Page 545 – Good Times

Failed Messaging, False Sense of Security Drive Up Covid-19 Cases

Wallace Baine

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July 7, 2020

Failed Messaging, False Sense of Security Drive Up Covid-19 Cases

In late June, Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel announced that pandemic restrictions on using the county’s beaches would be lifted. Her justification for the change in policy astonished many in and outside Santa Cruz County. It was the kind of thing that public officials may often say among themselves in private settings, but rarely into a live microphone.

“It’s become impossible for law enforcement to continue to enforce that closure,” Newel said at a press briefing. “People are not willing to be governed anymore in that regard, and we want to recognize that by removing that restriction.”

Whether she intended to or not, Newel exposed a stark and uncomfortable truth about the spread of Covid-19 in Santa Cruz County and around the country. Given what science has determined about the virus’s infectious behavior, it can be controlled, but only insofar as individuals control their own behavior. In this case, the good news is that “We the People” can still exercise considerable freedom of choice, and public officials sometimes have no choice but to respect that. Unfortunately, that’s also the bad news.

Covid-19 infection rates are dramatically increasing locally and nationally—though, significantly, not so much internationally. As of July 3, the per-day average of new confirmed cases was at an all-time high in Santa Cruz County (the same is true statewide and nationally). That increase represents a spike upward from a dip in new infections in early June, a trend characterized by many in public health as a reversal of relatively successful efforts to control the virus in April and May.

As Newel all but admitted, governments are limited in what they can do to control public behavior. So officials are left to turn to whatever power they might have in the realm of moral persuasion.

Though the messages coming from governments and public health agencies have evolved since the initial U.S. outbreak in March, they have remained consistent for a couple of months now in effective preventative measures: social distancing, face coverings, and no sustained unprotected interactions with others outside the household.

A. Marm Kilpatrick, a disease ecologist at UCSC, has taken a lead role in local efforts to communicate the urgency in taking action against Covid-19. “It’s no mystery how people are getting Covid-19,” he says, “and we can all avoid it if we want to. You and I can do a bunch of things that are going to make almost all of us safe—the main exception to that are people whose bosses are not being helpful and making them work in close quarters together, or those who can’t avoid contact because they are in health care.”

A LOT TO LOSE

But the message may not be getting through. Kilpatrick points to the correlation between the spike in infections and states’ efforts to reopen their economies. He says that too many people took the fact of reopened business as a signal to relax. “The reopening of businesses is not happening because we’re all good and fine now or that the virus is gone. It’s only going to continue if we take actions in the opposite direction. We can have restaurants. We can have our jobs. We can have all the things we enjoy, if we just keep our between-household contacts short, or protected, or outdoors. But if we don’t, we’re actually going to lose all those things that we’ve just regained.”

Family physician Catherine Sonquist Forest is an associate professor at UC San Francisco’s Natividad Family Medicine Residency program and sits on the board of the Santa Cruz-based nonprofit Encompass Community Health Services. She also helped lead an effort to supply masks and other protective equipment to essential workers in the early days of the pandemic. “I believe that everything we did when we were in lockdown,” she says, “was predicated on being able to respond properly when we let up on lockdown.”

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced what amounts to a rollback of the economic reopening, ordering a new round of mandatory restrictions on bars, restaurants, movie theaters and other spaces in 19 counties in California. Santa Cruz County, which is not on the new restricted list, has a lower rate of confirmed cases than Monterey County and neighboring counties in the Bay Area. As of July 3, Santa Cruz County’s rate was 50 infections per 100,000 people, well below the state’s metric for alarm (100 infections per 100,000 people).

Even with relative local successes, health care experts are still touting the four mitigations that have been shown to slow infection: 1) maintaining at least six feet of distance from people not in the same household, 2) using face coverings within that six-foot radius, 3) having social interactions outdoors instead of indoors, and 4) keeping high-risk contacts brief, a few minutes at most.

Kilpatrick says the failure of the abstinence-only approach in sex education proves to him that prohibitions against out-of-household contact will probably not work. “It’s summer. The weather is nice. People have a desire to get together. That’s natural. It’s going to happen. Let’s just acknowledge it’s going to happen and direct people to do it in a safe way.”

The idea that everyone is going to follow all safety protocols all the time is simply unrealistic, he says.

“I want people to realize that they can break some of these rules, as long as they keep the other ones,” says Kilpatrick. “If that means you want to see friends you haven’t seen in three months, no problem. Go for a walk outside in a park, where you can walk a few feet ahead or behind them. If you’re not able to get that kind of space, throw a mask on. If you want to sit and have coffee, fine. Go find a picnic table where you can sit five or six feet apart. We have pretty good science to allow for that kind of behavior, and it’s not super high-risk.”

MESSAGING MISTAKES

If the message about masks and social distancing is not getting through, say some health-care officials, it’s because that message contradicts what the public was told early on in the pandemic, when the focus was on washing hands and disinfecting surfaces, and people were told to resist buying masks in order to keep frontline health-care workers supplied. Early public messaging also discouraged anyone feeling mildly ill to seek immediate medical help, in order to prevent a panic run on hospitals and clinics.

“One of the big challenges and frustrations we’ve had,” says Kilpatrick, “is that it’s really hard to reverse messages. Once you say one thing—especially if you push it for a while—it’s very hard to un-say that thing. I think we’re better at learning than un-learning. That’s been super, super tough. And we still have a slog ahead of us.”

