Before her latest album, Big Picture, Christie McCarthy had released four albums, guested on other artists’ records and had songs on a Target Christmas compilation. But Big Picture is special, because it’s her first album since she moved to Santa Cruz nine years ago.
“I was focusing on some other stuff in my life and in my work,” McCarthy says. “It’s just been the last couple years that I pivoted back to music.”
The album sounds like it could have been plucked right out of the Laurel Canyon era of ’70s singer-songwriters, with lots of subtly complex hooks and lush harmonies, and a wealth of influences from the realms of folk, Americana and rock ‘n’ roll.
Overall, it’s got an uplifting vibe to it. She touches on the darkness of the times, but asks us to focus our attention on the beauty all around us instead.
“It’s interesting what’s going on in the world today. There’s a lot of conflict,” McCarthy says. “I think there is an opportunity in the dark for love and for friendship and all those things to arise.”
She worked relentlessly on the record with several local musicians she’d met since moving here. She also had a vision for the album to have the flow and feel of the old ’70s records that had specific side A and side B’s to them.
“I chose a group of songs that I thought would tell a story where the sum is larger than its parts, like reading a book,” McCarthy says.
Since moving here, she’s tended to play only occasionally, even after releasing Big Picture last year. She’s hoping 2019 will be a little bit different.
“This year, I’m really focused on doing a handful of solid shows, focused on putting together this band, really focused on getting out there a lot more,” McCarthy says.
INFO: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21. Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $12 adv/$15 door. 479-9777.
It’s an early-morning feeding frenzy. A swarm of “sharks”—specialists, dealers, collectors, and seasoned deal seekers—dart through the aisles of the Santa Cruz Flea Market on a cold and blustery Sunday in November, systematically feasting on and devouring easy prey (flea market newbies, or “minnows”) with cold and practiced precision. It’s 6:45 a.m., still dark and grey out, when the first shark appears in front of our makeshift booth (some carpets laid with shoes, books and other household castaways, and a clothing rack hung with once-loved pieces). Hastily—and might I add, a tad bit scornfully—he appraises our messy rows of wares. He hovers for a moment and shrewdly watches GT’s former managing editor Maria Grusauskas and I finish unloading our packed cargo van.
Held on the grounds of the former Skyview Drive-In each week (weather permitting) since 1971, the Santa Cruz Flea Market has long been a popular local institution and weekend ritual. For decades, throngs of deal seekers, treasure hunters, people watchers, and pro/am junk slingers have happily skipped through the market’s labyrinth of aisles. Most don’t know that the flea market is officially on the chopping block.
The Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF)—a branch of Sutter Hospital—purchased the property that the Santa Cruz Flea Market sits upon in 2006, and long ago announced their plan to develop a maternity ward on the valuable piece of real estate, eliminating the iconic flea market for good. No one really knows how much longer the Santa Cruz Flea Market can remain open.
And the writing may be on the wall. Earlier this year, Goodwill Central Coast, which manages and runs the Santa Cruz Flea Market, leasing the land from Sutter on a year-to-year basis, announced that it will end Friday operations at the flea market starting April 1, because Sutter wants the lots for overflow weekday parking. At least for the time being, the market will still be open Saturdays and Sundays.
Sutter actually did shut down the flea market for almost six months in 2007, sending panicked vendors scrambling for other venues and sources of income, and triggering a backlash from locals who had relied on the marketplace for decades.
Relocating the flea market to the fairgrounds in Watsonville sounded like a good idea at the time, but things never really took off there. Vendors and customers simply wouldn’t travel. Bowing to pressure from local residents, Sutter officials eventually declared that they wouldn’t shutter the flea market overnight, but also admitted that they didn’t want to run the venue themselves. The medical provider sought an established local nonprofit to operate and manage the operation, and Goodwill Central Coast stepped up to the plate.
Since then, the fate of the market has hung in limbo while Sutter hashes out a plan.
“We purchased the land in 2006 with the intent that we may need additional facilities in the future,” says Sutter communication team member Callie Lutz. “We’re currently studying what the best use of the property will be to meet the needs of the community. At this time we don’t have specific plans yet for the site.”
While there was no fixed time frame at the beginning of their arrangement with Sutter, few at Goodwill expected that it would take this long for the hospital to develop an official plan for the land. “It’s staggering to think about building an entire new hospital from the ground up. They will get it done eventually though,” says Goodwill Central Coast CEO Ed Durkee. “The flea market will end eventually—they will build a hospital on the land. But I don’t know when that will happen.”
MEET THE SHARKS
Back on that Sunday morning in November, we soon learn that the shark in front of our booth has a name. He’s Ron Wagner, a 60-year-old Santa Cruz resident who has been coming bright and early to the Santa Cruz Flea Market since the 1980s. “I come to find treasures,” he says. “You know, to find something unique.”
He spots something peeking out of a box and picks it up quickly, turning it over in his hands. “How much for the recorder?” he asks. “How about a dollar?” Maria and I reply in unison. It seems like a tough decision for Wagner, and he massages the bone-white instrument in his right palm, playing with it thoughtfully. “OK,” he finally says. Our first sale!
As the morning sun climbs higher, we ask the grizzled flea market veteran to critique our spot and setup. He mostly approves, but tells us that some of our items—like my hodgepodge of pens and coloring books—need to be more visible, and less haphazardly displayed. Seeing us shiver in the cold, he also recommends that we dress warmer next time. Thanks, buddy.
Before he wades into the sea of vendors, Wagner sagely says, “The flea market is important for Santa Cruz. It keeps low-income families—and even kids like you—dressed and clothed. And it’s become a unique cultural spot in our county. It makes Santa Cruz a better place.”
GRAB BAG From antiques and electronics to toys and food, the Santa Cruz Flea Market has a little bit of everything. PHOTO: JULES HOLDSWORTH
I take a few minutes to peruse other sellers’ stations and meet Maddie Loveless, one of many neighbors who puts our effort to shame. With a grey Crocodile Dundee hat covering her long and shockingly red hair, 22 year-old Loveless sits behind a smartly laid-out table covered with rocks, gems, assorted picture frames, and a few eclectic antiques. Her setup looks professional and polished, each item perfectly placed. As a student at CSUMB, Loveless splits her time between studying in the geology department and working long hours in campus labs or doing survey work. Selling at the Santa Cruz Flea Market is her side hustle.
