Heavenly Roadside Café in Scotts Valley Lets You Get Away from It All

Andrew Steingrube
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Heavenly Roadside Café in Scotts Valley Lets You Get Away from It All

Heavenly Roadside Café in Scotts Valley serves up classic breakfast and lunch favorites with modern additions and new twists.

Open seven days a week from 7:30am-2:00pm, Heavenly has a family-table feel, with welcoming vibes and a warm and friendly ambiance. So it should be no surprise that it is a family business—Marty Soliz and her husband took over the landmark restaurant seven years ago. They co-own and manage Heavenly, while their daughter Isabella works as a server. GT talked to Marty about what’s for breakfast in Scotts Valley.

What sets Heavenly apart from other breakfast/brunch spots?

MARTY SOLIZ: One thing is that we use thick-cut premium applewood smoked bacon in our menu items, and our eggs benedicts are a big draw as well. We make our hollandaise sauce fresh to order all day. Everything is made from scratch, and we always try to use local and organic products when possible. The Belgian waffles are made to order and come with seasonal berries, powdered sugar, and whipped cream. They definitely have a wow factor, a lot of people order one as almost like a brunch appetizer.

What are some of the most popular dishes from the breakfast and lunch menu?

For brunch, one of my favorites is the made-in-house crab cake benedict. It’s definitely a crowd-pleaser. The French toast is also a big hit; it has cinnamon swirls baked into it and is hand-dipped in egg batter and finished with powdered sugar. For lunch, one thing we have is a burger bar with eight different options, all with choice Angus hand-formed half-pound patties. One that I really like is the John Wayne: It has barbeque sauce, cheddar cheese, and onion rings. The onion rings themselves are very popular, too. They are thick-cut, made-to-order, hand-dipped, and served with a chipotle ranch dipping sauce.

What makes your outdoor patio space so extraordinary?

It’s an open-air patio; people really love sitting out there and will often wait just for it. You feel like you’re at a different location, like being whisked away to a vacation. It has a really special feeling; it’s a really peaceful setting and is very calming. It really does feel “heavenly” out there. We are fortunate to have this space during the pandemic. It has really helped us weather the storm, and the guests and community have been very supportive as well.

1210 Mt. Hermon Road, Scotts Valley. 831-335-1210, heavenlyroadsidecafe.com.

Opinion: Now is the Time to Come Through for Local Nonprofits

Steve Palopoli
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Opinion: Now is the Time to Come Through for Local Nonprofits

EDITOR’S NOTE

This was a year of pandemic, wildfires, economic shutdown and other incredible challenges for our community, and we called on our nonprofit groups more than any time since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake to help us through it. This was, of course, at the same time that many if not most of those nonprofits were being pushed to the limit financially, cutting paid staff and scrambling to cope with an era in which our legion of local volunteers often were barred from offering their assistance due to Covid-19 concerns.

Somehow, these groups still came through, sometimes in ways they weren’t even designed for, especially when it came to fire relief. Now is our chance to come through for them, with the kickoff of our sixth annual Santa Cruz Gives holiday giving campaign. People have asked me as it got closer to fall if we’d even be doing Santa Cruz Gives this year under the circumstances, but I think the circumstances reveal that it is more necessary than ever. So Gives is back with our biggest group of nonprofits yet—40 groups doing incredible work of all types in Santa Cruz County. You can read about all of them in our cover story this week, then I hope you’ll go to santacruzgives.org and give to one or more of them. We can’t make a difference unless you do—and I believe you will, considering that last year, readers increased the total amount raised in Gives by a whopping 74.8% over 2018. The total number of donors increased by 48% last year as well.

And, defying all odds, our campaign this year is starting with more matching funds than last year, which means your donations will go even further. We’re grateful to all of our 2020 sponsors, including Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, the Applewood Fund, the Joe Collins Fund, Santa Cruz County Bank, Thomas Wynn Capital Management, Oswald Restaurant, the Pajaronian and the Press Banner. Good Times and the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County are once again the presenting sponsors this year. What started out as a fledgling effort six years ago has grown into a massive community effort, and I encourage you to use this issue to explore all our participants, whom we’re excited to support this holiday season. 

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR 

 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Vivid Reminder

Re: “Stored Memories” (GT, 11/11): I was interested in the really well written article by Hugh McCormick on the Yamashita Grocery, the family behind it and the history of the Japanese in Watsonville. I feel like I have known quite a bit about the internment of the Japanese and Japanese-Americans during WWII, but the article vividly reminded me of how it affected those interned—both in being put into camps and their losses when they returned home.

For those of us who have not suffered losses due to war and other forms of violence, we need to be reminded what it means to those who have suffered losses and also had to deal with their lives afterwards. 

Nick Royal | Santa Cruz

 

Online Comments

 

Re: Yamashita Grocery

This is such a great article. I’m a history teacher at Watsonville High and this is going into the saved folder for later use for sure. You can clearly see this history looking at old WHS yearbooks, which follow this timeline and make for an interesting primary source. One year all the sudden all of the Japanese names were just gone and enrollment shrunk. I wish I could sit and have coffee with someone who taught here in that era so I could listen to what that was like. One question I have for the author, or maybe someone else here, is how/why or when did the area go from apples as a main export crop to berries?

—   Ryan Jones

 

 Excellent article by your talented [writer], well-detailing local Japanese-American history, including the worst mistake FDR ever made during his 3+ terms as President. The writer’s only error was if you’re going to disrespect Spanish language and culture in order to obey the dictates of political correctness, it’s spelled “Lantinx”, not “Latnix”. (What’s the next acceptable newspeak to be enforced, an insistence on using “they” instead “he” or “she” to prevent any sexual identification?)

— Chris Kenney

[This typo has been corrected in the online version. We regret the error. — Editor]

 

Re: Riverfront Development

The part that steams me is the fact that “affordable” units are a calculation of a percentage of market value. In other words NOT affordable in working people dollars. Having even 15 units at below market rent means they still are running 2500 to 4000 a month with 5 to 9k move-in expenses while the developer makes millions and never made a dent in the affordable market at all. This sort of back and forth quibbling is an insult to us all. The county kisses developer ass and no one stands for real affordable anything here. Period.

What a pathetic farce housing is here. Ineffectual and disingenuous.

 — Kristen M Rivers

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

This photo was shot at the “Protect the Vote” march in Santa Cruz on Nov. 4. Organized by Santa Cruz Indivisible, it started on Pacific Avenue and continued to the steps of the county courthouse on Ocean Street for speeches by local activists calling for every vote to be counted in the presidential election. Photograph by Fernando Gomes.

Submit to ph****@*******es.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.

GOOD IDEA

WARM REGARDS

The Scotts Valley junior class is hosting a jacket/blanket drive, for the months of November and December, to gather jackets and blankets to be donated to the homeless in Santa Cruz County. Scotts Valley Junior Class President Jeremy Goodrich says it’s very important to make sure everyone has winter gear, because of how cold the weather has been. Donations can be dropped off at the Four Points Sheraton in Scotts Valley.

 

GOOD WORK

MOUNTAIN US

Two weeks ago, longtime Santa Cruz Mountains resident Erik Olsen started selling T-shirts and donating all the proceeds to victims of the CZU Lightning Complex fire. As of last week, he had donated $1,476.53 to Community Foundation Santa Cruz County’s fund for local fire victims to help them rebuild and move forward. Olsen, who narrowly escaped a dangerous brush with fire this past summer, is selling his “Great Santa Cruz Mountains” gear at thegreatsantacruzmountains.company.site.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Disaster gave me two things: a moment to react, and a decision to overcome.”

-Michael Dooley

Santa Cruz Gives 2020: A Holiday Guide to Nonprofit Giving

GT Staff
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Santa Cruz Gives 2020: A Holiday Guide to Nonprofit Giving

This is a complete list of 40 groups we’re raising money for in this year’s Santa Cruz Gives holiday giving campaign. Go to santacruzgives.org to donate to one or more of this year’s participants. — Editor

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Cruz County

Organization Mission: We create and support one-on-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. We have served more than 7,000 local at-risk children, providing a crucial foundation at a critical time of their lives. Mentors make Santa Cruz County a safer and healthier place by helping children make better decisions, which increases their chances of staying in school and decreases their challenges with substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and the criminal justice system.

Big Idea: Virtual and In-Person Mentoring

More than one-third of youth in Big Brothers Big Sisters have become caretakers, breadwinners and tutors since the pandemic began. Covid-19 disproportionately affects the families we serve.

All of our services are available virtually now, and one positive outcome is that this opens up mentoring for more volunteers, including seniors and others who also may be experiencing isolation. We are uniquely positioned to provide consistent out-of-school and virtual support if needed, and our mentors continue to serve as a vital source of consistency and connection.

Bird School

Organization Mission: The Bird School Project uses outdoor experiential learning to inspire and equip students and teachers to love, study, and steward their local environment. We provide outdoor education about birds to students directly on their schoolyards, making nature and a bit of wilderness easily revisited.

Big Idea: Helping schools reopen with outdoor learning!

