Page 535 | Good Times

Things To Do in Santa Cruz: Nov. 4-10

GT Staff

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November 4, 2020

Because many in-person events across Santa Cruz County have been canceled or postponed during the pandemic, Good Times is compiling a weekly list of virtual events hosted by local nonprofits, artists, fitness instructors and businesses. To submit your virtual event, send an email to ca******@*******es.sc.

ARTS AND MUSIC

11TH ANNUAL MORTON MARCUS POETRY READING Join the 11th annual Morton Marcus Poetry Reading, featuring honored guest Morgan Parker. Poet Gary Young will host the program, and the evening will include an announcement of the winner of the Morton Marcus Poetry Contest (recipient receives a $1,000 prize). The Morton Marcus Poetry Reading honors poet, teacher, and film critic Morton Marcus (1936–2009). Marcus was the 1999 Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year and a recipient of the 2007 Gail Rich Award. He taught English and Film at Cabrillo College for 30 years, was co-host of the radio program “The Poetry Show,” and was co-host of the television film review show, “Cinema Scene.” Nov. 12, 7pm. Register at: ucsc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cIV7oLUBTL67MuXifqdrnw.

GARDEN OF HOPE SANTA CRUZ FASHION SHOW The Garden of Hope Santa Cruz Fashion Show celebrates survivorship on its 11th anniversary. The American Cancer Society’s 11th Annual Garden of Hope Santa Cruz Fashion Show includes a silent auction, and the event will feature our cancer survivors as models, a few words from a American Cancer Society’s funded Researcher, and a brief memorial to honor cancer victims. We will also honor our donors and sponsors, without whom we cannot function. Once again, our host emcee will be Zach Friend, Santa Cruz County supervisor. To date, the gala event has raised nearly $1 million for American Cancer Society patient services, research, education and advocacy. The event will be held on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1pm with live entertainment. The silent auction registration will begin on Friday, Nov. 6 and close at 5pm on Sunday, Nov. 15. This will be a virtual event, so participants can participate from the comfort of their own homes via Zoom. This will allow participants the ease and time to bid on their favorite items! For more information, to donate and to register, visit: acssccr.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/2020SantaCruzFashionShow/tabid/1132511/Default.aspx

THE ART OF DYING WELL BOOK DISCUSSION Are you prepared for life’s final journey? Using “The Art of Dying Well” by Katy Butler as a guidebook, Vanessa Silverstein from Hospice of Santa Cruz County will lead a discussion exploring end of life planning to create peace of mind for ourselves and those we leave behind. A free copy of the book will be provided to the first 20 people who register. Thursday, Nov. 5, 5:30pm. To register visit: bit.ly/wpljourney.

MOVIES AT THE MAH: COCO Kick back and enjoy Movies at the MAH presented in partnership with Westside Video. Through the fall we will be screening films that inspire and help us grow through this moment together. Following our month-long series of events for Día de los Muertos, the MAH and Westside Video have teamed up to share the heartwarming 2017 animated film, “Coco.” So grab a drink or snack at the Market and join us in Abbot Square! Space is limited to allow for adequate physical distancing on the patio. There is no pre-registration required, drop-by when you can but, if possible, we recommend you arrive early to ensure you have a seat. Thursday, Nov. 5, 7pm. Learn more: santacruzmah.org/events/movies-nov.

SHE ADVENTURES FILM TOUR VIRTUAL SCREENING This collection of the most inspirational, heartwarming and entertaining films celebrates women in adventure from independent filmmakers around the globe. The She Adventures Film Tour includes a unique selection of films of varying lengths and styles covering topics relevant to women in the outdoors who aren’t afraid to get dirty in their pursuit of adventure. Our aim at the She Adventures Film Tour is to build a community who support adventurous women. By showcasing and celebrating the female adventurous spirit, we hope to make women in the outdoors more visible. But She Adventures isn’t just for women. She Adventures is for all of us to celebrate diversity and inclusion and the inspiring ladies of the adventure world. Presented by the Rio Theatre. Nov. 12-22 only. Once you start viewing the program you have 48 hours to finish watching it or until midnight on Nov. 22, whichever comes first. Learn more: riotheatre.com/events-2/2020/11/11/she-adventures-film-tour.

CATAMARAN ART SHOW AT R. BLITZER GALLERY Starved for real live artwork? Then don’t miss the Seventh Annual Catamaran Show at the R. Blitzer Gallery, featuring a curated array of original artwork from Linda Christensen, David Ligare, UCSC alumna Julie Heffernan, Frank Galuszka, Noah Buchanan, Joao De Brito and Philip Rosenthal. While you’re there don’t miss artworks by Robert Blitzer, Alan Sonneman, Rand Launer and handmade stringed instruments by luthier Charles Sutton. Open now through Nov. 27. Tuesday and Thursday noon-5 pm or by appointment. Strict Covid-19 protocols followed (masks, five or six people at a time, social distancing). R. Blitzer Gallery, 2801 Mission St., Santa Cruz. 831-458-1217.

CLASSES

FALL/WINTER BASEBALL CLINICS These clinics have an emphasis on fun while working through drills to improve infield and outfield work, hitting, pitching, and athleticism. Players learn the foundational skills needed to become better ball players, athletes and young adults. We’ll bring the joy of baseball to life by playing mini games and creating friendly competition! Join us every Sunday for a full hour and a half of baseball! Clinics are held indoors and outdoors and will take place rain or shine. Three player minimum required for class to take place. Six player maximum cap for each class. Sundays at noon. Learn more: paradigmsport.com.

SALSA SUELTA IN PLACE FREE ZOOM SESSION For all dance-deprived dancers! Free weekly online session in Cuban-style Salsa Suelta for experienced beginners and up. May include Mambo, ChaChaCha, Afro-Cuban Rumba, Orisha, Son Montuno, Cuban-Salsa. Ages 14 and up. Thursdays at 7pm. Contact to get Zoom link: salsagente.com.

TECH TALKS: WHAT’S NEW ON IOS 14 Learn about the privacy and productivity features and settings available to you with the new iOS 14 on the Apple iPhone. Join us virtually as we demonstrate the iOS 14 highlights—enabled on the iPhone’s newest operating system. iOS 14 is compatible with the iPhone 6s and later. It is recommended that you download iOS 14 beforehand if you wish to participate in the active demonstrations. Thursday, Nov. 5, 11am. Register now: santacruzpl.libcal.com/event/7215778.

NAMI FAMILY-TO-FAMILY CLASS NAMI’s Family-to-Family Class is an eight-week educational program for family and friends of adults with mental health challenges. Learn about how to support your loved one, gain valuable communication and coping skills, and become educated on the latest mental health research. Class is led by two trained volunteers with lived experience caring for someone with mental health conditions. Sign up online and learn more at namiscc.org/family-to-family.html. Mondays and Wednesdays at 6pm.

CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION WEEKEND EXPRESS CLASS This Saturday and Sunday virtual class from Dominican Hospital is intended for expectant mothers and their labor support team. Focus will be on the birth process, including the stages of labor and when to go to the hospital. Non-pharmaceutical coping techniques for pain, including breath work, mindfulness practices, supportive touch and positions for labor and birth, along with standard hospital procedures, pain medication options, medical interventions, cesarean birth, postpartum recovery, newborn procedures and breastfeeding basics. In this class, we will actively practice positions and coping techniques for pain, so please be dressed for movement. Please register for the PEP class session. Only after you have completed this process, the Zoom meeting information will be provided to you via email prior to your class. Classes run 1-5:30pm on these days: Nov. 14-15 and Dec. 19-20.