Loveless and her boyfriend (now fiancée) have been regular sellers at the flea market for more than five years. They are hooked. “The flea market is the last standing bazaar you can go to. It offers the freedom to do business however you want,” she tells me. “It’s an opportunity for people like me—for small business—to happen.”
The couple operates as a team, setting up their two tables in the dark at around 5 a.m. on most Sundays. In their early days of selling, getting up and going in the morning was tough, but now they have a routine. They pack hand warmers, beanies, blankets, and a kerosene lantern in their van. People start rummaging through their items in the early hours, as Maddie and her soon-to-be husband get ready, unpack and try to stay warm.
The flea market has become a lifeline for Loveless, allowing her to live more comfortably on a student budget. Don’t let the baby face and bubbly personality fool you: Loveless is a shark. As a seasoned flea dealer, she patrols the market in the early hours of the morning, on the lookout for deals and hot buys, and things she can flip for a profit at her stall.
“Oh yeah, you can find treasures here. Folks don’t know what they have,” says Loveless. “If you know what you’re looking for you can get amazing deals. Buy low, sell high.”
The couple is also keenly aware of the fact that their entire business, and the livelihood of many county residents, can vanish at a moment’s notice. The threat of Sutter’s expansion is a dark cloud that has hovered over flea market vendors for over a decade.
“The entire community needs this place,” she says. “You can come here and help individual people out—people who are struggling.”
STORAGE LOCKDOWN
Further down the row of sellers is Santa Cruz’s own Larry J., who for decades peacefully and semi-anonymously bought and sold empty storage lockers, then flipped the contents for reliable income. At 73, Larry J. looks youthful—like someone who hasn’t had a “real job” since the late 1980s. His wavy brown hair is now speckled with grey, but he tells me that he’s been selling at the Santa Cruz Flea Market every Sunday since 1998.
Some storage lockers are full of treasure. A recent auction attendee snagged a unit in Indio for $500 that turned out to contain a safe with tightly wrapped bundles of cash totaling a cool $7.5 million. But most units, Larry tells me, are full of junk.
He doesn’t mind junk though. Heck, he’s been the king of junk here for 30 years. But after A&E’s show Storage Wars started airing each week, he says an army of would-be junk-lords have begun to show up on his turf. It used to be a relatively secret industry for those in the know, and a reliable source of income. Now, it’s become a circus, he tells me, and old-school auction buyers like himself have taken a big hit. Larry guesses that there are around eight “storage locker folks” who sell at the flea market on an average Sunday, and that number is way down from what it used to be.
“Storage Wars changed things overnight,” Larry tells me. “It drove the locker prices really high and brought out a ton of people to the auctions. This hurt a lot of good people. The excitement sort of fizzled out, but the prices are still way higher than before.”
Each week, Larry empties his mid-sized semi-truck in the wee hours of the morning, arranging neatly-spaced aisles of overflowing boxes across two entire spaces. He’s had the same spot, the same layout and the same sales strategy for more than two decades. His life has revolved around the flea market for as long as he can remember. “Some people do it for a living, and some people do it for fun. I do it for both, I guess,” he says.
Larry’s favorite thing about Sundays at the market is the energy and vibrant social scene; the sometimes-odd collection of people who show up to buy and sell each week. He’s seen it all: countless crazes like beanie babies, Pokemon, Hummel plates, and more recently, fidget spinners. “It’s hot-hot-hot, and then one day you can’t give that shit away!” he says with a laugh.
Larry equates the flea market to a living, breathing organism—one that adapts to changes in the economy, politics and the weather. When the economy is good, he’s hesitant to haggle much. But when people are hurting, suffering, and in need, he’ll bargain.
Larry tells me that the upcoming Friday closures “are going to hurt a lot of good people.” And if the entire flea market closes down, he says that the community will lose “a great and important resource where people can buy things cheap—things that they normally couldn’t afford. A lot of local people don’t make a lot of money. A lot of families would lose in the end. Everything is so damned expensive in Santa Cruz already. The flea market helps subsidize people.”
A MAN OF GOODWILL
Wearing red Hoosiers colors and a navy blue baseball cap over his just-starting-to-grey hair, Ed Durkee has the “casual executive” look nailed. As acting CEO of Goodwill Central Coast, the 52-year-old’s penetrating blue eyes don’t miss much. They visibly light up as he tells me about his six years at the helm of the organization. The Indiana transplant says that he has always wanted to do social justice and inclusion work, and that his goal, as well as his organization’s, is “to work with as many people in the community as we can—to help them reach their goals and move toward economic independence.”
Durkee has overseen Goodwill’s management and operation of the Santa Cruz Flea Market from the moment he arrived in the Bay Area.Each week, an army of Goodwill employees assist vendors and provide a safe and healthy environment for community members to buy and sell. Some of the organization’s staff does security and crowd control, while others help vendors set up and pack up, handle disputes, manage traffic, take payments and entrance fees, and make sure county rules—like no dangerous items or plastic bags—are followed. Goodwill’s relationship with Sutter is “solid,” in Durkee’s words, and the marketplace’s operation is also financially healthy for all parties involved.
LOCAL FLAVOR Produce vendors and purveyors of breakfast burritos, hot dogs and other delicacies are a flea market mainstay. PHOTO: JULES HOLDSWORTH
“Ed Durkee and the entire Goodwill Central Coast team do such a great job, and we’re glad to continue our partnership,” says Sutter’s Lutz.
Taking a sip of Verve coffee, Durkee says, “We’re paying Sutter a lot, but we are making money, too.” The money Goodwill earns helps the nonprofit further its mission of helping people on the Central Coast get jobs.
Durkee, like many of the market’s regular vendors and long-time buyers, knows the flea market has been running on borrowed time, since many expected Sutter to have broken ground long ago on the maternity wing.
