship of art in public spaces. Suggested donation $5, RSVP via Eventbrite at eventbrite.com/e/mah-community-conversations-storytelling-through-murals-tickets-161363002083. A Zoom link will be sent after registration. Thursday, July 8, 6-7pm.

GREATER PURPOSE COMEDY NIGHT Every Friday night at Greater Purpose Brewing it’s the Greater Purpose Comedy Show hosted by DNA and Chree Powell and featuring the best of California comedy. The show is 90 minutes long.Doors at 7pm, show at 7:30pm. Admission is $10 and we strongly suggest buying your tickets on Eventbrite in advance at eventbrite.com/e/greater-purpose-comedy-tickets-156589496399. Ages 16+. Friday, July 9, 7-9pm. East Cliff Brewing Co., 21517 E Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz.

SALSA SUELTA FREE ZOOM SESSION Keep in shape! Weekly online session in Cuban-style Salsa Suelta for experienced beginners and up. May include mambo, chachacha, Afro-Cuban rumba, orisha, son montuno. No partner required, ages 14 and older. Contact to get the link; visit salsagente.com. Thursday, July 8, 7pm.

T BONE MOJO BAND DAVENPORT ROADHOUSE Featuring professional veterans Fuzzy Oxendine, Les “Blues Buddha” Rosenthal, T Bone Mojo (Toby Gray) and Rick Hoornbeck. Veterans of the ’60s San Francisco and East Coast music scene Fun and Groovin’ up energy group often featuring special guests geared to getting the party going, folks tapping their feet and on the dance floor! Sunday, July 11, 1pm. Davenport Roadhouse Restaurant & Inn, 1 Davenport Ave., Davenport.

TOBY GRAY AT SCOPAZZI’S After nearly 100 years, Scopazzi’s continues to offer Italian cuisine with an extensive wine list and a full lounge. Cool, rockin’ to mellow jazz, and smooth with a repertoire of several hundred of your favorite songs and fun heartfelt originals. Great music and stories of touring with It’s A Beautiful Day, Dick Clark Productions, and a multitude of characters from San Francisco’s Summer of Love and Los Angeles music scenes. Saturday, July 10, 6:30-8:30pm.

COMMUNITY

GRAB AND GO STEAM: MAKE YOUR OWN ELECTROMAGNET! We provide the materials and directions – you pick them up and make them at home! This project is a great introduction to electromagnetism, the force that not only helps pick up squished cars in junkyard wars but is also responsible for a lot of the properties of matter in everyday life. Registration for a steam kit is required. To request a kit, fill out the form at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCSkgjTYJ-VlsCb-vu8I4iCyf7FghIaTekiT8rmIexfqliHA/closedform. First come, first served. Registration will close when all kits are claimed. Kits will be ready to pick up at a requested branch on July 14. These kits are suggested for children over age 8. CHOKING HAZARD: This kit contains small pieces and is not suitable for young children without adult supervision. Adult assistance may be required for some children and the kit includes small parts that are a choking hazard for young children.. Tuesday, July 13, 4-5pm.

GREY BEARS BROWN BAG LINE If you are able-bodied and love to work fast, this is for you! Grey Bears could use more help with their brown bag production line on Thursday and Friday mornings. As a token of our thanks, we make you breakfast and give you a bag of food if wanted. Be at the warehouse with a mask and gloves at 7am, and we will put you to work until at least 9am! Call ahead if you would like to know more: 831-479-1055, greybears.org. Thursday, July 8, 7am. California Grey Bears, 2710 Chanticleer Ave., Santa Cruz.

GROUPS

CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUP – VIA ZOOM Support groups create a safe, confidential, supportive environment or community and a chance for family caregivers to develop informal mutual support and social relationships as well as discover more effective ways to cope with and care for your loved one. Meeting via Zoom and phone. To register or ask questions please call 800-272-3900. Wednesday, July 7, 5:30pm. Saturday, July 10, 10-11:30am.

COMPASSIONATE FRIENDS OF SANTA CRUZ Parents of a child who died at any age, from any cause, any length of time ago, are invited to join The Compassionate Friends of Santa Cruz for our monthly grief support meeting. Opening circle followed by smaller connection groups. Sharing is optional. Grief materials are available. Bereaved grandparents and adult siblings also welcome. Non-religious. Monday, July 12, 7-8:30pm. Quaker Meeting House, 225 Rooney St., Santa Cruz.

ENTRE NOSOTRAS GRUPO DE APOYO Entre Nosotras support group for Spanish-speaking women with a cancer diagnosis. Meets twice monthly. Registration required: call Entre Nosotras at 831-761-3973. Friday, July 9, 6pm.

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS All our OA meetings have switched to being online due to sheltering in place. Please call 831-429-7906 for meeting information. Do you have a problem with food? Drop into a free, friendly Overeaters Anonymous 12-Step meeting. All are welcome!. Thursday, July 8, 1-2pm.