The Bird School Project aims to relaunch our popular schoolyard program to help schools use outdoor spaces on campuses to welcome students back to school. Students build skills in focus, direct observation, meaning-making, arguing from evidence, and collaborating with peers—and benefit further from the research-based healing effects of time spent outdoors. Our main program supplements middle school life science classes. Four weeks of school visits include guided, on-campus bird walks; use of binoculars; close examination of museum specimens; and the use of a field journal in which students learn to record their observations creatively.

Camp Krem 

Organization Mission: We provide respite services to families of children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A range of program opportunities are offered year-round to our families in single-day, three-day, five-day and 10-day sessions that provide respite from the demands of daily care and supervision. Our programs foster independence, nurture responsibility, develop competence and build lifelong friendships in a warm, supportive atmosphere of planned permissiveness.

Big Idea: Rebuild Camp Krem After Wildfire

Camp Krem’s full facility was lost in the CZU fire. Over the past 63 years the volunteers, staff and families of Camp Krem constructed more than 27 buildings and structures, which are now gone and in desperate need of rebuilding. In 2019, we offered our services to more than 600 families and served 1,250 campers. They continue to need our help. The goal is to rebuild quickly and return to serving our community.

CASA of Santa Cruz County

Organization Mission: CASA of Santa Cruz County advocates for children, providing court-appointed volunteers so each child in the Dependency Court system feels cared for and connected with the people, families, and resources they need to heal and flourish into adulthood.

Big Idea: Advocating for Foster Youth in Santa Cruz County

Covid-19 is affecting all of us, but children in foster care are especially vulnerable to abuse and neglect. CASA volunteers make sure these children are protected from the isolation that comes with this pandemic. Children in foster care rely on members of their community to ensure they aren’t left behind as the world shelters in place.

CASA recruits, screens, trains, and supervises Volunteer Advocates to work one-on-one with children and their families to support reunification or permanent placement into a safe and healthy home. Advocates get to know their child’s situation and needs, help caregivers access resources to meet those needs, and advocate for the child’s best interests in court, community, and school settings.

California Certified Organic Farmers Foundation

Organization Mission: CCOF advances organic agriculture for a healthy world through organic certification, education, advocacy, and promotion. We envision a world where organic is the norm. Headquartered in Santa Cruz, CCOF co-founded the organic movement in the U.S. with allies across the country. CCOF’s expertise is a key reason that more than 30% of the agriculture in Santa Cruz is certified organic.

Big Idea: Bricmont Hardship Assistance Fund

This fund gives grants to organic businesses affected by hardship, including wildfires, natural disasters, and the Covid-19 pandemic. All dollars raised through this fund go directly into the organic farming community with no administrative fee.

Since 2007, the CCOF Foundation has distributed $250,000 to farmers through our Bricmont Hardship Assistance program. We have already had a four-fold increase in applications for financial assistance in this challenging year.

Coastal Watershed Council

Organization Mission: The San Lorenzo River is forgotten by too many residents who may not realize our drinking water relies on it. The Coastal Watershed Council is the only organization solely focused on revitalizing this river that was the reason Santa Cruz was founded in the first place. Our small but mighty team strives daily to realize Santa Cruz’s vision of a healthy, welcoming and fun river that connects our diverse community to nature, and is a desirable destination for recreation and reflection. 

Big Idea: Getting Kids Back Outside

The San Lorenzo River is the primary drinking water source for nearly 100,000 people and is designated as critical habitat for threatened and endangered species of fish. Most locals agree that our community deserves a healthy river ecosystem surrounded by safe and inviting parks. The most important thing we can do for the river, today and tomorrow, is introduce kids to nature at the Riverwalk. We need your support to give teachers, students and hardworking parents activities that they can do both online and offline—outside, playing and learning in nature. CWC’s Watershed Ranger program helps teachers do their job by including lessons that align with the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core Standards.

Community Bridges

Organization Mission: Together, our family of 10 programs delivers essential services, provides equitable access to resources and advocates for health and dignity across every stage of life. Our programs serve 20 sites and meet the needs of more than 17,000 local children, families, and seniors each year.

Big Idea: Disaster Resource Relief for Impacted Families

Your donation will ensure that Community Bridges’ Family Resource Collective can continue to provide direct financial and resource relief to families and individuals impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the CZU Lightning Complex Fire. The four resource centers located in Live Oak, Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and the San Lorenzo Valley provide cash aid for rental assistance and groceries, and assistance with accessing public benefits, FEMA disaster relief, and affordable legal services. These services are provided at no charge to low-income and undocumented households ineligible for government relief, and mid-low income households affected by the fire.

Dientes Community Dental Care

Organization Mission: Dientes is on a mission to create lasting oral health for underserved children and adults. As the largest dental care provider in Santa Cruz County, Dientes provides preventative dental care and affordable treatment for over 10,000 people living in poverty. For nearly 30 years, Dientes has worked hard to ensure that cost, insurance, income, language, and transportation don’t prevent people from visiting the dentist.

Big Idea: Dientes Cares

Dientes is committed to providing access to vital dental care for patients living in poverty so that everyone can have a healthy smile, even amid a pandemic. Covid-19 has increased demand for our care with higher unemployment and more uninsured throughout Santa Cruz County. To keep our patients and staff safe, Dientes has implemented extensive protocols. However, these new protocols are labor-intensive and cost-intensive. Your support of Dientes Cares is critical to help uninsured patients who are most in need receive free dental care, so they have the dignity that comes with a healthy smile.

Ecology Action

Organization Mission: We help people, businesses and communities act now to reduce carbon emissions at scale for a healthy, thriving future. Ecology Action was founded in Santa Cruz in 1970 and has helped to start and run programs that help our region lead the nation in environmental sustainability. Our initiatives include Earth Day Santa Cruz, Bike to Work Day/Bike Challenge, Safe Routes to Schools/BikeSmart/WalkSmart, Electric Vehicle Incentive Programs/National Drive Electric Day, and Monterey Bay Friendly Landscaping/Green Gardener Programs.

Big Idea: Bike Skills are Life Skills

In our lowest income neighborhoods, children walk and bike to school on the dirt shoulder of roads where big rigs roll by less than 20 feet away. One way Ecology Action achieves transportation justice is to ensure all of our children have equal access to skill development training for safely biking and walking by providing free, online classroom training. We support both teachers and students in low-income areas. We seek community support (donations, volunteers, and sponsors) to ensure every fifth-grader rides safely on their bikes and every second-grader can cross a street safely in traffic. There are 109 classes in the county and we seek funds for training the last 25 classes in Live Oak, Bonny Doon, San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley, Watsonville, and Happy Valley.

Exploring New Horizons Outdoor School

Organization Mission: Exploring New Horizons empowers students, builds environmental literacy, and strengthens communities through outdoor education. Every student in the U.S. must have equal access to outdoor education, yet fewer than 10% of fourth-to-sixth grade California students attend such programs and few schools include outdoor learning in their curriculum. Our experienced naturalists engage more than 7,000 students each year outdoors, with a focus on ecology, environmental stewardship, social emotional learning, and the arts.

Big Idea: Outdoor Educational Equity for Students

Outdoor education is essential to relieve some of the pressure that distance learning puts on teachers, students, and their families, and for students who may not learn as well on a screen. However, the increased demand will create further inequity between parents who can afford them and those who cannot. We seek your support for Santa Cruz schools and families by engaging small K-5 groups in outdoor curricula that focus on guided nature exploration, hiking, and observation; nature writing, drawing, mapping, and data collection; and art, music, and imaginary play.

Farm Discovery at Live Earth

Organization Mission: Farm Discovery at Live Earth empowers youth and families to build and sustain healthy food, farming, social and natural systems. On our organic farm, youth learn to grow and prepare healthy, plant-based foods from the field to the table. We provide year-round opportunities for people of all ages to learn and to participate in a sustainable food system.

Big Idea: Covid-19 Relief Via Organic Produce Distribution 

Farm Discovery is still providing outdoor education to children in response to the pandemic and fire-related hardship, and we are distributing organic produce to locations across the county. We hope to assist other farms as well in reducing hunger, health problems related to diet, and food waste in our community. We have donated 24,000 pounds (12 tons) of produce for 24 weeks since April and are continuing every week. An average of 25 pounds of produce feeds a family of four for one week—therefore, we feed about 40 families per week. With your support, we can continue and grow this into 2021, keeping our cost to only $1.30/lb. of produce, which covers the produce and all labor to keep the project going.

Food What

Organization Mission: “Food, What?!” is a youth empowerment and food justice organization. At FoodWhat, youth cultivate their well-being, liberation and power by engaging in relationships with land, food and each other. Youth from Watsonville to Santa Cruz join the FoodWhat Crew through our Spring Internship, Summer Job Training and Fall Project Management programs. Within the supportive space of FoodWhat, youth grow, cook, eat and distribute farm-fresh, organic food while addressing local food justice issues.

Big Idea: Youth Empowerment, Food Justice

As economic, health and food insecurity deepens in our community, youth of color continue to struggle in these areas with disproportionate difficulty. That’s why at FoodWhat, we will continue to get fresh, healthy food to marginalized youth and their families—no matter what. Whether from growing their own food on the farm, or receiving fresh CSAs at their doorsteps, FoodWhat families will have a food access point that is stabilizing, nourishing and community-driven.

