Page 464 | Good Times

World’s Reported Covid Death Toll Passes 4 Million

The New York Times and GT Staff

-

July 9, 2021

World’s Reported Covid Death Toll Passes 4 Million

By Daniel E. Slotnik, The New York Times

The world’s known coronavirus death toll passed 4 million Thursday, a loss roughly equivalent to the population of Los Angeles, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

It took nine months for the virus to claim 1 million lives, and the pace has quickened since then. The second million were lost in 3 1/2 months, the third in three months, and the fourth in about 2 1/2 months. The number of daily reported deaths has declined recently.

Those are officially reported figures, which are widely believed to undercount pandemic-related deaths.

“The numbers may not tell the complete story, and yet they’re still really staggering numbers globally,” said Jennifer B. Nuzzo, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Nuzzo said the number of excess deaths reported around the world suggested that “lower-income countries have been much harder hit than their official numbers would suggest.”

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, called 4 million dead a tragic milestone on Wednesday, and said the toll was continuing to mount largely because of dangerous versions of the virus and inequities in the distribution of vaccines.

“Compounded by fast-moving variants and shocking inequity in vaccination, far too many countries in every region of the world are seeing sharp spikes in cases and hospitalizations,” Tedros said at a news conference.

The official death toll numbers tell only part of the horrifying pandemic story. In many places, people have died without family to comfort them because of rules to prevent the spread of the virus. And many countries were completely overrun.

The dead overwhelmed cremation grounds in India in May, where at least 400,000 confirmed deaths have been reported and the actual number is likely higher. That was also the case in funeral homes in the United States, which surpassed 600,000 known deaths last month.

Latin America Ravaged

The virus has hammered Latin America since the start of the pandemic, and some of those nations have been grappling with their deadliest outbreaks to date.

As of Tuesday, seven of the 10 countries with the highest death rates relative to their populations over the past week were in South America, according to data from Johns Hopkins, and the virus has been a destabilizing force in many countries in the region.

Government health data in Colombia show that more than 500 people died from the virus each day in June. The country has also gone through weeks of explosive protests over poverty made worse by the pandemic that were sometimes met with a violent police response.

A wave of cases in Peru cost many people their livelihoods, and thousands of impoverished people occupied empty stretches of land south of Lima. In Paraguay, which as of Tuesday had the highest number of COVID-19 deaths per capita of any country during the previous week, social networks often resemble obituary pages.

Brazil, which recently passed 500,000 official deaths, had the highest number of new cases and deaths of any country in the past week. A recent study found that COVID-19 had led to a significant decrease in life expectancy in Brazil.

Vaccines Make a Difference

Several vaccines have proved effective against the coronavirus, including the highly contagious Delta variant, and death rates have dropped sharply in many parts of the world where large numbers of people have been vaccinated, like the United States and much of Europe.

But the virus is still running rampant in regions with lower rates of vaccination, like parts of Asia, Africa and South America. Some places with relatively high vaccination rates, like England, are also seeing spikes in cases, though fewer of those cases have been leading to hospitalizations and deaths.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, who works on coronavirus response for the WHO, said that there were “more than two dozen countries that have epidemic curves that are almost vertical.”

“The virus is showing us right now that it’s thriving,” she said.

Wealthy countries and international organizations have pledged billions of dollars to COVAX, a global vaccine-sharing initiative, and nations like the United States have promised to supply hundreds of millions of doses. But those numbers pale in comparison with the 11 billion vaccine doses that experts estimate will be needed to rein in the virus around the world.

To date, just under 3.3 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, according to vaccination data from local governments compiled by the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford. Nearly all have been of vaccines that require more than one dose to be fully effective.

Country-to-country differences in progress are stark, with some already inoculating most of their adult citizens while others have yet to report administering a single dose.

Couple Opening Ballroom Studio as Dance Community Emerges from Lockdown

Drew Penner

-

July 9, 2021

2

Couple Opening Ballroom Studio as Dance Community Emerges from Lockdown

Scotts Valley is signed up to a new future of dance, with a ballroom franchise set to open a location within weeks.

