Page 454 – Good Times

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: Dec. 2-8

Rob Brezsny

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December 1, 2020

Free will astrology for the week of Dec. 2

ARIES (March 21-April 19): An anonymous blogger on Tumblr writes the following: “What I’d really like is for someone to objectively watch me for a week and then sit down with me for a few hours and explain to me what I am like and how I look to others and what my personality is in detail and how I need to improve. Where do I sign up for that?” I can assure you that the person who composed this message is not an Aries. More than any other sign of the zodiac, you Rams want to be yourself, to inhabit your experience purely and completely—not see yourself from the perspective of outside observers. Now is a good time to emphasize this specialty.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Humans like to be scared,” declares author Cathy Bell. “We love the wicked witch’s cackle, the wolf’s hot breath, and the old lady who eats children, because sometimes, when the scary is over, all we remember is the magic.” I suppose that what she says is a tiny bit true. But there are also many ways to access the magic that don’t require encounters with dread. And that’s exactly what I predict for you in the coming weeks, Taurus: marvelous experiences—including catharses, epiphanies, and breakthroughs—that are neither spurred by fear nor infused with it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 1994, the animated movie The Lion King told the story of the difficult journey made by a young lion as he struggled to claim his destiny as rightful king. A remake of the film appeared in 2019. During the intervening 25 years, the number of real lions living in nature declined dramatically. There are now just 20,000. Why am I telling you such bad news? I hope to inspire you to make 2021 a year when you will resist trends like this. Your assignment is to nurture and foster wildness in every way that’s meaningful for you—whether that means helping to preserve habitats of animals in danger of extinction or feeding and championing the wildness inside you and those you care about. Get started!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Is there anyone whose forgiveness you would like to have? Is there anyone to whom you should make atonement? Now is a favorable phase to initiate such actions. In a related subject, would you benefit from forgiving a certain person whom you feel wronged you? Might there be healing for you in asking that person to make amends? The coming weeks will provide the best opportunity you have had in a long time to seek these changes.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Scientists know that the Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing down—but at the very slow rate of two milliseconds every 100 years. What that means is that 200 million years from now, one day will last 25 hours. Think of how much more we humans will be able to get done with an extra hour every day! I suspect you may get a preview of this effect in the coming weeks, Leo. You’ll be extra efficient. You’ll be focused and intense in a relaxing way. Not only that: You will also be extra appreciative of the monumental privilege of being alive. As a result, you will seem to have more of the precious luxury of time.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Adventurer Tim Peck says there are three kinds of fun. The first is pure pleasure, enjoyed in full as it’s happening. The second kind of fun feels challenging when it’s underway, but interesting and meaningful in retrospect. Examples are giving birth to a baby or taking an arduous hike uphill through deep snow. The third variety is no fun at all. It’s irksome while you’re doing it, and equally disagreeable as you think about it later. Now I’ll propose a fourth type of fun, which I suspect you’ll specialize in during the coming weeks. It’s rather boring or tedious or nondescript while it’s going on, but in retrospect you are very glad you did it.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “I made the wrong mistakes,” said Libran composer and jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. He had just completed an improvisatory performance he wasn’t satisfied with. On countless other occasions, however, he made the right mistakes. The unexpected notes and tempo shifts he tried often resulted in music that pleased him. I hope that in the coming weeks you make a clear demarcation between wrong mistakes and right mistakes, dear Libra. The latter could help bring about just the transformations you need.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Home is not where you were born,” writes Naguib Mahfouz. “Home is where all your attempts to escape cease.” I propose we make that one of your mottos for the next 12 months, Scorpio. According to my astrological analysis, you will receive all the inspiration and support you need as you strive to be at peace with exactly who you are. You’ll feel an ever-diminishing urge to wish you were doing something else besides what you’re actually doing. You’ll be less and less tempted to believe your destiny lies elsewhere, with different companions and different adventures. To your growing satisfaction, you will refrain from trying to flee from the gifts that have been given you, and you will instead accept the gifts just as they are. And it all starts now.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked,” observed Sagittarian author Jane Austen. She wrote this confession in a letter to her niece, Fanny, whose boyfriend thought that the women characters in Jane’s novels were too naughty. In the coming weeks, I encourage you Sagittarians to regard pictures of perfection with a similar disdain. To accomplish all the brisk innovations you have a mandate to generate, you must cultivate a deep respect for the messiness of creativity; you must understand that your dynamic imagination needs room to experiment with possibilities that may at first appear disorderly. For inspiration, keep in mind this quote from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich: “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn novelist Anne Brontë (1820–1849) said, “Smiles and tears are so alike with me, they are neither of them confined to any particular feelings: I often cry when I am happy, and smile when I am sad.” I suspect you could have experiences like hers in the coming weeks. I bet you’ll feel a welter of unique and unfamiliar emotions. Some of them may seem paradoxical or mysterious, although I think they’ll all be interesting and catalytic. I suggest you welcome them and allow them to teach you new secrets about your deep self and the mysterious nature of your life.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarian philosopher Simone Weil formulated resolutions so as to avoid undermining herself. First, she vowed she would only deal with difficulties that actually confronted her, not far-off or hypothetical problems. Second, she would allow herself to feel only those feelings that were needed to inspire her and make her take effective action. All other feelings were to be shed, including imaginary feelings—that is, those not rooted in any real, objective situation. Third, she vowed, she would “never react to evil in such a way as to augment it.” Dear Aquarius, I think all of these resolutions would be very useful for you to adopt in the coming weeks.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In June 2019, the young Piscean singer Justin Bieber addressed a tweet to 56-year-old actor Tom Cruise, challenging him to a mixed martial arts cage fight. “If you don’t take this fight,” said Bieber, “you will never live it down.” A few days later, Bieber retracted his dare, confessing that Cruise “would probably whoop my ass in a fight.” If Bieber had waited until December 2020 to make his proposal, he might have had more confidence to follow through—and he might also have been better able to whoop Cruise’s ass. You Pisceans are currently at the peak of your power and prowess.