Girls Inc.

Organization Mission: To inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold, and to respect themselves and the world around them. Girls Inc. serves 1,700 girls in 41 schools with trained professionals (often older teens) who mentor them in a safe environment. Girls are inspired to pursue secondary education, develop leadership and decision-making skills, serve their communities, and acquire the ability and wisdom to lead healthy lifestyles.

Big Idea: Virtual Leadership Mentoring Program for High School Girls

The overriding goal of our new virtual program is that girls will learn to set and achieve goals, boldly confront challenges, resist peer pressure, see college as attainable, and explore nontraditional fields. The virtual setting eliminates transportation issues and will allow girls throughout Santa Cruz County to participate more easily. Participants will meet twice a month for 12 interactive, virtual sessions.

Grey Bears

Organization Mission: Grey Bears improves the health and well-being of seniors and our community through food distribution, volunteerism, resource conservation and recycling. Seniors caught at the edge of poverty often live alone and rent. Because Santa Cruz County is one of the least affordable areas in the U.S., an estimated 40% of seniors do not have the income to meet their basic needs.

Big Idea: Moving Forward at Every Age

What does it mean to age well? Local, vital and multifaceted, Grey Bears believes that good nutrition, activity and social connection are the perfect recipe for healthy aging. We deliver fresh vegetables, fruits, and healthy staples to 4,200 seniors weekly including 1,300 who are homebound. Our kitchen will also deliver 1,600 healthy meals to seniors this holiday season.

Homeless Garden Project

Organization Mission: In the soil of our urban, organic farm and garden, people find the tools they need to build a home in the world.

Big Idea: Transitional Employment Program

HGP has continued to provide essential services for the community, both in human services and growing food for the community. In a destabilized world, those experiencing homelessness remain vulnerable and HGP’s yearlong program remains a critical opportunity to get folks back on their feet. Now in its 30th year, the program has been honed to be as effective as possible for getting people into stable housing and employment. A new priority has been to support our alum once they have obtained employment and housing. The strengthening of our graduate support and to grow and deepen the impact of our work is the focus for the immediate future.

Hope Services

Organization Mission: Hope’s mission is to improve the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities and mental health needs. We serve more than 350 adults and teens in Santa Cruz County annually. Our seven programs emphasize vocational development and community participation. From a mobile work group for clients interested in working on crews, to job training and placement, to a mental health program offering case management and psychiatric services, Hope Services is a leader in providing innovative programming to local clients.

Big Idea: From Hope to Home

To keep our clients connected to programming that has had to close during the pandemic, Hope Services is transitioning to our new remote learning service: From Hope to Home. We are requesting funds to equip 50 clients with laptops and tablets to access live, interactive, daily online programming with our staff so that this vulnerable population will not experience isolation. It is vital to provide programs in which individuals with disabilities can develop social connections, learn, develop their interests, and find meaningful engagement through employment and other endeavors, just like the general population.

Hopes Closet

Organization Mission: To provide gently used clothing, equipment, blankets, shoes, books and toys (Bundles of Hope) to children in need in Santa Cruz County. Everyone who needs help gets it. There are no eligibility requirements to receive services.

Big Idea: Bare Necessities

There’s nothing like the feel of new socks and underwear to make you feel good about yourself (imagine what it would feel like to put on someone else’s used socks and underwear every day). Unfortunately, those bare necessities are not something a family in need is able to spend precious dollars on. At Hopes Closet we believe that every child is deserving of that special feeling and our Bare Necessities project will ensure that every child we help will receive a new pair of underwear and socks in their “Bundle of Hope” bag. In addition to monetary donations that help us buy new undergarments, we will enlist community support and local youth groups for a “kids helping kids” focus to supplement our current endeavors.

Housing Matters

Organization Mission: Housing Matters partners with individuals and families to create pathways out of their homelessness into permanent housing. Housing Matters case managers support more than 500 unhoused neighbors in Santa Cruz County on their pathway to stable housing on any given day. This includes 200 adults and kids sleeping in shelter programs on our campus, receiving three nutritious meals a day, plus consistent support in getting back home from expert staff and compassionate volunteers. Last year, Housing Matters connected more than 300 adults and kids experiencing homelessness in our community with stable, permanent housing, thus ending their homelessness.

Big Idea: Pathways Home Toolkit

Nearly 1,000 homes were lost in the fires in Santa Cruz County. Losing a home is a universally traumatic experience, and no person should have to navigate that experience on their own. Housing Matters case managers are experts at helping your neighbors move through the experience of homelessness and get back into housing. Many stepped up to support their unhoused neighbors in navigating the crisis of homelessness. Our expert-informed toolkit will support those volunteer “case managers,” many of whom are helping those newly displaced by the fires. This interactive toolkit will include information on trauma-informed care, case management basics, setting manageable goals, working with someone in crisis, self-care, boundaries, and more.

Jacob’s Heart

Organization Mission: Jacob’s Heart exists to improve the quality of life for children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses by supporting their families in the challenges they face. We provide emotional, practical, financial and peer support to hundreds of local children with cancer and thousands of their family members. We envision a community where every child with a serious or life-threatening condition has a strong, supported and informed family empowered to fully participate in their care.

Big Idea: Medically Fragile Children

Caring for a medically fragile child is always rife with fear and uncertainty. Financial stress compounds when your child is seriously ill. Siblings are confused and scared. A simple trip to the grocery store is always a risk when caring for an immunocompromised child. Early in 2020, no one could have imagined the challenges that were about to befall the children and families we care for at Jacob’s Heart. We seek support for our new laser-focused emergency relief plan to address the immediate physical and emotional needs of families of medically fragile children during the pandemic: safe housing, food, transportation to treatment and crisis counseling.

Live Like Coco

Organization Mission: We help kids in the Santa Cruz County area to grow up healthy and with opportunities to pursue their dreams. Our foundation is inspired by Coco Lazenby, who was killed in a car accident in 2015 at age 12. We work to provide local children with opportunities that made a difference in her life.

Big Idea: Improving Book Diversity

This year, we are stepping up efforts to improve language diversity and to represent a wider variety of ethnicities, family backgrounds and abilities for our literacy program. Our program provides books to students at local public schools, at little free libraries we’ve placed throughout the community, and to local organizations that reach our most vulnerable communities. We also sponsor a forest and community garden, pay for scholarships, and organize beach cleanups and field trips, among other efforts to improve the lives of local kids, with a focus on those in low-income communities.

MENtors

Organization Mission: MENtors supports boys, men and fathers to achieve healthier social and emotional development that will enrich their awareness, engagement and connection, and help each to build lasting relationships with one’s self, interpersonally, with their families and the greater community.

Big Idea: 100 MENtors Who Care Initiative

This year, we would like to create a team of 100 men in Santa Cruz County to serve and support local boys, young men, men, and fathers. Your donation will help us to recruit, engage, train and support these men who will coach and mentor boys and men. Currently, we provide weekly programs to boys and young men in four middle schools and one high school. We host four father involvement and co-parenting classes to enhance fatherhood roles, strengthen parent-child relationships, and promote team parenting.

Pajaro Valley Shelter Services

Organization Mission: PVSS provides families with a path to stable, self-sufficient futures through short-term and longer-term housing and supportive services. In 2019-2020, PVSS served 204 individuals. 87% of PVSS families exited to permanent housing, 67% exited with savings for housing; and 71% of adults exited successfully with employment. We run structured, drug- and alcohol-free programs within a warm, secure environment.

Big Idea: Economic Empowerment for Families Experiencing Homelessness

Families in PVSS programs literally work their way out of homelessness and financial vulnerability. At the onset of shelter-in-place, 50% of PVSS families experienced job loss or employment interruption. PVSS is launching Coordinated Economic Development to provide families with financial literacy training, tuition assistance for job training resources, and assistance with finding and retaining employment. Financial resilience makes the difference between maintaining progress toward permanent housing and returning to homelessness—during and beyond the pandemic.

Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes

Organization Mission: Our vision is a Pajaro Valley community in which all people have access to healthy food and basic necessities. Our mission is to provide healthy, hearty meals, groceries and fresh produce, and connections with other agencies to help our neighbors enhance their health and well-being.

Big Idea: Increase Our Outreach, Reduce Our Carbon Footprint

For the past 30 years, we’ve been a frontline, boot-strapping food pantry and lunch program touching thousands of lives each year with a limited budget and efficient operations carried out by hundreds of dedicated volunteers and a small-but-nimble staff. As we serve over 26,000 hot meals each year, we’re dedicated to serving our clients in the most nutritious and environmentally-friendly way possible. Our on-site, free-to-all-who-are-hungry lunch program was 100% waste free, pre-Covid. We are now challenged to provide the same healthy meals in to-go packaging. To adjust to the new way of serving our clients, we’ve been using more disposable products and are well aware of the strain this has on our environment. Please help us make our operation—receiving, storing and distributing more than 500,000 pounds of food each year—greener.