“It’s one of the most valuable pieces of property in the county,” says Durkee. “The fact that we’re able to do this—to have this magical market here—is amazing. This community gem is something to appreciate and treasure as long as we have it. If it does close, it would be a loss of a beloved institution.”
SELLER’S REMORSE
For Maria and I, our first foray into selling at the flea market is a learning process, full of drama, choppy waters and a few happy moments. The market begins brutally early in the day, when coastal fog adds a few millimeters of moisture to your entire body—and everything you own. Gloves, a jacket, a nice thermos of hot coffee or tea, and a small blanket are must-haves for any flea market seller. Nobody gave us the memo, and Maria’s toes sadly developed a minor case of frostbite.
By the end of the day, we’d come up with a wide variety of ingenious strategies to lure and corral impressionable buyers into our retail extravaganza. The most successful was a box of “free stuff” that we placed in front of our space. We also attempted to physically corral people to our space using Maria’s gigantic and ancient Mary Poppins-esque bicycle. Foot traffic increased immediately with this rusty relic out front, and we were doing great until we caught the attention of authorities, who promptly requested that we stop blocking the walkway.
It was a long day—from 6 a.m. to around 2 p.m, and we spent the hours trying to wrap our heads around the baffling question of why some of our items sold and others didn’t. I was sure that my vintage Sublime clock would be snapped up toot sweet. And who wouldn’t want to inherit my eclectic, Asian-inspired lamp? But the items sat and gathered dust even as I dropped their prices. The process was downright vexing at times. Other things sold unexpectedly: a conservative and distinguished older gentleman gave me a whopping $2 for my hole-riddled, half-way burnt “No Smoking” sign.
One man’s trash, as the old adage goes, is another man’s treasure.
Sitting in a depression between high rocky cliffs near the shore, the Capitola Village is home to trendy shops, bars and restaurants, all of which have helped make the town of Capitola a popular, laid-back getaway since 1869. Over the years, the city has seen many changes—and more dramatic ones could be on the way.
Patrick Barnard, who’s lived in the Capitola Village for more than 15 years, works as a coastal geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)Pacific Coastal Science Center. As research director for the federal agency’s climate impacts and coastal processes team, Barnard focuses on climate-related changes to the beaches and estuaries bordering the Pacific Ocean.
Increasing global temperatures have begun melting polar ice caps, a trend that’s raising sea levels. It will all mean trouble, he says, for the town that he calls home.
“Sea-level rise is going to pose a major problem for communities up and down the coast—especially low-lying communities like Capitola,” Barnard says. “The village is built right at sea level in the flood plain of a river. Between the ocean and the creek, it’s in an extremely vulnerable position.”
To put it bluntly, there’s a chance that a portion of “Capitola by the Sea,” as it’s sometimes known, could become “Capitola in the Sea.” The city of Santa Cruz’s Climate Adaptation Plan, published in 2018, estimates climate change, caused by greenhouse gas emissions, will result in about 28 inches of sea-level rise along the Central Coast by 2060.
According to a U.N. report on climate change released last year, the world will face disastrous climate change if humans fail to to cut emissions 45 percent from 2010 levels in the next 10 years.
In Capitola’s own Climate Action Plan, adopted in 2015, leaders primarily address methods of reducing carbon emissions—encouraging bus ridership, bicycle use and electric vehicles—more than studying ways to mitigate climate change’s impacts. The report does, however, say that the city could be hit hard by “the effects of sea-level rise, changes in precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, and other inclement effects of climate change.” Such possibilities may not sound totally unfamiliar to many residents. In March of 2011, a heavy rain downpour caused a Capitola drainage pipe to burst, sending a wave of water through the village.
Barnard expects flooding and severe storms to occur more regularly, and when combined with sea-level rise, they could wreak havoc on village life.
“If you’re looking out to 2050, with a foot or more of sea-level rise, it’s clearly a serious problem,” says Barnard. “Waves are crashing through Zelda’s and Margaritaville already. Add a foot of water and these things will start happening every year, and multiple times a year.”
Capitola Mayor Jacques Bertrand says that every winter, the town puts up sandbags to serve as a barricade. There are some in place right now. One day, they won’t be enough.
“Sandbags will soon be ineffective. You can’t build high enough,” he says. “You can’t hold the water back at some point.”
WATER LEVEL UP
Even the 4 inches of sea level rise expected on the Central Coast by 2030, according to Santa Cruz’s plan, could have serious, long-lasting effects on sea-level communities like Capitola, a town of 10,000 residents spread over an area of just 1.7 square miles. Some business owners are already on edge.
Brook Penquite, 49, opened his family-run Santa Cruz Poke shop a little over a year ago in the Capitola Mercantile. Penquite, who has gray hair and a speckled brown goatee, wipes sauce from his thick apron and solemnly tells GT that “things are already changing in the village.”
“It’s beyond worrisome,” he says. “Sea-level rise is going to have a huge impact on the homes and businesses down here. I want to see us survive down here. But we are going to need to make changes.”
Penquite says he’s already seen overloaded storm drains spew sewage into the streets and water breach the sea wall during storms. “No one knows what it’s going to be like in the future,” Penquite says. “But the truth is we’ve seen flooding way more frequently. We need to approach climate change mitigation with a real cause and a real purpose.”
Nearby at Pizza My Heart, Ruby Aron, 17, darts back and forth between a large oven and the front counter, taking orders and talking to hungry customers.
A native Capitolan, Aron sees the village and nearby beach where she spent her childhood summers as “safe, family-friendly, charming, and perfect.” She and other Pizza My Heart employees are “worried sick” about climate change, sea-level rise, and the prospect that their flagship pizzeria could soon be underwater,” she says.
“The sandbar is changing,” says Aron. “The beach is shrinking. Behind our building, there’s an entire stream connecting the beach and the creek that never existed before. If things continue, a lot of people’s memories are going to be washed away. We need to do everything we can to save the village.”
CREEK PEAK
Portions of the Capitola Village, which wraps around Soquel Creek, take clear inspiration from Venice, Italy, whose complex gridlike canals weave around city blocks.
