Page 827 – Good Times

5 Things to Do in Santa Cruz This Week

GT Staff

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April 26, 2017

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Event highlights for the week of April 26, 2017

Green Fix

People’s Climate March

On the 100th day of the Trump administration, thousands of people across the nation will march for solutions to the climate crisis, as well as a host of other green causes. Locally, Assemblymember Mark Stone, Fred Keeley and TJ Demos will speak at this Climate March event, which begins at 1:30 p.m. at San Lorenzo Park.

Info: 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29. San Lorenzo Park, 137 Dakota Ave., Santa Cruz. Free.

Art Seen

Open Studios Deadline

Are you a secret artiste, an artisanal applicateur or hobbyist painter? Applications for the 2017 Open Studios Art Tour are available on Zapplication through the Arts Council Santa Cruz website until midnight April 30. Open Studios is an opportunity to explore creativity in Santa Cruz County, connecting artists with art lovers. To encourage emerging artists, this year the application fee will be waived for artists 18 to 25 years old; and artists without studios that can be made open to the public may be accommodated by other selected artists. This year’s North County and South County events will take place between Oct. 7 and Oct. 22. Guidelines to apply are at artscouncilsc.org.

Info: Sunday, April 30. artscouncilsc.org.

Wednesday 4/26

‘Playing Monopoly with God, and Other True Stories’

A month after Melissa Bangs gave birth to her daughter, Adelaide, she was admitted to the Providence Psychiatric Facilities in a manic state, hormone-depleted and sleep deprived. She left a month later with a bipolar diagnosis and a lithium prescription. Now, Bangs does comedy. Over the past two years, she has been telling her story across the nation, and now she’s on tour with her four-year-old daughter, husband, and 130-pound dog.

Info: 6:30 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St. #2, Santa Cruz. $21-$24.

Saturday 4/29

International Jazz Day

Beginning in Japan and travelling around the world, International Jazz Day is an annual event held each year with UNESCO Paris, Monk Institute and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Working closely with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education to bring music, math and science to students, Jazz Day presents concerts, educational seminars, lectures and films to jazz audiences. This year’s international artists are violinist Terese Lien and pianist Anna Gretta from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm; other performers include bassist James Leary, trumpeter Oscar Williams, the Grammy-nominated John Santos Latin Jazz Band, and Tammi Brown.

Info: Noon-5 p.m. Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf Bandstand, 21 Municipal Wharf, Santa Cruz. Free.

Monday 5/1

Be Kind to Animals Week

Every year during the first week of May, the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter and local Yogurtland franchises partner to celebrate “Be Kind to Animals Week.” Yogurtland will offer free yogurt to any adopters of Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter animals for one week—one 16-ounce cup per day. Twenty percent of proceeds will go to the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter, and during the entire month customers can donate $1 to the shelter at Yogurtland.

Info: May 1-7, Yogurtland locations in Capitola, Santa Cruz, and Watsonville. scanimalshelter.org.

Music Picks April 26—May 2

GT Staff

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April 26, 2017

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WEDNESDAY 4/26

HAWAIIAN

JOHN CRUZ

As a youngster in Palolo Valley on Oahu, Hawaii, John Cruz grew up surrounded by music. His grandma sang in church, his mom had Motown records on regular rotation, his dad got him onstage early, and his extended family of aunties, uncles, cousins, siblings and neighbors all brought music into the young Cruz’s life. This immersion technique seemed to work—Cruz is now one of the most beloved and celebrated contemporary Hawaiian musicians. With a warm, sweet voice, soulful and passionate delivery and melodies that bring aloha to any moment, the award-winning Cruz is well-respected by fellow musicians, fans and Hawaiian locals, alike. CJ

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $20. 335-2800.

WEDNESDAY 4/26

AMERICANA

MICHIGAN RATTLERS

You can hear the timber of the acoustic strings rattle as though they were being gently strummed into your ear. The hearty, folksy sound of the Michigan Rattlers 2016 debut EP is the perfect backdrop for the honest stories of personal struggle contained within. Guitarist Graham Young describes it as “People trying to overcome life’s obstacles.” The music constantly maintains a hopeful heartland sound, mixing rock, folk, and country in a way that screams “Rural America” in all the best ways possible. AARON CARNES

INFO: 9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 429-6994.