From salsa to cumbia, swing, Viennese waltz and tango, the owners of the new Arthur Murray location are thrilled to teach local residents new steps during the post-pandemic thaw.

“We’ve been cooped up in 2020,” said Richard Myers, who is opening the ballroom on Mt. Hermon Road with his wife Marianne. “For the people who haven’t done ‘dancing’ before, it’s attractive for them.”

The pair has run the Arthur Murray location in Fremont for the last eight years, while facing off against other couples in a variety of competitions across the country. But for Marianne, it isn’t about bringing home a trophy.

“I just love being able to spread the love of dancing,” she said. “For a lot of people, they want to look for something that’s a stress release; then they find something that’s beyond stress-relief.”

Richard agrees.

“You don’t have to be a world champion,” he said, leading his partner of 19 years.

“—to enjoy it,” Marianne said, as if completing a turn.

When Marianne was a child, dance was the only hobby that stuck. She learned ballet, jazz and hip-hop, and taught throughout her teenage years. But at 17 she figured it was probably time to get a “real job,” and settled on customer service or admin work as a possibility.

She applied for an administrative job at the Arthur Murray location in Hayward. But it turned out the owner needed a new dance teacher more than a desk jockey.

“I was actually trying to get out of dancing,” she said. “I somehow got sucked back in by fate.”

The only thing was, she didn’t know the ballroom styles taught by Arthur Murray.

“It’s like learning a new language,” she said. “It’s all movement, but a different skill set.”

While Marianne was picking up the vocabulary and grammar of physical flow, Richard—who she’d known since high school—was progressing up the corporate ladder.

Despite being promoted to lead teller at a bank, Richard says something wasn’t quite right.

“I gained so much weight,” he said. “All you do is stand there and eat fast food.”

In contrast, when they’d meet up for meals, he couldn’t help but notice how Marianne was positively glowing.

“She’s always upbeat, always excited—to be able to dance and to be able to help people,” he said. “I saw it as being free, in a way.”

It only took three months before Richard ditched his career in banking and threw himself into dance full bore. Within five years he was managing at the Arthur Murray Hayward location.

“It’s quite rewarding to teach,” he said. “Ballroom dancing is a community. Some people come in it for short term. Some people come in it for a lifestyle change.”

They were given the opportunity to expand into Fremont in 2014, and have been building up their team since then. Now they want to give their instructors similar opportunities, as they expand westward.

But finding the right home in the area wasn’t a cinch. They say they’ve been working toward this for three years.

“I’ve always known that Santa Cruz County is big in dancing,” Richard said. “Our hope is we can serve the community.”

They almost set up shop at another space in 2019, but that fell through at the last minute. When they found the Scotts Valley location, things clicked into place.

“It just felt like home,” Marianne said.

Added Richard: “It’s the first location where we both had the same vision.”

The big news follows a crushing year for the ballroom community as a result of the pandemic—after all, at its core, dancing is about bodies moving in close proximity.

At first, the Myers did what they could to accommodate emerging social-distancing guidelines. One instructor even used measuring sticks to ensure students were keeping their distance. But when the lockdowns went into place last year, in-person dancing totally stopped.

On the business end, the Myers went from planning a new location to scrambling to keep their first afloat.

“It was scary,” Marianne said, adding they were forced to start experimenting with new approaches. “We were on Zoom calls with all of our students.”

It was difficult to balance the realities of a virus bent on conquering the world with the human need for connection, she said, reflecting on the debate around what should be considered an “essential” business in California.

“A lot of students said they wish we were ‘essential,’ because, to them, we are,” Marianne said. “We may not be like doctors, but they felt like we help with the mental health part—that they couldn’t tap into.”

It made her think about their eldest student, a 95-year-old named Frank.

“He was the first person to say, ‘Call me when you’re open, I want to come in,’” she said.

Richard estimates they lost about 60-70% of their student body.

“A lot of students that took a break are starting to come back now,” he said, adding there are lots of fresh faces, too. “We’re seeing a lot of people say, ‘Hey I should try this before another pandemic happens.’”