Perhaps the most obvious remnants of that 100-year-old local aspiration lie in the Mediterranean-style Venetian Court bungalows on the north side of Soquel Creek. In the real Venice, located on Italy’s northeastern shore, repeated flooding has already begun taking a significant toll. For more than 15 years, construction crews have been building gates at the mouth of the city’s lagoon to literally hold high tides at bay.
In Capitola, Public Works Director Steve Jesberg’s three-man department is responsible for all maintenance and construction projects for parks, roads and public facilities in Capitola. “We’re a small city,” he says. “There’s no one person whose job it is to look at and plan for sea-level rise and the effects of climate change.”
Capitola, he explains, is working to ensure that all existing infrastructure is as good as it can be. “Sea-level rise is a real thing, and something we need to address soon,” he says.
The Capitola jetty was built in the late 1960s to keep Capitola Beach as wide as possible. A wider beach means more protection for the village, allowing waves to break on the edge of the beach, further away from buildings. Barnard says that without a jetty, Capitola wouldn’t even have a beach. Sand would be ripped off the beach and sent down the coast.
Even with an intact jetty in place, Jesberg warns that waves will still crash over Capitola’s sea wall and into buildings in the village. He’s extremely worried about winter storm surges. With sea level rise, he says, “There is potential for water to go over our modest sea wall and enter the village and road every day. If this happens, we’d have to rebuild the entire village—with higher roads and such.”
Rebuilding would be a tall order for Jesberg and his team, but the public works director says that he and his department are “not panicking yet.”
Barnard, though, stresses that the threats are real. “Just a few inches of seal level rise can cause 100-year events to occur every five years,” he says. “Adapting to sea-level rise and the expected impacts of climate change is going to be very expensive. I truly wonder if Capitola has the resources it’s going to take.”
Mayor Bertrand says Capitola is working to improve its drainage system and planning and trying to better understand the “scope of the issues.” The city might have to raise the village in order to protect it, he says, adding that abandoning the neighborhood wouldn’t be an option. He doesn’t know how Capitola’s going to pay for it.
“How much money is it going to take to save the village? Raising all the buildings and moving them inward—that’s a huge project,” says Bertrand, a former city treasurer. “Capitola Village is going to have to change due to the threat of climate change and sea-level rise.”
Businesses may have to adjust as well. Jesberg says that the economic impacts from global warming will be big. “A lot of business will be affected,” he says. “It will definitely affect tourism and the health of Capitola Village.”
Even with the jetty improvement approved, one of the biggest challenges Capitola faces is the beach itself, which Barnard says may not exist in a few decades. With sea level rise, beaches tend to migrate and shrink inward.
Barnard says that right now, waves primarily come from the west and northwest. That leaves southwest-facing Capitola more or less buffered from big swells. He says that climate models project that more waves will start coming from the south, which would mean trouble.
“The village will see a direct impact,” Barnard says. “A direct hit.”
Fresh off Black History Month and the local Martin Luther King Jr. Day march, the Santa Cruz Police Department has opened an investigation into a police officer’s racially charged post in a law-and-order-centric Facebook group.
Officer Chris Galli first drew attention for a January post on a conservative Facebook page called “Santa Cruz, CA: Keepin’ It Real” when screenshots of his commentary about an African-American resident of the homeless encampment behind the Ross department store were published on left-leaning news site Indybay. In the exchange, Galli, posting as “Chris Meriekuh,” referred to camp resident and unofficial spokesman Michael Sweatt as, “Good ‘ol dindunuffin Mr. Sweatt”—a phrase used on Reddit and elsewhere after the 2014 Ferguson police brutality protests to mock African-American people who deny committing crimes.
“Yes, it has been brought to my attention, and we have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation into the matter,” Santa Cruz Police Chief Andrew Mills tells GT. “I can’t comment on the personnel investigation, but I can tell you that we take all those matters seriously.”
The investigation comes as local online political groups, a microcosm of a chaotic national political environment, continue to splinter into increasingly insular corners of the Internet. If and how local law enforcement or other employers will respond to the polarizing rhetoric is the question now confronting Mills and his department.
The “Santa Cruz, CA: Keepin’ It Real” Facebook page is billed as “a humble attempt to make sense of the chaos that is daily life in the city of Santa Cruz.” It consists mostly of detailed crime and court reports compiled by moderator “Big Joe 77,” plus Law & Order-inspired slideshows of mugshots and often-vitriolic comments about people accused of crimes. City spending on homeless services is a frequent target of posters who call Santa Cruz and its elected officials a “shitshow,” and sometimes bestow a “Jackass of the Day” award.
Mills says the police department doesn’t regularly track online posting habits of police personnel on ‘Keepin’ It Real’ or other pages. If remarks are brought to the department’s attention, as was the case with Galli, the department will investigate. “We don’t actively monitor social media,” Mills says. “There’s just so much of it. I don’t really have the staff or the ability to do that.”
The Santa Cruz Police Officers’ Association did not respond to a request for comment about whether officers’ online personas should be grounds for departmental action.
Personal vs. Political
The issue of political expression among local law enforcement could be muddled by the fact that Mills himself faced criticism for uneven enforcement of department rules in his previous role as Eureka police chief. As Humboldt County media reported in 2017, Mills took issue with a Humboldt Bay firefighter wearing a “Black Lives Matter” pin on his uniform, though Mills was captured in a photo wearing a “Police Lives Matter” bracelet while on duty.
“What happened is that the city’s policy is that you cannot wear pins of any kind without prior approval from the chief of that department,” says Mills, who adds that he has also told multiple officers that they may not wear pro-Second Amendment pins or other insignias on the job. “You have to set a standard, or it gets out of control.”
As for what made his “Police Lives Matter” bracelet an exception, Mills says he was showing personal support for officers killed in a 2016 Texas ambush. And the bracelet, he adds, was not physically on his uniform.
“That is not a violation of the policy because it’s not on my uniform,” Mills says. “It was more of an issue of showing support for our officers.”