COMMUNITY

EVENING OF WINE AND ROSES Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley announces its annual fundraising event, An Evening of Wine and Roses. This will be a virtual event, Friday, Nov. 6, at 6pm, including an online auction from Nov. 2-10. With each purchase of an auction item and/or Wine and Roses Experience, funds go to support Community Health Trust programs and services of fostering health and equity for all in Pajaro Valley. No fee required to register, and all purchases support Community Health Trust. Wine and Roses Coupon Book for purchase of $50 each. Enjoy discounts at the eateries you’ve come to love at Wine and Roses throughout the entire year.

TALES TO TAILS GOES VIRTUAL SCPL’s early childhood literacy program, Virtual Tales to Tails, has moved to a new time slot: Mondays, 3:30-4:30pm. At the end of your school day, hop online and have fun reading at your own pace to an audience of therapy dogs, cats and other guest animals. Have math homework? Good news! Your furry audience would also love to learn how to count, add and subtract. Register online. Registrants receive reminders, links to the live program, and fun (educational) activities to complete and have showcased on future sessions Learn more at santacruzpl.libcal.com/event/6764938.

GROUPS

VIRTUAL YOUNG ADULT (18-30) TRANSGENDER SUPPORT GROUP A weekly peer support group for young adults aged 18-25 who identify as transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, agender, or any other non-cisgender identity. This is a social group where we meet and chat among ourselves, sharing our experiences and thoughts in a warm, welcoming setting. Our meetings will be held on Discord during the shelter-in-place order. For more info, contact Ezra Bowen at tr***@*************er.org.

LGBTQNBI+ SUPPORT GROUP FOR CORONAVIRUS STRESS This weekly LGBTQNBI+ support group is being offered to help us all deal with stress during the shelter-in-place situation that we are experiencing from the coronavirus. Feel free to bring your lunch and chat together to get support. This group is offered at no cost and will be facilitated by licensed therapists Shane Hill, Ph.D., and Melissa Bernstein, LMFT #52524. Learn how to join the Zoom support group at diversitycenter.org/community-calendar.

OUTDOOR

FISH AND CHIPS: TRACKING TUNAS AND SHARKS IN OUR BLUE SERENGETI The Earth’s oceans cover the majority of the surface area of our planet, yet our understanding of the marine ecosystem is limited. Dr. Barbara Block, Professor of Biology in Marine Sciences at the Stanford University Hopkins Marine Station, presents her (rock-star level, pioneering) work studying tunas and sharks across our global oceans, enabling proactive fisheries management and conservation. Part of the Center for the Blue Economy Speaker Series at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Free, open to public, no registration required. Online via Zoom. Tuesday, Nov. 10, 6pm. Learn more: go.miis.edu/sustainability. For questions, contact Rachel C., Center for the Blue Economy, cb*@**is.edu, 831-647-4183 (leave message to receive call back).

SUSTAINABILITY, SYSTEMS THINKING, AND WELL-BEING: GIVING VOICE TO DATA Oregon is the only state in the union with a vision for the consumption of materials extending to 2050 that is ratified by the legislature and supported by the Environmental Quality Commission. The Vision expands the charter of the solid waste management to examine material consumption and the associated environmental burdens from a system wide perspective. This expanded view, referred to as systems thinking or life cycle approach, uncovers environmental hotspots within the material flows that support economic activities. This unique state-level charter combining research, long term strategic outlook, and policy perspective is well-placed to identify options to reduce environmental and social hotspots related to consumption in the States. Speaker: Mr. Minal Mistry, Business Initiatives Lead, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Part of the Environmental Justice and Sustainability Speaker Series at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies; Free, open to public, no registration required. Online via Zoom. Thursday, Nov. 5, 12:30pm. Learn more: go.miis.edu/sustainability. For questions, contact Rachel C., Center for the Blue Economy, cb*@**is.edu, 831-647-4183 (leave message to receive call back).

TIBETAN SOUND HEALING MEDITATION OUTDOORS Sound healing is a sacred and powerful meditative practice that has grown enormously in popularity in recent years. Come join a small, socially distanced, outdoor gathering in our meadow. Let Kalden’s soothing sound meditation bring ease to your nervous system and aid in the expression of positive feelings such as peace, joy and connectedness. Sunday, Nov. 8, 4pm. Learn more: landofmedicinebuddha.org/events.

ASTRONOMY ON TAP Members of the UCSC Astronomy Department will be hosting a virtual “astronomy on tap,” an accessible, engaging, free science presentation on topics ranging from planets to black holes to galaxies to the beginning of the Universe. This week we’ll be discussing fast radio bursts with Sunil Simha (UCSC) and Jay Chittidi (CU Boulder), mysterious interstellar eruptions likely related to neutron stars. In 2007, astronomers discovered a peculiar class of objects now called fast radio bursts (FRBs). These events emit light at radio wavelengths for less than a few milliseconds, yet can release as much energy as our Sun does in a day. We will talk about the discovery of FRBs, our current understanding of these mysterious events, and a new method that uses FRBs to measure the distribution of matter in the universe. Thursday, Nov. 5, 6:30pm. Watch at: youtube.com/watch?v=1MLDxRQZlzA.

SEA CHESS CHARITY TOURNAMENT The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is hosting its first online Sea Chess Charity Tournament to benefit conservation efforts of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary. The event will feature two tournaments, with an additional Simultaneous Exhibition against Grandmaster Sahaj Grover. There will be a $15 admission fee for the 5 Rounds G15 Rapid event, and a $10 admission fee for the 5 Rounds G3 + 2 Blitz event. Alternatively, a $20 flat fee will get you admission to both tournament events. There will also be a separate $15 entrance fee for the Simultaneous Exhibition against GM Sahaj Grover. Prizes will be awarded for each of the different event types and will include chess lessons by Woman International Master Charlize van Zyl, GM Sahaj Grover, National Master Gjon Feinstein, and International Grandmaster Ilya Smirin. IGM Ilya Smirin was ranked 13th highest in the world and was the winner of the World Open Tournament in 2014 and 2015. All funds raised during this event will go towards supporting the Monterey Bay Sanctuary’s BayNet, Team OCEAN, and Whale Disentanglement programs. Saturday, Nov. 7, 9am. Learn more: montereybayfoundation.org/event/sea-chess-charity-tournament.

THE STORY OF PLASTIC, FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION

Catch the film screening via individual email link sent to registered attendees, watched any time prior to discussion. Join the community discussion Monday, Nov. 9, 7-8pm via Zoom. Registration required. Register at: eventbrite.com/e/the-story-of-plastic-individual-film-screening-and-group-discussion-tickets-120660600103.

Find the Zoom link for discussion and all other details at: middlebury.edu/institute/events/story-plastic-individual-film-screening-and-community-discussion-11-09-2020. For questions contact: Rachel C. at cb*@**is.edu, visit centerfortheblueeconomy.org, or call 831-647-4183 (leave message to receive call back).

Farm-to-Table Menu Complements Craft Beers at Discretion Brewing

Andrew Steingrube

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November 4, 2020

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Farm-to-Table Menu Complements Craft Beers at Discretion Brewing

Hidden just off 41st Avenue in Soquel is Discretion Brewing, housed in a chic modern industrial building.

Owners Rob and Kathleen Genco opened it in 2013, saying they wanted to be a part of the brewery-and-beer market boom here in Santa Cruz, and to create a family business that was sustainable and gave back to the community. They are open for dine-in food and beer from 12-7pm Wednesday-Monday, and for beer only from 12-5pm on Tuesday. GT caught up with Rob, who shared his thoughts on the business, beer, and food.