Homework: What parts of your past weigh you down and limit your imagination? What can you do to free yourself? Testify at freewillastrology.com.

After His Cancer Diagnosis, Jory Post Wrote Another Novel

Christina Waters

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December 1, 2020

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After His Cancer Diagnosis, Jory Post Wrote Another Novel

If I were writing bookjacket blurbs for Jory Post’s new Pious Rebel, I might have come up with this: “A masterclass in ricochet dialogue, breakneck revelations, and the twining of multiple lives into a Celtic knot of chaos. His characters are beset with the miracles of daily life—readers will find themselves on every page.”

Or this: “Hard to believe the author isn’t female, so pitch perfect is Post’s inner voicing of Lisa Hardrock, the freshly bereaved yet freshly alive hero of her own life.”

Jory Post writes dialogue so authentic it hurts—probably all those years he’s spent writing plays and paying attention to the conversations of everybody and nobody in particular unfolding around him for the past half century. Two years ago, he received a chilling diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. His response was to turn up the creative volume, and Post’s virtuosity is on full display in his new novel Pious Rebel, freshly published by Paper Angel Press.

I freely confess I couldn’t put this book down, so swift was its ride through six weeks in the life of Hardrock as she picks up the pieces after the death of her longtime boyfriend. In the process, Hardrock discovers how little she knew about this guy. Santa Cruz is another protagonist in Post’s neo-hippie odyssey, in which Hardrock has plenty of colorful help divvying up the late Gregory’s pot farm business.

Dickensian in scale, Post’s ambitious characters pop in and out of Hardrock’s coming of middle age, including an office mate who helps her launch a wildly successful blog; old friends of Gregory’s who both charms and perplexes; and a lifelong girlfriend who suddenly reenters Hardrock’s life, a wild woman who may or may not be reliable. In the midst of things, our protagonist discovers hidden manuscripts by her own mother—which becomes a book within a book—that Lisa reads and blogs about, and which reveal a few shocking facts about her own identity. It’s a remarkable sit-com with existentialist top notes.

What distinguishes Post’s bildungsroman from so many quest-for-identity confessionals is his polished ear for the everyday, the off-hand expression, the epiphany of the well-placed expletive. His eye is even better, and Pious Rebel treats the reader to an all-you-can-eat walking tour of beloved eateries, coffee shops, cafes, and upmarket restaurants within hailing distance of where you’re sitting right now. Hardrock uses food as avoidance behavior, memory retrieval, and even sustenance during the few weeks covered by this delicious read.

For more than 10 years, Post has endeared himself to the Santa Cruz writing and reading communities by championing the written word in his online literary quarterly phren-Z, and via Santa Cruz Writes’ Zoom readings and discussions. What is astonishing in all of this prolific work—which includes two recent books of prose poems—is the daunting context in which it arose. When he spoke to me about his new novel, Post said his sobering diagnosis gave every day an almost surreal depth and importance.

What was the beginning of ‘Pious Rebel’?

JORY POST: I started sitting in my office with no idea what I wanted to write, what I needed, or wanted. I didn’t want to write about cancer or chemo. So I didn’t. I allowed Lisa to come alive through her own needs, through her losses and what she had been missing for most of her life.

How did you arrive at the voice?

As far as writing from the female perspective, I find I usually prefer it. If I’m going to create someone from scratch, better to get as far away from one’s self as possible. I am definitely a lifetime eavesdropper. It’s a favorite activity of mine, to sit in a booth at El Palomar and listen to neighbors talk. And I will bring everything that happens in a day into my writing immediately. So in that sense, those characters are clearly built from scraps I gather throughout the day, and even the night.

Did you build your characters on people you know, and then let them speak?

Lisa Hardrock just flew in one day and overtook me. Cody began with some traits of someone I knew, but by the end that had all disappeared and she was 100% newly carved. None of the men in the story were built on people I know—in some cases, maybe people I wanted to be, like Zack. He’s one of my favorite characters, and I’d like to know more about salmon!

What inspired you to blend fiction with autobiography?