Since taking the job as Santa Cruz’s top cop in the summer of 2017, Mills has staked out a conciliatory position. In addition to championing the annual MLK Day march with the local NAACP, Mills has used his personal blog to draw attention to alleged hate crimes and civil rights milestones. In a post earlier this year titled “Words Matter,” Mills wrote that, “How we speak to one another matters greatly. People on the fringe use extreme words as justification for wrong behavior.”
Last year, after visiting a Resource Center for Nonviolence exhibition on “Black Lives in Santa Cruz: What Matters,” Mills told GT that,“We need to look at what we are doing that eliminates people of color” in public hiring.
“Me, as a white male in my 60s in government, I cannot understand what it’s like for a young African-American guy to be stopped multiple times,” Mills says. “And I don’t think that those who are not in law enforcement can truly understand what it’s like to walk up to a car when you have no idea who’s in the car at 3:00 in the morning. My goal is to bring connection and unity.”
Though he doesn’t expect questions about political expression to go away, Mills says it will take addressing underlying tension and improving a range of social and economic systems to really move the needle.
“It’s a broad topic that’s not just fixed by policing,” Mills says. “I mean, the whole system has to be changed.”
When online public safety activists told Nuz thatSeattle was “dying,” we were certainly listening.
At first, we were inclined to believe it. After all, baseball season’s starting, and to any self-respecting Seattleite, the experience of sitting down to watch the languishing Mariners would surely make the thought of eternal slumber seem comparatively cheery. Then there’s the chore of having to put up with those obnoxious Seahawks fans and the flannel-wearing Nirvana cultists trying to make grunge happen again. Add to that the malaise that comes with living in a rainy haze home to such insufferable billionaires as wannabe presidential candidate Howard “Person of Means” Schultz, and you have a…
Oh wait, nevermind.
Nuz has learned that the real reason for the Emerald City’s supposed imposing doom is Seattle’s homeless population.That idea comes from the Washington-based television station KOMO, owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which faced widespread criticism last year for forcing anchors around the country toread pro-Trump editorials. Under the title“Seattle Is Dying,” KOMO ran an hour-long fear-mongering segment that was heavy on anti-homeless anecdotes, light on data and borderingon sheer propaganda. Police Chief Andy Mills tweeted the video on Tuesday afternoon.
The reason that Santa Cruz locals are talking about any of this is that thecounty has $10 million worth of homeless funding, and is getting ready to spend it. The Santa Cruz City Council, meanwhile, is moving forward with plans for new social services and homeless encampments, all while fending off public safety fears—some of which are more of a stretch than others.
For one, there are the blanket statements going around—both at City Council meetings and on Facebook—that Seattle’s crime rate is much higher than New York’s and Los Angeles’. Those claims are technically true,according to a 2017 article in the Seattle Times, but it’s worth noting that crime rates are measured per capita, so it doesn’t mean that Seattle’s property crime totals are anywhere close to approaching those of much larger cities. (Also, L.A. and the Big Apple have two of the lowest per capita crime rates among major American cities.) Seattle’s crime rate in 2016—the most recent year in which we were able to access comprehensive data—was still lower than Santa Cruz’s, which was lower than Oakland’s.
Of all the trending oft-cited claims from Santa Cruz’s Facebook pages, perhaps the one that’s most suspect is a rumor stemming from an article titled “Seattle Under Siege” published in the right-wing publication City Journal. Seattle, it argues, is spending $1 billion a year on its homeless population. But is it true?
Well, the Seattle Times pegged the region’s total homelessness spendingat one-fifth of that amount, and it was thorough in its analysis, too, including a wide array of sources—city funding, county funding, federal and state funding, private donations. So how did the Puget Sound Business Journal—whichoriginally came up with the much larger $1 billion figure—arrive at its number? Apparently, the paper used a method that—depending on how you look at it—was either exhaustive or just plain boneheaded. In its estimate, the Business Journal included a wide variety of additional costs, including $155 million worth or real estate used for homeless facilities and a whopping $746 million in the budgets of nonprofits that help the homeless. At the very least, City Journal and Santa Cruz activists have taken the $1 billion number out of context.
Making good decisions on touchy subjects is hard enough. Citing questionable data doesn’t make it any easier.
Free will astrology for the week of March 20, 2019
ARIES (March 21-April 19): During the coming weeks, everything that needs to happen will indeed happen only if you surprise yourself on a regular basis. So I hope you will place yourself in unpredictable situations where you won’t be able to rely on well-rehearsed responses. I trust that you will regard innocence and curiosity and spontaneity as your superpowers. Your willingness to change your mind won’t be a mark of weakness, but rather a sign of strength.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the animated kids’ film Over the Hedge, 10 talking animals come upon a massive, towering hedge they’ve never seen. The friendly group consists of a skunk, red squirrel, box turtle, two opossums, and five porcupines. The hedge perplexes and mystifies them. It makes them nervous. There’s nothing comparable to it in their previous experience. One of the porcupines says she would be less afraid of it if she just knew what it was called, whereupon the red squirrel suggests that from now on they refer to it as “Steve.” After that, they all feel better. I recommend that you borrow their strategy in the coming weeks. If a Big Unknown arrives in your vicinity, dub it “Steve” or “Betty.”