Regeneración — Pajaro Valley Climate Action 

Organization Mission: We work with community partners to inspire everyone in the Pájaro Valley to respond locally to the global challenge of a changing climate.

Big Idea: Women, Girls and Climate Justice

Women know a great deal about building relationships and nurturing life. This knowledge is essential for spreading awareness and taking swift action to protect a livable world as our community faces a difficult recovery from unprecedented wildfires fueled by drought and extreme heat. We will convene our third community forum and social media awareness-raising campaign in 2021 with a focus on Women and Climate Change. We’ll plan, host, and promote a virtual Climate of Hope forum featuring a range of female voices and targeting a diverse audience from our tri-county area. High school and college students will gain skills in organizing, communications, effective outreach, and engagement as they help to develop and promote an online event that inspires others to take meaningful action and spur new initiatives to reverse global warming. We’ll focus on how women, especially low-income women of color, are disproportionately affected by climate impacts and are needed in leadership.

Resource Center for Nonviolence

Organization Mission: The Resource Center for Nonviolence promotes the conscious practice of nonviolence and antiracism as dynamic forces necessary to achieve personal, institutional and societal changes for the creation of a just, peaceful and sustainable future.  

Big Idea: Racial Equity Leadership Training

We will conduct trainings for leaders in companies, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies in Santa Cruz County, using the latest models for teaching antiracism transformational leadership skills and perspectives, assisting leaders to create new policies supporting racial equity and to change policies within institutions. This program will examine racial disparities in Santa Cruz County and will draw from local expertise to create a more holistic and collaborative approach to the field of diversity, equity and inclusion. Your donations will support development of this program and scholarships for participation.

Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

Organization Mission: Connecting people with nature and science to inspire stewardship of the natural world.

Big Idea: Museum At Your Side

The Museum hopes to engage lifelong learners, students, and teachers with our new project, the Museum At Your Side, a collection of hands-on activities, informative articles, and engaging videos to connect you (yes, you and all of your neighbors) with nature and science wherever you are! The Museum offers a variety of downloadable activities and resources such as field guides and scavenger hunts, and more. Users can connect with other nature lovers through interactive programs that bring together people with a shared interest and access our collections and exhibits in ways never before possible.

Save Our Shores

Organization Mission: To steward clean shores, healthy habitats, and living waters, which will foster thriving marine ecosystems across our California Central Coast and protect the resources that make our community a most desirable place to live and visit.

Big Idea: 3D Virtual Reality Marine Ecosystem Learning Modules for Underserved Youth

Our project takes underserved youth in middle school on an experiential 3D virtual reality dive into our amazing marine protected areas, complete with an animated wildlife character and instructional guide. The animated character explains why marine protected areas were established, defines the different types of areas, and tells stories about the plants and animals that live in them. We received a grant to create the 3D VR experience and a lesson plan, and to pilot it in six schools. We are seeking funding to expand delivery of this program to many more schools across our community. There will be a 2D version so we can deliver the program via distance learning. If we raise $25,000, we can bring it to 100 classrooms throughout the county.

Santa Cruz SPCA

Organization Mission: The Santa Cruz SPCA provides safe harbor for animals in need and promotes an active humane community through adoption, advocacy, and education.

Big Idea: Keeping Pets and People Together

What if we could keep pets with loving guardians and prevent the trauma of expensive shelter stays, even during tumultuous times? The Santa Cruz SPCA helps animals whose households are in distress or affected by the disasters of 2020 with new and expanded programs, including weekly pet food pantries that gave out 11,000 pounds of food and pet supplies in 2019. After the 2020 fires, they have been open daily to meet increased demand. “Ask the Dog Trainer” sessions help dozens of guardians solve behavior issues to prevent pet surrender. A new “Emergency Housing Toolkit” at our Pet Food Pantries would show how to find pet-friendly rental housing, list local apartment complexes that accept pets, and offer applications for one-time grants of up to $500 for pet deposit and rental fees.   

Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Foundation

Organization Mission: The primary organization safeguarding and improving the lives of domestic animals is the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter. With an intake exceeding 5,000 animals a year, SCCAS has a bedrock of municipal funding for core services such as animal control, licensing, rabies vaccinations, housing for strays and surrenders, and intervention in animal abuse cases. Independent funding is required for SCCAS’s key preventive initiatives: spay/neuter clinics, training classes, humane education, community outreach, and ability to respond to emergency circumstances.

Big Idea: Recovery and Preparedness

The impact of the virus and fire has underscored the importance of developing a Recovery and Preparedness Plan to cope with a double or even triple disaster. In response to this year’s economic hardship, shelter staff and volunteers joined with other agencies to provide disaster service workers, and deliver needed pet food and basic veterinary services countywide. During the fire, SCCAS staff cared for nearly 4,500 pets, including animals left at home who were fed, watered and looked after by the Shelter’s Animal Control officers with permission from the Sheriff’s office. Since the pandemic, many organizations shut down, but SCCAS has remained open, providing essential core services, taking in surrenders, receiving strays, retrieving lost pets, providing adoption services and making pet food available to owners struggling financially.  

Second Harvest Food Bank

Organization Mission: Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County’s mission is for our county to be a community working together to end hunger through healthy food, education and leadership. Through our network of partner agencies, we provide nutritious food and CalFresh application assistance for families, seniors, the unemployed, farmworkers, immigrants, veterans, homeless, sheltered homeless, the disabled, and those suffering from mental illness. 

Big Idea: Food Access for Santa Cruz County

Our county’s high cost of living and the pandemic has led to 90,000 people a month needing food assistance. One-third of our county seeks help from the food bank and our partner agencies due to job loss, high rent and low wages. We partner with a broad network of local nonprofits and safety net services such as food pantries, shelters, and group homes that allows your support to reach deep into neighborhoods. Help us respond to the increased need by supporting our Holiday Food and Fund Drive, which allows us to provide 100 nonprofit agencies with food throughout the year, as well as supply much-needed nourishment to local residents through our own distributions.

Senderos

Organization Mission: Senderos is a volunteer-based organization that forges pathways to success for Latino youth through free traditional music and dance programs, and fosters educational opportunities. Senderos has established cultural pride in the face of racism and gang involvement, and has grown from serving seven youth in 2001 to more than 150 youth and young adults each year.

Big Idea: Equity in Education and Arts for Latino Youth

In 2021, we will focus on academic and cultural arts equity for Latino youth. Senderos will provide homework help, tutoring, and mentoring for youth, and computer literacy training for parents. Distance learning has illuminated the disparities for low-income, immigrant families. Where possible, improved connectivity, headsets, and quiet learning spaces could make a difference. Senderos also seeks to build our scholarship fund to motivate first-generation students on their pathway to higher education. Finally, we aim to enhance methods to engage youth in our free, now virtual, music and dance classes.

Shakespeare Play On

Organization Mission: Inspired by Shakespeare, we create and strengthen community by bringing audiences and theater artists together to celebrate stories about our collective humanity. Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s outdoor theatre festival is a treasured 40-year tradition.

Big Idea: Student Transportation Fund

Santa Cruz Shakespeare extends its public summer season into September each year to offer student-only matinees for regional high schools. But many schools run up against a frequent problem: the lack of transportation to and from the Grove. Due to lack of funding for bus transportation, and the parents’ lack of vehicles or inability to miss work, transporting students as a group is not an option for many schools. Donations will go to Santa Cruz County schools in need only, and will allow SC Shakespeare to expand its current matinee opportunities to more students.

Shared Adventures

Organization Mission: Shared Adventures is dedicated to improving quality of life for those with disabilities. In the belief that recreation, fun, challenge, and access to the outdoors are essential to health and fulfillment, we get people outdoors and moving beyond imagined limitations. Approximately 2,000 individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities take part in Shared Adventures activities each year, benefiting individuals, families, and the wider community.

Big Idea: Make Santa Cruz a Destination for Visitors with Disabilities

Shared Adventures organizes many accessible activities. We would like to promote the opportunities for disabled visitors to enjoy local activities by updating our 15-year-old Santa Cruz County Access Guide, a resource guide with “easy visit” plans for disabled travelers and the local disabled community alike. We will work with Visit Santa Cruz County to publicize resources such as transportation, beach accessibility, accommodations, and more. A full calendar of events is also provided through Zoom, such as adaptive yoga and exercise classes, dance parties, bingo, book club, and arts and crafts—with robust participation.

Teen Kitchen Project

Organization Mission: The Teen Kitchen Project builds healthier communities by cooking food. Chefs and nutritionists help volunteer teens cook nourishing meals that are delivered to individuals and families in crisis due to severe illness throughout Santa Cruz County.

Big Idea: Support the Critically Ill with Home Delivered Meals

Help us increase delivered meals by 200% to support those who are isolated due to illness during the pandemic. Your support will provide uninterrupted meal delivery service to 500 Santa Cruz County individuals and families who are impacted by a life-threatening illness. We’ll also continue to engage teens as a paid, stable workforce in order to deliver a total of 97,000 meals in 2020, representing an increase in production of 140% as we respond to the evolving impact of the pandemic.