THURSDAY 4/27

FOLK

BARBARA DANE

There aren’t many 90-year-old singer-songwriters still touring, but Barbara Dane is no ordinary singer-songwriter. Born in Detroit in 1927, Dane has spent a lifetime singing and speaking out for social justice. Mentored by Pete Seeger, Dane sang at demonstrations around the country in the 1960s and ’70s, from small towns and the Freedom Schools of rural Mississippi to gatherings in Washington, D.C. and military bases in Europe and Japan. In l966, Dane became the first American performing artist to tour post-revolutionary Cuba. Blending folk and blues with what’s described as an indomitable and outspoken spirit, Dane continues to work for peace, social justice and civil rights. Don’t miss this opportunity to see a living legend of American folk music. CJ

INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 427-2227.

FRIDAY 4/28

HIP-HOP

DILATED PEOPLES

Since 1992, Evidence, DJ Baabu and Rakaa—also known as Dilated Peoples—have rocked the underground hip-hop scene with their catchy beats and multifaceted lyrics. In 2014, they released their sixth album, Directors of Photography, which debuted on Rhymesayers Entertainment—a label that seems an appropriate fit for the conscious rappers. This Friday they make their Moe’s Alley debut with DJ Zeph, an artist who keeps old school hip-hop alive with James Brown-like sampled beats. This is one night hip-hop heads can’t miss—but make sure to be there early, chances are this line-up will sell out quickly. MW

INFO: 9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $26/adv, $30/door. 479-1854.

FRIDAY 4/28

DESERT-BLUES

VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ

Ali Farka Touré is known as the guy that introduced “desert blues” to the world in the late ’80s. It’s a cool-sounding phrase, but what does it mean? Listeners will hear elements of traditional American smoky blues, mixed with the West African music where Touré comes from. But honestly, it’s more seamless than that. His son Vieux Farka Touré has carried on his father’s legacy. Initially, he did so in secrecy. (His dad wanted him to be a soldier.) Vieux started releasing albums a decade ago. Since then, he’s worked with several esteemed musicians like Derek Trucks, Dave Matthews, and John Scofield. AC

INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $28.50/gen, $40/gold. 427-2227.

SATURDAY 4/29

PSYCHEDELIC JAM DANCE PARTY

SLINGSHOT ON MARS

Leading Santa Cruz exporter of guitar craziness Henry Kaiser is very concerned that in all of the spaciness surrounding Grateful Dead tribute bands, people have forgotten that Garcia and company originally started out as a dance band. Now, this doesn’t mean that Kaiser has something against spaciness—far from it. So at this one-time-only event, Kaiser and friends will let Dead fans have it both ways—revisiting early songs from the band with both the trippy and dance-y dials turned to 11. He’s wisely enlisted the help of longtime collaborator Bob Bralove, perhaps best known for producing the Grateful Dead album Infrared Roses, as well as Matt Hartle, Ezra Lipp and Roger Sideman. If you still have any doubt about Kaiser and Bralove’s freak credentials, check out their mind-bending new CD, Positively Space Music. STEVE PALOPOLI

INFO: 8:30 p.m. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $12/adv, $25/door. 335-2800.

SUNDAY 4/30

INDIAN

ZAKIR HUSSAIN & RAHUL SHARMA

Two of the world’s premier classical Indian musicians, Zakir Hussain (on the tabla) and Rahul Sharma (on the santoor) have been teaming up since their 2010 album, Rhythm of Love, fusing traditional Indian styles with a contemporary approach. Which makes sense, since both are sons of traditional players and have collaborated with such musicians like Kenny G, Mickey Hart, Van Morrison and others. This will be the duo’s only Northern California performance, marking a very unique and special night of raga and roll. MW

INFO: 7:30 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $35/gen, $55/gold. 427-2227.

MONDAY 5/1

JAZZ

BILL CHARLAP TRIO

Bill Charlap is a pianist who combines restless curiosity with rhythmic poise and harmonic daring-do. While firmly in jazz’s mainstream he brings a venturesome sensibility to his investigations of standards and obscure pop tunes, combining polished lyricism with irresistible swing. His trio with San Francisco-reared bassist Peter Washington and drum maestro Kenny Washington (no relation), is one of jazz’s most dependably smart and entertaining ensembles. Founded in 1997 after Charlap spent years touring and recording with legendary saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Phil Woods, the group has recorded a series of excellent albums for Blue Note. But there’s nothing like experiencing the trio’s sublime control of dynamics in person as it moves from a whisper to a roar in the space of a bar. ANDREW GILBERT

INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $30/adv, $35/door. 427-2227.