Epidemiologist Will Forest worked at the county health office before his retirement in 2018. He said county leadership is doing a “better than average job,” but county leaders were relying too heavily on advice from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was not recommending masks for the general public in the early days of the pandemic. “That was foolish and destructive,” he says.

While Kilpatrick is focused on public behavior, Forest is thinking about the issues in diagnosing Covid-19. Forest believes doctors and medical professionals should rethink their attitudes toward testing as the best means for diagnosis. He says testing is not only unreliable, but usually happens well after the period of most likely infection.

“We should be diagnosing people on the basis of symptoms and immediately isolating them, identifying their contacts, and quarantining their contacts,” Forest says.

Doctors have learned Covid-19 is most infectious right at the first onset of symptoms, and even a few days before onset. “Now, if you look at yourself or anyone you know,” says Forest. “When do we go to the doctor? Not the first time we cough, but after a couple of days as it’s getting worse and it’s not going away. (With Covid-19), that’s the point at which the most infectious period has already passed. The worst damage, the most transmission of the disease, has already occurred. Add to that, the doctor doing a test, maybe it’s tomorrow or the next day. The test results come back in a couple of days, maybe five days, at which point, the person is practically non-infectious by then. If you wait for the testing, you’ve missed the entire opportunity for major intervention, regarding transmission to other people.”

Doctors and epidemiologists tend to talk a lot about the unknowns of Covid-19, mostly what is not known about the long-term effects of the infection on those who survive it. “This is a new virus, and no one can predict how it will react in their body,” says physician Catherine Sonquist Forest, Will Forest’s wife.

Another unknown is exactly how a widespread infection might put even more pressure on already stressed social structures in housing, employment, and health care. Also unknown is whether those who survive will have a lasting immunity, and the percentage of the populace needed to attain herd immunity. The unknown Will Forest is focused on is how many Covid-19 cases are unreported and not counted in official statistics.

“Covid-19 deaths are going unidentified,” he says. “I’m pessimistic. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, because it’s not being taken with the seriousness it deserves.”

“What we need to do,” says Catherine Forest, “is to be able to act very quickly to minimize outbreaks, to save lives and to minimize illness. And minimizing illness is a worthy goal. We’re not just trying to eliminate deaths, we’re reducing suffering in all its forms.”

A SURVIVOR’S STORY

Catherine Forest has a particular intimacy with that kind of suffering—because she is a Covid-19 survivor.

In May, Catherine says, she “got quite ill. I was in isolation for three weeks. And my family was in quarantine for two.” Her symptoms began with a cough followed by a sudden descent into fatigue and chest tightness. Soon, she lost her sense of taste and smell, followed by a headache that lasted two weeks.

“She’s a very energetic person,” Will Forest says of his wife. “The way I knew something was very wrong was that after about four days isolated by herself in our bedroom, she was not complaining about not being able to do anything. The level of fatigue that this illness creates was so great that an absolute dynamo was not only able to sit in her room doing next to nothing, but felt OK about it.”

“It’s been an interesting ride to balance these things,” says Catherine. “The direct experience of having what is called a mild case of the disease that took me out of commission for about a month, and I’m still not well. And also, with the perspective of a physician and a public health professional who has been thinking about what we should be doing in order to move through this until there is a time when we can manage outbreaks and protect one another.”

What happens when a dangerous infectious disease comes into the home of an epidemiologist and a prominent physician?

“We’re a household of five people,” says Will, “and we were able to essentially quarantine from each other in our house. But that’s because we have the privilege of having a house where we can do that, large enough for each of us to isolate ourselves. And I think of what it would be like for people living in more crowded conditions, or people who are essential workers and can’t separate themselves from society. And it really brought home to me the disparity between my privileged life and the life of so many other people in this country and the world.”

Almost two months after her first symptoms, Catherine is still struggling to get back to something like normal. She’s gone from being an avid hiker to not being able to walk a city block without gasping for breath.

“I know a person who got sick a week before I did, and died,” she says. “And they were my age, and healthy, with my level of education. And they did not survive this virus. I’m here now, and I’m not any better than they were. I’m a healthy person. I exercise. I meditate. I am not overweight. I am the person who had good odds. And I did survive. But you can say the same for the person I know who didn’t survive.”

“She had what they call a mild case,” says Will Forest. “Even the mild cases are really severe, and can have big impacts. People think it won’t affect their lives much. They are wildly, wildly wrong.”

Coronavirus Pandemic Brings New Environmental Problems

Andrew Steingrube

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July 7, 2020

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Coronavirus Pandemic Brings New Environmental Problems

The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the world’s population in countless ways, from death and sickness to depression and anxiety, record unemployment, and gutted economies. What about the Earth itself—the oceans, beaches, atmosphere, and wildlife? How is our ecosystem doing amid the pandemic?

Locally, the answer to that question is a bit of a mixed bag. “There is good news and bad news there,” says Katherine O’Dea, executive director of Save Our Shores, a Santa Cruz-based environmental nonprofit group. On the one hand, she says, local beaches have been cleaner during the sweeping closures of the past months. “The volume of trash has been down, but we also haven’t been able to do public volunteer beach clean-ups.” Instead, she says, staff and small groups of people already sheltering-in-place with one another have been working to keep the beaches clean.