UnChained

Organization Mission: UnChained fosters empathy, respect, and responsibility in youth through the human-animal bond. For 12 years, UnChained has served more than 350 youth who have helped train, socialize, and find homes for over 170 dogs—unleashing the youth’s potential one dog at a time.

Big Idea: Youth-Canine Learning Community

UnChained works with two vulnerable populations in Santa Cruz County: homeless dogs and at-risk youth. To broaden the impact of our innovative animal-assisted therapy programs, we are piloting a Humane Education program to build a learning community for Santa Cruz County youth through canine-themed topics, dog training, and community-service learning projects. Our program includes 25 classes, 90-minutes each (to conform with lockdown restrictions; virtual as needed) covering dog training, the biology/science of dogs, relationship skills, civic skills, and more.

Vets 4 Vets Santa Cruz

Organization Mission: Vets 4 Vets is a nonprofit by and for local veterans along with supportive friends who create community and assist our brothers and sisters in need. Our work is to provide funding to fill the gaps left by government and other organizations, including emergency food, transportation, home repairs and emergency housing. We also provide activities and services designed to break the isolation of veteran participants.

Big Idea: Filling the Gaps

We are asking for support for our big idea, which is to provide funding to veterans and their families who are in an emergency situation. Funds will go toward basic needs, and to meet the increased demand. The highest priority for assistance is veterans who are affected by Covid-19 and/or fire-related evacuations and other losses. We have no paid staff and operate with 50 volunteers, so that your donation will be used efficiently.

Warming Center

Organization Mission: To reduce the experience of hypothermia and the occurrence of death within the population of people who sleep outside; to identify the basic unmet needs of homelessness; and to create and operate programs to meet those needs. Warming Center programs not provided by funding sources such as government and other organizations include day and night storage keeping personal belongings safe, weekly laundry and Shower Sunday—the longest and hottest shower for those who sleep outside.

Big Idea: Footbridge Homeless Services Center

After several years of offering a homeless shelter, the Warming Center Program asked, “What are other unmet needs of homelessness?” A list of needs became clear: storage for homeless persons’ belongings; a laundry and shower program; electrical device charging bays; and a robust donation program where people can access blankets, clothing and hygiene supplies. We’re finally bringing all of this together and locating it along a nexus of homeless foot and bike traffic near other service programs. Our work benefits the individual and the community by reducing crime and environmental degradation, and offers people an easier path towards normalcy.

Watsonville Wetlands Watch

Organization Mission: Watsonville Wetlands Watch works to preserve, restore, and foster appreciation of the wetlands of the Pajaro Valley, and involve the Watsonville community. Our education programs reach over 4,000 students with outdoor learning that helps to develop the next generation of environmental leaders.

Big Idea: Climate Change Leadership Institute, Expanding Urban Forest

In response to Covid-19 and to support our initiative Wetlands Action for Climate Change, we launched a paid job training program that helps Watsonville teens expand their leadership skills and take local actions to curb climate change and address environmental justice issues. Funds raised from Santa Cruz Gives will enable the development of the Climate Corps Leadership Institute, a multi-year paid internship for teens, and will also support the expansion of urban tree plantings in Watsonville. Teens will plant trees on streets, parks, schools, and neighborhoods and will develop small group action projects to affect big changes related to climate change resilience and urban forests in Watsonville.

Wings Homeless Advocacy

Organization Mission: We are committed to working with our community to end chronic homelessness in Santa Cruz County. We live out our values of compassion, dignity and respect for all people by uniting our community to be volunteer advocates for those moving out of homelessness and onto a path of healing.

Big Idea: Mobile Services to Double Outreach

Wings’ goal is to help people get into housing and to remain in permanent housing. With no building expenses, only three part-time staff and 40 volunteers, we provide critical household items, beds and bedding, furniture, free haircuts, vital documents—and much more. Our Big Idea is to raise funds for a much-needed vehicle which will allow for mobile services to be offered to those experiencing homelessness and will more than double our outreach capabilities. This vehicle will allow for vital document services to be provided directly where our clients are, as well as offer additional moving capacity of furniture, beds and welcome baskets that contain essential household items.

Youth N.O.W.

Organization Mission: Youth N.O.W. is committed to engaging youth in a nurturing community where each individual can grow personally and academically through individualized programs that cultivate success. By providing no-cost academic support to those that most need it, Youth N.O.W. helps our youth to thrive and in turn contribute to the success of their community.

Big Idea: No-Cost Tutoring for Distance-Learning Students

The impact of distance learning on our vulnerable populations is leaving some students without the support necessary for them to succeed. Youth N.O.W. is addressing the inequity by adding more tutors and increasing virtual and on-site appointments for caring, trained adults (both paid and volunteers) to assist students 1:1 with academics. We hope to prevent youth from falling behind in their learning during this challenging time. For 10 years we have been supporting students so they may gain confidence in school and in life, broaden their creative interests, and feel connected to a place of nurturance.

How Manu Koenig’s Election Will Reshape Santa Cruz County

Jacob Pierce
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How Manu Koenig’s Election Will Reshape Santa Cruz County

Two weeks after an election in which he drubbed the 12-year incumbent county supervisor by 14 percentage points, transportation activist Manu Koenig is getting ready for his new gig, taking interviews for analyst positions, meeting department heads and reviewing a backlog of constituent issues, he says.

Koenig, a 35-year-old political newcomer with no elected experience, will replace District 1 Supervisor John Leopold, the board’s longest tenured member, this January. The headline disagreement between each candidate was on the rail corridor. Koenig advocated a bike-and-pedestrian trail along the corridor, while Leopold has supported a combination of a trail and a new passenger transit line. 

But challenges in District 1 are much more complex than a single transportation issue on a narrow stretch of land, says local journalist and historian Geoffrey Dunn, a longtime District 1 resident (Dunn is also a GT senior contributing editor).

“The issues now facing the first district are bigger than just the rail trail,” says Dunn, who endorsed Leopold in the race. “Manu is going to have catching up to do, and there’s incredible diversity in the district, which goes from the Prospect Heights neighborhood all the way to the ocean, up to summit and including all of Live Oak. The issues are complicated, and I look forward to seeing Manu being able to rise to the challenge, I do. He seems young, bright and energetic.”

Leopold, who has been working with Koenig on the transition, says he’s proud of his achievements over the years. He cites a fracking ban, the alcohol usage abatement program, and vacation rental regulations as key policies. He lists new District 1 facilities like the Live Oak Boys and Girls Club, as well as new parks and greenspaces like Chanticleer Park, the Heart of Soquel Park and improvements to East Cliff. “I’m proud of the accomplishments I’ve had in so many different areas,” he says.

Over the past 12 years, Leopold developed a reputation as someone unafraid to take a strong stance on sometimes controversial topics.

Cannabis attorney Ben Rice says Santa Cruz County had a longstanding reputation for being open to cannabis, but he believes Santa Cruz County has grown unnecessarily stringent on the legalized industry. Leopold, Rice says, pushed to bring more small-time growers into the county’s permitting system. He adds that, although Leopold didn’t win every fight, more growers would have been squeezed out without him. 

“Unfortunately, a lot of times he’s been a voice in the wilderness, because for the last 10 years, the county has been really slow to embrace the possibilities,” Rice says.

Koenig, for his part, says he has similar values on cannabis. He hopes to support cannabis entrepreneurs, he says, ensuring that they have a legal pathway to being regulated businesses. Many such entrepreneurs, he says, are throwing up their hands and moving to Monterey County. His vision, however, will not mean putting in new dispensaries on every corner, he adds.

Harm reduction activist Denise Elerick remembers Leopold’s unflinching dedication to community causes he found important, even when they didn’t present a clear political wn. 

Elerick recounts holding a 2018 event about the opioid crisis. Most of the politicians she wrote did not respond to her invitation, and Leopold was the only county supervisor who showed up.

UCSC professor Craig Reinarman recalls when Leopold first led the charge to create a new Smart on Crime group that started discussions around public safety and criminal justice reform. Reinarman, who joined the group, says Leopold then led the way when it came to implementing changes to the local jail mandated by California voters.  

Leopold, for what it’s worth, bristles at questions about such high-profile policies, saying they weren’t central concerns of constituents in his district. He prefers to be remembered for his efforts to expand health care and educational programs in District 1.

Koenig says Leopold worked extraordinarily hard in his post as the District 1 supervisor, and he plans to continue that tradition of work ethic. Going forward, Koenig says he wants to put people first and thinks some of the county’s outreach is in need of systemic change. 

He says he’ll implement the same approach and the same tools he used in his campaign.“Focus on the issues,” he tells GT via email, “leverage technology, and recruit people who are smarter than me.”

Dancer and Artist Makana Goes Poet with First Hip-Hop Release

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Dancer and Artist Makana Goes Poet with First Hip-Hop Release

In 2018, local dancer and artist Makana was working on some songs, including a Caribbean-infused hip-hop tune called “Women.”

She intended it to exalt the beauty of the feminine, but as she worked on it, the song became so much more. It was such a powerful, personal expression that the first time she performed it, in 2018, she got a standing ovation.