TUESDAY 5/2

ROCK

DWEEZIL ZAPPA

Right now, the Zappa family is in turmoil. If you haven’t read the articles detailing the ongoing drama between the siblings, let’s just say that it’s a touchy subject who gets to carry on Frank’s legacy, and how. Dweezil feels he’s the man to best pay tribute to his dad’s mind-boggling, genre-crossing, nearly-impossible-to-play catalog. The thing is: he’s got a point. He plays his dad’s tunes with the skill and grace few others have ever been able to. On this tour, Dweezil celebrates 50 years of Frank’s music. This will satisfy all diehard Zappa fans, and just anyone that loves bizarro, crazy sort-of-rock ’n’ roll music. AC

INFO: 8 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $30-$70. 429-4135.

IN THE QUEUE

ALAN REID & ROB VAN SANTE

Scottish music house concert. Wednesday. Information: celticsociety.org

SERA CAHOONE

Seattle-based singer-songwriter. Thursday at Catalyst

E-40

Bay Area hip-hop legend. Friday at Catalyst

ELVIN BISHOP

Long-running blues favorite. Saturday at Rio Theatre

YOUTH ROCK CONCERT

Toast, Slime, the Twerps, 3-Hole Punch and Not My Fault. Sunday at Pono Grill

Love Your Local Band: The Jolly Llamas

A&E
Music

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April 26, 2017

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“‘Surf Rider’ seems like it’s going to be a happy song,” says Roby Behrens with a straight face and a mischievous glint. “It’s about a guy who kills his wife then gets eaten by sharks.”

Happy or not, it certainly fits in nicely with the rest of the Jolly Llamas catalogue. Since 2009, guitarists Behrens and Marc Cavigli have written tales of terror, sorrow and ghoulish delight set to addictive, pop melodies with a folk flair. This is the music Weezer would be writing if Rivers Cuomo was raised on Americana and H.P. Lovecraft.

The Jolly Llamas began as a duo when they were in college studying filmmaking, and they both now run local studio Lucid Sound and Picture. As their video production has expanded, the band has grown into a quartet, with Jordan Jones on bass and Lucas Aton on drums.

In 2015, the Llamas released a five-track EP, Story Rock, and they’re currently working on a music video for the album’s first track, “Llama Sun.” The guys have also been hard at work writing new material for another EP, to be announced later this year. Of course, they’re doing it in true Llama fashion.

“One of our newer songs is about a girl who cuts people up,” Behrens says with a laugh.

“But she’s in medical school,” interjects Cavigli.

“She’s in medical school, but she also loves doing it,” replies Behrens.

The Jolly Llamas will be playing the Crepe Place this Saturday with local act Bananarchy and San Franciscan rockers, We Arsons.

INFO: 9 p.m. Saturday, April 29. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.

Giveaway: Santa Cruz American Music Festival

A&E
Music

Cat Johnson

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April 26, 2017

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Attention live music fans: the Santa Cruz American Music Festival is back with a stellar lineup for 2017. Building on the foundation of the Santa Cruz Blues Festival, this Memorial Day Weekend fest is one of the musical treasures of the area, attracting top blues, rock, country and soul artists from around the country. This year’s lineup includes the Rides, comprising Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg, the mighty Mavis Staples (above), rocker Melissa Etheridge doing a Memphis rock and soul review, Santa Cruz favorite the Devil Makes Three, and more.

INFO: 11 a.m. Saturday & Sunday May 27 & 28. Aptos Village Park, 100 Aptos Creek Rd. Aptos, $65-$190. 454-7900. WANT TO GO? Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 17 to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the festival.

Clean Slate Program Offers Ex-offenders Second Chance

Local News

Patrick Dwire

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April 26, 2017

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Clean Slate Program Offers Ex-offenders Second Chance

Three years ago, when Nicole Keadle faced two drug-related felonies, she was released from Santa Cruz Main Jail into a drug rehab program. Keadle took her probation and sobriety seriously, getting and staying clean. With the help of attorney Cassie Licker from the Santa Cruz County Public Defender’s Office, Keadle was able to get one of the felonies reduced to a misdemeanor—and then, last June, got her entire criminal record cleared.