WOMENCARE ARM-IN-ARM WomenCARE ARM-IN-ARM Cancer support group for women with advanced, recurrent, or metastatic cancer. Meets every Monday at WomenCARE’s office. Currently on Zoom. Registration required, call WomenCARE at 831-457-2273. All services are free. For more information visit womencaresantacruz.org. Monday, July 12, 12:30pm.

WOMENCARE TUESDAY SUPPORT GROUP WomenCARE Tuesday Cancer support group for women newly diagnosed and through their treatment. Meets every Tuesday currently on Zoom. Registration required, call WomenCARE 831-457-2273. Tuesday, July 13, 12:30-2pm.

WOMENCARE: LAUGHTER YOGA Laughter yoga for women with a cancer diagnosis. Meets every Wednesday, currently via Zoom. Registration required, call WomenCARE at 831-457-2273. Wednesday, July 7, 3:30-4:30pm.

OUTDOOR

CASFS FARMSTAND Organic vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers are sold weekly at the CASFS Farmstand, starting June 15 and continuing through Nov. 23. Proceeds support experiential education programs at the UCSC Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems. Wednesday, July 7, Noon-6pm. Friday, July 9, Noon-6pm. Tuesday, July 13, Noon-6pm. Cowell Ranch Historic Hay Barn, Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz.

CLIMATE, LAND AND WATER OUTDOOR MEDITATION This is a public meditation/demonstration, to raise our spirits, raise awareness, and raise the vibration in these troubled times. We will begin with Land Acknowledgement and Calling the Corners and then silent meditation, ending around 3:30pm. All are welcome! Please arrive early to find parking and get settled in. We will gather on the lawn near the Lighthouse, look for the Novasutras signs. You are welcome to bring your own sign to hold or wear around your neck, with inspiring messaging about the climate and environmental crises. See bit.ly/SCOM4CH for info. Sunday, July 11, 2:30pm.

FELT STREET FLEA MARKET The Felt Street Community Flea Market is Saturday, July 10, at the Center for Spiritual Living in Santa Cruz. Shopping will be open and 15 vendors will be selling treasures and creations from A-Z. Come out and enjoy this festive shopping event while finding great deals on clothing, toys, housewares, tools, fishing gear, handmade and imported jewelry, collectibles and more. Saturday, July 10, 9am-2pm. Center for Spiritual Living, 1818 Felt St., Santa Cruz.

HISTORIC RANCH GROUND TOUR Discover what life was like a century ago on this innovative dairy ranch. This hour-long tour includes the 1896 water-powered machine shop, barns and other historic buildings. The vehicle day-use fee is $10. For more information, call 831-426-0505. Spaces are limited and early pre-registration is recommended. Attendees are required to self-screen for Covid-19 symptoms when pre-registering. Masks and social distancing are also required at all programs. To register, visit santacruzstateparks.as.me/schedule.php. Saturday, July 10, 1pm. Sunday, July 11, 1pm. Wilder Ranch State Park, 1401 Coast Road, Santa Cruz.

NEW BRIGHTON JUNIOR RANGERS This fun one-hour program offers kids, ages 7-12, an opportunity to earn prizes while learning about birds, sea life, and local park animals, playing games, and doing arts and crafts. Meet at the campground Ramada. For more information, call 831-685-6444. Spaces are limited and early pre-registration is recommended. Attendees are required to self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms when pre-registering. Masks and social distancing are also required at all programs. To register, visit santacruzstateparks.as.me/schedule.php. Friday, July 9, 3pm. Saturday, July 10, 3pm. New Brighton Beach, 1500 Park Ave., Capitola.

NEW BRIGHTON LITTLE RANGERS Any and all 3-6 year-olds are invited to play games, listen to stories and songs, and learn about nature! Smiles, laughter, and good times abound at this program, and it’s a fantastic way to begin your morning in the park. Meet at the campground Ramada. For more information, call (831) 685-6444. Spaces are limited and early pre-registration is recommended. Attendees are required to self-screen for Covid-19 symptoms when pre-registering. Masks and social distancing are also required at all programs. To register, visit santacruzstateparks.as.me/schedule.php. Friday, July 9, 11-11:30am. Saturday, July 10, 11-11:30am. New Brighton Beach, 1500 Park Ave., Capitola.

PARADIGM SPORT SUMMER BASEBALL CAMP Come to the Paradigm Sport baseball camp and experience the best baseball camp on the Central Coast. Over the course of a fun week with friends and teammates, kids get coached up by our staff of current and former pros on the skills, knowledge and mental approach they need to be strong, all-around players. Areas of focus include hitting, pitching, infield and outfield play, base running and more. At Paradigm Sport, our goal is to provide young players in and around Santa Cruz County with the highest-quality baseball instruction possible. Our summer camp is one of our favorite ways to do it!. Monday, July 12, 9am-2pm. Tuesday, July 13, 9am-2pm. Paradigm Sport, 120 Dubois St., Santa Cruz.