I believe every word I’ve ever written, and also those of every other writer, falls into the category of fictography. My fictography hops over fences, busts through autobiography, autofiction, fiction, memoir, personal narrative, all of it. In Pious Rebel, the characters are almost wholly fictional. What happens to them in their daily and ongoing lives is when reality steps in and takes over.

‘Pious Rebel’ by Jory Post is available at Bookshop Santa Cruz.

Venus Spirits Cocktails and Kitchen’s Stylish Outdoor Dining

Christina Waters

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December 1, 2020

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Venus Spirits Cocktails and Kitchen’s Stylish Outdoor Dining

Exceptional cocktails, attractive (and generously spaced) outdoor seating, and memorable food—Venus Spirits Cocktails and Kitchen’s stylish outdoor dining did not disappoint.

From the first tangy pink cocktail to the last addictive French fry, we savored our debut dinner at the spacious new home of Venus’ restaurant and tasting across the street from Cafe Iveta off Delaware.

What a great place to see, at a realistic distance, old friends. Melody and I were so happy to see each other after so many months without a cocktail rendezvous. The playful Venus Kitchen menu raised our spirits as well. Outdoor heaters and a beautiful twilight sky formed the background as we gabbed away while savoring the menu. Melody’s ingenious Scandanaviation came in a demi-balloon glass with a Luxardo-marinated maraschino cherry skewered on the side ($12). Ablaze with complex Venus aquavit, lemon, and creme de violette, it was both lavender and delicious.

My cocktail, provocatively named Beach, Don’t kill My Vibe, involved a blend of Venus gin no. 1 (my favorite), with hints of strawberry, lemon and basil ($10), topped with a slice of lemon. Gorgeous drink. I’ll have it again.

By now the leading Venus Kitchen appetizer—a decadent experience in cornbread—has become famous. But once I tasted it, I have to say this small plate is even better than its reputation implies. A very tall square slab of old-fashioned cornbread ($8) arrived on a plate adorned with chili honey butter and petite slices of jalapeño. Drizzled all over the top and sides is something that ought to be illegal: bourbon bacon jam. OMG. And yes, it tastes exactly like you think it should. I licked my fingers after scooping up every trace of that jam!

Melody ordered one of the Venus tacos, involving marinated fish (probably snapper or rockfish) arriving on an open-faced flour tortilla attractively filled with salsa verde, avocado, thinly sliced cucumber, purple cabbage and garlic aioli and slices of lime ($15 for 2). My double Venus Burger ($17) was absolute dynamite. Gooey with melting American cheese, aioli and smoked onion (not too much smokiness, which was fine by me), the plump double patty burger was partnered by many thin, hot, perfect fries. Truly delicious, it satisfied that burger craving to the max. I’ve never spent a better $17. Well, not lately, at least.

Great service. Amiable, attentive, even whilst adhering to all protocols. Pellegrino in tall glasses somehow made sense even as the temperature plunged. Four V trails of migrating Canada geese cruised overhead on their way to Baja, making a vivid intaglio against the purple twilight sky. We loved our dinner at Venus. You will too.

Venus Spirits Cocktails and Kitchen, 200 High Road, Santa Cruz. Wednesday-Thursday, 3-8pm; Friday-Saturday, 3-9pm; Sunday, 1-6pm. 831-427-9673, venusspirits.com/kitchen.

News Flash

This coming spring—which can’t come too soon! —look for a new Iveta Cafe in the building at 545 Pacific. It will be opening up next door to the new Big Basin Vineyards tasting room. The duo of cafe and wine tasting room will energize the top end of town.

More Delicious News

One of our most innovative chefs, Brad Briske plans to open a second restaurant early next year. And it will be housed in Discretion Brewing’s restaurant, where the brilliant Santos Majano has been cooking since he left Soif. I’m hoping Majano will land someplace close to my house. I love his inventive foods! Briske’s first dining room is Home, in Soquel (the former Theo’s for all of us old timer residents) and he and wife/manager Linda Ritten have earned a richly deserved following for the chef’s trademark way with meats.

Family of Santa Cruz Girl Slain in 2015 Awaits Supreme Court Ruling

Jacob Pierce

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December 1, 2020

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Family of Santa Cruz Girl Slain in 2015 Awaits Supreme Court Ruling

California Supreme Court justices will hear oral arguments today about a major criminal justice question. The court will consider the constitutionality of a law that changed the rules about how young criminal defendants can be tried in court.

The law—Senate Bill 1391, which took effect in 2019—has implications across California. The case is garnering particular interest from the family of 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by 15-year-old Adrian “A.J.” Gonzalez in 2015, prosecutors say. But SB 1391 prohibits anyone under the age of 16 from being tried as an adult. So under the law, Gonzalez has to be tried as a juvenile.

Four of Middleton’s family members—including her parents, Michel Middleton and Laura Jordan—released a statement saying they hope the high court does declare SB 1391 unconstitutional. The family members say they’re worried Gonzalez, now 21, may walk free in the next few years, instead of serving what could otherwise be a life sentence behind bars.

“This is wrong and lets an intentional, vicious murderer walk free,” a statement from the family reads.