What are some of your most popular beers?

ROB GENCO: Our flagship beer is our Uncle Dave’s IPA. It’s a well-balanced IPA with a malt-balanced flavor, a hint of peppery spice that comes from the rye, and fruity herbal hop aromas. It recently won a bronze medal in the category of English IPA at the Great American Beer Festival, which is the most prestigious beer contest in the world. We also have our Shimmer Pils, a refreshing German-style pilsner that is crisp and has a balanced hoppiness. In our barrel-aged program, one beer we feature is the Three Fawns. It’s a Belgian-style triple-aged in American bourbon barrels, and has a boozy warmth, redolent of vanilla, black pepper, and honey along with soft berry notes.

How would you characterize the menu?

Santos Majano owns the restaurant side of the business, and his menu focuses on farm-to-table, locally sourced, and exquisitely prepared gourmet meals. Every week, his menu changes—recently he has featured chili-fried rice with egg, cauliflower, roasted carrots, chives, house pickles, nori, and toasted sesame seeds, with an optional pork belly addition. He has also done a pan-roasted local halibut, with butternut squash purée, bok choy, and Calabrian chili butter sauce. Another recent dish he featured is an autumn squash risotto, with maple-glazed carrots, roasted mushrooms, arugula, toasted pecans, and Parmigiano Reggiano.

What’s the best thing about your outdoor beer garden?

From the beginning, we planted our garden with edible plants, fruits and vegetables, so it’s a living garden that changes with the seasons. We have about 12 tables out there, with sunny and shady spots, and with the soft textures of plants and redwood stumps. We have also recently more than doubled the space of the outdoor beer garden to support safe Covid-19 dining.

2703 41st Ave., Suite A, Soquel. 831-316-0662, discretionbrewing.com.

Opinion: Nov. 4, 2020

Steve Palopoli

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November 4, 2020

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EDITOR’S NOTE

There are so many annual events that are completely off the table for 2020, and if you’d asked me back in the spring—as it was becoming all-too-clear that this pandemic would be disrupting every aspect of our lives for the foreseeable future—I would have thought Pivot was going to be one of those casualties. I mean, the eye-popping annual event as we knew it checked every box for Covid-19-era impossibility: a huge live event attended by hundreds of people, with a cast of dozens of designers, artists, runway models and event organizers working together to stage a uniquely Santa Cruz version of a fashion show. At best, I would have figured they’d be able to put together some kind of virtual version.

I would, however, have been seriously underestimating Tina Brown and Rose Sellery, who created Pivot as a successor to Santa Cruz’s long-running and always cutting-edge FashionART show. Somehow they managed to take this most undoable of events and not only turn it into a film—which is cool in itself—but keep the live aspect by showing it as a drive-in event. How did they do it? Well, Wallace Baine explains that in this week’s cover story.

To bring this kind of energy and innovation to the ongoing slog known as “adapting to the pandemic” is not just admirable, it’s a real gift to the community that made Pivot a success in the first place, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. We all need this right now. Thank you, Tina and Rose.

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

DeCinzo Cartoons Unacceptable

Re: “Toon Out (GT, Oct. 28)” We, as leaders of the Santa Cruz Jewish community, want to express our views regarding a number of cartoons by DeCinzo that had been posted on the Trail Now website and have since been removed. One of these cartoons was reused in a video from a local candidate, who also removed it. Both parties have apologized to the community, and we accept their apologies.

There is no room in our public forum for this offensive discourse, whether it be by cartoon or any other type of communication. Whether consciously or unconsciously, DeCinzo employs classic anti-Semitic tropes against a political candidate in these cartoons, depicting him hunched over with an enlarged nose and carrying bags of money. One only needs to search “anti-Semitic cartoons” to see scores of depictions in the Library of Congress just like this used by the Nazis.

We find DeCinzo’s work dangerous, offensive and unacceptable.

We have been seeing a rise of anti-Semitic incidents across our country. In 2019, there were 2,107 anti-Semitic incidents, which included deadly attacks by gunmen at a synagogue in Southern California, a New Jersey kosher grocery store and a stabbing at a rabbi’s home in New York.

Given this disturbing trend, members of the Jewish community are legitimately disturbed and frightened by the use of these caricatures. We therefore call for their complete removal from the public domain, we ask everyone to refrain from reposting and sharing them for any reason, and we issue our fervent plea for a return to civil discourse based on the merits of issues rather than personal attacks.

We cannot tolerate hatred against anyone in our community. We must stand up against racism, anti-Semitism hatred against the LGBTQ community and immigrants or any other form of hatred that causes harm to members of our community.

Rabbi Paula Marcus, Rabbi Shifra Weiss-Penzias | Temple Beth El

Missing DeCinzo

Re: “Toon Out”: Thank you for your informative article about Steven DeCinzo.

I sometimes wonder where he went to when canceled by the Sentinel. His work was a real gift to all of us.

When I moved to Santa Cruz eight years ago, I really enjoyed his editorial cartoons in the Santa Cruz Sentinel (which is now hedge-fund-owned and only a skeleton of its former self).

I was surprised sometimes to read letters to the Sentinel editor criticizing DeCinzo’s cartoons, which I felt demonstrated consistently wonderful satirical wit and a perceptive ability to show how “the emperor has no clothes.”

Marc Manger, MD | Live Oak

Reject Mean-Spirited Campaigns

The Santa Cruz County Democratic Party believes in equality, liberty, and justice for all – the right of a woman to choose her own future; the right to fair treatment in the criminal justice system; the right to excellent public education; the right to affordable housing; the right to clean air, water and protected natural resources; access to health care and the right to live without fear of hate crimes or gun violence.

We are very concerned with mean-spirited campaign tactics and condemn hateful words and deeds.

We proudly support John Leopold for County Supervisor, Nancy de la Pena for Superior Court Judge, Kristen Petersen for Capitola City Council, Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson and Martine Watkins for Santa Cruz City Council, Jack Dilles for Scotts Valley City Council, Felipe Hernandez for Cabrillo College Trustee, Maria Orozco for PVUSD Trustee, and Bruce Daniels and Tom LaHue for Soquel Creek Water Board.

Coco Raner-Walter | Chairperson, Santa Cruz County Democratic Party

ONLINE COMMENTS
Re: Housing Crisis Solutions

I am shocked at how you have diminished and insulted the legitimacy of Don’t Bury The Library, an organized campaign of hundreds of residents who have worked tirelessly for almost four years to have the downtown branch restored, renewed, upgraded and modernized—which is what voters were led to believe would happen if they voted yes on the ballot measure.

First, as though to belittle our organization, you refer to us as a “club.” Then you diminish our legitimate, multiple concerns about the misuse of Measure S funds approved by voters, by saying our primary concern is that we love the library where it is. Yes, we want the library where a library has been for 116 years, an integral part of the City’s Civic Center. We also want transparency in government and that did not happen with the behind close doors plans for a parking garage and library package obviously made as soon as the June 2016 votes had been counted. Maybe even sooner.

— Jean Brocklebank

The lack of housing is endemic of all of California. And the issue has been driven by the lure of low wage workers. Mostly from south of the US border. Businesses can hire these workers for less and treat them with less respect than they would US. People lured by better wages than in their home country are happy to weather the abuse. With 2.5 million of them in California it is no wonder that we have a lack of housing yet with only 125k homeless it would only take a reduction of 10% off them to provide twice as many homes needed to house all of our homeless. If businesses were better discouraged not to break the law it would be easier to balance the needs of our poor with our housing providers. People should direct our energies were it will do the most good. Push for increased penalties on businesses whom hire and abuse these workers as well as reducing the ease and incentive for workers to migrate here. This is the quickest way to provide housing for those of us whom need it most.