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I urge you to locate a metaphorical or very literal door that will give you access to a place that affords you more freedom and healing and support. Maybe you already know about the existence of this door—or maybe it’s not yet on your radar. Here’s advice from Clarissa Pinkola Éstes that might help. “If you have a deep scar, that is a door,” she writes. “If you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much that you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Musician Carol Kaye is the most famous bass guitarist you’ve never heard of. Over the course of five decades, she has plied her soulful talents on more than 10,000 recordings, including gems by Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Beach Boys. Twenty-seven-time Grammy winner Quincy Jones has testified that Kaye has written, “some of the most beautiful themes I’ve ever heard in my life,” and that she “could do anything and leave men in the dust.” I trust this horoscope will expand the number of people who appreciate her. I also hope you’ll be inspired to become more active in spreading the word about the gifts that you have to offer the world. It’s high time to make sure that people know more of the beautiful truth about you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “When you want happiness, what are you wanting?” asks aphorist Olivia Dresher. The repeat of an event that made you feel good in the past? A sweet adventure you’ve thought about but never actually experienced? Here’s a third possibility. Maybe happiness is a state you could feel no matter what your circumstances are; maybe you could learn how to relax into life exactly as it is, and feel glad about your destiny wherever it takes you. In my opinion, Leo, that third approach to happiness will be especially natural for you to foster in the coming weeks.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): There are old traditions in many cultures that pay special attention to the first brick or stone that is laid in the earth to initiate the construction of a future building. It’s called a cornerstone or foundation stone. All further work to create the new structure refers back to this original building block, and depends on it. I’m pleased to inform you that now is a favorable phase to put your own metaphorical cornerstone in place, Virgo. You’re ready to begin erecting a structure or system that will serve you for years to come. Be sure you select the right place for it, as well as the best building materials.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Born under the sign of Libra, Ivan Kharchenko (1918–1989) was a military officer and engineer for the Soviet army. His specialty was disarming explosive devices before they detonated. Over the course of his career, he defused an estimated 50,000 bombs and mines. Let’s make him your patron saint for the coming weeks. Why? Because I suspect you will be able to summon a metaphorical version of his power: an extraordinary capacity to keep volatile situations from blowing up. You’ll be a virtuoso at waging peace and preventing strife.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): There was a time, less than a century ago, when pink was considered a masculine color and blue a feminine hue. In previous eras, many European men sported long hair, wore high heels and favored clothes with floral patterns. Franklin D. Roosevelt, one of America’s most prominent 20th-century presidents, sometimes wore skirts and feather-bedecked hats as a child. With these facts as your keystone, and in accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to experiment with your own gender expressions in the coming weeks. It’s prime time to have fun with the way you interpret what it means to be a man or woman—or any other gender you might consider yourself to be.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): According to estimates by population experts, about 109 billion humans have been born on planet Earth over the millennia. And yet I’m quite sure that not a single one of those other individuals has been anything like you. You are absolutely unique, an unmatched treasure, a one-of-a-kind creation with your own special blend of qualities. And in my prophetic view, you’re ready to fully acknowledge and celebrate these facts on a higher octave than ever before. It’s high time for you to own your deepest authenticity; to work with extra devotion to express your soul’s code; to unabashedly claim your idiosyncratic genius.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): We don’t know as much about European history between the 6th and 9th centuries as we do about other eras. Compared to the times that preceded and followed, cultural and literary energies were low. Fewer records were kept. Governments were weaker and commerce was less vigorous. But historians don’t like to use the term “Dark Ages” to name that period because it brought many important developments and activities, such as improvements in farming techniques. So in some ways, “Lost Ages” might be a more apropos descriptor. Now let’s turn our attention to a metaphorically comparable phase of your own past, Capricorn: an era that’s a bit fuzzy in your memory; a phase about which your understanding is incomplete. I suspect that the coming weeks will be an excellent time to revisit that part of your life and see what new evidence and insights you can mine.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Why do some American libraries ban certain books, ensuring they’re unavailable to local readers? The reasons may be because they feature profanity or include references to sex, drug use, the occult, atheism, and unusual political viewpoints. Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is one of the most frequently censored books. Others are Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. In my astrological opinion, these are exactly the kinds of books you should especially seek out in the coming weeks. In fact, I suggest you commune with a variety of art and ideas and influences that are controversial, provocative and intriguing.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): At the age of 97, Piscean cartoonist Al Jaffee is still creating new material for the satirical Mad magazine, where he has worked since 1964. There was one 63-year stretch when his comic stylings appeared in all but one of Mad’s monthly issues. I nominate him to be your role model during the next four weeks. It’s a favorable time for you to access and express a high degree of tenacity, stamina and consistency.
Homework: What’s the thing you lost that should stay lost? What’s the thing you lost that you should find? freewillastrology.com.
It’s been about three years since Mira Goto packed up her car in Santa Cruz and pointed it east to Nashville. When she comes back to town to receive recognition as Musician of the Year at the NEXTies on Friday at the Rio Theatre, you can’t blame friends and family for looking for some kind of sign—new boots, bigger hair, maybe a casual “y’all” dropped in conversation—that she’s “gone Nashvegas.”
Chances are she’ll give them nothing like that. In fact, she says, the opposite is true—in Nashville, she’s couldn’t get any more Californian if she had the bear flag tattooed on her forehead.
“People in the South can hear the California when I start singing,” says Goto. “They’re always asking, ‘Are you from California?’ Though they always assume L.A.”
That might be because she has not completely left California behind just yet. Largely because her husband Anthony works in tech, the 31-year-old singer-songwriter is leading a geographically demanding double life, roughly two weeks in Nashville for every two weeks in Santa Cruz. “I spend lots of time on planes,” she says.
Goto is one of several locals being honored at the NEXTies (she shares the title of Musician of the Year with singer-songwriter Henry Chadwick). The awards event, presented by Event Santa Cruz, is celebrating its 10th year, and giving recognition in several arenas of Santa Cruz culture, from the arts to food to business to social activism.
Goto traffics in what she playfully calls “diet country.” If twangy, boot-scootin’ country could be characterized as “deep-fried,” then Goto’s sound is more lightly pan-seared. Essentially, she says, it’s a California approach to traditional country music. “Being able to bring my California accent and attitude to country music and telling stories through that voice has been a fun challenge,” she says.
Typical of her approach is “Next Life,” a plaintive piano ballad about the bad timing of true love—the narrator is grappling with finding it while already committed to someone else. In a kind of contrarian take on the true-love-always-wins trope, she instead decides to honor her commitment and turn her back on happiness: “If we’d only met before/ My heart was spoken for/ It’s not our time/ So I’ll keep you in mind/ For the next life.”
“It’s about deciding to walk away,” she says of the song. “The concept was a little bit uncomfortable, and we don’t talk about it much. But it does happen. I’ve been getting a lot of messages from people who’ve had (similar experiences). It’s still a love song, even though it’s an uncomfortable one.”