PERMACULTURE DESIGN CERTIFICATE COURSE Permaculture is an ethically based whole-systems design approach that uses concepts, principles, and methods derived from ecosystems, indigenous peoples, and other time-tested systems to create human settlements and institutions. It’s also been called “saving the planet while throwing a better party.” The Santa Cruz Permaculture Design Certificate course includes the internationally recognized 72-hour curriculum, augmented by an additional 38-hours of hands-on practice and field trips. Plus, folks have the option to camp on-site each weekend, and build community around the fire! Our course brings in leading designers and teachers from around the region, each an expert in different areas of permaculture. The Santa Cruz Permaculture network of instructors, alumni, community partners, and resources continues to grow each season, and by participating in our course, you become part of this network! Additionally, course participants work in teams throughout the six-month program to design a holistic permaculture plan for a real-life property in the community. The hands-on learning, workshops, and readings throughout the course prepare students with knowledge and whole systems thinking strategies that allow them to create detailed and thoughtful design projects. We will be adhering to the latest Covid-19 recommendations and precautions. Learn more and register at santacruzpermaculture.com/permaculture-design-course. Saturday, July 10, 9am-5pm. Sunday, July 11, 9am-5pm. Santa Cruz Permaculture, 343 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz.

SUNSET BEACH BOWLS Experience the tranquility, peace and calmness as the ocean waves harmonize with the sound of Crystal Bowls raising your vibration and energy levels. Every Tuesday one hour before sunset at Moran Lake Beach. Call 831-333-6736 for more details. Tuesday, July 13, 7:15-8:15pm. Moran Lake Park & Beach, East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz.

YOU PICK ROSES We are growing over 300 roses, deeply fragrant, lush and in every color, and we want to share them with you! Get out of the house and enjoy cutting a bucket of roses for your own pleasure or to share with family and friends. Once you have made a purchase, you will be sent a calendar link to pick a time for your reservation and directions to our farm in Watsonville. Visit birdsongorchards.com/store/you-pick-roses for more information. Friday, July 9, 11am. Sunday, July 11, 11am.

Review: ‘The Tomorrow War’ is All Guts, No Brains

Lisa Jensen

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July 7, 2021

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Review: ‘The Tomorrow War’ is All Guts, No Brains

A lot of storyline is crammed into the two hours and twenty minutes of The Tomorrow War. It’s bursting with military ops, time travel, alien invasion, parent-child estrangement and reconciliation, and a dire warning of the consequences of reckless global warming. Its supporting cast is consciously diverse, and the movie embraces science as a key tool of civilization.

But at heart, this is a standard shoot-’em-up whose bad guys are such mindless flesh-eating monsters (think of the original Alien, times a zillion) that slaughtering them in ever more elaborate action sequences becomes the movie’s main objective. They’re like targets in a video game—except when killed, they don’t just evaporate in a few pixels of digital smoke. They explode spectacularly, spewing blood and gore and goop in all directions. This movie brings a whole new meaning to painting the town red.

Normally, I prefer movies on a giant screen, but it’s kind of a blessing that this one is only available TV-sized.

Scripted by Zach Dean and directed by Lego Movie alumnus Chris McKay, The Tomorrow War begins with five minutes of chaotic, incomprehensible action. Then suddenly it’s “28 Years Earlier,” and we meet affable everyguy protagonist Dan Forester (Chris Pratt), a mild-mannered high school science teacher and Iraq war combat veteran.

He, his loving wife (Betty Gilpin) and their adorable daughter (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) are hosting a Christmas party when the soccer match on TV is interrupted by a battalion of soldiers materializing out of thin air. They are military personnel from the future commandeering the world stage to warn that humanity will be wiped out in 30 years unless recruits from the present join their forces battling to save the world from alien invaders. Instantly, all the world leaders cooperate—that’s how we know this is fantasy—and start drafting able-bodied citizens to ship off into the future.

So far, there’s a nice little Day The Earth Stood Still vibe going on—until boots hit the ground in the future (courtesy of Jump Bands attached to each recruit), and we find out this is not some sophisticated alien race with an agenda, but a plague of giant, exoskeletal insectoids devouring anything that moves. Their mouths open in multiple directions, like an origami box, and they have a separate mouth at the end of each of their many flailing tentacles. “We are food, and they are hungry,” explains the kickass research team leader calling herself Romeo Command (Yvonne Strahovski). (She also gets the best line in the movie: “Someone get a harpoon on that tentacle!”)

This is basically the first story arc as the plot thickens. The draftees don’t accomplish much during their seven-day deployments, besides providing live bait while the researchers in the future try to develop a chemical weapon to fight back. But it’s weird that the original mission is to recruit more humans from the past for the aliens to eat instead of going back in time to prevent the alien invasion from happening at all. This finally does occur to somebody, but not until the third story arc, when the movie is almost two hours in.