“I can’t tell you how great a burden was lifted when the judge decided my entire record was to be cleared,” says Keadle, now 28. “I felt I was finally being judged for how my life is now, rather than the mistakes I made in the past.”

The Public Defender’s Office is rolling out the Clean Slate Program to help ex-offenders like Keadle clear or reduce the severity of their criminal records. The program aims to give qualified ex-offenders a second chance at building productive lives after successfully completing all terms of probation and showing evidence of getting their lives on track—by legally allowing less damning answers to questions about criminal background on applications for employment, housing, financial aid for school, and many public services.

Licker emphasizes that criminal records must be looked at on a case-by-case basis. Different regulations apply to different sentences, making the process like “putting together a puzzle.” When a judge has signed off to clear or reduce someone’s criminal history, some clearances are mandatory if the filing is done properly, while others allow judicial discretion to decide if the proposed changes are appropriate. The law, for example, does not allow anyone to clear their record of most sex offenses.

Licker says that once all convictions are dismissed or expunged from a record, an ex-offender can legally report they have no criminal history, but there are a few catches. For careers involving a state Department of Justice, where jobs usually require fingerprinting, the background check report comes back with the conviction record, along with notation of judicial dismissal. The ex-offender is then usually rejected because it appears false statements were made on the application, Licker says, although the applicant was legally entitled to report no criminal history.

Licker says many ex-offenders throughout the county do not know they may qualify for a judicial review of their rap sheet that could clear or reduce prior convictions. The program does have some key qualifiers: successful completion of probation, as well as no new charges pending and letters of support from employers, counselors and probation officers.

The local Community Corrections Partnership (CCP)—created by the state legislature a few years ago in every county in California—has hosted workshops to spread the word about Clean Slate. Sarah Emmert, Director of Community Organizing for the United Way of Santa Cruz County, coordinates the CCP and its Community Education and Engagement Workgroup. This group—including staff from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, Probation Department and Watsonville Law Center—is doing outreach.

“If we fail to address the barriers that prevent a certain segment of our community from having a true second chance and a shot at success,” says Emmert, “that impacts every other member of the community. We are trying to fill the gaps and reduce the barriers to productive lives, which ultimately benefits the entire community and helps it thrive.”

Emmert says the legal process of clearing criminal records is complicated, and has changed with newly approved state propositions, including Prop 64, which legalized the commercial sale of marijuana in California. Prop 64 includes provisions for “retroactivity” in clearing some convictions for marijuana possession that are now no longer considered criminal. “It’s a complex process, and we are still figuring out how new regulations for clearance of some offenses are to be implemented,” says Emmert.

The law also doesn’t allow convicts to have most rulings that result in state prison time dismissed or expunged. But with positive letters of support showing the ex-offender has turned things around, the court can award a Certificate of Rehabilitation, Licker explains, which goes a long way toward putting a criminal history in the past.

The Community Corrections Partnership originally began as a local coordinating committee for the implementation of AB 109—the Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011—which required county jails and probation departments to shoulder the burden of reducing the inmate population of state prisons. AB 109 included funding for county programs to improve probation practices and reduce recidivism.

The “collateral consequences” of a criminal record are often overwhelming, says Licker, and can be a major barrier to leaving a criminal background in the past. “There’s a lot of fear around it. Once you get a record, there’s this fear that you will be defined by your rap sheet for the rest of your life,” Licker says. “That you are your rap sheet, and a fresh start seems impossible.”

For more information about the Clean Slate Program, contact the Public Defenders office at 429-1311.

Student Launches Social Media App for Subcultures

Local News

Jacob Pierce

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April 26, 2017

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Student Launches Social Media App for Subcultures

Hamoon “Moony” Mehran, who’s finishing up his economics degree at UCSC, will never forget the first time he tried taking a computer science class.

Instead of starting small and working his way up, he began with an advanced upper-division course called “assembly language and computer architecture.” He would end up learning actual computer languages—not programming ones like Python—where everything’s written in ones and zeros. Mehran, who’s now in the process of launching a social media app, can’t really remember why such a leap seemed like a good idea, but he vividly recalls walking up to a teacher’s assistant after the first day of class to ask a simple question.

“Listen,” the TA, an Apple employee, responded. “If you ever want to be an engineer, you can’t ask me anything. You have to figure it out by yourself.”