Goto—who in addition to performing at the NEXTies on Friday will also be one of the musicians performing a John Prine song at the Prine tribute at the Kuumbwa on Saturday—grew up in the Santa Cruz Mountains as Mira Parfitt. She has played music since her pre-teen years. “When I was a very young kid,” she says, “I started playing violin and I was classically trained on that. As a teenager, I thought guitar was a much cooler instrument, so I switched over to guitar. And I had to learn every Taking Back Sunday song and every Dashboard Confessional song I could find.”
From there, it was a process of discovery: Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Colbie Caillat. But it might have remained a private passion if not for her sister Danielle. “I was very shy,” Goto says. “I have a terrible stage fright problem.” It was Danielle who taught her how to harmonize in old Simon and Garfunkel songs, then convinced her to perform on stage.
She’s been songwriting for just as long, and part of her mission in Nashville is to establish herself as a songwriter as much as a performer. She moved there in the summer of 2016, just a few weeks after her wedding. (Her husband Anthony is also a musician, and the two of them often perform as a duet). “I figured if I don’t do this now, I’ll never do it.”
The experience of going to Nashville has connected her to a new community of musicians. “The nature of Nashville is very different from Los Angeles or New York. It’s very supportive, not as competitive. I feel like the people who I have worked with are 100 percent rooting for me to succeed, and they want to share in my success with me.”
Goto has released an album titled New Plaid Shirt under her former name, Mira Parfitt, and she’s planning to release her next recording later this year. She is currently pulling together a band for a summer tour, taking advantage of her bifurcated life between California and Nashville.
“There are always going to be better guitar players,” she says of her ambitions. “There are always going to be better singers, and better songwriters. So it’s absolutely about telling that story you need to tell, that’s unique to you, and telling it in the best way you know how.”
The 2019 NEXTies, presented by Event Santa Cruz, will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 22, at the Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $30 general/$35 VIP seating.eventsantacruz.com. Mira Goto will perform, along with Jesse Daniel, Henry Chadwick, Cement Ship, and Anthony Arya. Goto will also perform at the “Tribute to John Prine” at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, at Kuumbwa Jazz Center. $25 general/$40 gold circle. 479-9421, snazzyproductions.com.
Here we are at the beginning of a new season (spring), a new sign (Aries), planets (Mars, Mercury, Uranus) and a new element (fire). Spring is the beginning of a new spiritual year—on a higher level than last year. The seasons pass through cycles of dark and then of light. Here we stand, emerging out of the darkness of winter, into the spring’s fiery light.
Humanity, being part of this Earth, is made of elements (fire, Earth, air, water). And humanity—a universe in miniature, possessing the same secret (occult) springs of life—also passes though the same cycles of light and darkness. When the creative life forces are ablaze (when spring arrives), there is also a blaze within us. Often we ask, “Who are we, and what is our task?” The answer is, “We are the world disciple, the Fourth Creative Hierarchy. Our task is Ray 4—to bring harmony out of conflict and chaos.” Aries, along with the Forces of Restoration, Mars, Mercury (Archangel Raphael) and Uranus, helps humanity in this endeavor to “make all things new” again.
Everywhere we look, there is a golden hue of green blossoming. Over the months of spring we see multiple shades of green (Ray 3). And if we are quiet, we can hear that a word is being spoken–over and over, the word “creation” is sounded. And the kingdoms, hearing this command, begin to multiply and propagate. It is a joyful season.
When spring arrives, the fires of Aries are to burn away the old nature (winter), so that new life can be released. Seeds, when placed into the ground, disintegrate their outer shell and release a new green plant; a tiny shoot of life sprouts upward. With roots pushing downward for nourishment, the two green Aries-looking leaves push upward out of the soil seeking sunlight and air. The growth of the plants is like Aries pushing outward for expression, pouring itself out into life, creating, initiating, beginning, always at the beginning of things. And so, we remember the words from Frank Herbert’s Duneon beginnings: “A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are (always) correct.”
ARIES: The sign and time of Aries demands that things not come too easily. We need challenges, a contest, a test. We need to feel daring, and that life is an experiment where only the brave need participate. There needs to be a bit of opposition, something to defy, something to call forth one’s courage. If these aren’t in the air, then there’s no reason to be in the game of life. Aries understands the “chase.”
TAURUS: There may be difficulty expressing yourself at this time, especially with Mercury (Ray 4) retrograde. It isn’t easy to share your inner thoughts. What we know about you is this: you’re subtle, hidden, compassionate, complex, and in need of comfort; interested in psychology and helping others. You do not show your feelings in public, only with those you trust. They’re the lucky ones.
GEMINI: Are true and lasting friends around these days? Are you assessing the friends you have and have had? With Mercury retrograde, it’s important to assess if what you value is true and real and useful. There are many ideas presented in our world, but there is only one truth. Are you following what others believe? Geminis have a responsibility to discern untruths, to gather the real truth and disperse it to a waiting humanity. Geminis can’t just be followers.
CANCER: You wonder how you contribute to the world at large, if you have authority—and if so, in what. You wonder if anyone listens to you, honors you and if you are a guide to anyone. These are important questions for everyone, but especially Cancers who can hide away forever under a shell, while also hoping someday to be seen as strong in character, important and able to communicate successfully. Are these thoughts you are having?
LEO: The essence of all your past experiences, relationships, learnings, and lifetimes, all taken together, constitutes your philosophy of life. As you review the past, including what you valued then and what you value now (childhood, parents, friends, lovers, places you’ve lived and traveled, what you have studied, all life events, etc.), you see how life educated you, offered you vision, long journeys, and spiritual realities. These days, you have the mind of a priest, a judge, a journeyer, a professor, and a deep transformative mystery.
VIRGO: There may be a sense of losing one’s direction or boundaries, a sense of self-sacrifice in order to blend with others, forming contact and connection. There’s a sense of something disappearing or dying. Not physical death, but perhaps the death of limitations that leads to new growth, transformation, regeneration, rebirth of the self, or of a relationship. The changes may be creating a crisis. This will pass. You’re the phoenix.