Meanwhile, relationships evolve between Dan and Romeo Command (who turns out to—well, you’ll find out), flinty Dorian (Edwin Hodge) on his third deployment, and nervous, goofy but stout-hearted Charlie (Sam Richardson). J. K. Simmons brings his wry orneriness as Dan’s estranged, paranoid Vietnam vet dad, who runs an underground engineering lab.

Most are on hand for the finale atop a dangerously melting glacier in Russia (harking back to the frostbitten creepiness of The Thing). Even the science nerd kid in Dan’s class gets a part to play in the story’s resolution.

Overall, The Tomorrow War delivers a hefty slice of mindless summer entertainment, if you like your messages simplistic (“To be the best, you have to do what nobody else is willing to do,”) and your mayhem uncomplicated by any moral ambiguity.

THE TOMORROW WAR

**1/2

With Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, Sam Richardson and J. K. Simmons. Written by Zach Dean. Directed by Chris McKay. A Paramount release. Rated PG-13. 140 minutes.

Letter to the Editor: Spoiler Alert

Letters to the Editor

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July 7, 2021

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Re: “Tax Cut” (GT, 6/30): Nobody likes to be a spoiler. When you’re a spoiler, everyone who wanted something badly is mad at you. But what if the spoiler is right? Then we might call them courageous. That appears to me to be the appropriate term for Sandy Brown’s lonely dissent on the vote to declare a fiscal emergency in Santa Cruz. I don’t mind that a fiscal emergency declaration could lead to a sales tax increase. It’s what the money is being spent on. Sandy has made the point that we are spending huge amounts on consultants while still not paying all essential city workers a living wage. For this stand, I think she deserves big props, not the condemnation that majorities often feel a “spoiler” deserves.

Michael Levy
Santa Cruz

This letter does 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*****@*******es.sc.

Letter to the Editor: How Green is that Concrete?

Letters to the Editor

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July 7, 2021

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Letter to the Editor: How Green is that Concrete?

As Santa Cruz is rapidly being transformed into a sea of tall concrete buildings here, there and everywhere, one wonders how this rush to build-build-build coincides with the city’s Climate Action Plan, or Health in All Policies. The filling in of the entirety of Lot 4, where the Farmers’ Market is held, will likely be seen one day as an irreversible mistake by our city planners. We who live here now, and future generations, will have missed the chance to create a community space that can welcome all, reflecting “Santa Cruz values” so much more than a fifth downtown parking garage that requires the cutting down of heritage trees. Participants in the recent “re-envisioning” for the current library site placed a high value on open space downtown. For all the ideas they suggested, Lot 4 is the preferred location for a town commons, qualities described by the consultant from Projects for Public Spaces.

While hundreds of other communities, large and small, are favoring fewer cars in their downtowns and more open space, Santa Cruz is moving in the opposite direction.

City voters may soon have an opportunity to vote on which scenario will come to pass. Until then, you can still try to make your voices heard. Visit Downtown Commons Advocates’ website at downtowncommonsadvocates.weebly.com.

Judi Grunstra
Santa Cruz

This letter does 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*****@*******es.sc.

Letter to the Editor: Council’s Tax is Regressive

Letters to the Editor

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July 7, 2021

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Letter to the Editor: Council’s Tax is Regressive

Re: “Tax Cut” (GT, 6/30): Regressive taxes place more burden on low-income earners. Since they are flat taxes, they take a higher percentage of income on the poor, rather than on high-income earners. The top 1% of earners pay just 5.4% of their salary in sales tax, while the lowest bracket pays 10.9% So it is no wonder that our bought-and-paid-for City Council (except for Sandy Brown) are making this gift for “their” town’s makeover. They can’t be that ignorant of basic economics, can they?

Gail Williamson
Santa Cruz

This letter does 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*****@*******es.sc.

Opinion: Is Nature Really Healing?

Steve Palopoli

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July 7, 2021

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EDITOR’S NOTE

When Erin Malsbury took on the cover story for this week’s Green Issue, it was originally … well, let’s just say we hadn’t settled on exactly what it was going to be about. What we knew was that through the entire pandemic, people have been talking about how “nature is healing”—but the scientific evidence for this anecdotal observation was less than ideal. We wanted to know how much healing nature was really doing, and tell that story in a way that hasn’t been done yet.

As she always does, Malsbury found a way to do just that. She had considered many factors of what scientists are calling the “anthropause”—air pollution, the state of the oceans, etc.—but the element that kept coming up over and over was noise. Specifically, the sudden reduction in it during the pandemic, and how that was affecting wildlife in remarkable ways. What was even more remarkable is the hard data that scientists now have on this, which is laid out in her piece. What surprised me most were the unexpected manifestations of this phenomenon—most of us probably suspected that the pandemic has increased animal incursions into civilization, but did any of us think it would change the sound of songbirds? Or the stress levels of whales? It’s a fascinating story; I highly recommend you give it a read. Malsbury will also be talking about her article on Wednesday, July 7, on KSQD’s “Cruz News and Views” (3-4pm, 90.7FM).