At the time, Mehran thought the guy was just a jerk, but he has since heeded the advice of his non-mentor. “It turns out he was just trying to be an encouraging asshole,” Mehran says.

Mehran planned to call his new social media app—now in its beta stage, although customers can already download it—“Alt Cult.” But he says that a certain presidential candidate ruined the word “alt” by cozying up to the alt-right movement while his chief counselor spews about “alternative facts.”

“I don’t want to be associated with that shit,” he says.

Mehran, a self-described nerd, has renamed his project Happy Medium, and wants the app to be a space for subcultures to congregate online—and maybe intermingle a little, too. Chatting on the University Town Center’s patio overlooking downtown, Mehran wears a Star Wars shirt with a stormtrooper writing, “These are not the droids we’re looking for” over and over on a chalkboard. Mehran says he’s not partial to any particular subculture, although he thinks of himself as “very new-agey.” He likes meditation, yoga and thinking about energy fields.

Mehran pulls his phone out of his pocket and opens the app—its logo a yellow-and-orange icon with an ancient Chinese symbol. “This guy’s head is like a yin-yang symbol, just some positive energy, or something like that,” explains Mehran, who comes from a family of mechanical engineers, most of whom teasingly look down on his software hobby.

The app, he says, will be image-heavy, with lots of discussion forums, and he wants to infuse it with a “human feel” that he says is missing from similar apps. He also wants to prioritize events on Happy Medium to encourage users to be more social. “I have a final point in mind that I’m trying to get to,” he says.

But even if it takes off, he will always find tweaks to make. It’s hard for him to articulate what that final point is, and even harder to guess when he’ll reach it.

“Typically, it’s never,” he says. “There’s also always a million changes you have to do.”

Film Review: ‘The Promise’

A&E
Film

Lisa Jensen

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April 26, 2017

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It’s complicated to review a movie like The Promise, straddling as it does the separate worlds of fact and fiction. On one hand, there’s the heartbreaking factual story it tells about the war of extermination waged by the Turks against the entire race of Armenians within its borders as the mighty Ottoman-Turk Empire crumbled to an end circa 1915.

But then there’s the fictional story that director Terry George and co-screenwriter Robin Swicord concoct to center the movie while the tragedy of the Armenian Genocide plays out. It’s not a bad story, in an old-timey Hollywood way, a love triangle between a poor Armenian medical student, a sophisticated Armenian girl raised in Paris, and a dashing American photojournalist. But shifting focus away from history to follow the exploits of these fictive characters has the effect of reducing the Armenian tragedy to background material for a less compelling, more conventional romantic drama.

In 1914, Mikael Boghosian (Oscar Isaac), is a young apothecary in a small Armenian village with a talent for healing. His father arranges a marriage for Mikael and Maral (Angela Sarafyan), a local girl whose wealthy father dowries her with a sack of gold coins to send Mikael to medical school in Constantinople. There, he’s taken in by his aunt and uncle, a prosperous shopkeeper, and their young daughters.

The girls’ beautiful, Armenian-born tutor, Ana (Charlotte Le Bon), was raised in Paris with her ballerina mother. Mikael falls for Ana, but she has a boyfriend: American Chris Myers (Christian Bale), a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, based in Constantinople. Chris is also an old pal of Mikael’s friend and fellow student, Emre (Marwan Kenzari), whose wealthy Turkish father gave him the option of going to med school or joining the army.

Emre invites the others to a party at his family estate, where hard-drinking Chris mouths off to some German brass who are in the area to persuade the Turks to join them against the Allies as World War I ramps up. Chris soon becomes persona non grata among the Turks when he uncovers and starts reporting the story of how the Turkish government is carrying out a covert campaign to destroy entire Armenian villages within its borders and marching the survivors into the Syrian desert without resources to die.

Filmmaker George (who dramatized another story of violent cultural purging in Hotel Rwanda) makes an admirable attempt to tell this shameful story from many perspectives: poor but culturally rich Armenians facing extermination, a political young Turk dragged into the conflict by his nationalist father, an investigative reporter determined to reveal the truth. Various characters’ experiences include a forced labor camp, a Turkish prison, an orphanage, a refugee march, an ad hoc bastion of guerrilla resistance in the mountains, and a firing squad.