But even with fewer people leading to less litter on the coastline, it’s not all good news, because O’Dea has observed a new trash trend—not only at beaches, but also around town. “One thing I’ve seen recently is a lot of PPE (personal protective equipment) trash such as masks, latex gloves, and sanitizer bottles,” she says. “Those things are biohazards, and people should not be touching them.” This makes cleaning up these items even more challenging, and O’Dea adds that PPE is often not recyclable.

The thought of the environmental impact once much of this trash eventually ends up in the Monterey Bay is a disturbing one. “As we see more PPE in oceans, we will see wildlife ingesting them, and whether that will prove harmful to humans we don’t know yet,” O’Dea says.

Another concern O’Dea has in the pandemic is people returning to old and problematic, non-eco-friendly practices. “We are seeing people reverse their reusable habits, such as reusable bags.” She has observed an increase in litter from more disposable items in general, such as food wrappers, plastic silverware, and plastic bags. “There are recent medical studies showing that reusables are as safe as disposables,” she says. One example of the pendulum swinging back toward green sustainable practices is that some grocery stores are starting to allow reusable bags once again.

There is also the issue of toilet paper—perhaps, along with the mask, the most enduring and iconic visual symbol of Covid-19. Early on in the pandemic, it was such a hot commodity that panic-buying and hoarding of the stuff left many grocery store aisles bare across the country. This phenomenon helped shed light on toilet paper’s dirtiest secret: It is horrible for the environment.

Most at-home toilet paper is made from virgin material sourced by cutting down trees. This decimates forests, not only spoiling natural habitats for animals, but also reducing carbon sinks and leading to more greenhouse gases. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, Americans make up only 4% of the world’s population but use more toilet paper than any other country—accounting for 20% of global consumption. Spurred by pandemic-induced shortages and environmental concerns, many eco-conscious people are now considering alternatives, such as toilet paper made from bamboo and even switching from toilets to bidets.

“Climate change is continuing. It has not taken a break during the pandemic,” O’Dea says. “There has been a little relief, but not enough to reverse it. Nature is incredibly resilient, but it needs us to take a pause in order to regenerate itself.”

She then cautions that the link between environmental practices and pandemics can be a causal one. “If we go back to disregarding nature, we’re going to see more pandemics. As we destroy more animal habitats, more pandemics are likely as viruses jump from animals to humans, as was the case with Covid-19.”

Worldwide quarantines and stay-at-home orders have forced humans to drastically reduce their carbon footprint, which has led to some boons for environmental health—temporary though they may be. “With people driving less, we’ve seen less carbon emissions,” says O’Dea. “The air is cleaner and clearer, but pollution is starting to come back with restrictions being lifted.” This is supported by recent data from NASA and the European Space Agency showing pollution decreased by about 30% as a result of the pandemic shutdowns in epicenters such as Wuhan, China, in Italy, and in the U.S. Even heavily populated and infamously smoggy cities like Los Angeles saw their clearest skies in decades.

Perhaps the most encouraging environmental takeaway from the pandemic is that our ecological behavior as human beings really can make a difference. If just a couple months of quarantines and reduced carbon emissions can positively and quantitatively impact our environment like it has, imagine how sustained years of global solidarity and good shared environmental practices could impact climate change.

“A lesson we should take away is that when we’re forced to take a pause on driving and consuming, we see environmental gains and improvements,” O’Dea says. “But if people don’t recognize and realize that, and go back to old habits, all environmental gains will be lost and we will see negative environmental impact once again.”

Aurore Sibley Comes to Grips With Pandemic Grief on Debut Solo Album

Aaron Carnes

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July 7, 2020

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Aurore Sibley Comes to Grips With Pandemic Grief on Debut Solo Album

Back in mid-March when the shelter-in-place order was put into effect, Santa Cruz musician Aurore Sibley suddenly found herself isolated and without an income. And to top it off, two weeks later, the person she was in a relationship with left her.

“It felt like loss on top of loss on top of loss,” Sibley recalls. “The loss of my income, and my children’s school community, and being able to be around friends. The relationship was an emotional experience that was blown up because we were estranged in so many other ways in our usual lives.”

The next day, Sibley sat down and poured her heart out into a song called “Once I Loved,” which dealt with everything she was going through.

“I’ve been a lifelong musician. Music is what got me through any kind of difficult period,” Sibley says.

The songs didn’t stop coming. In a month, she had an album’s worth of material dealing with isolation and grief. She then plugged a microphone into her laptop and recorded all the tunes using GarageBand. She’s releasing her first album, Book of Song, on July 24.

“I never felt confident enough about the songs I had written [before] to take them anywhere. I was okay playing them in a coffee shop. That’s about it,” Sibley says. “It’s a project that came by surprise. I would wake up and have a line in my head. Then I would sit down and find a chorus. That was a thrilling experience because I didn’t know I had that many songs in me.”

The songs directly reflect the intense emotions of her recent experiences. For instance, on the track “Not Afraid To Stay” she sings about her frustrating feeling of not being able to communicate with a partner in a relationship.

But the outpouring of new music wasn’t just the result of her emotional journey. The shelter-in-place order put her in a position of having more time to herself than she’s had in a decade and a half. With no work, no significant other, and her kids staying with their dad two days a week, she could get lost in her creative space.