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

Submit to ph****@*******es.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

AVENGERS ASSEMBLY

Little People’s Repertory Theater’s original rock musical Alice’s Avengers in Underland will feature more than 65 local kids performing on stage in the Ben Lomond group’s return. Opening July 21 at Park Hall in downtown Ben Lomond, the production features original rock music by Janinne Chadwick and direction by Jocelyn McMahon-Babalis, with Gabe House as musical director and choreographer Hannah Pratt. The story centers around a team of singing and dancing superheroes and other characters who must infiltrate the Underland hideout of some vile villains; it parodies pop music, classic rock and pop-culture icons from Tom Petty to Lizzo. For more info and tickets, go to lprt.org.

GOOD WORK

INVENTIVE YOUTH

Two Santa Cruz County students were honored last month at the sixth annual Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention U.S. Nationals in Dearborn, Michigan. Watsonville second-grader Cala Watson and Aptos fifth-grader Zander Ross were among the award-winning K-12 inventors from across the U.S. who were celebrated at the virtual awards ceremony on June 24. Watson’s invention, the Magic Medicine Kit, is designed to make medicine easier for children to take. Ross’ Water Holder 2021 is a set of slide-able covered measuring spoons inspired by watching his grandfather, who has Parkinson’s disease, struggle with recipe ingredients.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Quiet is peace.”
-Khaled Hosseini

How the Hush of Pandemic Lockdown Changed Wildlife Behavior

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July 6, 2021

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How the Hush of Pandemic Lockdown Changed Wildlife Behavior

For several months of the Covid-19 pandemic, bustling streets around the world cleared, and traffic jams became a memory. As humans went into lockdowns and quarantines, the Earth vibrated less. The “anthropause,” as some researchers are calling it, provided an unexpected opportunity to study some of the subtler ways that we alter the world around us.

During the pandemic, the world got quieter. So much quieter, in fact, that scientists were able to put numbers to it. When stay-at-home orders began taking effect around the world, the reduction in noise was so drastic that seismologists saw a decrease in rumblings deep in the earth’s crust. The decline lasted for months and could be measured 1,300 feet underground. In some areas, the ground noise fell by up to 50%—the equivalent of going from a conversation to a quiet whisper.

Scientists were not the only ones to notice this shift. Animals across the globe changed their behavior in response to the newfound quiet. Locally, researchers saw shifts in everything from mountain lions to songbirds to whales.

Whose Territory?

One of the most noticeable changes was that silent streets encouraged animals to venture closer.

“Since things were quieter, wildlife was able to encroach more into our territory—which, you know, is sort of their territory—but into human territory,” says Amy Red Feather, a wildlife technician at Native Animal Rescue of Santa Cruz County. The rescue and rehabilitation center received an influx of calls from residents during the stay-at-home orders.

“A lot of that, I think, is because more people are home,” says Red Feather of locals’ alarm at seeing raccoons, coyotes, opossums, bobcats, hawks and owls near their homes. “A lot of people are surprised to know that they do live here, that it’s completely natural to see them in the wild during the day and at night.”

The timing of lockdowns also meant people saw more babies and young animals.

“We had coyote pups getting born right on school properties,” she says. “A lot of dens are being occupied where normally it just would have been too noisy for the animals to safely be there.”

As wildlife interactions increased, so did the number of people trying to keep animals illegally.

“We got a lot of animals that grew up, started biting people, and they needed to find a place for, which is terrible,” says Red Feather. “The animal, if it becomes imprinted, can never live in the wild. It will start biting you once its hormones kick in, and once it matures, it’s not going to be happy with you and it won’t be able to live in the wild. A lot of these animals end up having to be euthanized.”

PANDEMIC PATTERNS

Mountain lions also ventured closer during the shelter-in-place orders. Scientists at the Santa Cruz Puma Project have been studying mountain lions and the way they respond to human-made noise since 2008. Using speakers in the forest and GPS tracking collars, the group studies how adding sound to habitat scares away mountain lions. During the shutdowns, the scientists could study the opposite.

“Mountain lions have always responded negatively to houses on the landscape, and they still continue to do so through Covid,” says Chris Wilmers, a professor at UCSC and the lead scientist on the Santa Cruz Puma Project. “But before Covid, mountain lions had the additional fear of cities, and that additional fear completely disappeared with the shutdown.”

Without the noise of traffic and daily life, the pumas quickly adjusted their ranges to include previously busy areas. It happened within weeks—and in some cases, days—of the shutdown.