CDC Issues New School Guidance, with Emphasis on Full Reopening

The New York Times and GT Staff

-

July 9, 2021

0

CDC Issues New School Guidance, with Emphasis on Full Reopening

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Emily Anthes and Sarah Mervosh, The New York Times

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidance Friday urging schools to fully reopen in the fall, even if they cannot take all of the steps the agency recommends to curb the spread of the coronavirus — a major turn in a public health crisis in which childhood education has emerged as a political flashpoint.

The agency also called on school districts to use local health data to guide decisions about when to tighten or relax prevention measures like mask wearing and physical distancing. Officials said they were confident this is the correct approach, even with the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, and the fact that children younger than 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination.

The guidance is a sharp departure from the CDC’s past recommendations for schools, bluntly acknowledging that many students have suffered during long months of virtual learning and that a uniform approach is not useful when virus caseloads and vaccination rates vary so greatly from city to city and state to state.

The issue of school closures has been an extremely contentious and divisive topic since the outset of the pandemic, and advising school districts has been a fraught exercise for the CDC. Virtual learning has been burdensome not only for students but also their parents, many of whom had to stay home to provide child care, and reopening schools is an important step on the economy’s path to recovery.

“This a big moment,” said Dr. Richard Besser, a former acting director of the CDC. “It’s also a recognition that there are real costs to keeping children at home, to keeping them out of school, that school is so important in terms of children’s socialization and development and it provides other supports as well” — including to working parents.

The new guidance continues to recommend that students be spaced at least 3 feet apart, but with a new caveat: If maintaining such spacing would prevent schools from fully reopening, they could rely on a combination of other strategies like indoor masking, testing and enhanced ventilation. The guidance recommends masks for all unvaccinated students, teachers or staff members.

It also strongly urges schools to promote vaccination, which it called “one of the most critical strategies to help schools safely resume full operations.” Studies suggest that vaccines remain effective against the Delta variant.

In previous recommendations, issued in March and reaffirmed in May, the agency said that all schools for students from kindergarten through 12th grade should continue to require masks through the end of the academic year. The agency also said that most students could be spaced 3 feet apart in classrooms — instead of 6 feet, which it had recommended earlier in the pandemic — as long as everyone was wearing a mask.

“We know that in-person learning is really important for school, for children, for their educational, social and emotional well-being, and so we really want to get kids back in the classroom,” said Erin Sauber-Schatz, a captain in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who helped lead the CDC task force that wrote the guidance.

“Physical distancing is still a recommended strategy,” she added, but she emphasized that if schools do not have sufficient space to keep all students 3 feet apart, “that should not keep children out of the classroom in the fall.”

The guidance relies heavily on the concept of “layered” prevention, or using multiple strategies at once. In addition to masking and social distancing, those strategies may include regular screening testing, improving ventilation, promoting hand washing, and contact tracing combined with isolation or quarantine.

The recommendations call on local officials to closely monitor the pandemic in their areas, and suggest that if districts want to remove prevention strategies in schools based on local conditions, they should remove one at a time, monitoring for any increases in COVID-19.

Sauber-Schatz said the guidance, which the CDC began drafting in May after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines for children ages 12 and older, had “really been written to be flexible.”

Reactions among experts were mixed.

Jennifer Nuzzo, a public health researcher at Johns Hopkins University, said that while leaving decisions on school safety protocols to local officials might sound good in theory, it could prove “paralyzing” by putting prevention strategies up for negotiation and debate.

“I really hoped they could issue very clear guidelines specifying what level of distance is required,” she said, “and not sort of like a meditative journey on the relative benefits of distance.”

Others, including some who have been highly critical of the CDC’s past school guidance, praised the new guidelines.

“For the first time, I really think they hit it on the nose,” said Dr. Benjamin Linas, an infectious disease specialist at Boston University. “I think it’s science-based and right on the mark.”

Linas said he anticipated pushback to the recommendation that unvaccinated children wear masks, but that it still made sense.

“I don’t want to send my 11-year-old to school without a mask yet, because Delta is out there,” he said, referring to the highly transmissible variant that now causes the majority of cases in the United States. “And even if she’s not going to get severe COVID from Delta, I’m not ready to take that risk.”

Emily Oster, the Brown University economist and author of parenting books who waded last year into the contentious debate over school reopenings, using data to argue that children should return to school in person, said that she was generally pleased with the CDC’s framework, which she said gave districts a road map to reopen without being too prescriptive.