— Chelsea Wagner

Re: Sean Arlt Shooting

Thank you for following up on the Sean Arlt tragedy. It was a killing that did not need to happen. As a member of the city council in 2018, I recall that yes, indeed, the will of the council was to hire a full-time social worker as part of our negotiations with the family. This unspeakable tragedy has been so difficult on the Arlt family and on the police who were involved in the shooting. My thoughts and prayers go out to them. City Manager Martín Bernal’s continued obfuscation on this issue—along with many others, like his misdirected wrong-headed efforts towards our burgeoning homeless population, not directing resources to assist over-taxed councilmembers trying to perform their job, and protecting the now $750,000 golf course deficit—wreaks of incompetence at the highest level of local government. Incidentally, Bernal, who is unelected and the highest paid city bureaucrat, had long ago worn out his welcome in the city of Santa Cruz, but once the pandemic began, instead of being shown the door, he was booted up another notch to become the crisis “Czar” and is in now in charge of our city’s pandemic response efforts. Go figure.

— Chris Krohn

OP-ED
Ken Doctor’s False Narrative

By Dan Pulcrano

In times when the “fake news” slur is deployed with regularity to discredit the media’s reporting, maintaining a news organization’s credibility is a baseline responsibility. So what does it mean if a journalistic enterprise’s founding mission is based on a bald-faced lie?

Media pundit Ken Doctor has raised $2.5 million by shopping a false narrative that Santa Cruz is a “news desert”—a community without reporting, one that’s uninformed and parched for news. It is anything but.

For decades, Santa Cruz County has been a hotbed of competitive newspapering. Even with print’s well-documented decline, Santa Cruz defies the trend, supporting multiple sources of local information.

Although its newsroom staffing has suffered under the ownership of a Manhattan hedge fund, Santa Cruz still has a daily newspaper—unlike many communities of its size. The weekly of which I’m publisher, Good Times, has triple the daily’s circulation and this year was selected as the best weekly in the state, winning the California Journalism Awards’ coveted General Excellence Award.

But wait, there’s more. The county is also home to Watsonville’s 152-year-old Pajaronian, which back in the day won a Pulitzer Prize and has been modernized since its purchase by Good Times last year. Likewise, the Press Banner, serving the communities of the Santa Cruz Mountains and San Lorenzo Valley, continues a proud 60-year legacy. Tiny Aptos, Doctor’s hometown, has competing community newspapers. And the all-digital Santa Cruz Local has gained traction with solid reporting and a bootstrapped community engagement model.

To characterize Santa Cruz as a news desert insults the amazing work being done by local writers and editors who have been covering devastating wildfires and an unprecedented health crisis under the most adverse conditions ever.

How did the Knight Foundation and the Google News Initiative take Ken Doctor at his word that Santa Cruz was a community that was without civic reporting? As they spend hundreds of millions on news experiments around the world, it’s difficult to do due diligence and fact check every claim of news desertification in grant applications.

These well-intentioned media funders are trying to help save local news, but instead could wind up destroying the last of the authentic community voices.

Lookout Local imports expensive Big City talent, such as the Chicago Sun-Times’ top editor. Doctor has also used his fat checkbook to raid the talent of local newsrooms, including Good Times and the Santa Cruz Sentinel, at a particularly fragile time, as newspapers struggle to survive the worst-ever advertising drop with so many businesses closing or operating at reduced capacity.

I’ve watched digital news sites with similar funders cozy up to special interests rather than hold them accountable. They generally cover the obvious stories—such as crimes, press releases, dining news and scheduled government meetings—while chasing search terms in hopes of boosting traffic. They sometimes lock their premium content behind a paywall and use advanced tools cooked up in media labs to monetize their content.

The albeit idiosyncratic nature of a small business-supported news model ensures independence, a variety of voices and is sustainable provided there isn’t subsidized competition to divide the traffic, drive up costs, strip-mine talent and undermine the marketing channels on which local businesses depend.

Independent local media has historically given voice to emerging journalists rather than get in bidding wars for established marquee names. Our company, which traces its origins to Santa Cruz in the 1980s, invests in the communities where we operate. We buy and renovate old buildings, start Restaurant Weeks, Burger Weeks and Beer Weeks to help the local restaurateurs, and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for nonprofits through our Santa Cruz Gives initiative.

If Mr. Doctor wants to make a genuine social contribution by erasing news deserts, he should take his millions and move to a real one. There are 188 counties in America without a local newspaper, according to the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media at the University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Media.

Of course, that would take some real pioneering.

Most of them are poor and landlocked, too far away to listen to the seals bark on West Cliff Drive or gaze over pinot noir vineyards in the Corralitos hills.

Dan Pulcrano is the publisher of Good Times and the CEO of the alternative media group Weeklys.

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

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

GOOD IDEA

THERE’S A MAP FOR THAT

The CZU Lightning Complex fire is contained, but the damage may not be over. Santa Cruz County has released its debris flow evacuation map, highlighting where officials anticipate there could be bad mudslides this winter. Following the 2017 Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara County, debris flows in Montecito caused 23 deaths. There will likely be evacuations this rainy season. The county urges residents of the area to check out the new Debris Flow Hazard Risk Map, at community.zonehaven.com.

GOOD WORK

NO SCARY SURPRISES

In line with social distancing guidelines, downtown Santa Cruz saw a relatively quiet Halloween this year. From the night of Saturday, Oct. 31, through the early morning hours of Nov. 1, the Santa Cruz Police made 10 arrests: nine for public intoxication and one for carrying an illegally concealed knife. Officers also gave out seven infraction citations, all of them punitive triple-fine violations enacted for the holiday. A police press release indicated that there were around 4,000 people downtown, a far smaller crowd than in years past.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
-James Baldwin

Annual Pivot Fashion Show Shapeshifts for Movie Event

Wallace Baine

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November 3, 2020

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Annual Pivot Fashion Show Shapeshifts for Movie Event

For most people, fashion in 2020 means flannel PJ bottoms (with or without booties), that one Cornership tour T-shirt you’ve had since 1998, and the one collared top used exclusively for Zoom meetings. And, of course, masks. Lots and lots of face coverings—designer masks, branded masks, disposable masks, homemade masks, statement masks.

The fashion industry, too, has adapted to the pandemic era. Take, for example, the work of fashion designer and wearable-art maven Tatiana Elliston, one of several artists featured in Pivot in the Pandemic, the film version of the annual art show presented by the Santa Cruz-based fashion presenter Pivot: The Art of Fashion.

Elliston is presenting a new line of apparel in which the face covering is part of the garment.

“It’s a design element,” says the Peninsula-based artist. “I was thinking of the comfort of the wearer. Every time we go for a walk these days, we carry these masks with us. But in my jackets—warmer for cold weather, or lightweight for times like now when it’s really hot—the mask is always near the face. It has a zipper. You just unzip it and, if you need it, it takes a fraction of a second to put it on. You zip it up and it covers your face. I wanted it for myself, and that’s why I made it.”

Elliston, like many independent designers, has been stuck at home in her sewing room for the past several months as she and her family have been in self-imposed quarantine. That has enhanced her already strong commitment to use “upcycled” materials—that is, reusing fabric and other material designed for other purposes.