Five years ago, they say Gonzalez planned to kidnap, sexually assault, torture and kill Maddy—and then did so, with an alarming level of sophistication.

“He researched it, planned it, shopped for the plan, executed the plan then hid her body in the bottom of a recycling bin under layers of cardboard,” the statement explains. “Next he hid her scooter and made himself helpful to the search teams in an attempt to manipulate law enforcement as they searched the complex looking for her.”

The current court case is O.G. vs. the Superior Court of Ventura County, case number S259011. In hearing the case, the state Supreme Court will seek to resolve conflicting rulings from different appellate courts on questions about SB 1391.

Over the last half-decade, shifting state law has left Gonzalez’s case in a somewhat dizzying state of limbo. Proposition 57, approved by voters in 2016, introduced new criminal justice reforms. Among them was that it made it easier for youths to be tried as juveniles.

This was before the passage of SB 1391, mandating that suspects under 16 actually have to be tried as juveniles. One appellate court ruled that SB 1391 contradicts Prop 57. It’s a view that Maddy’s family shares.

The concepts behind SB 1391 do have supporters. Some criminal justice reform advocates say criminals can be juvenile convicted criminals can be rehabilitated by age 25 and that they don’t need to spend life behind bars.

Attorney Frankie Guzman, who co-authored Prop 57, has said that most young criminals can be rehabilitated. He told GT in 2017 that one problematic factor shaping the discourse is that the news media often places more emphasis on the stories of the victims. In doing so, he argued that reporters craft incomplete narratives around criminal cases, spinning public opinion in the process.

“Media looks for the big story, the sensationalized story,” said Guzman, director of the California Juvenile Justice Initiative in Oakland, adding that he would not discount the pain or suffering of any victim’s family. “The coverage is designed to evoke an emotional response.”

Covid-19 Outbreak Puts Santa Cruz Jail Officers On Leave

Jacob Pierce

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December 1, 2020

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Covid-19 Outbreak Puts Santa Cruz Jail Officers On Leave

Late last week, several correctional officers displayed symptoms of illness at work and have since tested positive for Covid-19.

As a result, 15 correctional officers are now off work, according to a press release sent by Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Sergeant Christopher Shearer. No incarcerated people have tested positive or shown symptoms of illness, the press release states.

Nine correctional officers tested positive for the disease. An additional six officers are quarantined based on contact with infected coworkers, the release says. Contact tracers from the county’s Health Services Agency are attempting to determine the source of the outbreak.

In consultation with the health department, all correctional staff and incarcerated people will be tested during the next 72 hours as of the press release time Monday, and people will be treated or quarantined as necessary.

“Enhanced safety procedures, screening, and hygiene protocols to protect staff and incarcerated persons were put in place in March and have been updated as new information and methods to prevent infections develop,” the statement says. “The sheriff’s office will continue to work closely with the health department to reduce the likelihood of further spread of the virus in correctional facilities.”

The release did not specify which correctional facilities are impacted, but this is the first outbreak in any Santa Cruz County jail. Beyond Santa Cruz, outbreaks in jails have posed a serious concern.

So far, at least 200,000 inmates nationwide have already been infected with Covid-19, and at least 1,450 inmates and correctional officers have died from the virus, according to a database maintained by The New York Times—numbers that likely represent an undercount, the Times reported.

Additionally, older inmates could show particular medical vulnerability after decades of “hard living,” Dr. Charles Lee, president-elect of the American College of Correctional Physicians, told the Times.

“From my experience, their physiological age is generally 20 years greater than their chronologic age,” he said, “from drugs, from fights, from being incarcerated and homeless, and not getting health care.”

Here’s What You Need to Know About California’s Covid-19 Vaccine Plan

CalMatters

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November 30, 2020

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Here’s What You Need to Know About California’s Covid-19 Vaccine Plan

BY ANA B. IBARRA AND BARBARA FEDER OSTROV

Lea este artículo en español.

California is in the throes of another COVID-19 surge — cases are skyrocketing and hospital beds are filling up quickly. On Tuesday, hospitals had 3,300 more COVID patients than at the beginning of this month, state health officials said.

But a glimmer of hope has emerged in the last leg of 2020: The first batch of vaccines could arrive in early December.

On Nov. 20, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced that it had requested approval for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Pfizer’s vaccine has shown an efficacy of 95% against COVID-19 “with no serious safety concerns observed to date,” said Albert Bourla, the company’s CEO.

Moderna’s vaccine has similar results. AstraZeneca announced that its vaccine was, on average, 70% effective.

Distribution details are still developing, and it remains unclear how many doses California will get before the year’s end.

Dr. Frances Collins, director at the National Institutes of Health, has said that if all goes to plan, he expects 40 million doses to become available nationwide in December. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are first in line, require two doses, meaning 20 million people could be vaccinated that month. California gets just a slice of that.

Manufacturers and the federal government will likely distribute doses based on state conditions and population size, said Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s Health and Human Services Secretary. “So California should get a significant and even the highest amount of vaccination based on those distribution plans,” he said Tuesday.