“It was going to be a totally heterosexual song,” Makana says. “It turned into me revealing my true story—I basically came out of the closet in front of my community in Santa Cruz, as someone who’s definitely not straight.”

“Women” is one of the four songs she released last month as part of her debut EP My People. Before this, she’d been a dancer and did burlesque for a while. More recently, she did solo dance performances, including with local Congolese dance company Bitezo Bia Kongo, and was also rapping/performing/dancing with a local Afro-fusion band called Native Trance. This EP of experimental hip-hop represents the first songs for which she not only wrote all the lyrics, but also produced all the music herself.

“I’m kind of obsessed. I found happiness through making music. I’m blissed out. I don’t really need to do much else. I am all about music right now,” Makana says.

Back in 2018, at that first show, she rapped her lyrics for “Women” and other words she wrote over beats she found online. In March, when everything shut down, being a dancer wasn’t much of an option, so creating music moved to the top of her priority list. That included producing the music for her lyrics.

“Before Covid, I was a little unfocused, just trying to take any gig,” Makana says. “Coronavirus hit and I was left to my own devices. I pulled my resources together and set up a studio in my home, and taught myself how to use a digital audio workstation and a bunch of other technical aspects of making music. I’m not a trained musician in any sense of the word, but I’m a dancer. I know rhythm. I understand the intricacies of music in a kinesthetic way.”

The four songs—all hip-hop—are eclectic in their influences, including trip-hop, R&B, reggae and spoken word, and produced in a way that makes them very intimate and emotive, yet also exploratory and at times avant-garde productions. Not just that, but she methodically created unique and individualized music beds for each of these songs that she’d written.

“The words were already there,” Makana says. “It was me trying to create the fullest expression of those words instrumentally, and just to create a full, comprehensive world around the lyrics. I didn’t want them to be all in the same world, because they’re not.”  

The lyrics are poetic, spiritual and stirring—sometimes straightforward, other times abstract and expressionist. She devoted a long time to crafting them.

“I’m a word nerd,” Makana says. “I’m obsessed with words, to the point where if I’m in a conversation, and I blurt out like a word like ‘oxymoron’ and I didn’t use it correctly, I have to use self-control not to pull out my phone at a restaurant and look up the word. For me, it’s a love affair with words.”  

The four songs on My People is only a sampling of what’s to come. She’s hoping next year she’ll release a full-length. She’s also excited to find out what else she uncovers about herself in the process.

“I’ve had a pretty crazy journey, coming into myself as a human, basically feeling alien, and now feeling whole,” Makana says. “It’s a yearning to unearth all that and heal and share it with other people through exposing myself. It goes even beyond anything I can control.”  

For more info, check out euphonicrecords.org.

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: Nov. 18-24

Rob Brezsny
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Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: Nov. 18-24

Free will astrology for the week of Nov. 18 

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Back in 1974, poet Allen Ginsberg and his “spirit wife,” Aries poet Anne Waldman, were roommates at the newly established Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. The school’s founder asked these two luminaries to create a poetics program, and thus was born the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Waldman described its ruling principle to be the “outrider” tradition, with a mandate to explore all that was iconoclastic, freethinking and irreverent. The goal of teachers and students alike was to avoid safe and predictable work so as to commune with wild spiritual powers, “keep the energies dancing,” and court eternal surprise. I think that would be a healthy approach for you to flirt with during the next few weeks.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Any legal actions you take are more likely to be successful if you initiate them between now and the solstice than if you begin them at other times. The same is true for any contracts you sign or agreements you make: They have a better chance to thrive than they would at other times. Other activities with more kismet than usual during the coming weeks: efforts to cultivate synergy and symbiosis; attempts to turn power struggles into more cooperative ventures; a push to foster greater equality in hierarchical situations; and ethical moves to get access to and benefit from other people’s resources.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Never follow an expert off a precipice. Nor a teacher. Nor an attractive invitation. Nor a symbol of truth nor a vibrant ideal nor a tempting gift. In fact, never follow anything off a precipice, no matter how authoritative or sexy or appealing it might be. On the other hand, if any of those influences are headed in the direction of a beautiful bridge that can enable you to get to the other side of a precipice, you should definitely consider following them. Be on the alert for such lucky opportunities in the coming weeks.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Malidoma Patrice Somé was born into the Dagara tribe of Burkina Faso. After being initiated into the Dagara’s spiritual mysteries, he emigrated to America, where he has taught a unique blend of modern and traditional ideas. One of his key themes is the hardship that Westerners’ souls endure because of the destructive impact of the machine world upon the spiritual world. He says there is “an indigenous person within each of us” that longs to cultivate the awareness and understanding enjoyed by indigenous people: a reverence for nature, a vital relationship with ancestors and a receptivity to learn from the intelligence of animals. How’s your inner indigenous person doing? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to enhance your ability to commune with and nurture that vital source.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Psychologists have identified a quality they call NFD: “need for drama.” Those who possess it may be inclined to seek or even instigate turmoil out of a quest for excitement. After all, bringing a dose of chaos into one’s life can cure feelings of boredom or powerlessness. “I’m important enough to rouse a big mess!” may be the subconscious battle cry. I’ll urge you Leos to studiously and diligently avoid fostering NFD in the coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, you will have a blessed series of interesting experiences if and only if you shed any attraction you might have to histrionic craziness.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing,” wrote philosopher Baruch Spinoza. “Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure.” Spinoza’s thoughts will be a great meditation for you in the coming weeks. If you go chasing phantom hopes, longing for absolute certainty and iron confidence, you’ll waste your energy. But if you identify what is most genuine and true and essential about you, and you rely on it to guide you, you can’t possibly fail.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika,” said Libran fashion writer Diana Vreeland. “We all need a splash of bad taste,” she continued. “It’s hearty, it’s healthy, it’s physical. I think we could use more of it. Having no taste is what I’m against.” I understand that her perspective might be hard to sell to you refined Librans. But I think it’s good advice right now. Whatever’s lacking in your world, whatever might be off-kilter, can be cured by a dash of good, funky earthiness. Dare to be a bit messy and unruly.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): To convey the spirit of the coming weeks, I’m offering you wisdom from two women who were wise about the art of slow and steady progress. First, here’s author Iris Murdoch: “One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats, and if some of these can be inexpensive and quickly procured so much the better.” Your second piece of insight about the wonders of prudent, piecemeal triumph comes from activist and author Helen Keller: “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian statesman Winston Churchill said that he was always ready to learn—even though there were times when he didn’t enjoy being taught. That might be a useful motto for you to adopt in the coming months. By my estimates, 2021 could turn out to bring a rather spectacular learning spurt—and a key boost to your lifelong education. If you choose to take advantage of the cosmic potentials, you could make dramatic enhancements to your knowledge and skill set. As Churchill’s message suggests, not all of your new repertoire will come easily and pleasantly. But I bet that at least 80% of it will. Start planning!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In accordance with upcoming astrological indicators, I’ve got some good advice for you courtesy of your fellow Capricorn David Bowie. You’ll be well-served to keep it in mind between now and January 1, 2021. “Go a little bit out of your depth,” counseled Bowie. “And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” For extra inspiration, I’ll add another prompt from the creator of Ziggy Stardust: “Once you lose that sense of wonder at being alive, you’re pretty much on the way out.” In that spirit, my dear Capricorn, please take measures to expand your sense of wonder during the next six weeks. Make sure you’re on your way in.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Most of us aren’t brilliant virtuosos like, say, Leonardo da Vinci or Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie. On the other hand, every one of us has a singular amalgam of potentials that is unique in the history of the world—an exceptional flair or an idiosyncratic mastery or a distinctive blend of talents. In my astrological opinion, you Aquarians will have unprecedented opportunities to develop and ripen this golden and glorious aspect of yourself in 2021. And now is a good time to begin making plans. I encourage you to launch your year-long Festival of Becoming by writing down a description of your special genius.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 1969, humans flew a spaceship to the moon and landed on it for the first time. In 1970, the state of Alabama finally made it legal for interracial couples to get married. That’s a dramatic example of how we humans may be mature and strong in some ways even as we remain backward and undeveloped in other ways. According to my astrological analysis, the coming months will be a highly favorable time for the immature and unseasoned parts of you to ripen. I encourage you to get started!

Homework: Name something you feel like begging for. Then visualize in great detail that this something is already yours. Report results to freewillastrology.com.

How Companion Bakeshop Makes the Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Christina Waters
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How Companion Bakeshop Makes the Perfect Pumpkin Pie

In a community graced with very fine pumpkin pie bakers, those from Companion Bakeshop stand out.

I asked Companion baker and founder Erin Lampel about her delicious holiday pies. Cooks, restaurateurs, and bakers like Lampel are heroes in this current difficult climate. They deserve our thanks, admiration, and patronage.

Do you keep the same recipe from year to year? (If it’s not broke, why fix it?)

ERIN LAMPEL: Yes, we keep the basic recipe the same. It is classic, simple and creates a delicious pie. What we are constantly changing is the process and method of how we follow the recipe. For example, what temperature and how long to bake, rotate or not rotate the pies. We are always tweaking and learning from these methods. 