“I literally didn’t leave the house for months,” she says. “We were just going through all our existing fabrics, trying to use whatever materials we could find in my garage or my friends’ garages.”

The result are bespoke pieces that address not only the necessity to wear masks, but also reflect the prevailing mood of 2020.

“I do black, brown, and gray,” she says of the selection of colors of her masked jackets. “That’s my mood right now.”

Pivot in the Pandemic, the film in which Elliston’s new designs are featured, is itself an adaptation to the pandemic. Led by designer/artists Tina Brown and Rose Sellery, Pivot has for years built a Santa Cruz-based fashion industry on the basis of a live runway show. As veterans of the long-time FashionART show held at the Civic Auditorium every year, both Brown and Sellery knew about building buzz and creating inspirations for designers through the medium of a runway show, either at the Civic, the Rio Theatre, or the hallways of the Wrigley Building.

The Covid-19 shutdown obviously changed all that. Suddenly, the Pivot fashion show, a beloved touchstone for Santa Cruz’s creative class, was no longer possible under pandemic protocols. The solution? A movie.

Tina Brown says the idea came from something similar that Pivot was forced into with the FashionTEEN show that was scheduled for April, just a few weeks after the original shelter-in-place order.

“These kids had been working on these pieces,” says Brown of the spring teen fashion show, “and many of them were already finished. And we kept thinking, ‘How can we make this happen?’ So, we had them video themselves with their designs, and we made a virtual show.”

It was only later, when they were discussing the larger Pivot show scheduled for the fall with staffers at Arts Council Santa Cruz County, that the idea was first floated to make a Pivot movie.

“Well,” says Brown, “we originally said, ‘No, Pivot is a much bigger production. It would be much harder and more expensive to do that.’ But two weeks later, we went back and said, ‘You know what, I think we can do it.’ It was either do that or do nothing.”

Of course, as a live event, a movie can be just as problematic as a runway show—unless it adopts the drive-in model. Pivot at the Pandemic will be screened twice, on Nov. 7 and 8, at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s makeshift drive-in at the Boardwalk’s River Street parking lot. After that, the film will be offered as a pay-per-view event online on Pivot’s website, pivot-artfashion.com.

The film, says Brown, is something more than a pre-recorded version of the regular runway show. It was shot at two Santa Cruz County locations: the closed Rispin Mansion in Capitola, and in the store Curated By the Sea on Front Street in downtown Santa Cruz.

“There’s no real runway,” says Brown. “It’s more that we have set up scenarios for each designer. It’s going to be a kind of fashion/art exploration, but it’s not necessarily models walking down a catwalk.”

The film format allows viewers to get a closer look at some of the designs than they would normally be allowed at a runway show.

“There is a little bit of a narrative,” says Brown. “We interviewed the artists and designers and when we shot their segments, we got to talk to them about their inspirations, or how they came up with their designs, or something else about their work. And that’s exciting, too, because you don’t normally get to hear the artists talk unless you hang around after the show and talk to them in person.”

Pivot, like FashionART before it, has cultivated a stable of familiar names of fashion artists and wearable-art designers widely known in Santa Cruz and throughout the Bay Area. Many of them will be part of the Pandemic film, including the vivacious and playful Charlotte Kruk, famous for her dazzling candy-wrapper dresses, and I.B. Bayo, the African-born designer known for his unique blend of traditional African motifs and contemporary styles.

Other familiar names include Lily Marotto, Ellen Brook, Ruby Roxanne, and Rose Sellery, who—besides acting as one of the show’s co-directors—is also one of its most high profile wearable-art visionaries. Missing from this year’s show, alas, is Santa Cruz’s finest avatar of out-there fashion: the Great Morgani.

On top of the known names, there are a handful of first-timers as well, including artist Peter Esparza, showcasing his designs inspired by Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Sudnya Shroff, an artist aiming to spark a dialogue about racism through her use of color. Others showcasing their work are Teri Pelio, Lisa Agliano, Carol Lee Shanks, Rachel Conable and Rigel Hunter, Stephanie Metz, Matthew Molcillo, and Carrie Eheler.

And, yes, most of the designs feature some kind of take on the Covid-style face covering.

“Some did it tongue-in-cheek,” says Brown. “Others were really beautiful, where the mask matches the gown. Bayo did a beaded mask. The designers would all match them up with the best outfits, which is really kind of cool, because (masks) are really going to be a new fashion accessory. Somebody told me, ‘I can’t believe we’re doing this.’ And I was like, ‘Hey, it’s just another accessory, just another way to have fun with your fashion.”

Tatiana Elliston’s design turns a sweatshirt into a mask-ready garment, with a zip-up neck piece that reaches the nose. “It’s up to people what they will buy,” she says, “but we’re looking for a way to (cover the face) with the most comfort and convenience.”

Pivot in the Pandemic will be released just days after a traumatic national election and toward the end of a year of pain and uncertainty for people throughout Santa Cruz County and the entire country. Brown says that Pivot is trying to make what they do a part of how people cope with and transcend a difficult time.

“We’re really trying to push the importance of art right now,” she says. “We all need art in this moment, in trying to deal with all the things going on, between Covid-19, natural disasters, the division in the country. All of that stuff is affecting everybody, and we felt we needed to do this. These wearable art pieces are really exploring how people feel during the time, how we’re figuring our way out of it, and how things are going to be in the future. All of that expression is good for people to see. People need something fun to watch.”

Pivot in the Pandemic will take place Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7-8. Gates open at 6pm. Showtime is 7pm. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Drive-In, 400 Beach St., River Street parking lot, Santa Cruz. $40 per car (with up to five people in one car). Learn more at: pivot-artfashion.com.

Santa Cruz County Ups Cannabis Enforcement for Harvest Season

C.J. Prusi

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November 3, 2020

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Santa Cruz County Ups Cannabis Enforcement for Harvest Season

Joy* recently got a visit from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office for some cannabis-growing violations on her property.

She first started growing cannabis in the ’90s to stimulate her appetite while undergoing therapies for cancer. Now cancer-free, she maintains her medical card to help with her appetite, and for insomnia. But after the visit from law enforcement, Joy got hit with a hefty fine.

“It’s just all about money. How much money can they get? And they don’t care who they get it from,” says Joy, who recently paid the $125 fee to file an appeal.

A recent report from the Cannabis Licensing Office—covering enforcement from July through September—lists four red tags issued, 20 administrative citations issued, eight citations appealed, $20,600 paid, $928,721 still owed, 10 firearms seized, 31 site inspections, and $14,344 seized.

Law enforcement has been known to fly over rural areas, looking for hoop houses and other signs of under-the-table operations. Santa Cruz cannabis attorney Trevor Luxon thinks county residents and growers may not realize how easily sheriff’s officers can access someone’s property to do a search.

“A lot of people don’t realize it doesn’t really take a whole lot to get a search warrant. A couple of quick-snapped photos or a really high PG&E bill—that’s plenty,” says Luxon, a partner at the law firm Rice, Luxon & Bolster-Grant.

Luxon and other cannabis attorneys say the raids, fines and crackdowns have been getting a lot higher in recent weeks.

And Santa Cruz County officials aren’t really disputing it.

“There is increased enforcement. You know why? It’s grow season. That’s why,” Santa Cruz County Communications Manager Jason Hoppin says. “So we’re at the end of grow season; this happens every year. There’s increased enforcement during that [time].”

FIRM HANDSHAKE

Before going into private practice, cannabis attorney Robin Bolster-Grant worked more than 15 years as a planner in the Santa Cruz County Planning Department.