“I usually write a couple songs a year. This was definitely the gift of time,” Sibley says. “I do think that being quarantined and having lost my connection with so many other aspects of my life at the same time contributed to the intensity of emotion, and probably plays a part in the songs as well.”

Sibley has played in several groups over the years, like Mountain Folk, and in her 20s with the Twin Cities-based Mila Vocal Ensemble, but she’s never attempted to record any of her solo material before. The songs are varied stylistically, going from folk to blues to rock to pop, and she played different instruments on the songs (guitar, mandolin, keys), layering her parts and vocals as she saw fit.

“I wish I could have been in the studio and done it professionally, but it was really fun to do it myself,” Sibley says. “I didn’t use any pre-recorded loops except for drums on a couple of tracks. Even the bass is me, playing into the keyboards. I was surprised at how that process came together.”

The songs on Book of Song are all connected to her experience in this tough time, and they tell the story of what she went through. But now that she’s ready to put it out into the world, she’s hoping that, after a lifetime of her solo music being a hobby, this album will help her take her songwriting to the next level.

“What my hope is with this project going out into the world is to connect with some more musicians and to be able to collaborate on future projects,” Sibley says. “I really love playing with other people. Right now is not the time to do that. I am trying to figure out how to get the word out there about these songs.”

For more info, check out auroresibley.com.

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: July 8-14

Rob Brezsny

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July 7, 2020

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Free will astrology for the week of July 8

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “As beautiful as simplicity is, it can become a tradition that stands in the way of exploration,” said singer Laura Nyro. This is practical advice for you to heed in the coming weeks. According to my analysis, you’re scheduled to enjoy an extended engagement with rich, fertile complexity. The best teachings won’t be reducible to a few basic lessons; rather, they’ll be rife with soulful nuances. The same is true about the splendid dilemmas that bring you stimulating amusements: They can’t and shouldn’t be forced into pigeonholes. As a general rule, anything that seems easy and smooth and straightforward will probably not be useful. Your power will come from what’s crooked, dense and labyrinthine.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You may think that playing heavy metal music and knitting with yarn don’t have much in common. And yet there is an annual contest in Joensuu, Finland where people with expertise in needlework join heavy metal musicians on stage, plying their craft in rhythm to the beat. The next Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship will be July 15–16, 2021. This year’s event was canceled due to the pandemic. If it had been staged, I bet multiple Tauruses would have been among the top 10 competitors. Why? Because you bulls are at the peak of your ability to combine things that aren’t often combined. You have the potential to excel at making unexpected connections, linking influences that haven’t been linked before, and being successful at comparing apples and oranges.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In 1848, Danish King Frederick VII agreed, under pressure from liberal agitators, to relinquish some of his absolute power. Thereafter, he shared his decision-making with a newly formed parliament. He was pleased with this big change because it lightened his workload. “That was nice,” he remarked after signing the new constitution. “Now I can sleep in every morning.” I recommend him to you as an inspirational role model in the coming weeks. What so-called advantages in your life are more boring or burdensome than fun and interesting? Consider the possibility of shedding dubious “privileges” and status symbols.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian author Mary McCarthy provides you with a challenge you’ll be wise to relish during the rest of 2020. She writes, “Everyone continues to be interested in the quest for the self, but what you feel when you’re older is that you really must make the self.” McCarthy implies that this epic reorientation isn’t likely until you’ve been on Earth for at least four decades. But judging from the astrological omens, I think you’re ready for it now—no matter what your age is. To drive home the point, I’ll say it in different words. Your task isn’t to find yourself, but rather to create yourself. Don’t wait around passively for life to show you who you are. Show life who you are.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Some night soon, I predict you’ll have an agitated dream while you’re asleep: a nightmare that symbolizes an unresolved conflict you’re wrestling with in your waking life. Here’s a possible example: A repulsive politician you dislike may threaten to break a toy you loved when you were a kid. But surprise! There’ll be a happy ending. A good monster will appear in your dream and fix the problem; in my example, the benevolent beast will scare away the politician who’s about to break your beloved toy. Now here’s the great news: In the days after your dream, you’ll solve the conflict you’ve been wrestling with in your waking life.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Love is the best school, but the tuition is high and the homework can be painful,” writes author Diane Ackerman. I’m guessing that in recent months, her description has been partially true for you Virgos. From what I can tell, love has indeed been a rigorous school. And the tuition has been rather high. But on the other hand, the homework has been at least as pleasurable as it has been painful. I expect these trends to continue for the foreseeable future. What teachings about intimacy, communion, tenderness and compassion would you like to study next?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “A single feat of daring can alter the whole conception of what is possible,” wrote Libran novelist Graham Greene. His words can serve as a stirring motto for you in the coming weeks. I sense you’re close to summoning a burst of courage—a bigger supply of audacity than you’ve had access to in a while. I hope you’ll harness this raw power to fuel a daring feat that will expand your conception of what is possible.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “It’s not always easy to tell the difference between thinking and looking out of the window,” wrote poet Wallace Stevens. That’s a problem you won’t have to worry about anytime soon. The coming weeks will be a favorable phase for you to both think and gaze out the window—as well as to explore all the states in-between. In other words, you’ll have the right and the need to indulge in a leisurely series of dreamy ruminations and meandering fantasies and playful explorations of your deepest depths and your highest heights. Don’t rush the process. Allow yourself to linger in the gray areas and the vast stretches of inner wildness.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The coming weeks will be a favorable time to undertake a transformative vision quest, even if the exigencies of the pandemic require your quest to unfold primarily in your inner realms. The near future will also bring you good fortune if you focus on creating more sacredness in your rhythm and if you make a focused effort to seek out songs, texts, inspirations, natural places and teachers that infuse you with a reverence for life. I’m trying to help you to see, Sagittarius, that you’re in a phase when you can attract healing synchronicities into your world by deepening your sense of awe and communing with experiences that galvanize you to feel worshipful.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships, not just romantic bonds.” The author and activist bell hooks wrote that. (She doesn’t capitalize her name.) In accordance with the highest astrological potentials, I’m inviting you Capricorns to be inspired by her wisdom as you upgrade your meaningful relationships during the next six weeks. I think it’s in your self-interest to give them even more focus and respect and appreciation than you already do. Be ingenious as you boost the generosity of spirit you bestow on your allies. Be resourceful as you do this impeccable work in the midst of a pandemic!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “One-half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it,” wrote author Sydney Howard. Now would be a perfect time to act on that excellent advice. Is there any obstacle standing in the way of your ability to achieve a beloved dream? Is there a pretty good thing that’s distracting you from devoting yourself wholeheartedly to a really great thing? I invite you to be a bit ruthless as you clear the way to pursue your heart’s desire.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Author Ellen Goodman writes, “The truth is that we can overhaul our surroundings, renovate our environment, talk a new game, join a new club, far more easily than we can change the way we respond emotionally. It is easier to change behavior than feelings about that behavior.” I think she’s correct in her assessment. But I also suspect that you’re in a prime position to be an exception to the rule. In the coming weeks, you will have exceptional power to transform the way you feel—especially if those feelings have previously been based on a misunderstanding of reality and especially if those feelings have been detrimental to your mental and physical health.