Though she had pushed for even more relaxed guidance — doing away with the 3-foot rule altogether, for example — she said the new recommendations gave districts important flexibility.

“This is, in some ways, the most positive I’ve been about their advice,” Oster said.

Though there are far fewer cases overall than during the winter peak, including in children, they have increasingly made up a greater proportion of cases as the pandemic has gone on and, recently, as more adults have been vaccinated.

Children have made up 14% of all cases to date, up from around 7% this time last year, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, though serious illness and death among them remain rare.

Around 2% or less of all coronavirus cases in children result in hospitalization, and even fewer — 0.03% of cases or less — result in death, according to the association’s research. Young children are also less likely to transmit the virus to others than are teens and adults.

Still, scientists are concerned about a mysterious inflammatory syndrome that can emerge in children several weeks after they contract the coronavirus, including in those who did not have COVID-19 symptoms at the time of their infection. Some children may also experience lingering, long-term symptoms after being infected, a condition often known as long COVID.

There are also questions about what role the more contagious Delta variant may play as children and teachers return to the classroom this fall. Sauber-Schatz said that the prevention strategies that have worked for COVID-19 all along also work for the Delta variant, so for now the CDC is “keeping a close eye on it” and will adjust its school guidance if necessary.

Last summer, when former President Donald Trump was still in office, the White House tried behind the scenes to pressure the CDC into playing down the risk of sending children back to school. The Trump White House also tried to circumvent the CDC and find alternate data showing that the pandemic was weakening, The New York Times reported in September.

In May, the agency created some confusion, including among parents and educators, when it abruptly changed its guidance on mask-wearing and announced that vaccinated people could go without masks in most indoor and outdoor settings.

The agency then clarified its advice for schools and recommended universal use of masks and physical distancing in the classroom through the end of the school year.

The new guidelines still rely on quarantine as a prevention strategy for unvaccinated students when they are exposed to the virus, which Oster criticized as a significant hindrance for students and parents, even as research has consistently suggested that transmission in schools is low.

“It’s really disruptive,” Oster said of quarantine requirements.

In the previous guidelines, physical separation was contentious, and the new version may not resolve the debate. While the CDC recommends that students be permitted to sit just 3 feet apart, it continues to call for teachers and other staff members to remain at least 6 feet away from students regardless of their vaccination status — and if they are unvaccinated, 6 feet away from one another.

Sauber-Schatz said those recommendations were rooted in science.

“For the studies that have been done looking at the difference between 3 feet and 6 feet, those were all between students in the classroom, not between teachers and students,” she said. “We have the science and the evidence to make that recommendation, that three feet is permissible between students in the classroom. We don’t have that level of evidence for the staff.”

Faultline Brewing Joins Scotts Valley Hangar Development

Drew Penner

-

July 8, 2021

1

Faultline Brewing Joins Scotts Valley Hangar Development

With Covid-19 travel restrictions easing, borders opening and the relaxation of mask mandates at popular destinations, people are once again turning their attention to what used to be a familiar gateway for many Americans—the airport.

For those who remain wary of venturing out into the wild blue yonder as coronavirus variants proliferate—or for those looking for a place to dream up future vacations—there will soon be a fresh air travel-themed space offering a unique food-and-beverage journey.

Faultline Brewing Company, the Sunnyvale-based microbrewery, is opening a Scotts Valley location at The Hangar at Skypark development, which will also play host to a Home by Zinnia’s boutique, and a parlor from The Penny Ice Creamery.

“This used to be an airfield,” acknowledged Faultline Brewing Company co-owner Sam Ghadiri, who says they’re planning menu items and décor to keep the focus on the heritage. “You want to make sure you give the appropriate nod to the past.”

The brewpub will occupy about 5,000 square feet of the roughly 12,000-square-foot building, including a mezzanine—allowing for an open-concept second-floor that can be rented out for special functions. The outdoor patio offers an additional 4,000 square feet of dining or performance space, says Corbett Wright, of CW Land Consultants, Inc., who built the structure alongside Rob Stuart of Timberworks, Inc.