What do you think makes your pumpkin pie so incredible? 

The combination of the local, organic squash and the local organic flour, both from Pie Ranch, make our pies really unique to the many other delicious options out there. Both the squash and local flour have intense and bright flavors you can’t find anywhere else. Super deep colored pasture raised eggs from Glaum really add to the deep orange color of the final pie. It’s such a nice feeling to know that purchasing our pies—especially this year—supports a local, small business/bakeshop that encompasses ethical management and employment practices. We strive to support the best ingredients and companies around that have like-minded practices.

Do you mind having it known that you use squash rather than pumpkin? 

We use Kabocha squash, grown by Pie Ranch and Brisa Ano Ranch. It is a lengthy process to cut the squash and roast them and then scoop out seeds and mush them to become our pumpkin puree.

Your crust is delicious. I think it’s a big part of the success of your product. 

We work really hard to incorporate the Pie Ranch flour and try to keep the layers flaky and light in texture. Sometimes it can be hard due to the milling. We do take a lot of pride in making sure our crust is spot on. I’m glad you have noticed!

Tasting Notes: Companion’s pumpkin pie has it all: not too sweet, great spice balance (the allspice does not overwhelm!), rich densely creamy texture, thin crust that is tasty but not crumbly. In a word, “exceptional.” Order your Companion Bakeshop Thanksgiving pies—pumpkin, pecan, and apple streusel—by Saturday, Nov. 21, for pick up at their Westside or Aptos locations on Nov. 24-25. companionbakeshop.com.

All the Sides from Barceloneta

A brilliant idea: You do the turkey, and let the amazing staff of Barceloneta supply the side dishes. From roasted brussels sprouts with pickled currants, fried capers and mint, to winter squash, stuffing with Spanish Chorizo, traditional gravy, cranberry sauce with ginger and orange, plus chicory salad with goat cheese, almonds and pomegranates. Plus an apple tart with salted caramel ice cream. Feeds four to five people. $150-180. Pick up Wednesday, Nov. 25, 1-5pm. eatbarceloneta.com.

Ser Charge

Winemaker Nicole Walsh never sleeps. The tireless entrepreneur of Ser Winery has finessed yet another win-win opportunity for us (maybe that should be wine-wine?). Now that former La Posta chef Katherine Stern is expanding her freelance culinary options, Walsh has invited the popular chef to showcase some of her expert pop-up meals at Ser’s Aptos Village Tasting Room. These should be on the Ser menu very soon, and will give us a chance to taste Stern’s distinctive dishes paired with Walsh’s distinctive Ser wines. Stay tuned!

Bad Animal is Back! 

Bookshop only (for the moment) open at reduced capacity,  4-8pm Friday-Saturday, and 2-6pm on Sunday, plus private appointments on the off days. Small snack menu and wine will be coming soon!. How exciting. Stop by and welcome them back. 

1011 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. badanimalbooks.com.

Why a New Transit Plan Supports Santa Cruz Commuter Train

Jacob Pierce
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Why a New Transit Plan Supports Santa Cruz Commuter Train

A new report on the future of passenger transit in Santa Cruz County looks at the future of transportation options for the Santa Cruz’s coastal rail corridor in more detail than previous studies.

The Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line is a valuable infrastructure asset—as it lies within one mile of 92 parks, 42 schools and approximately half of the county’s residents, according to the new Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis and Rail Network Integration Study.

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) purchased the corridor at the beginning of the previous decade. The commission first approved the purchase in 2010 and finalized it in 2012. Over the intervening years, it became the county’s most contested piece of real estate. The plan has always been to build a bike and pedestrian trail down the mostly abandoned rail line. RTC commissioners and staff have also wanted to introduce passenger rail transit alongside that proposed trail, a plan commonly known as the “rail trail.”

The analysis gave a favorable rating to the possibility of rail passenger rail transit on the corridor—news that the Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail and Trail celebrated on Facebook.

Ginger Dykaar, a senior transportation planner, helped spearhead the Alternatives Analysis and the Unified Corridor Study that preceded it. She encourages county residents to visit the RTC’s website and check out the public online open house for the project through Nov. 27.

“There’s a rare opportunity here to utilize this right of way as a dedicated transit facility,” she says. “We don’t have a dedicated transit facility in our community right now, and we’re working toward the bus on the shoulders on the highway, but having this [rail corridor] as a dedicated transit facility would really provide another service to people to travel through Santa Cruz County without being stuck in congestion. And it’ll provide an option for people of all ages and abilities to travel that that they may not have right now—people who don’t own a vehicle, people who are younger than the driving age, seniors.”

WHAT ABOUT BUS?

Activists from groups like Trail Now and Santa Cruz County Greenway have long raised concerns about the rail transit idea—such as cost, low projected ridership and the perceived narrowness of the corridor and various potential operational constraints. They argue that a new commuter train would squeeze out the proposed trail, which may be the most popular part of the plan.

But the concept of a trail-only corridor isn’t before the RTC at the moment. When the commission approved the corridor study in January 2019, it voted to pursue plans for some kind of transit on the corridor alongside the trail. That kicked off the new Alternatives Analysis to study what form of transit the RTC should introduce.

One of the frontrunners was passenger rail. But another was bus rapid transit, which would let county residents ride speedy buses up and down the corridor, unimpeded by traffic lights.

Trail-only and anti-train groups have also shown some openness to the bus rapid transit concept.

The RTC slowly narrowed down its options, cutting out a number of proposals, such as one for a podcar-type personal rapid transit system. The newly released Alternatives Analysis looks at four options: bus rapid transit, two types of rail transit and an “autonomous road train” that would run like a bus down the railroad tracks.

The good news for bus rapid transit is that it has the lowest projected cost and one of the highest projected ridership numbers out of any of the options studied. But it still didn’t end up the preferred option.

The report, which is in draft form, lists commuter rail transit and light rail transit as the top two preferred options. In total, each of those two options showed a higher number of benefits and fewer drawbacks, compared with bus rapid transit.

For instance, the report’s projections indicate that the two rail transit options have faster, more reliable travel times, and they would have fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

The bus concept has garnered significant interest, though.

It was the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District that pushed the RTC to begin an Alternatives Analysis in the first place. Metro CEO Alex Clifford warned two years ago that introducing passenger rail service along the mostly rail corridor could be a drain on Metro’s resources, including its funding. Among his concerns, Clifford worried that a new train would basically force the bus agency to reorient all its routes—cutting back on existing routes to instead start shuttling riders to and from the rail line instead, all while competing with the new train for valuable transportation dollars.

John Urgo, Metro’s planning and development director, says his colleagues still share some of those concerns. Although Metro enjoyed collaborating with RTC staff on the report, he feels that the report’s architects at the RTC looked at the major issues more narrowly than they otherwise could have. He worries the report, which is still in draft form, may be asking the wrong questions. He suggests that RTC staff may have been too busy studying what’s best for the corridor itself, when it could have looked at the bigger questions, like what’s best for the future of transportation in Santa Cruz County as a whole.

“We as a region have limited transportation dollars to work with,” he says. “And we should always be asking, ‘What is the best investment for those dollars, whether it’s on the rail corridor or not?”

TALL ORDER

The report also considers it a plus that new rail stations would support transit-oriented development, i.e. greater housing density near train stops.

To many policy makers, allowing for taller apartment buildings near transit stops is a no-brainer. Increased density is one way of meeting two goals at once—building more affordable housing and also making new growth more sustainable. However, many of the neighborhoods near the rail line are currently in single-family residential zoning. That means no one would be allowed to build other types of buildings there without either some type of rezoning effort at the local level or zoning reform at the state level. 

Even in the midst of the state’s housing shortage, zoning changes of all shapes and sizes can be a political hot potato in Santa Cruz County.

Andy Schiffrin, an RTC alternate serving on behalf of county Supervisor Ryan Coonerty, chaired an ad-hoc committee to help steer the Alternatives Analysis process. He doesn’t want to share too many of his feelings about the report before the public weighs in, but he’s generally supported studies of passenger rail feasibility.

At the same time, Schiffrin has shown misgivings about increasing density on transit corridors, due to quality-of-life concerns. As a Santa Cruz planning commissioner, he pushed the city to reverse course on its previous plans that could have allowed for taller buildings along some of the city’s busiest bus routes. Still, he says there are plenty of unknowns when it comes to future transportation and land-use decisions in the county.

“I’m always a little nervous about what the future holds. The preferred alternative doesn’t finalize anything,” Schiffrin says. “It’s a next step. Do we want to move in this direction? And there will be next steps in terms of developing a business plan and studying financing. There are all sorts of issues that need to be resolved.”

TRAILER PACKAGE

Bud Colligan, a founder of the anti-train group Greenway, sent a list of 14 questions about the Alternatives Analysis to RTC Executive Director Guy Preston—mostly about details he believes were left out. Colligan says he’s watched as the concerns he raised about the rail trail played out in real time.