Homework: Is there a so-called weakness or liability you might be able to turn into an asset? freewillastrology.com.

Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria Resumes Dine-In Option

Christina Waters

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July 7, 2020

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Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria Resumes Dine-In Option

Back open for dining, Gayle’s Bakery and Rosticceria is once again serving meals in-house on the spacious patio, as well as the full menu of bakery and rosticceria items to take home, from 7am-7pm daily. If you want to enjoy a Blue Plate Dinner of slow cooked BBQ short ribs with macaroni and cheese plus salad ($21.95), you can consume it right on the spot.

And of course we can still choose items to go and also place online orders for next day pickup. I emailed founder Gayle Ortiz just to make sure I had a clear picture. “If you want to pick up a dinner for the same day, you can come in and get it in person,” she explained. “And if you want a dinner for the next day or a future date you need to go online to gaylesbakery.com to place that order.”

“We can’t take orders for same-day pick up,” she confirmed. “The reason is simple distancing concerns for our staff. It’s not only confusing, it’s complicated! We want it back the way it was! But we’re here and now!” Got it.

Penny Ice Creamery in Aptos

Congratulations to culinary entrepreneurs Zachary Davis and Kendra Baker, who just launched their third Penny Ice Creamery in the new Aptos Village complex, alongside neighbors such as Mentone, Ser Winery Tasting Room, and Cat and Cloud Coffee. It’s been a long time coming, but the bright new ice cream outlet is already putting smiles on lots of young faces. Whimsical flavors, traditional methods and made-from-scratch ice creams have made the dessert dynasty a delicious success. Strawberry Pink Peppercorn, Cardamom Pluot, Bitter Caramel. Flavors to dream about. Hopefully post-Covid-19 there will be interior expansion for seating and parties. Fingers crossed. For now, remember your masks and social distancing. Walk-up service is open from noon to 9pm daily.

Easy Access

Good news! Staff of Life’s 4,000 products are available for online ordering and pickup, Monday-Friday, noon to 6pm. This new service makes things easier for those who welcome curbside non-contact pickup in designated parking spots. At the original home of natural foods in Santa Cruz, now located at 1266 Soquel Ave. Go to the website, sign up, shop, and pay with a credit card. A 5% service charge will be made on your order ($35 minimum), a small price for the convenience. Others will gather your items, bag them, and have them ready to pop into the trunk. Fresh produce, local seafood, organic produce, health and wellness items, bakery goodies—all of Staff of Life is now at your fingertips.

staffoflifemarket.com.

Barceloneta wants to tempt you with paella, Spanish fried chicken, gazpacho and huge sea salt chocolate chip cookies. And sherry! Pickup is available Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4-7pm. Clear instructions for heating and serving at home can be found in the restaurant’s online listings. Simple and clear.

Barceloneta, 1541 B Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. eatbarceloneta.square.site.

La Posta on Seabright has new expanded hours, now offering pickup Thursday-Sunday, 4-8pm. Don’t miss the braised Romano beans, with tomato, pancetta, and breadcrumbs $14. It is enough for two. Call or email your order, and La Posta will confirm: 831-457-2782 or 831-457-9782, or la***************@***il.com.

Soif now offers pickup Wednesday-Saturday, 4-8pm. Call between 2-7:30pm day of order at 831-423-2020 or email al****@******ne.com.