So when can most people expect to get one? How much will it cost? And how much longer will Californians be urged to wear a mask?

Here’s what we know so far about the state’s vaccine rollout.

If you’re not a health worker, don’t expect a vaccine soon

Initial vaccine supply will be limited. To help decide who gets a vaccine first, the state is adopting a three-phase plan from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state’s plan will guide counties, which will be in charge of on-the-ground coordination.

So far, we know that health workers and first responders who are likely to treat or be exposed to COVID-19 patients will go first. Last Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state would first target 2.4 million health care workers. Those workers are also being divided into subgroups, in case of a shortage in the first rounds.

Health workers will be followed by those living in congregate settings, such as nursing homes, along with other essential workers and people who are at higher risk of falling severely ill, including people 65 and over.

The definition of an essential worker in the distribution guidance has not yet been determined, Ghaly said. Teachers, for example, will be a priority so that children can return to school, he said. But where exactly teachers and others will fall in the state’s priority ranking will be decided in coming weeks.

Everyone else will likely have to wait a few more months. “Mass vaccination is unlikely to occur anytime soon,” Newsom said. Public health officials have estimated broader vaccine availability will come in the spring.

State health officials have appointed more than 65 advocacy, labor and businesses organizations to a new community advisory committee to help ensure that the vaccine is distributed equitably.

“The point of having all these groups at the table is to avoid blind spots,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, one of the committee member organizations. “If we’re not mindful of our most vulnerable populations, we’re undermining our efforts to (control) this pandemic.”

Cost shouldn’t be an issue

Out-of-pocket costs for a COVID-19 vaccine are likely to be low, if anything at all. According to the CDC, doses purchased with taxpayer dollars will be free. Providers, however, can charge for administering the vaccine, which insurance would cover.

“For those who are uninsured and those in the Medicaid program, they should rest assured…the state is going to step in and make sure that the cost of vaccination in no way gets in the way of someone’s decision to be vaccinated,” Ghaly said on Tuesday.

California has ‘second set of eyes’ on vaccines’ safety

Last month, Newsom announced that the state would form its own panel of experts to review efficacy and safety data of any vaccine candidate.

California’s experts have already reviewed the first two phases of clinical trials for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and have no concerns so far, Newsom said last Monday. His panel will review Phase 3 data within 24 hours of it becoming available, he added, noting that the state’s review process would not slow vaccine distribution.

This process is in addition to the FDA’s review. The idea behind the work group, made up of public health and immunization experts from across the state, is to instill trust among the public, Newsom has said.

Still, challenges lie ahead

If people are looking to buy stocks, dry ice would be a good investment, said Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County’s interim health officer. That’s because counties and health care providers are scrambling to get their hands on both ultra-cold freezers and dry ice to help store Pfizer’s vaccine, which needs to be kept at minus 70 degree Celsius — that’s extremely cold.

“Not a lot of those freezers exist,” Vohra said. “The flu vaccine doesn’t need to be ultra cold.”

Moderna’s vaccine can be stored in a standard freezer.

Primary care doctors and other community providers may not be able to offer the first vaccines available because they may not have the freezers needed to store it, Dr. Martin Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 testing officer, told county supervisors at a meeting earlier this month.

Newsom said the state is looking to acquire 16 ultra-cold temperature freezers and 61 smaller freezers. He said the state already has identified regions to distribute these freezers, focusing on more rural areas that might have a hard time obtaining their own.

Hospitals seeking their own freezers are already bumping into supply issues. “They are in many cases back-ordered until the spring,” said David Simon, a spokesperson for the California Hospital Association.

Yes, you’ll likely still have to wear a mask after you get a vaccine

No vaccine candidate is 100 percent effective. And experts say while a COVID-19 vaccine is likely to protect you from serious illness, it remains to be seen whether it will keep you from passing the virus to someone else. Scientists also don’t know yet how long a vaccine’s protection will last.

The three leading vaccine candidates all require two shots, spaced a few weeks apart, so you won’t be fully protected after your first dose. You’ll want to continue to wear a mask to protect others until most people are fully immunized — and that could take many months.

“While experts learn more about the protection that COVID-19 vaccines provide under real-life conditions, it will be important for everyone to continue using all the tools available to us to help stop this pandemic, like covering your mouth and nose with a mask, washing hands often, and staying at least 6 feet away from others,” the CDC notes.

Beware of misinformation

Public health experts worry about misinformation, spread widely on social media by anti-vaccine activists and others, that has led some Americans to fear the coming vaccines. The politicization of vaccine development also has contributed to distrust.

A Gallup poll conducted in October found that about 58 percent of Americans would agree to be vaccinated against COVID-19 vaccine, compared to just 50 percent in September. In California, about half of Republicans said they would “definitely or probably” get the vaccine compared to about 56 percent of Democrats or independents, according to an October poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California. Demographics matter, too: In that poll, only about 30 percent of African-Americans said they would get vaccinated, compared to about 62 percent of whites.

The CDC offers advice for finding credible online information on vaccines in general and more specific information on COVID vaccine safety. The New York Times’ Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker also offers frequent updates on vaccine progress.