“We copied the original architecture of the original hangar building that was located near the airfield,” he said, noting their arching interior rises to 35 feet at its apex. “That kind of construction lends itself to high, open space.”

And for those cautious about indoor dining after a year-plus of coronavirus restrictions, the restaurant will include roll-up doors, to allow plenty of air to flow, Wright said. Even on rainy days, he added, the state-of-the-art temperature control system will cycle the interior atmosphere every seven to nine minutes.

Ghadiri, who purchased a home in Aptos with his wife in January, says the business could open as soon as December. And when it does, he wants to ensure Scotts Valley residents are treated to a gourmet experience.

“There’s a lot of pride that goes into our food,” he said. “We cut our own croutons—it’s that level of care.”

Ghadiri, a lawyer by trade who got into the restaurant world by way of a pizzeria, had only owned the Sunnyvale location for three months before Covid-19 arrived and they had to close down. Silicon Valley became a ghost town.

Located within striking distance of Google, Apple and Texas Instruments HQ buildings—and colloquially known amongst the tech crowd as “Building F”—when work-from-home became the modus operandi, the future of Faultline was thrown into jeopardy.

Ghadiri was afraid of the financial consequences. But he was more terrified of his 60-person workforce evaporating.

“I knew we were going to lose money staying open,” he said, remembering what went through his head during those early days. “If we close for six months, what are they going to do?”

Ghadiri says they had to operate at a loss for about six months while they built up their takeout business from a trickle into a steady stream of income.

“I was just shooting for break-even; it’s weird to say,” he said, remembering the Christmas lockdown. “You just have to keep going, because eventually there’s going to be light at the end of the tunnel—and now we’re seeing it.”

Early this year, as their numbers started improving and vaccines were being distributed among health care workers and the elderly, Faultline saw an opening.

“I thought right now was the perfect opportunity to expand, right before everything gets back to normal,” he said, referencing the strategic planning that goes into opening a new location. “If I wait until September or December, I’m going to be left out in the cold.”

Ghadiri began to cast around Santa Cruz County with business partner Joe Jean, but kept coming up empty—Ghadiri says he visited at least 10 potential sites.

They finally got close on an Aptos location, but then their broker told them about Wright’s Hangar project in Scotts Valley. Suddenly, things fell into place.

“I fell in love,” Ghadiri said of the concept. “I could see the vision.”

His own plans, with brewmaster Peter Catizone at the helm, include hefeweizen, Kölsch, and Dunkelweizen—in addition to the required hazy IPAs and similar fare.

He also wants to take advantage of the space to have one-of-a-kind brunches, invite local bands to play, and bring in DJs to add to the vibe.

“You play all this stuff by feel and see what’s going to work,” he said. “I want to engage the community, and sometimes that takes a little bit of trial-and-error.”

Boys Pump Track Clinic Planned for Sunday at Ramsay Park

GT Staff

-

July 8, 2021

0

Boys Pump Track Clinic Planned for Sunday at Ramsay Park

After the success of the all-girls pump track event earlier this year, Bike Santa Cruz County is once again teaming up with the City of Watsonville and other local organizations for a youth pump track clinic this Sunday at Ramsay Park.

The clinic is open to boys ages 6-14. Participants will learn about bike riding and safety, as well as basic pump track forms before taking turns on the new paved track, which was built by the Santa Cruz Mountains Trails Stewardship.

The clinic begins at 9am and will run until 12:45pm. Participants are asked to bring a bike and a helmet. Pads optional. Organizers will have a limited amount of bikes and gear to share if needed.

There are more spots for this week’s event, and organizers say they do accept most walk-ins.

Organizers also say they plan to hold a mixed clinic for all riders sometime in the Fall.

In addition, the Watsonville Criterium bike race through the Brewington Ave. neighborhood returns on July 17, including a free kids race.

For information go here.

Quilt Donation Program for Fire Victims Wrapping Up

Johanna Miller

-

July 8, 2021

0

Quilt Donation Program for Fire Victims Wrapping Up

On June 29 firefighters from fire departments throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains were blanketed in surprise when three women showed up with a number of free, handmade quilts.