Equity Issues Complicate Santa Cruz County’s Pandemic Response

Jacob Pierce and Tony Nuñez

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July 7, 2020

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Equity Issues Complicate Santa Cruz County’s Pandemic Response

MariaElena de la Garza, executive director of the Community Action Board (CAB), says one factor that has made the Covid-19 pandemic especially dangerous has stemmed from messaging missteps that prevented health-related information from getting through cultural and language barriers.

“Early on, we saw a disparity in how information was getting out,” she says.

A month ago, there was a shift in Covid-19 test results. Suddenly, most of the positive cases were popping up in Latino populations, and in South County, which has a larger Latino community.

As a result, community and health leaders have been working on the important challenge of how to better communicate to all residents about the dangers posed by the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19, says de la Garza, who serves on the pandemic-related Economic Recovery Council.

She says it’s important to create messaging that reflects community and cultural values and to share those messages in a variety of languages—including English and Spanish, but also others. “How do we do it in ways so that more families get the message and get it reinforced, just like we get it in English?” she says.

Santa Cruz County Public Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel has explained that people of color are generally at higher risk of being negatively impacted by many social determinants of health, including cultural and language barriers, lack of health care, limited access to healthy food and poverty.

Among its impacts, the latter can force residents to try to house more people in smaller units.

The largest share of Covid-19 cases have been contracted from someone the patient knows who was already infected. Newel said on June 11 that most of those cases were spread within household units. She said it would be all but impossible for someone to become infected with Covid-19 and not share it with members of their household. (Preventing the spread of Covid-19 through a household unit is a truly difficult task—one that it would take a couple epidemiologists to pull off.) The result is that, if someone comes down with Covid-19, they’re probably going to end up giving it to everyone in their household.

GIVING BACK

Vulnerable populations, like poor and Latino communities, have not just been disproportionately hit by the pandemic. They were also disproportionately hurt by the resulting shutdowns that were targeted at slowing its spread.

At CAB, for instance, de la Garza helps oversee the day worker center, which provides day labor gigs for local workers—many of them dads in their thirties and forties. They’re often heads of households, and often undocumented. In a normal week, the center has anywhere from 50 to 150 job matches in a week. But suddenly in late March, when the shelter-in-place order took effect, the number of job placements went to zero.

CAB had to immediately pivot services to focus on doing food distributions, expanding its rental assistance programs, and handing out personal protective equipment like face masks, face shields and hand sanitizers.

Meanwhile, undocumented immigrants are ineligible for federal benefits, even in a pandemic, although those in California have been granted some assistance.

In general, poverty has been a central discussion point in discussions around recovering from both the pandemic and the recession. As Newel made the decision to reopen more sectors of the economy last month, in line with other counties across the state, she cited her concerns about poverty as a reason to move ahead.

“As I’ve said before, the reality of death by poverty is very much a real thing. People die because they don’t have adequate housing and food and other things that poverty puts them at risk for,” Newel said. “If we don’t have an economy that’s reopened, we will have deaths as a result of that as well. So I have to balance that with my concerns for public health and safety.”

WAGE AGAINST

Though cases in Santa Cruz County have remained relatively low compared to other communities around the state, Watsonville and its large Latino community—80% of the population in the county’s southernmost city—has been hit the hardest during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As of Monday, there were 181 known active cases in the county, and there have 459 cases overall since March. More than half of the county’s total overall cases have been identified in the Watsonville area. Latino residents make up 51.9% of the county’s cases despite being only 33.5% of the county’s population. At the state level, Latino residents account for roughly 56% of Covid-19 cases despite being only 38.9% of California’s population.

In the June 11 press conference, Deputy County Health Officer David Ghilarducci said the county’s residents of color have taken the brunt of the pandemic because many work in industries that were deemed essential by county and state orders, such as grocery stores, gas stations and hardware stores.

Watsonville City Councilman Felipe Hernandez says that the city of Watsonville’s economic profile, combined with the low wages and minimal benefits that are found in many of those industries, have created a dangerous landscape for Watsonville’s workers. While some industries closed their offices and moved online, many in Watsonville continued reporting to work despite health concerns because they had to pay bills.

“Everywhere you’re most likely to get infected with Covid, [Latino residents] are there,” Hernandez says. “Unfortunately, they’re there for 8-12 hours every day for low wages, no paid sick days, no health care, no option to work from home. There is an underlying issue and it’s being illustrated right now.”

What Happened at Alderwood: Employees Speak, Restaurant Still Closed

Jacob Pierce

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July 7, 2020

12

What Happened at Alderwood: Employees Speak, Restaurant Still Closed

It’s been nearly three weeks since a fight erupted at the downtown Santa Cruz restaurant Alderwood and more than one week since outrage boiled over on social media over the fine-dining establishment’s firing of a chef whom critics believe was targeted by a hate crime.

In the aftermath of the controversy, at least half of the business’ staff walked out. Now, Alderwood is closed. Its website is down, and so is its Facebook page. The restaurant has not posted anything to its Instagram profile since June 23, when management shared a brief account of the fight in response to online criticism and insisted that Alderwood does “not support racism, bigotry or prejudice in any way.” The restaurant has been closed ever since.

There has been no publicly announced timetable for reopening.

Former Alderwood employee Gabby Rokeach—who recently resigned from the restaurant due to the events and was working as the manager on duty the night of the June 18 incident—says she’s been troubled by the way her former bosses handled the situation, both publicly and within the company. She didn’t like, for instance, that Chef Jeffery Wall told KION both sides were responsible for the fight. That wasn’t the way she viewed the events.