CalMatters COVID-19 coverage, translation and distribution is supported by generous grants from the Blue Shield of California Foundation, the California Wellness Foundation and the California Health Care Foundation.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Church Christmas Tree Farms Looks Ahead to Busy Season

Johanna Miller

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November 30, 2020

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Church Christmas Tree Farms Looks Ahead to Busy Season

In 2019, Church Christmas Tree Farms celebrated its 60th year. The family-owned business, now run by Glenn Church and his two sons, has become a local destination for families to come and cut down their own tree during the holidays.

And the Covid-19 pandemic has not slowed things down—in fact, Church says he’s received numerous calls from people interested in coming out to visit, some for the first time. The farms will be open until mid-December.

“We are expecting that it will be quite busy,” Church said. “People are looking for ways to celebrate the holidays safely. We are at a big advantage, being outdoors and in an open space like this. ”

Another less-than-ideal reason they are expecting more visitors, Church admitted, is because a major tree farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains was burned up by the CZU Lightning Complex fire. Crest Ranch, which was established in 1948, lost about 40 acres in the blaze, and as such their supply will be low this year.

“I couldn’t imagine going through what they did … it must have been devastating,” Church said.

The fires in Monterey County did not reach the Church’s trees, though there was plenty of ash that coated them for a while. This is why a couple of recent rain storms were welcome, as they washed off the debris and soaked into the surrounding soil.

The farms were even lucky temperature-wise; the 100-degree weather that scorched parts of the area in August and September did not quite reach their locations off of Hidden Valley Road.

With temperate weather on the way for the next two weeks, Church says things are looking up for the farms, which offer 30 different varieties of evergreen trees. Despite a shortage of pre-cut trees coming in from Oregon, especially large types such as Noble Firs, their own stock seems to be doing well, especially smaller species.

“I think it might be our best crop we’ve had in years,” he said. “The young trees are coming on well, thriving.”

The farms are implementing a number of Covid-19 protocols: guests must wear masks and practice social distancing while on property, and tree saws will be sanitized after every use. While the business cannot offer their usual holiday treats such as hot chocolate to visitors, they will be offering pre-wrapped candy canes. Guests are asked to wear sturdy shoes for hiking around the property.

“I always say, everyone should go out at least once in their life and cut down their own Christmas tree,” Church said. “It might as well be this year.”

Church Christmas Tree Farms are located at 470 Hidden Valley Road and 377 Hidden Valley Road in Royal Oaks. They are open rain or shine weekdays noon-4:30pm and weekends 9am-4:30pm. The business also operates a pre-cut lot at the Northridge Mall, 796 Northridge Drive, Salinas.

Camp Krem Looks to Rebuild Education and Recreation Space

Tony Nuñez

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November 30, 2020

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Camp Krem Looks to Rebuild Education and Recreation Space

When the Santa Cruz Mountains caught fire in August after a dry lightning storm passed through, almost every community was forced to evacuate the area. Many of those evacuees were left wondering whether their homes and businesses—their life’s work for some—were consumed by the devastating CZU Lightning Complex fire.

That included Christina Krem, the camp director of Camp Krem, a nonprofit located in Boulder Creek that provides children and adults with developmental disabilities recreation, education and adventure opportunities in a safe environment.

As the CZU fire raged, Krem said she was holding out hope that the 92-acre campus had miraculously survived the blaze’s wrath. But then the calls came in.

“We heard from these couple of journalists that the damage was pretty extensive, and then shortly thereafter we were given the opportunity to go back for ourselves and see it,” Krem said.

Krem called the first walkthrough “crushing” and “mind blowing.”

“Places that for decades have been full of people and music and dancing and joy, just seeing them completely decimated, it was heartbreaking,” she said. “Walking around was quite a surreal experience.”

Krem says that 95% of the campus was either destroyed or damaged, and that it will take at least $5 million to rebuild more than 27 facilities—many of which have stood for decades.

“It could be possibly $10 million to get us back up and running,” she said. “We have a long road ahead.”

Camp Krem has tabbed its rebuild “Project Phoenix.” It plans to use the cash to reconstruct many of the old buildings with various upgrades such as using fire-resistant materials, making some areas more spacious, installing bathrooms in every cabin and improving the design to be more eco-friendly.

Those looking to donate to help Camp Krem rise from the ashes can do so by donating through Santa Cruz Gives, the online countywide holiday giving campaign that kicked off Nov. 18.

From now until year’s end, people can donate to Camp Krem and 39 other nonprofits serving various communities in Santa Cruz County at santacruzgives.org. There, donors can learn about each nonprofit’s mission and “Big Idea” project for 2021 that will be funded with the online donations.

Camp Krem’s “Big Idea” is to rebuild its campus and welcome back campers.

Alexander Angel Krem (Christina’s grandfather) founded Camping Unlimited in 1957, and established the camp in 1962 after purchasing 45 acres of land near Boulder Creek. Since then, Camp Krem has welcomed in an estimated 14,000 children and adults with various special needs. Before the fire, it offered a wide array of programs, including a Sleepaway Summer Camp and Weekend Respite program.