“Animals like mountain lions make their decisions based on what they hear,” says Wilmers. “And so if, all of a sudden, they’re not hearing people in a particular place, then it makes sense they might respond quite quickly.”

As things started opening back up and traffic resumed, the group saw the mountain lions recede just as quickly.

“What this study shows is that even human mobility itself can have influences on the environment and animal behavior that are sustained, in addition to all the other ways that humans influence ecosystems,” says Wilmers.

*A group of scientists found that white-crowned sparrows in the Bay Area changed the volume and pitch of their songs during the pandemic.*

Changing Their Tune

While some animals changed their geographic range during the shutdown, others changed their vocal range. One group of scientists found that birds in the Bay Area altered their songs in response to the newfound quiet.

The team has recorded the effects of noise pollution in white-crowned sparrows—a small, native songbird—since 2012. Once the shelter-in-place orders began, they expected to hear a change.

But, “we were surprised to find that it was quite a large shift,” says Elizabeth Derryberry, an ecology and evolutionary biology associate professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and main author on the study.

“In fact, in some of the areas in San Francisco, we saw—or we heard—songs that hadn’t been heard since the ‘70s… those songs have changed in ways where they now sounded like they did when they were recorded back during the summer of love.”

The birds sang softer than normal, but the notes reached more than four times as far. Before the pandemic, their songs could only be heard from about 15 feet away. During the shutdowns, they could communicate with birds more than 65 feet away.

“Because noise went away, they don’t have to shout to be heard,” says Derryberry.In addition to singing more softly, the songbirds also changed their pitch. Lots of human-generated sounds are loud at low frequencies, so birds in urban areas tend to sing higher-pitched songs in order to cut through the noise.

Without the din of traffic, the birds sang lower and increased the overall pitch range of their songs. Songs with more variation do a better job attracting mates.

“So not only could they be heard further, but they also essentially sounded sexier,” says Derryberry. “We can imagine that reducing that noise pollution would allow their population set to do better and for other native species, which have been excluded from more urban areas, to maybe come back in.”

whale-anthropause — *Scientists are hoping to better understand how noise pollution affects the stress levels of humpback whales in the Monterey Bay through data gathered during the pandemic.*

Within the Pod

The extent of our noise reaches far beyond what we might expect. In the ocean, noise pollution travels for miles and disrupts normal life.

“Sound travels really well in water—far and fast,” says John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). “So nature has evolved to take advantage of that transparency of the ocean to sound.”

Marine animals tend to rely on sound more than other senses. Noise pollution from boats, military activity and oil exploration limits their communication, navigation and hunting.

“It can shrink their world,” says Ryan.

He and collaborators from around Monterey Bay monitor an underwater microphone placed almost 3,000 feet below the surface of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. They noticed a significant drop in low-frequency noise during the pandemic compared to other years—likely due to reduced shipping.

“We’re in the middle of a sanctuary, and these ships never get very close to our recorder. But we heard the changes crystal clear,” says Ryan.

As the world re-opens, the researchers are watching the clamor ramp back up. This past spring, shipping noise was even louder than pre-pandemic levels.

“Things tend to oscillate before they settle back into typical,” says Ryan. “We had the drop, we had the rise, we’ve had the overshoot—and theoretically, it will settle into typical.”

These recordings are helping scientists study how noise pollution affects the stress levels of whales. Through the pandemic, researchers at UCSC took small blubber samples from humpback whales in Monterey Bay to test their stress hormones. The samples are about the size of a pen cap and don’t harm the whales.

The scientists will collect the same information over the next year and compare hormone levels. They expect to see the drop in noise pollution corresponding to less stress. In quieter oceans, animals don’t have to work as hard.

“It may be that with more noise in the environment, the amount of information that gets exchanged between you and other animals gets diminished,” says Ari Friedlaender, an ecologist at the Institute for Marine Sciences at UCSC who leads the project. “And that might mean that your social interactions might change.”

The ruckus we make usually doesn’t kill animals directly. “But if it means that you don’t reproduce as frequently or you’re not as healthy, then your population may suffer as a consequence,” says Friedlaender.

Comfortable Silence

Both Ryan and Friedlaender hope for quieter solutions that won’t push people out of the water.

“What I don’t want our research to ever sound like it’s doing is putting blame on people and telling people how to change what they’re doing,” says Friedlaender. “What I’d rather have come out of this is showing that if we can do things that make the ocean a quieter place, it can be a positive for the animals that are out there.”

*Container ships won’t be leaving our waters anytime soon, but researchers say solutions for reducing our noise footprint in the oceans already exist.*

Healthier marine ecosystems means more opportunities for people to interact with ocean life, he explains.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean less people on the water and fewer boats. It might just mean, ‘Let’s come up with a quieter way to be on the ocean,’” he says. He uses electric cars as an example of quieter transportation.