As a matter of fact, the two men who went on television to explain Alderwood’s version of the events were not actually at the restaurant on the night of the incident, she says, nor were they proactive about reaching out to those who witnessed it.

“It feels twisted,” says Rokeach, who is also the girlfriend of the fired chef and victim. That employee, who asked to remain anonymous, was at Alderwood on June 18 with his friends dining on a company gift card—something management encouraged employees to do, Rokeach says.

Before the fight broke out, one of the two involved parties—a large group that had been drinking heavily, Rokeach says—carelessly knocked over a wooden and glass divider onto the off-duty chef, who is Filipino, and his friend group on the other side three times. The chef on the other side grew more vocally frustrated. The group walked over to the other side of the divider, with one of the men telling the off-duty chef and his friends “We’re spending more money than you,” Rokeach says. The chef and the restaurant staff asked the group to be more careful, and the group walked back to their table, Rokeach says. Then, almost immediately after, the group knocked over the divider a fourth time—this time on purpose—Rokeach says, prompting the off-duty employee to yell at the larger group.

Rokeach says the group walked back to the other side and started crowding around the employee and yelling “White America,” as well as a homophobic slur.

After three men closed around her boyfriend and pressed their bodies up against his, Rokeach says her boyfriend spilled his water on the larger group, and they retaliated by punching him. She says her boyfriend tried to defend himself but that they pulled him out of his chair and threw him on the ground. Rokeach says a woman, who was with the group, continued to yell, “White America!”

The chef tells GT he’s confident that racial bias played a role in how the large group behaved. “There was absolutely a racial component to it,” he says.

A different employee, who was working that night—another person of color, who shielded his coworker from many of the blows—was badly hurt and got taken to the emergency room in an ambulance, Rokeach says.

The incident comes at a time of racial reckoning in the U.S., as people call for action to address systemic racism in the country and locally. There have been several suspected hate crimes in recent weeks in Santa Cruz.

Rokeach says she and others tried to calm tensions earlier in the evening when the group repeatedly knocked over the divider. She regrets that she was not able to further de-escalate the situation.

“I’m 23, and I was a manager, and I was the only one on duty,” she says. “I had never encountered situations like this, and I’ve apologized deeply to my staff for not knowing how to deal with it. I didn’t know how to de-escalate this correctly.”

Rokeach says she was disappointed that Alderwood management never held a company meeting about the incident after the fact, despite repeatedly telling her they would. Management also has not released any video footage of the events.

Police responded to the incident, but no one has been charged.

Although GT has been unable to reach the restaurant’s management, Alderwood investor Ahmed Hamdy told KSBW that the team decided to ban both parties involved in the fight from the restaurant because the incident got out of hand.

He also told the KSBW reporter that the restaurant, which first opened in late 2018, decided to close for the safety of the remaining staff.

“We have to think about what’s next and how we can reach out to the community and have a dialogue with the community,” Hamdy said. “We feel we’ve been treated unfairly in this whole situation.”

Lt. Warren Barry of the Santa Cruz Police Department, whose officers responded to the June 18 disturbance, says police are investigating the matter.

On the evening of the incident, Barry says the department separated the two parties and collected statements. He says some of those statements conflicted with one another and that some of the participants in the fight did not wish to press charges. Barry says the department is waiting on an additional piece of footage from an individual in hopes that it will help determine what happened.

“There is plenty of second-hand information and commentary. We are really working on getting the facts, and statements from people who actually witnessed the event before the fight, to determine the crime and applicable charges,” Barry says via email.

Anyone with footage of the incident, a witness account, or factual information may contact the department at 831-420-5800.

Although Barry says hate crimes can be challenging to investigate, he stresses that the department takes them seriously.

“The Santa Cruz Police Department does not tolerate hate crimes, these cases are taken seriously,” he writes, “and once determined we will work with the District Attorney’s Office to ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

A fundraiser is underway to support the Alderwood workers who have been displaced from work. It has raised more than $5,000.

Santa Cruz in Photos: Chardonnay Sailing Tours Return

Tarmo Hannula

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July 6, 2020

0

Santa Cruz in Photos: Chardonnay Sailing Tours Return

The Chardonnay II, a 70-foot luxury sailing yacht, sails across the Monterey Bay out of the Santa Cruz Harbor.

Chardonnay Sailing Charters resumed operation on July 1 after being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. They have new guidelines in place aimed at limiting the potential spread of the virus, including keeping six feet of distance from other people.

Chardonnay II, a sleek, designed-for-speed cutter with a 65-foot mast and nine feet of draft, seats 49 people with plenty of space to stretch out. The charter sail offers two-hour sailing adventures around the bay that feature a mix of energized sailing and relaxing inner bay stretches.

The themed public sails include wildlife and whale watching, a pizza charter, Champaign brunch charter, the Taste of Santa Cruz, the Brewmaster, Wednesday night sailboat races, Pono Hawaiian Grill, Akira Sushi Sunday, a Sunset charter, the Winemaker charter and more.

See more from the Santa Cruz in Photos series.