In 2019, Camp Krem served more than 600 families and 1,250 campers.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the CZU fire, the camp will shift to virtual programming, Krem said.

“It is important to us that we continue to provide our campers with connection and engagement during these difficult times,” she said.

Santa Cruz Gives, which was founded by Good Times with the support of The Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, prides itself on reaching donors during their busy day-to-day schedules.

The Press Banner joined the campaign this year, its sixth.

Projects represent a variety of needs: youth, seniors, animals, the environment, education, health and wellness, food and nutrition, housing and homelessness, arts, families, the disabled and LBGTQ+. A seven-member committee with nonprofit experience vetted the applications.

Selected nonprofits will receive donated funds, matching funds and be eligible for three awards: Most Donors Overall, Most Donors Under 35 years old and Most Innovative Program. Each honor comes with a $1,000 award.

Last year, Santa Cruz Gives raised $413,161 for 37 nonprofits. Total donations increased by 74.5% over 2018, and the number of donors increased by 48% over 2018.

‘Love You Madly’ Fire Relief Livestream Adds Steve Earle, More

Steve Palopoli

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November 29, 2020

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‘Love You Madly’ Fire Relief Livestream Adds Steve Earle, More

The upcoming livestream by the “Love You Madly: Artists for Santa Cruz Fire Relief” campaign has added co-headliner Steve Earle, along with several other new artists, organizers announced today.

The free livestream event on Saturday, Dec. 5, is part of the campaign’s effort to draw attention to the ongoing needs of those affected by this summer’s CZU Lightning Complex fire, and it encourages donations to Community Foundation Santa Cruz County’s Fire Response Fund, which has already provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in assistance to fire victims.

Since September, “Love You Madly” has been posting weekly videos from national and local musicians featuring performances and messages of support at santacruzfirerelief.org.

The livestream—which features more than two dozen music performances, along with artwork, photos and the stories of some of the people impacted by the Community Foundation’s fund—is a way to boost the profile of the recovery effort, at a time when a number of issues are competing for attention nationwide, says co-organizer Jon Luini.

Besides outlaw-country icon Earle, the new artists just added to the livestream line-up include the California Honeydrops, Y&T, Pete Sears, Con Brio, Wolf Jett, T Sisters, Andrew St. James and Aria DeSalvio. They’ll join previously announced performers Bonnie Raitt and Boz Scaggs, Sammy Hagar, Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwago, Los Lobos, Joe Satriani, Colin Hary, Laurie Lewis, the String Cheese Incident, John Doe of X, Rogue Wave and many more.

Like the weekly video drops, local and regional artists are well-represented on the livestream roster, including not only Wolf Jett, but also James Durbin, Alwa Gordon, Good Riddance, Goodnight Texas and Camper Van Beethoven bassist Victor Krummenacher.

There will also be an online auction featuring autographed guitars from Satriani and Hagar, along with a custom-built guitar from Santa Cruz Guitar Company.

The event begins at 7pm on Saturday, Dec. 5 and can be viewed for free on nugs.tv. A limited edition T-shirt is available up until the event. To donate to the fund, or for more information, go to santacruzfirerelief.org.

Why Employers Find It So Hard to Test for Covid-19

Hannah Norman

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November 27, 2020

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Why Employers Find It So Hard to Test for Covid-19

Brandon Hudgins works the main floor at Fleet Feet, a running-shoe store chain, for more than 30 hours a week. He chats with customers, measuring their feet and dashing in and out of the storage area to locate right-sized shoes. Sometimes, clients drag their masks down while speaking. Others refuse to wear masks at all.

So he worries about COVID-19. And with good reason. Across the U.S., COVID hospitalizations and deaths are hitting record-shattering new heights. The nation saw 198,633 new cases on last Friday alone. In California, COVID case counts are growing at the fastest rate yet.

Unlike in the early days of the pandemic, though, many stores nationwide aren’t closing. And regular COVID testing of workers remains patchy at best.

“I’ve asked, what if someone on staff gets symptoms? ‘You have to stay home,’” said Hudgins, 33, who works in High Point, North Carolina. But as an hourly employee, staying home means not getting paid. “It’s stressful, especially without regular testing. Our store isn’t very big, and you’re in there all day long.”

To the store’s credit, Hudgins said the manager has instituted a locked-door policy, where employees determine which customers can enter. They sanitize the seating area between customers and administer regular employee temperature checks. Still, there’s no talk of testing employees for COVID-19. Fleet Feet did not respond to multiple requests to talk about its testing policies.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance to employers to include COVID testing, and it advised that people working in close quarters be tested periodically. However, the federal government does not require employers to offer those tests.

But the board overseeing the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/OSHA, on Nov. 19 approved emergency safety rules that are soon likely to require the state’s employers to provide COVID testing to all workers exposed to an outbreak on the job at no cost to the employees. Testing must be repeated a week later, followed by periodic testing.

California would be the first state to mandate this, though the regulation doesn’t apply to routine testing of employees. That is up to individual businesses.