And it’s a story worth telling, particularly since (according to the film’s epilogue) the Turkish government continues to insist to this day that the Armenian Genocide never happened. (One official in the story tries to persuade Chris that the Armenians are merely being “evacuated to a safer region.”) But in another scene, a Turkish official points out to an outraged U.S. ambassador (a cameo by James Cromwell) that insurance premiums secured by Armenians from overseas companies revert to the Turkish state if the policyholders and their heirs and families all die. (A conversation which must be for our benefit, since it’s unlikely a state official would admit this in a diplomatic situation.)

But while all this is going on in the background, the fictional drama up front never earns our investment. Isaac’s ever-earnest Mikael evolves from dutiful son to passionate lover to dismayed witness to horror. Le Bon is poised and lovely, but not taxed to do much else. Bale, stuck with a hopeless thatch of chin fur, plays Chris as a gruff malcontent, with a deep, dissonant Yank accent, and a beady-eyed stare. His calculating demeanor feels off in scenes when Chris’ emotions are supposed to be genuine.

Their fictional drama, imposed on the template of history, distracts from more than enhances the story the filmmakers want to tell.

THE PROMISE

**1/2 (out of four)

With Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale, Charlotte Le Bon, and Angela Sarafyan. Written by Terry George and Robin Swicord. Directed by Terry George. An Open Road Films release. Rated PG-13. 132 minutes.

Santa Cruz County’s HIP Organization Takes On Big Issues

Andrew Steingrube

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April 26, 2017

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Santa Cruz County’s HIP Organization Takes On Big Issues

Dr. Wells Shoemaker, a local physician you may remember from a recent Wellness column about the relationship between alcohol and health, says he was feeling glum about the potential Obamacare repeal. “But now that it’s here to stay, we’ve dodged a near-Earth asteroid,” says Shoemaker.

In the wake of last month’s failed repeal, Shoemaker is relieved that the Affordable Care Act will remain—at least for the foreseeable future. “Prior to Obamacare, 40 percent of personal bankruptcies in this country related to an inability to pay medical bills,” he says. “Many people lived in fear that the other shoe would drop, and all it would take is one minor health care problem to create a disaster.”

But even though Obamacare survived legislative death row, the Trump administration might try to deal it a crippling blow by withholding billions of dollars in federal subsidies known as cost-sharing reductions, which help make health care affordable to the masses. “It’s very important money,” says Shoemaker. “It’s not just poor people. Many middle-class people were unable to afford or even qualify for health insurance because of pre-existing conditions.”

Even though the future of health care seems murky at best, and terrifying at worst, the good news is that, “Santa Cruz County already has high-quality medical care, and is one of the top three or four counties in the nation in terms of health care efficiency,” says Shoemaker.

Santa Cruz County is also one of only three counties in the state with a nonprofit organization called HIP (Health Improvement Partnership), which founding co-chair Shoemaker calls “a consortium of a wide variety of health care entities that tries to make health care reform live up to its promises. The fundamental thing is to take organizations that either compete or operate in different silos and get them to work together to gang-tackle problems that are unsolvable by any one organization.”

The group is dealing with several “knotty” problems, he says, including behavioral health. “It’s silly to think that physical and mental health is treated differently, so it’s a perfect softball for HIP,” he says. Another issue he says is ripe for HIP intervention is homelessness. “It involves law enforcement, public health, housing and nutrition. No one agency can deal with all of it. HIP creates an environment where it’s safe to bring everybody that has a role in it together,” he says.

But even with strong local health care and Obamacare staying afloat federally, a haunting sense of uncertainty is pervasive both locally and nationally.

“It affects everyone involved,” says Shoemaker. “It stymies our country from making health care changes that would bring us into the top 20 in the world … If cuts are made—and there will be cuts—corpses won’t line the streets, but people’s lives will be shortened. It’s not like a nuclear bomb, but it will poison our children.”

One way to channel health care anxiety into positive action is to take personal responsibility for individual health care, something Shoemaker says many local residents are already adept at.

“If you’re unhappy with the care you receive, let the doctor know. There are many accountability channels, and agencies that advocate for the individual health care consumer.”

He also notes an evolution in the way doctors and patients interact. “I’ve seen a half century of changes,” he says. “Doctors used to be the boss and ‘doctor’s orders’ was the post-World War II attitude. But now the doctor/patient relationship is looked at like a partnership.”