Ryan offers a few other ideas: “Slow down ships. Change ship design. Move to fewer, larger ships, maybe that put out even lower frequency sound—below the communication channel of the animals.”

Many of the solutions for reducing our noise footprint already exist. And in addition to helping wildlife, these changes could also benefit people.

“Biodiversity enriches our lives in so many ways that we can see, and in some ways we cannot see immediately unless we look more deeply,” says Ryan.

During the anthropause, many people rediscovered the life in their own neighborhoods.

“With reduction of noise levels, it wasn’t just the animals that were benefiting,” says Derryberry. Noise pollution drives up stress and anxiety in humans, too. Quieter streets, skies and seas could lead to better sleep and better mental health.

“There’s a lot of things about the anthropause that were horrible,” says Derryberry. “But I think we also learned a lot about how we can change some of the ways that we operate.”

To report hurt or orphaned wildlife, call 831-462-0726 or visit nativeanimalrescue.org.

Civil Grand Jury Grills County, Cal Fire on Wildfires

Todd Guild

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July 6, 2021

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Civil Grand Jury Grills County, Cal Fire on Wildfires

The Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury has released the results of its eight latest investigations, which typically delve into the inner workings of county and city governmental operations.

While the subjects of the investigations are required to submit responses, they do not have to make any changes recommended in the reports. Most are required to respond publicly within 30 to 60 days.

The Grand Jury, made up of 19 county residents, this year reviewed three of its investigations from 2017-18 and found that many of their recommendations have been implemented. The reports are often telling portraits-in-time of public perception of how taxpayer dollars are being used, and how various aspects of government are being run.

This year’s reports cover the county’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and how the city of Santa Cruz addresses wildfire danger. The Grand Jury also looked at how Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD)—the county’s largest district—dealt with the pandemic.

The Grand Jury also looked at the Santa Cruz County Jail system, including several inmate deaths and violence, in addition to criminal conduct—including sexual assaults—by correction officers.

Additionally, the reports look at how the county is providing broadband internet service to residents, and how the county government responded to the CZU Lightning Complex fires from August 2020.

Chasing Covid

The report titled “Chasing the Pandemic,” looks at the effectiveness of the county’s Covid-19 testing and contact tracing efforts, and describes the Santa Cruz County Public Health Division as “well-trained, skilled and knowledgeable professionals,” who protected residents during the pandemic.

But the county’s website does not sufficiently help residents find Covid-19 testing sites. Furthermore, the Save Lives Santa Cruz County website does not adequately inform the public of the work being done to manage the crisis, and fails to convey the scope of the pandemic, the report shows.

The Public Health Division should therefore update its website and shore up its public outreach, including providing weekly updates and video reports, the jury recommends.

CZU Response Ripped

In the scathing report titled “The CZU Lightning Complex Fire – Learn…or Burn?,” the Grand Jury focused on how the County Board of Supervisors and the county administration supported residents of Bonny Doon, Davenport, Last Chance and Boulder Creek in the aftermath of the county’s worst blaze.

“The residents whose lives have been devastated were, and are, justifiably indignant over the lack of leadership from their elected leaders,” the report states. “Our county’s residents rightly continue to express doubt and dismay about their devastating experiences and the ability to withstand future fires.”

The report says that the supervisors have not recognized that they are responsible to adequately address residents’ concerns over wildfire preparedness.

In addition, the Grand Jury excoriated Cal Fire for the disparate “lessons learned” presentations that occurred in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties. The one in Santa Cruz lasted for just nine minutes, while San Mateo’s went on for 40 minutes. The supervisors did not hold Cal Fire accountable for this lack of analysis, the report says. In addition, there are no provisions in the contract between the county and Cal Fire to provide such analyses.

“This discrepancy is disappointing and not acceptable,” the report says.

The county was also drilled for its response to a 2020 Grand Jury investigation that looked at the county’s preparedness to wildfire risk. The responses, the report states, “show a lack of engagement with the material and a lack of understanding of their role as advocates for the county” and should be revisited.

In its recommendations, the Grand Jury says that the supervisors should question Cal Fire about its readiness for future fires. The board should also develop a policy for receiving and logging residents’ questions and concerns.

In addition, county policy should require “timely after-action reports” for major fire events, and should advocate for additional resources from the state for fire prevention and protection.

Bringing Broadband

The challenges of providing broadband internet service throughout the county—a goal 10 years in the making—are manyfold. This includes cutting through mountains of red tape and assessing safety and infrastructure issues that come from fire danger.

While the county has a plan to do so, it has committed the technological sin of allowing that plan to become obsolete.

The county should immediately update its 2015 Broadband Master Plan to reflect regulatory changes on the state and federal levels, the Grand Jury says in the report titled “Turn On, Tune In, and Drop Out.” These changes, the report says, should reflect the difficulty of bringing the service to the rural parts of Santa Cruz County, and the challenges brought by the CZU Complex.