Faith, Community Leaders Praise Tax Break for Undocumented Workers

Johanna Miller

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July 6, 2020

0

Faith, Community Leaders Praise Tax Break for Undocumented Workers

Faith and community leaders with the California Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) celebrated a victory Tuesday after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a budget that includes an expansion of the California Earned Income Tax Credit (Cal EITC) to undocumented workers with young children.

While not a full expansion to all undocumented workers, the tax credit will help tens of thousands of families with at least one child under the age of 6 who pay their taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Some households may receive up to $2,600 each year, depending on their income and family size.

According to IAF, undocumented immigrants represent 10% of the California workforce, and their labor has largely fallen into work deemed “essential” throughout the pandemic—in agriculture, food distribution and service, elder care and child care, among other occupations.

“What we have been pressing for is justice for essential workers, not charity,” said Fr. Arturo Corral of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, One LA. “It cannot be disputed that immigrant workers are bearing the brunt of pandemic-related health risks in order to keep all our boats afloat. We could not provide food for our families without their labor. They pay billions in local and state taxes, and they contribute over $180 billion to our economy. And they have been ruthlessly left out of federal relief.”

On May 5, more than 1,200 California IAF leaders, along with 10 Bishops and nine state legislators, convened on Zoom to press Newsom to expand the Cal EITC. More than 1,000 faith and community leaders signed on to a letter in support of the expansion, and in the thick of budget negotiations they organized hundreds of leaders to send letters to the governor and to the top leadership of the senate and assembly.

“We commend Gov. Newsom and state legislators for investing in families, especially during a deficit year,” said Rabbi Susan Leider with Congregation Kol Shofar, Marin Organizing Committee. “We know they have faced enormous pressure to cut back, and instead they have paid in. This tax credit is not just a one-time handout, but will help families year after year. Our leaders have been working for months to make sure our essential workers aren’t left behind, and this is a huge step forward.”

But many IAF organizations say there is much more to do to buffer immigrant and low-income workers from the health and economic risks ahead. With recent economic forecasts predicting a slow recovery, organizations continue to organize hundreds of conversations.

“We are concerned that our low income and undocumented families will continue to be the hardest hit as we inch our way out of this pandemic,” said Maria Elena Manzo, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Salinas, and a leader with COPA.

Extended Learning Program Provides Thousands of Bags to Students

Tarmo Hannula

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July 6, 2020

0

Extended Learning Program Provides Thousands of Bags to Students

A huge program is underway in Watsonville to help keep students finely tuned and focused on education through the summer.

Jen Bruno, a curriculum coach, said the Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s Extended Learning Programs (ELP) over the past few weeks has loaded more than 4,000 new backpacks with around 5,000 hands-on literacy and science kits and other school supplies. They hope those supplies encourage area students, through K-8 Distance Learning, to roll up their sleeves and jump into a wealth of learning exercises during the ongoing Covid-19 closures.

“I’m so excited about this program and the many workshops,” Bruno said. “I really couldn’t be doing a better thing with my summer. I’ve never been a part of something so big.”

Extended Learning worked with community experts to develop lessons and activities for students to have access to quality online learning opportunities this summer.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) lessons include science, coding, visual arts, music, drama, fitness, nutrition and more. That set of lessons, which also features virtual camps and field trips, is free.

The programs—funded by grants from After School Education and Safety and 21st Century—are powered by the City of Watsonville, the city’s Science Workshop, the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County, Watsonville Wetlands Watch and the Code Naturally Academy of Santa Cruz.

They include 15 lessons per week that are structured to be family-friendly and inclusive and use PVUSD-issued Chromebooks.

“I get it as far as family learning goes,” Bruno said. “I have four kids of my own; I know how to work alongside these families.”

Available to roughly 13,000 students, the program continues through July 30 and is geared for students to learn at their own pace in English and Spanish, Bruno said.

Sharon Sanchez, a first-year kindergarten and bilingual teacher at Mintie White Elementary School, was one of several who waited patiently during Tuesday’s drive-thru pick-up at Watsonville High School—the program’s staging ground.

She picked up 13 bags, 10 for her kindergarten students and another three for some of their siblings because their parents were busy working. She said the hands-on activities included in the bags will help keep her students busy and are a good alternative for families that are not able to access online lesson plans.

“We did try to implement distance learning but for a lot of families, especially my families, they can’t access that technology,” she said. “For the kids that don’t have summer school, this is a great way to keep busy and keep learning during the summer.”

Bruno said the distribution was largely completed Tuesday.

“Though we weren’t supposed to open the line until 11:30am, we had a line at 9am that was two cars wide all the way to the pool area,” Bruno said.

Youth N.O.W., Watsonville’s Police Activities League and the YMCA played a role in getting backpacks out to students. Bruno said some of the remaining backpacks will be driven directly to agricultural working families.

“I really want every student to get a kit,” she said. “This is about equity.”

For the past 13 years Bruno has headed up Fitness 4 Life, an after school fitness program for around 4,000 PVUSD students, grades 2-8, annually. Staff from F4L also came on board to assist the ELP, Bruno said.

“Truly, the 14 staff who worked alongside me creating these kits for weeks made this project such a success,” she said. “They helped create the website, passed out kits for hours day after day, called homes, made dump runs, unloaded 93 pallets of supplies, organized all the paperwork, and drove the kits to families that couldn’t pick-up. This miracle team gave their hearts to create these kits to ensure PVUSD students could have a memorable experience during this pandemic.”

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