Longtime Catering Company Opens Kiss Cafe

Aaron Carnes

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April 26, 2017

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Longtime Catering Company Opens Kiss Cafe

Kiss Catering has successfully served the Santa Cruz area for 18 years. Last year, they were even awarded the Business of the Year award in Aptos by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce. But husband-and-wife owners Scott and Sandy Dexel did something else of note last year: they opened Kiss Café. It’s actually a cafeteria for Fox Shox in Scotts Valley, but it’s open to the public. Scott talked to us about their new spot.

You’ve been doing catering for 18 years. Why’d you open the café?

SCOTT DEXEL: It wasn’t originally going to be open to the public—we just needed a much larger kitchen for the catering. Fox Shox approached us to open a cafeteria for them. Being that it’s a cafeteria, it’s a strange animal. It’s completely different than running a restaurant. We have a really killer salad bar, burgers, stuff like that. There are a lot of pastries, desserts. When I went to the city to find out about zoning, I was required to pay all the dues as though it was a restaurant. So that’s why the café. The previous owner of the business had opened it to the public, and that’s sort of how the café started.

Does this change the catering business?

No. We just outgrew our old kitchen. The dish room here is two feet larger than our old kitchen was. It’s made it so we don’t have to work so much. We’d still do large events out of our old kitchen, but they’d be hauled in with ice chests to keep fresh. Now I have a walk-in freezer. It saves a lot of time for me. It was a lot of time wasted. The café itself seats 130 people, and it has a patio that seats about 70. We use the venue for events outside of hours.

What kind of food do you serve at the café?

Right now we offer five different sandwiches. We do a tri-tip sandwich, which is a grilled tri-tip with caper mayo and roasted red peppers. It’s the number one [item] we’ve used for the catering for a long time. We also do a grilled eggplant sandwich, which is grilled eggplant with roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, a white basil aioli and provolone cheese. We have a great burger. It’s a half pound angus grass-fed burger. We do sweet potato fries which are savory, as opposed to your typical sweet potato fry. I put garlic salt on them. We also have the gourmet peanut brittle that we sell out of here. We do Italian chili, sea salt, curry, bacon. We need a way to make it in larger quantity. We’re trying to find a process that doesn’t blow my shoulders out.

915 Disc Drive, Scotts Valley, kisscatering.com, 419-6627.

Fortino Winery’s Cabernet 2014

Josie Cowden

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April 26, 2017

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Fortino Winery’s well-made wine is the main reason to head to their welcoming tasting room, but they also have lots of fun stuff to buy. As you’re enjoying one of their flights, take a gander around the gift shop at nifty corkscrews, bottle openers, and Fortino’s delicious spreads, such as the Garlic Sauvignon Blanc Mayonnaise.

Fortino makes close to two dozen different wines, including their newly released 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon ($30), which is a good enough reason alone to head to their winery. Talented winemaker Gino Fortino says that their estate-grown Cab is the last to ripen and the last to be harvested, resulting in a voluptuous and bursting-with-flavor wine that’s laden with deliciously ripe fruit. Aromas of blackcurrant and flavors of spice, bell pepper and a hint of vanilla—with just the right amount of char and smoke from its aging in French oak—round out this well-crafted Cab.

Do not miss tasting Fortino’s estate-grown Charbono, one of the rarest varietals grown in California, and their tasty fruit wines such as Pomegranate and Raspberry. They also make terrific sparkling wines—try the Almond Champagne with its fragrant marzipan aroma. And if you really want something special, their dessert wines are outstanding, especially the 1991 Montonico Reserve.

In the summer, the winery hosts Music in the Vineyard events—the first one coming up on June 23. Check the website for more info. Fortino Winery, 4525 Hecker Pass Hwy., Gilroy. 408-842-3305, fortinowinery.com.

Cork and Fork Capitola

Cathy Bentley has taken over It’s Wine Tyme in Capitola Village and renamed it Cork and Fork Capitola. The grand opening will be held on Saturday, April 29—with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, April 27. Bentley has been involved in the wine industry for years, so she is now happy to have her own place to showcase her knowledge and serve up some good wine. Cork and Fork is a cozy spot, and it also comes with a lovely outdoor patio area.

Cork and Fork Capitola, 312 Capitola Ave., Capitola. 435-1110, corkandforkcapitola.com.

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