After that, Bolster-Grant served as the country’s second-ever manager for the Cannabis Licensing Office. During her tenure, she helped write the original ordinance for the non-retail commercial cannabis businesses, including for cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, and enforcement.

“The history of growing cannabis in Santa Cruz County goes back generations,” Bolster-Grant says. “So the idea was to keep moving people toward legalization and, when you screwed up, get you back on track.”

After leaving the county, Bolster-Grant co-founded the Rice, Luxon & Bolster-Grant law firm with Luxon and legendary cannabis attorney Ben Rice, who’s best known for successfully defending the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana in 2002, after the dispensary was blindsided by a federal drug bust.

Until recently, failure to comply with the portion of the county’s cannabis code known as Chapter 7.128—which establishes the licensing system, resulted in fines not to exceed $2,500 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second in a year, and $7,500 for each subsequent infraction. That changed over the past summer.

On June 30, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors passed Ordinance No. 5333 amending Chapter 7.128. The changes allow for new administrative citations for non-licensed growers. These fines include $100 per live cannabis plant in excess of six plants, $100 per package of cannabis product, $100 per gram of concentrate, $100 per pound of cannabis biomass, and $500 per pound of flower.

Bolster-Grant says the county has the authority to punish those growing for medicinal purposes on minor violations, and she says it’s tough for her to watch.

California voters approved the use of medical cannabis in 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215. Voters subsequently approved the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA) 20 years later, but the laws protecting medical cannabis growers still stand.

The website for the nonprofit California National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) even states on its website that “the argument can be made that patients may legally possess more than the one ounce and six plants allowed under AUMA if their medical needs require.”

Sam LoForti, the current cannabis licensing office manager, says, however, that law enforcement officials aren’t going after those with medical cards.

“Generally speaking, if people have prescriptions, if people have the documentation, the sheriff just walks away,” LoForti says.

Twenty-four years after California voters first approved the use of cannabis for medical purposes, the landscape has shifted dramatically—and repeatedly. LoForti says a variety of factors led to the change in enforcement and penalties.

One of them, he explains, was the effort to improve the structure of fines and make the penalties more proportional, so that big grows would have larger fines and small grows would have smaller ones.

OFFICE TRACE

LoForti says the county has issued 36 citations for non-compliant grows since July 1. Two have been for more than $100,000 and two have been over $300,000. The median is $13,350, the average is $52,000, and more than 80% are between $2,000 and $20,000.

Of those who have appealed the citations, LoForti estimates that two appellants have won their appeals.

According to a county report, the county has issued 38 non-retail licenses to date. As of Sept. 30, nine additional license applications—eight cultivation and one for manufacturing—are being processed. The county has issued 12 retail licenses.

Bolster-Grant does not think country leadership understands the pressures that cannabis growers and manufacturers face. It’s expensive and cumbersome, she says, to go through the county’s legalization process. And that, she argues, makes it difficult for lots of operators to turn a profit the legal way.

Hoppin, on the other hand, isn’t so sure.

“I don’t know what the hurdle would be,” Hoppin says of the licensing process. “But if they can’t go through the process, they can’t go through the process. We’ve been doing this for over a decade.”

Luxon gives LoForti credit for doing a lot of work developing the idea to create new cottage licenses, which could have been used by small farms on small parcels. “Create an easy, quick licensing process where you wouldn’t have to spend $200,000 on geological reports and architects,” he explains.

But the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors shot down the proposal and showed little interest in the concept, LoForti says. Nonetheless, he thinks it was a good idea, and says the county could revisit the concept should the board choose to do so.

“We were trying to provide a mechanism that would allow people who wish to have a cottage garden a 500-square-foot license to be able to do so in a not-so-cost-intensive manner,” he says.

* Name has been changed to protect source’s identity

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: Nov. 4-10

Rob Brezsny

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November 3, 2020

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Free will astrology for the week of Nov. 4

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Charles Baudelaire championed the privilege and luxury of changing one’s mind. He thought it was natural and healthy to always keep evolving beyond one’s previous beliefs and attitudes, even if that meant one might seem inconsistent or irrational. “It is lamentable,” he once proclaimed, “that, among the Rights of Human Beings, the right to contradict oneself has been disregarded.” I bring these thoughts to your attention, dear Aries, so that you will feel at peace with the prospect of outgrowing rules, strategies and approaches that have worked well for you up until now—but that have outlived their usefulness.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The horoscopes I write are my love letters to you. As I compose them, my goal is to celebrate your beauty and strength even as I discern what’s lacking in your life and what confusions might be undermining you. In my philosophy of life, that’s how love works at its best: remaining keenly aware of the good qualities in the beloved while helping them deal with their problems and heal their wounds. I suggest that in the coming weeks you adopt my approach for use with your own close relationships. Your allies are in special need of both your praise and your rectifications.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): When Charles de Gaulle was 15 years old, he wrote “General de Gaulle,” a short story in which he envisioned himself, many years in the future, as a general in the French army. Thirty-five years later, his imaginary tale came true, as he became a general of the free French army fighting against Germany in World War II. In the spirit of de Gaulle’s prophecy and in accordance with current astrological omens, I encourage you to compose a comparable tale about your own destiny. Have fun as you visualize in great detail a successful role you will play months or even years from now.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): In 1903, archaeologists digging in a cave in Cheddar Gorge, England, found the fossilized remains of “Cheddar Man,” a person who had lived there 9,000 years earlier. In 1997, DNA tests revealed that a teacher named Adrian Targett, who was living a half-mile from the cave, was a direct descendant of Cheddar Man. I propose that we invoke this scenario to serve as a metaphor for you in the coming months. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, your ancestors are likely to play a bigger role in your life than usual. Connections between you and them will be more vivid and influential and worthy of your meditations.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to the film Amadeus, composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) and Antonio Salieri (1750–1825) were adversaries who disliked and undermined each other. But there’s evidence that this was not entirely true. In fact, they collaborated on creating a cantata that was performed by Nancy Storace, a famous singer they both admired. It’s unlikely they would have cooperated in such a way unless they had a working relationship. I suspect that a comparable correction is due in your world, Leo. It’s time to dissolve a misunderstanding or restore a lost truth or fix an old story that got some of the facts wrong.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to ask for help and seek support. I urge you to be forthright in doing so! Resources that have been inaccessible before may be more available now. I suspect you will be able to capitalize on the luck and skill of allies who have benefited from your favors in the past. Their successes could bring you blessings and their breakthroughs should inspire you to instigate breakthroughs in your own life. Be straightforward: Ask them to lend their influence on your behalf.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In the 1970s, an Englishman named Stephen Pile founded the Not Terribly Good Club. It was designed to be a gathering place for mediocre people whose lives were marked by inadequacy and incompetence. To organize his thoughts about the club’s themes, Pile eventually published a book entitled The Book of Heroic Failures. Unfortunately, it sold so many copies that he got expelled from his own club. He had become too successful! I suspect that in the coming months, you may have an experience akin to his. The odds are good that you’ll find interesting success in an area of your life where you have previously been just average.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “At every crossroad, be prepared to bump into wonder,” wrote Scorpio poet James Broughton. I believe that’s stirring advice for you to keep in mind during the coming weeks. Broughton’s words inspired me to come up with a corollary for you to heed, as well: “At every turning point, be ready to stumble into an opportunity disguised as a problem.” I’ve got one more clue for you. Last night in my dream, my Scorpio poetry teacher offered a thought that’s well-suited for you right now: “Whenever you want to take a magic twisty leap into the big fresh future, be willing to engage in one last wrestling match with the past.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Actor Gary Busey is quirky and kooky, but his peculiar rants sometimes make good sense. Here’s one that I suspect might be useful for you to consider during the next two weeks: “It’s good for everyone to understand that they are to love their enemies, simply because your enemies show you things about yourself you need to change. So in actuality enemies are friends in reverse.” I don’t mean to imply that your adversaries and nemeses are totally accurate in their critiques of you. But there may be a thing or two you can learn from them right now that would truly improve your life.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Musician John Coltrane described one of his life goals as follows: “There are forces out here that bring suffering to others and misery to the world,” he said. “But I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good.” Even if that’s not an intention at the core of your long-term plans, Capricorn, I recommend you consider adopting it during the next few weeks. Being a vigorous and rigorous force for good will be especially needed by the people with whom you associate—and will also result in you attracting interesting benefits.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Known as “the bad boy of bridge,” Aquarian-born Geir Helgemo is a champion in the card game of bridge. At times he has been the top-rated player among Open World Grand Masters. But in 2019, he was suspended from the World Bridge Federation for a year because he tested positive for taking testosterone supplements that are banned. Why did he do it? He hasn’t said. There is some scientific research suggesting that testosterone may boost cognitive function, but other evidence says it doesn’t. I’d like to use Helgemo’s foolishness as a teaching story for your use, Aquarius. According to my astrological analysis, you’re approaching the peak of your competence and confidence. There’s no need for you to cheat or sneak or misbehave in a misplaced effort to seek an even greater advantage. In fact, righteous integrity will enhance your intelligence.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “I might really have gone round the bend,” confessed Botswana author Bessie Head. “I mean people who get visions and see a gigantic light descend on them from the sky can’t be all there, but if so I feel mighty happy. If one is happy and cracked it’s much better than being unhappy and sane.” Although I don’t expect your state of mind in the coming weeks will be as extreme as Bessie Head’s, Pisces, I do suspect it will have resemblances to her dreamy cheerfulness. If I had to give a title to this upcoming phase, it might be “Wise Folly.” And yes, I do think your “craziness” will generate useful insights and fertile revelations.