He notes that cost estimates for the rail trail have been going up, and the rail line’s freight operator, Progressive Rail, has shown interest in pulling out of their controversial agreement with the RTC—a 2018 agreement that Greenway criticized at the time. RTC spokesperson Shannon Munz says the RTC is working to address the company’s concerns. 

Colligan—a venture capitalist who was involved in the early days of Apple—says government agencies lack the accountability that he’s used to seeing in the business world. “Steve Jobs would come in and fire this whole commission and start from scratch,” he says. 

Colligan is fresh off a campaign victory. His chosen candidate Manu Koenig, Greenway’s former executive director, unseated Supervisor John Leopold, an RTC commissioner, in this fall’s election. He says he and his supporters may look to run more candidates in the future.

At this point, RTC staff is focused on the Alternatives Analysis. Munz says they would like to get as much feedback as possible.

“We want to get as input as we can on these draft results before we take this to our commission,” she says. “That online open house is open until Nov. 27. People can go at any time, at their leisure and look around and provide input.”

There will be an online chat session about the Alternatives Analysis Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 6-7:30pm. For the information on the Alternatives Analysis and how to offer feedback, visit sccrtc.org/transitcorridoraa. 

O’Neill Sea Odyssey Offers Free Virtual Event for Students

Johanna Miller
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O’Neill Sea Odyssey Offers Free Virtual Event for Students

O’Neill Sea Odyssey, a local nonprofit that usually hosts hundreds of schoolchildren per year on its 65-foot catamaran on the Monterey Bay, has switched gears to bring education into people’s homes.

On Nov. 19, the organization will co-host a virtual event along with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, focusing on the science and beauty of bioluminescent waves.

Marine biologist Dr. Steve Haddock and seascape photographer Johnny Chien will lead the program. They will explore the “glowing waves” phenomenon, which is caused by algae blooms of sea plankton being churned up, usually in warmer waters.

Rachel Kippen, O’Neill Sea Odyssey’s executive director, said they were inspired to do the event after watching people’s reactions to the recent bioluminescent blooms that occurred along Santa Cruz County beaches this summer.

“People were flocking to the beaches in droves to see it,” Kippen said.

The family-friendly event will include presentations by Haddock, a senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and Chien, whose images of the recent plankton displays went viral online. The two will also talk about how their fields of science and art intersect. There will be a Q&A session near the end of the presentation.

As for O’Neill Sea Odyssey, Kippen said they are struggling, but holding fast. The organization has received support via a Paycheck Protection Program loan and various donations that have helped make its virtual programming possible.

“It’s been tough. The phrase ‘hands-on’ is literally in our mission statement,” Kippen said. “We want to be out on the water, teaching kids. But we’re doing OK. We’re powering through.”

For information on O’Neill Sea Odyssey visit: oneillseaodyssey.org. To register for the event, visit: bit.ly/2Uo85ky.

What Prop. 15’s Defeat Means for California Schools

GT Staff
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What Prop. 15’s Defeat Means for California Schools

Voters narrowly defeated Proposition 15, the tax measure that aimed to eliminate decades-long protections for commercial properties—dashing hopes of billions of dollars flowing into California’s cash-strapped public schools and community colleges in the coming years.

In the second-most expensive ballot fight this election, Prop. 15 supporters said the measure would help right what they viewed as a fundamental wrong in the state’s school funding system by increasing the share of property-tax revenues going toward schools. Opponents characterized Prop. 15 as harmful to small businesses and the state’s economy at a time when the pandemic has already strained or shuttered several local businesses.

“We’re the fifth-largest economy in the world,” said E. Toby Boyd, president of the California Teachers Association, the top benefactor for the Yes on 15 campaign, “and big corporations should be paying their fair share to invest in our students, our public schools, our families and our communities.”

The measure backed by labor unions, community organizations and several of the state’s progressive leaders challenged the state’s still-popular 1978 constitutional amendment, Prop. 13, and had been slightly trailing in the vote count since election night before the Associated Press called its defeat by a 51.8% No to 48.2% Yes margin. 

What happens now?

Legislative analysts projected Prop. 15 would have drawn between $6.5 billion and $11.5 billion in commercial property tax revenues, with 40% of the take going to K-12 schools and community colleges beginning in 2022-23.

So while the measure would have been a boon in the long term, any financial fruits borne out of a Prop. 15 win would not have arrived soon enough to address the immediate twin financial crises facing the state’s public schools: Tense efforts to physically reopen campuses and the state education budget’s looming cliff. 

California K-12 schools and community colleges, almost a decade removed from the steep Great Recession-era cuts that resulted in more than 30,000 teacher layoffs, were slated to receive a record $84 billion in state funding this year—up from $81.6 billion—before the pandemic cratered the state’s budget forecast.

Faced with a potential 10% cut to the state’s main school finance artery, the Local Control Funding Formula, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature protected school budgets this year by deferring $11 billion in state funding for schools. That move held schools’ funding flat by delaying payments to schools into the next fiscal year—some installments coming as late as seven months—but also means the state will have to confront a potentially taller school finance cliff starting next year.

“Yes, Prop. 15 would’ve helped in the long run, but it wouldn’t have fixed this short-term problem that the Legislature’s going to face in the coming spring,” said Bruce Fuller, a professor at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education.

As state education funding increased over the latter part of the decade, so too have fixed costs such as employee pension contributions and support services for growing populations of students in the state who have special needs or are English learners. 

Several communities across California with the state’s permission to reopen campuses are engaged in fraught debates among school leaders, teachers, parents and employee unions over when and how to do so. Among the sticking points has been whether schools have the resources to implement and sustain safety measures, such as surveillance coronavirus testing for employees. At a recent legislative hearing, state lawmakers acknowledged schools’ dearth of testing capacity was prolonging potential campus reopenings while noting that the state had little room in its budget to assist with local efforts.

State officials have suggested on several occasions schools tap into $5.3 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds allocated for schools this summer to purchase laptops and technology for remote learning, personal protective equipment and expand their coronavirus testing bandwidth.

“(This) is not magical money that can be stretched forever,” Troy Flint, spokesman for the California School Boards Association, said of the CARES Act funding, adding that schools are “in a very perilous position” financially. 

“Anytime there’s a new expectation or the state imposes a new requirement, it keeps pointing to that same pot of money,” Flint said.

Prop. 15 is the second education-related statewide measure to face defeat this year, in part, due to the tall shadow of the landmark measure commonly referred to as the third rail of state politics.

Voters also rejected in the March primary a $15 billion state bond for school construction that, because of the state’s sequential numbering requirements for ballot measures, shared the same name as the 1978 property-tax cut: Prop. 13. Though some political observers pointed to the measure’s confusing name as a reason for its defeat, others also noted that its supporters failed to adequately communicate to voters the bond’s importance. 

Despite Prop. 15’s defeat, supporters were optimistic late election night when initial returns came in, saying that the closeness of the vote suggested an appetite from voters to invest more money in public services such as K-12 education.

At the local level, school measures across the state continued to receive broad support—another sign of voters’ support for education funding, according to advocates. About 80% of the 60 K-12 and community college bonds on local ballots, including a $7 billion bond in Los Angeles Unified, appeared headed toward approval at press time, according to results gathered by Michael Coleman, publisher of the California Local Government Finance Almanac. Nine out of 13 parcel taxes, which require two-thirds voter approval, appeared to pass, though the votes remained too close to call in two communities. 

Another attempt at an education-related tax measure in the near future seems likely, though it’s too soon to predict how a future measure would be structured. Also unclear at the moment is whether education and community advocates would again mount their own effort, similar to Prop. 15, or if the governor and Legislature would get involved.

Before the state’s budget crunch, researchers affiliated with Stanford University had calculated it would take an additional $25 billion in school funding for all of the state’s 6.1 million public-school students to meet its learning standards. In recent years, some state lawmakers have wanted to go even further. The pandemic has increased those needs, according to advocates.

Newsom endorsed Prop. 15 in September, though did not campaign for the measure. The governor also said recently that he would not support legislation calling for higher income taxes.

Whatever the course, the road to more schools funding will likely require broad support among state leaders, education unions, advocacy groups as well as a unified message, said Carrie Hahnel, an independent education researcher and fellow with the Berkeley-based Opportunity Institute. 

Without federal or state intervention, Hahnel wrote in a recent Policy Analysis for California Education brief, schools are likely to face a downturn like the one they experienced nearly a decade ago. Because California’s public schools are heavily reliant on state income taxes, it makes them more susceptible to volatility amid the peaks and valleys of the state’s economy, Hahnel wrote.

In 2012, at the tail end of the recession as the state neared a similar school funding cliff, then-Gov. Jerry Brown campaigned aggressively for Proposition 30, a quarter-cent sales tax that aimed to prop up school funding. The message then was clear: Vote yes or schools stood to lose $6 billion in cuts. It passed, 55.4% to 44.6%. That kind of support from the governor might be what it takes to put a future ballot measure over the top. 

“I think we need to start from scratch and get everybody together and say what we are trying to do and how we can build this thing even if it means some compromises, some shared pain,” Hahnel said. “It’s very hard to hit the business community alone.”

Ricardo covers California education for CalMatters, a nonprofit nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

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