Workplaces have been the source of major coronavirus outbreaks: a Foster Farms chicken-processing facility in the Central Valley town of Livingston, grocery stores in Los Angeles, a farmworker housing complex in Ventura County, Amazon warehouses — largely among the so-called essential workers who bear the brunt of COVID infections and deaths.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspects workplaces based on workers’ complaints — over 40,000 of which related to COVID-19 have been filed with the agency at the state and federal levels.

In California, Cal/OSHA has cited 54 workplaces for COVID-related violations to date, amounting to more than $1.5 million in proposed penalties.

Workers “have every right to be concerned,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an epidemiologist at the University of California-San Francisco. “They are operating in a fog. There is little economic incentive for corporations to figure out who has COVID at what sites.”

Waiting for symptoms to emerge before testing is ill-considered, Chin-Hong noted. People can exhibit no symptoms while spreading the virus. A CDC report found that, among people with active infections, 44% reported no symptoms.

Yet testing alone cannot protect employees. While workplaces can vary dramatically, Chin-Hong emphasized the importance of enforcing safety guidelines like social distancing and wearing face masks, as well as being transparent with workers when someone gets sick.

Molly White, who works for the Missouri state government, was required to return to the office once a week starting in July. But White, who is on drugs to suppress her immune system, feared her employer’s “cavalier attitude toward COVID and casual risk taking.” Masks are encouraged for employees but are not mandatory, and there’s no testing policy or even guidance on where to get tested, she said. White filed for and received an Americans With Disabilities Act exception, which lasts through the end of the year, to avoid coming into the office.

After a cluster of 39 COVID cases emerged in September in the building where she normally works, White was relieved to at least get an email notifying her of the outbreak. A few days later, Gov. Mike Parson visited the building, and he tested positive for COVID-19 soon after.

Following pressure from labor groups, Amazon reported in a blog post last month that almost 20,000 employees had tested positive or been presumed positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. To help curb future outbreaks, the online retailing giant, which also owns Whole Foods, built its own testing facilities, hired lab technicians and said it planned to conduct 50,000 daily tests across 650 sites by this month.

The National Football League tests players and other essential workers daily. An NFL spokesperson said the league conducts 40,000 to 45,000 tests a week through New Jersey-based BioReference Laboratories, though both organizations declined to share a price tag. Reports over the summer estimated the season’s testing program would cost about $75 million.

Not all companies, particularly those not in the limelight, have the interest — or the money — to regularly test workers.

“It depends on the company how much they care,” said Gary Glader, president of Horton Safety Consultants in Orland Park, Illinois. Horton works with dozens of companies in the manufacturing, construction and transportation industries to write exposure control plans to limit the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks and avoid OSHA citations. “Some companies could care less about their people, never have.”

IGeneX, a diagnostic testing company in Milpitas, California, gets around 15 calls each day from companies across the country inquiring about its employer testing program. The lab works with about 100 employers — from 10-person outfits to two pro sports teams — mainly in the Bay Area. IGeneX tests its own workers every other week.

One client is Tarana Wireless, a nearby telecommunications company that needs about 30 employees in the office at a time to operate equipment. In addition to monthly COVID tests, the building also gets cleaned every two hours, and masks are mandatory.

“It’s definitely a burden,” said Amy Beck, the company’s director of human resources. “We are venture-backed and have taken pay cuts to make our money extend longer. But we do this to make everyone feel safe. We don’t have unlimited resources.”

IGeneX offers three prices, depending on how fast a company wants the results: $135 for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test with a 36- to 48-hour turnaround — down to around $100 a test for some higher-volume clients; one-day testing costs $250, and it’s $400 for a six-hour turnaround.

In some cases, IGeneX is able to bill the companies’ health insurance plan.

“Absolutely, it’s expensive,” said IGeneX spokesperson Joe Sullivan. “I don’t blame anyone for wanting to pay as little as possible. It’s not ‘one and done,’ which companies are factoring in.”

Plus, cheaper, rapid options like Abbott’s antigen test, touted by the Trump administration, have come under fire for being inaccurate.

For those going into work, Chin-Hong recommends that companies test their employees once a week with PCR tests, or twice a week with the less sensitive antigen tests.

Ideally, Chin-Hong said, public health departments would work directly with employers to administer COVID testing and quash potential outbreaks. But, as KHN has reported extensively, these local agencies are chronically underfunded and overworked. Free community testing sites can sometimes take days to weeks to return results, bogged down by extreme demand at commercial labs like Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp and supply chain problems.

Hudgins, who receives his health insurance through North Carolina’s state exchange, tries to get a monthly COVID test at CVS on his own time. But occasionally, his insurance — which requires certain criteria to qualify — has declined to pay for it, he said.

“Being in the service industry in a state where numbers are ridiculously high,” he said in an email, “I see volumes of people every day, and I think getting tested is the smart and considerate thing to do.”

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News (KHN), an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. KHN is a nonprofit news service covering health issues.

Hannah Norman: ha*****@kf*.org, @hnorms

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