Homework: At what moment in your past were you happiest about the person you were? Can you recreate it? freewillastrology.com.

Santa Cruz Sisters Team Up for Holiday Song and Debut EP

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November 3, 2020

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Santa Cruz Sisters Team Up for Holiday Song and Debut EP

Last year, local singer-songwriter Maddie Partida released the song “A Very Merry Christmas.” This festive, upbeat Christmas-rock sing-along did surprisingly well.

Partida’s father dropped off CDs at several car dealerships he works with—he does business development for an insurance company—and heard some of them playing the catchy tune in their showroom the next time he swung by.

“A Very Merry Christmas” was only the second song Partida had ever written. She did, however, get help on the track from her older sister Jacklyn Kohls—who contributed guitar and bass work to it—and Hollister-based Ryan Loomis, who played the drums.

In April, Partida brought another song to Kohls. She’d written “Selfish,” a soulful, heartfelt song of pain, just before her Christmas anthem, and hoped Kohls could work her magic on that one, too. Kohls had also been working on her own acoustic pop song, “Up In The Clouds,” which needed vocals, so she asked Partida to help her on her project. Eventually, it dawned on them that there was no reason to separate their creative endeavors if they planned on collaborating anyway. And like that, Maddie and Jackie was born.

“We decided to join together, since we were doing it anyway,” says Partida. “Before she was mainly doing guitar work and I was doing the vocals. She’s singing more now. We’re both playing guitar. We merged together a bit.”

In October, the duo released their debut EP, Closer, which includes “Selfish,” “Up In The Clouds,” and three more light-rock indie-pop songs the two worked on. To record it, they went to Santo Recording Studio in Oakland and worked with renowned producer Dale “D-Wiz” Everingham, whose credits include Destiny’s Child, En Vogue, Luniz, Too Short and E-40. Everingham was a connection Kohls made some time back when she played in the metal band Requiem.

“He’s super easy to work with,” says Kohls. “He just gets what we want right away. The recording process is really quick with him.”

Though Maddie and Jackie is the duo’s first official collaborative project, the sisters have been playing music together for a long time. Kohls started her first band, Jackie Rocks, when she was 11. For the next seven years, she played roughly 500 shows. Right out of high school, she joined horror-punk band Stellar Corpses and went on a national tour, then later joined Requiem. While she was playing in these heavier bands, she started an indie-pop outfit on the side called Dressed In Roses. She roped in Partida, 11 at the time, to play keyboards, an instrument she didn’t know how to play.

“I had all of these acoustic songs. We lived together. I was like, ‘There’s a keyboard there. Why don’t you learn how to play it?’” Kohls says. “I would come up with these ideas and teach it to her. She would pick it up so fast. She would sing backup and stuff. But she was pretty shy about it. I didn’t know she could sing really well until just recently. Her voice has become so powerful. It was a big shock.”

Even Partida was unaware of her vocal abilities—that is, until last year when she recorded a video of herself singing Ariana Grande’s “Moonlight” to Instagram and got a great response from her friends on social media. That gave her the confidence to write the song “Selfish,” and then “A Very Merry Christmas.” But of course, she did to her sister exactly what she did to her—told her to play guitar.

“She’s probably one of the greatest female guitarists there is. That’s why I wanted her to add solos, because she’s really good,” Partida says. “I was like, “Maybe I can make a living out of this.’ And then [with] Jackie’s solos, you know I could create something different. We’d be able to make a living off of our music. We each have our own strengths.”

In addition to their debut EP, they will be rereleasing “A Very Merry Christmas” as Maddie and Jackie. It’ll be available on Nov. 14, just in time for the holiday season.

For more information, check out maddieandjackie.com.

Neighborhood Favorite Tramonti Delivers Delicious Value

Christina Waters

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November 3, 2020

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Neighborhood Favorite Tramonti Delivers Delicious Value

Outdoor tents with cozy, yet socially distanced, seating greeted me as I parked to pick up our dinner from Tramonti last week. My order was ready and waiting, and yes, I told the staffer at the front, I would love some bread, too.

Always a great place for families, Tramonti makes everybody feel welcome. Generous pours of red wine were on their way to one of the outdoor tables as I stashed a tote bag laden with aromatic dishes into the trunk and made for home.

If there is such a thing as a destination salad, the mighty Santa Croce is it ($9 small / $14 large). A Boboli Gardens of salads, this playful creation offers texture, flavor, two cheeses, and a light lemony vinaigrette dressing. My companion took one look of the enormous box containing the Santa Croce, with all the items organized into categories—shredded carrots, sliced celery, toasted hazelnuts, feta, large ribbons of Parmigiano Reggiano, baby arugula and lots of pretty mixed greens—and demanded that I share! We made two plates of our favorite ingredients all mixed together, then added the dressing, and frankly could have made an entire meal of this bewitching salad, plus the slices of fresh Ciabatta bread provided.

But, in fact, we had more wonderful items for dinner. Our absolute favorite was an order of Gamberoni alla Diavola ($15) involving five large prawns seasoned with parmesan, garlic, parsley and wrapped in spicy sopressata salame, all baked in the house brick oven. The prawns arrived on a bed of arugula accompanied by a tangy dijon tzatziki dipping sauce. Wow, these were addictive (and plenty of red wine was called for). Robustly seasoned and containing a definite kick, these prawns were outstanding. And they met their match in my companion’s order of green Castelvetrano olives–lots of them—along with a container of tangy housemade pickled veggies. Pickled carrots, celery, red peppers, and broccoli made a giardiniera course that both sparked and satisfied the appetite.