LIBRA: All Libras need social things—lots of people, relationships and intimates—to bring them out into the world, to be friends, to partner, to play, to travel, to talk with, and to share with them. The “other” is always Libra’s basic need. It is only with the other that Libra can reflect upon and understand the self. Libra is always learning how to be in relationship. Libra is intelligent, has a loving nature, attracts love, and learns how to create harmony out of all of life’s conflicts, chaos and vicissitudes.
SCORPIO: You have very artistic abilities, deep and refined. However, often you are unable to see them. You keep your abilities quite protected. It’s important to have a peaceful and harmonious environment that is beautiful. You often act like an old soul who is very young at heart. Be clear, direct and truthful when communicating. Relationships are really about communication. Begin to be the peacemaker. Warriors have the heart of peacefulness.
SAGITTARIUS: There’s lots of drama in your life, and in all lives around you. There are also sensual and romantic things around you. Art and music. All are needed, calling forth your creative self-expression. Your heart’s desires go hand in hand with your feelings. What you’re really displaying is kindness, compassion and warm-heartedness—a colorful and vibrant blend of things.
CAPRICORN: Perhaps you’re thinking of your heritage, ancestry and lineages. And childhood times. The planets in the sky have precipitated down into wherever you are. Perhaps in your home and garden. Trying to secure themselves, and offer their seeds of wisdom in your heart, creating within you a sense of hope and stability. They call you to rest more, to relax, to know all’s well. Their sound is Om.
AQUARIUS: You have many ideas and talents, and are curious with a very intelligent mind. You seek community through family, siblings, friends, short journeys, writing and communication. There is a need to assess what your values are (people, events, resources, things, etc.), and to communicate your gratitude with those who love and care for you. There will be a lot of moving about in your life. Stabilize each day with prayers of gratitude
PISCES: Your environments are to reflect color, calm, beauty, order and organization. Memories occur of early childhood experiences. We realize that families and relationships are given to us so that we may learn how to help and care for each other, develop compassion and strength, and recognize forgiveness. All our relationships have this as a purpose. We remember our family, our early lives. We are grateful, always and forever.
Mandolin Magazine once described Danilo Brito as “supremely gifted.” I know what you’re thinking right now: there’s a Mandolin Magazine? Yes, and in fact, when you watch Brito’s fingers fly across the mandolin fretboard like a wizard summoning lightning, you will understand why someone would sit down and devote a full hour to reading tales of the mandolin.
Brito plays Brazilian choro music, an instrumental music that goes back to the 1800s that has elements of jazz and blues, but has its own energetic vibe to it. This Be Our Guest package includes dinner as well as the show.
INFO: 6 p.m. Monday, April 1. Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $31.50 adv/$36.75 door. Information: kuumbwajazz.org.
WANT TO GO?
Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Monday, March 25, to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the show.
Jack O’Neill Restaurant is the smart new name for the ocean-view restaurant of the retro Dream Inn, and the new menu sparkles almost as much as the sun on the waves of Steamer Lane right outside the dining room. Menu items, too, announce a tighter link to the local region and purveyors: Mavericks Meatballs, Lighthouse Salad, Corralitos Sausage Sampler. Branding does a lot to set a tone in the inviting room with wraparound views of the beach, Boardwalk and atmospheric surfers.
The new menu is cleverly organized into land, sea and earth (for meatless dishes). Half of the entrees are gluten-free, many are vegetarian, and organic eggs are used throughout the menu—like the colorful fried egg that arrived atop the crisp garlic fries that came with my order of grilled hangar (sp) steak. Slathered with a wicked cilantro-serrano chimichurri sauce, the beef was wonderful. Dipping the thin fries into the oozing egg yolk multiplied the flavor richness. Plus it’s fun dipping anything into anything.
Our meal started with wine from Jack O’Neill’s all-regional wine list. For me, an excellent Santa Cruz Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016 ($13) and for Katya a light, dry Sauvignon Blanc 2017 from Paso Robles’ Justin Winery ($9). Very accessibly priced wines, I have to say.
Next came a real treat. When was the last time house-made, non-generic bread arrived with dinner? Well, perhaps this is a sign of bread’s rebirth. A server came around to pour our sparkling water, and also produced a wicker basket lined with a cloth napkin, containing two rolls—one sourdough, the other a dark wheat molasses. Both wonderful! With the breads came a pretty, rectangular plate of two butters, one topped with a dark pink salt, the other a sphere infused with garlic and parsley. Great to look at, even better spread generously on the rolls. Wine, water, rolls, and the sun beginning to turn the waves gold. It’s good to be in Santa Cruz, we agreed, and toasted the dining room’s stunning location.
After a shared Lighthouse Salad ($10)—very visual, with chopped treviso and romaine sprinkled with marconas and blueberries (though not enough pomegranate dressing)—our entrées arrived. A bit too quickly, perhaps, but that can be smoothed out as the staff fine tunes.
Katya’s seafood trio ($35), served on a beautiful sea-green platter, was the size of the beach itself. A beautiful presentation of seafoods—succulent mahi mahi, a few jumbo gulf shrimp, and a nicely grilled Skuna Bay salmon filet—the dish was distinguished by a bed of outstanding pureed edamame and cauliflower that lay under the seafood. It was a welcome alternative to mashed potatoes or other root veggies. Crisp ribbons of squash and red peppers added color and crunch. A trio of beurre blancs proved nice but unnecessary.
Somehow, we managed room for dessert. Of course we chose Jack’s Molten ($11), a splendid homage consisting of a warm dark chocolate torte, filled with sea-salt caramel and topped with Marianne’s vanilla bean ice cream. Even better than it sounds, the dessert was irresistible, and included a tiny adornment of whipped cream and two fat olallieberries. The view got lovelier by the minute. Kudos to the kitchen and the smart recipe design of Jack O’Neill Restaurant.
Jack O’Neill Restaurant at the Dream Inn, 175 W Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz. 866-205-4152, jackoneillrestaurant.com.