Almost 80 firefighters from the Boulder Creek, Felton, Zayante and Ben Lomond fire protection districts received the gifts, which were donated through an effort of the Pajaro Valley Quilt Association (PVQA) and other local quilters.

Barbara Lockwood, one such quilter who had to evacuate her home during last year’s CZU Lightning Complex fires, said the donation was to show their appreciation for the fire departments’ hard work battling the blazes.

“We wanted to honor these firefighters who have done so much for the community, in keeping us safe then … and all they’ve done since,” Lockwood said. “We are just so thankful.”

Since October 2020, the group of quilters has joined forces every month to donate hundreds of quilts to victims of the fires through the CZU Lightning Fire Quilt Project. PVQA’s Helen Klee and Lori Camner spearheaded a nationwide call for quilt guilds to gather donations to families and individuals whose homes and lives suffered damage from the disaster.

A website was launched, and organizers began accepting quilts from as far away as Florida, Maine and parts of Canada. Lockwood and PVQA joined a number of Facebook groups, sent out email blasts and forms for people to donate and request quilts.

Then, with assistance from the County of Santa Cruz’s Office of Emergency Services, they organized giveaways at local grange halls and other locations.

“We had tables of quilts, hundreds, laid out for people to choose from,” Lockwood said. “We would ask people what kind of quilt they wanted, what color or design … People were overwhelmed with emotion. It was just a very tangible gift … something they could say, ‘This is mine, just for me.’”

*Dennis Torio, a retired Big Basin Ranger receives a quilt from Lori Camner of Pajaro Valley Quilt Association. —photo courtesy of Barbara Lockwood*

About 1,000 quilts have been gifted across the county. The giveaways have seen close to 400 families receive quilts (totaling about 700 quilts). Additional quilts were gifted to employees at Camp Hammer, a camp for individuals with developmental disabilities that was destroyed in the fires, as well as the Alzheimer’s Association.

“A handmade quilt is a very personal gift,” Lockwood said. “Quilters put a lot of time and love into them … sometimes they are made from $200 worth of supplies. It can take weeks to put one together.”

Organizers of the project are planning to cap it in early September. They have more quilts to give out, and are still getting occasional requests from people who weren’t aware of the project.

“Just this week … there was a disabled man in Boulder Creek who reached out,” Lockwood said. “I interviewed him, sent him photos for him to choose, and set up a time to deliver it to him. We do want to finish the program soon, but we don’t want to leave anyone out. We still have quilts.”

Anyone interested in receiving a quilt or supporting the CZU Lightning Complex Fire Quilt Project should visit czulightningfirequilts.com.

City Council Moves Ohlone Parkway Housing Project Forward

-

July 8, 2021

0

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

-

July 8, 2021

0

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

-

July 7, 2021

0

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

-

July 7, 2021

0

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.

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

An American Pickle

Running for Mayor

Mountain High

Alien Arrival

Free Will Astrology

Letters

Main Place

We Have Liftoff

World’s Reported Covid Death Toll Passes 4 Million

Couple Opening Ballroom Studio as Dance Community Emerges from Lockdown

CDC Issues New School Guidance, with Emphasis on Full Reopening

Faultline Brewing Joins Scotts Valley Hangar Development

Boys Pump Track Clinic Planned for Sunday at Ramsay Park

Quilt Donation Program for Fire Victims Wrapping Up

City Council Moves Ohlone Parkway Housing Project Forward

Santa Cruz County Fair Plans Full Return

Things To Do in Santa Cruz: July 7-13

ARTS AND MUSIC

COMMUNITY

GROUPS

OUTDOOR

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

World’s Reported Covid Death Toll Passes 4 Million

Couple Opening Ballroom Studio as Dance Community Emerges from Lockdown

CDC Issues New School Guidance, with Emphasis on Full Reopening

Faultline Brewing Joins Scotts Valley Hangar Development

Boys Pump Track Clinic Planned for Sunday at Ramsay Park

Quilt Donation Program for Fire Victims Wrapping Up

City Council Moves Ohlone Parkway Housing Project Forward

Santa Cruz County Fair Plans Full Return

Things To Do in Santa Cruz: July 7-13

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