We barely had room left for our shared order of beef polpette in marinara with roast polenta ($15). I’ll go back soon for another round of that outstanding Santa Croce salad (Italian for Santa Cruz, I love it), and those high intensity prawns. Oh, and there’s pizza at Tramonti, too. Very nice pizza.

Tramonti, 528 Seabright Ave., Santa Cruz. Monday-Thursday, 4:30-9:30pm; Friday-Sunday, 11:30am-9:30pm. tramontisantacruz.com.

Code Orange

The Bay Area, including Santa Cruz, has gone orange, pandemically speaking. And that means expanded indoor activities. Restaurants—along with places of worship, movie theaters and museums—may now operate at 50% capacity indoors. It’s a start. Retail shops may open at 100% capacity, and winery tasting rooms may open indoors at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer. Get out there and show your favorite places how much you love them.

Patio with Benefits

Ready for any weather, that’s Jack’s Patio at the super atmospheric beachfront Dream Inn. Our retro beachfront hotel has opened the outdoor dining venue in honor of wetsuit inventor and lifelong surfer Jack O’Neill.

In addition to a spectacular view, what locals and visitors alike can enjoy is live music and diverse dishes served at appropriately distanced picnic tables, under umbrellas for daytime and heat lamps for coastal evenings. Be good to yourselves, you know you need it, and stop by Jack’s Patio for a cocktail or a meal while enjoying the longboard action or twinkling lights of Monterey. Snacks, salads, burgers, and designer tacos. Thursdays offers a three-course prime rib dinner. Your call.

Jack’s Patio, 175 W. Cliff Drive, at the top of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Brunch: Friday-Sunday, 8am-2pm; Dinner: Thursday-Sunday, 5pm-9pm. jackoneillrestaurant.com.

Everything You Need to Know About Voting in Santa Cruz County

GT Staff

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November 2, 2020

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Everything You Need to Know About Voting in Santa Cruz County

With Election Day this Tuesday, Nov. 3, Santa Cruz County voters have plenty of options for casting their ballot.

Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin says a record number of county voters—more than 168,000—received ballots in the mail this year, joining voters across California in a first-of-its-kind effort to slow the spread of Covid-19 by allowing voting from home.

Once ballots are ready, they can be dropped off in one of the 24-hour drop boxes throughout the county by 8pm on Election Day. Voters can also take their ballots to one of several designated locations, including voting locations. The county has sites where voters can get replacement ballots, register to vote, and vote on the same day. Find the full details below.

Voters who want to mail their ballot should make sure they are postmarked by Nov. 3 by going into the post office to have them stamped, Pellerin said.

Casting your ballot

Find the county’s voter information guide and your sample ballot using your street address on the County Election s Department’s website.

It’s important to know that it is not necessary to mark every section. Leaving an option blank—or even marking only one—will not invalidate your ballot.

Explore our full series of voter guides to learn more about candidates and ballot measures, or check out all of our ongoing 2020 election coverage.

Returning your ballot

The elections department is providing several options to return ballots:

1. Drop it off at one of the 24-hour ballot drop boxes by 8pm on Election Day

2. Drop it off at one of the inside ballot drop boxes.

3. Return it in person to a voting location.

DROP BOXES

The ballot drop boxes will be located at the following locations and available 24/7 until 8pm on Nov. 3:

Aptos – Public Library, 7695 Soquel Drive
Aptos – Polo Grounds, 2255 Huntington Drive
Aptos – Cabrillo College by football stadium, 3732 Cabrillo College Drive
Ben Lomond – Highlands Park, 8500 Highway 9
Boulder Creek – Library, 13390 W. Park Ave.
Capitola – City Hall, 420 Capitola Ave.
Capitola – Shopping Mall (near entrance on Capitola Road), 1855 41st Ave.
Felton – Covered Bridge Park, Mt. Hermon/Graham Hill Road
Santa Cruz – County Gov. Center, 701 Ocean St.
Santa Cruz – Public Library, 212 Church St.
Santa Cruz – UCSC Quarry Plaza
Scotts Valley – City Hall, 1 Civic Center Drive
Watsonville – Parking Lot 14, 316 Rodriguez St.
Watsonville – County Health Center, 1430 Freedom Blvd.
Watsonville – Corralitos Community Center, 35 Browns Valley Road
County Elections, Simpkins Swim Center and City Clerks will have ballot return boxes.

Voters may also return their ballot inside one of the locations below that are open during regular business hours:

County Elections: 701 Ocean St., Room 310, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz City Clerk: 809 Center St., Santa Cruz
Simpkins Swim Center: 979 17th Ave., Santa Cruz
Capitola City Clerk: 420 Capitola Ave., Capitola
Watsonville City Clerk: 275 Main St., Watsonville
Watsonville Public Library: 275 Main St., 1st Floor, Watsonville

VOTING LOCATIONS

Any voter can go to any location. Voting services available include obtaining a replacement ballot, turning in the ballot that was mailed to you, using a tablet to vote on an accessible ballot or a ballot in Spanish, and registering and voting on the same day.

Find the voting location nearest you using the county’s interactive map. Locations are subject to change, so check the county website for the most up-to-date information.

The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (METRO) will provide free local transit rides county-wide on all fixed routes, including the Highway 17 Express, on Election Day. “This free fare day will provide a touchless boarding process without the need to navigate fare payment, minimize interaction between riders and operators, and reduce boarding times at bus stops,” METRO said in a statement.

Tracking your ballot

Sign up to track your ballot at wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov. Voters will receive email or text alerts when their ballot is mailed, when it is received by the county elections office, and if there is any problem with counting the ballot.

Given the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, county health officials issued a statement asking that people hold virtual watch parties for monitoring election results rather than gathering in person.

“If you are planning to gather with people outside of your household, gather outdoors, wear a face covering, stay at least six feet away, and carry hand sanitizer,” the county said.

Find all the latest information on voting options and services at the Santa Cruz County Elections Department’s website: votescount.us.

Rosie McCann’s Irish Pub Closes Downtown Santa Cruz Location

GT Staff

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November 2, 2020

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Rosie McCann’s Irish Pub Closes Downtown Santa Cruz Location

Rosie McCann’s Irish Pub and Restaurant, a mainstay in downtown Santa Cruz for 23 years, is now closed “until further notice.”

The restaurant at 1220 Pacific Ave. had its final weekend Oct. 31-Nov. 1, noting on its website, “This isn’t goodbye, just see you later.”

The bustling spot was known for its live music and pub food.

“We are sad to announce that we have made a very difficult decision to close Rosie McCann’s in Santa Cruz until further notice,” the restaurant said in a statement on its website. “Our team has become deeply connected to the community and we will miss seeing you, our loyal guests, every day.”

Rosie McCann’s also has a location in San Jose’s Santana Row, which remains open.

The Rosie McCann’s manager did not immediately respond to a Good Times request for further comment on what prompted the closure, and whether they might reopen.

A string of local restaurants have closed in recent months as the Covid-19 pandemic drags on without any sign of additional federal aid coming to help business owners.

Closures downtown include the Poet and Patriot, Pono Hawaiian Grill, and 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. Felton’s The Cremer House and Gilda’s Restaurant on the Santa Cruz Wharf also closed.

As GT reported in September, there is a sense among all kinds of small businesses in Santa Cruz that this fall could be a bumpy ride, and not everyone will still be standing at year’s end.

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