The jurors recommended that the county apply for funding to help pay for increased broadband service, and look into the possibility of the county owning and maintaining its own broadband system.

In addition, the county should work with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education to continue providing internet service for the 2022-23 school year.

A Look at Main Jail

In its required annual look at the county’s jail system, the Grand Jury focused on allegations of sexual assault and illegal sexual conduct by corrections officers that occurred in 2017 and 2020, both of which resulted in convictions.

The report titled “Justice in the Jail” also looked at several separate incidents involving inmates, including one self-mutilation and an assault—both in 2018.

Jurors also looked at a suicide and a homicide, both of which happened within a two-day period in October 2019, and the death of a mentally ill inmate in May 2020.

The Grand Jury also investigated a power outage that lasted for more than 24 hours in September 2019, including the backup power system.

“In the end it comes down to issues of management, having enough resources, and a need for more effective oversight and public transparency,” the report says.

The Grand Jury recommends either appointing an Inspector General or Sheriff oversight board or placing the issue before voters.

In addition, the report states that the county should increase staff at the jail, since short staffing and mandatory overtime are “detrimental to performance, staff morale, and contribute to human error which can threaten the health and safety of staff and inmates.”

The jail should also revisit its policies of providing razors to inmates, the report says, and should hold monthly status meetings regarding the state of the facilities.

Illegal Camping Threat

The city saw 75 outdoor fires as of May 20, many of which are caused by illegal camping and warming fires from homeless encampments.

Despite this, the city has cleared these encampments only in “extreme emergency situations,” instead of proactively, the report titled “Wildfire Threat to the City of Santa Cruz” says.

The Grand Jury recommends that City Council should craft an ordinance to help mitigate these issues.

Furthermore, the grand Jury calls the coordination between the city and the county “insufficient,” and says it is not transparent to the public.

To help ameliorate this problem, the county needs accurate data, including the numbers of homeless people living in the city.

The report also calls for an outreach campaign for communities with eucalyptus trees—known to be more flammable than others—to help with vegetation management.

The city should also establish a “firewise community” in every neighborhood that abuts natural areas, known as Wildland Urban Interfaces.

City leaders should also revisit budget priorities surrounding fire safety, and should re-evaluate how state and federal dollars are used, and should look at how the city works with state offices such as CalTrans in dealing with homeless encampments.

PVUSD Leads the Way

PVUSD earned the Grand Jury’s only laudatory report with its swift response to the pandemic, which included quickly closing schools as the pandemic began to take hold, and then creating a distance learning program.

When an employee at Rio Del Mar Elementary School tested positive for Covid-19 in March 2020, Pajaro Valley Unified School district closed the school for a deep cleaning.

Just three days later, as case rates began to climb, the district’s Board of Trustees, in an emergency meeting, voted to close all schools in the district.

On April 1, the trustees voted to close the schools for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

Soon after that, the district updated its webpage, issued Chromebook computers to the majority of its students and created a distance learning program. PVUSD also created a “safe space” program for students unable to participate in distance learning, or who are struggling under that system.

The district’s response, the Grand Jury said in the report titled “Distance Learning During the Pandemic in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District,” should be documented and built upon, since distance learning is likely here to stay.

Pesticide Notifications

The county requires that growers must inform the public when they will be applying pesticide to their crops. But the process of doing so is cumbersome, and the locations provided often cannot be located on a map. This is largely because many farms don’t have an address, and others are made up of several fields, or are oddly shaped.

That’s according to the Grand Jury’s investigation on the Santa Cruz County Agricultural Commission, and how that agency interacts with the Board of Supervisors and the public. The report is titled “Santa Cruz County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office Can Get By with a Little Help from Its Friends.”

The Grand Jury says that changes at the state level—with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)—must be informed by the County Board of Supervisors, since they wield more influence than the local Agricultural Commissioner.

On Oct. 27, 2020, the Watsonville City Council issued a resolution urging the Agricultural Commissioner to post online in advance of the pesticide use. But at that same meeting, Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo told the council that doing so would burden his staff that was already stretched thin.

The report suggests that, within six months, the Agricultural Commissioner should create a pilot program to teach farmers how to use the CalAgPermits software that helps inform the public about pesticide application. This should come with suggestions about improving the software’s efficiency.

In addition, the supervisors should mandate a notification system for pesticide application, including text and email. The board should also urge the DPR and other state officials to include specific location information on pesticide application forms.

To see the reports in their entirety, and those from previous years, visit bit.ly/3jsH0KL.

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ARTS AND MUSIC

COMMUNITY

GROUPS

OUTDOOR

EDITOR’S NOTE

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Whose Territory?

PANDEMIC PATTERNS

Changing Their Tune

Within the Pod

Comfortable Silence

To report hurt or orphaned wildlife, call 831-462-0726 or visit nativeanimalrescue.org.