Real Estate has long been considered Ducktails singer-songwriter Matt Mondanile’s main band. But somewhere along the way, Ducktails stacked up more album releases than Real Estate, and just a few months ago, Mondanile announced that he’d be leaving Real Estate to focus more on Ducktails. The two groups always had a similar style: wistful, dreamy, low-key indie-pop. In the early days, Ducktails was a much more experimental, lo-fi version of Real Estate’s shimmering, melancholy psych-pop sound. But Ducktails’ last album, 2015’s St. Catherine, sounded a lot like a Real Estate album. Makes sense now, knowing that he’s focusing all his creative energy on Ducktails. AARON CARNES INFO: 8 p.m. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15. 335-2800.
GARAGE ROCK
LEVITATION ROOM
Remember how psychedelic rock used to be dance music and not just masturbatory freeform jams? Granted, you were probably on acid at the time, but you were seriously cutting a rug (and seeing trails around your arms). Highland Park’s Levitation Room brings back that swinging psychedelic sound, plucked right out of the Summer of Love and right into the Crepe Place this Wednesday. The beats are groovy and hip-shaking, and the guitars are mind-expanding. Singer Julian Porte channels a sunbaked John Lennon. AC INFO: 9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.
THURSDAY 7/14
BLUES
ERIC LINDELL
Singer-songwriter Eric Lindell was born and raised in San Mateo. It was when he moved to New Orleans, however, that he hit the national radar, releasing three albums on the outstanding independent blues label Alligator Records. Now a well-established blues veteran, Lindell blends rock, soul, R&B and blues into a hip-sway-inducing, dance-floor-packing sound. CAT JOHNSON INFO: 8 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $25/door. 479-1854.
SOUTHERN PSYCH ROCK
NEW MADRID
After building a cult following in the Athens, Georgia scene, New Madrid took to the road on a summer tour stretching across the United States. The four college-age musicians threaten to put the South back on the map with their unique blend of alternative/southern psych-rock fusion, soaked in reverb but leaving just enough breathing room for their rockabilly vocals. The lead singer’s mullet is impressive and not out of place. KATIE SMALL INFO: 8 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $10/adv, $12/door. 429-4135.
FRIDAY 7/15
JAZZ
TERENCE BLANCHARD E-COLLECTIVE
Multi-Grammy-award-winning jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard isn’t afraid to take on tough topics with his music. A top scorer for Spike Lee films, including Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X and the four-hour Hurricane Katrina documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, he puts his music where his consciousness is. The title of Blanchard’s latest release, Breathless, refers to Eric Garner’s last words during his 2014 confrontation with New York City police. The album is a commentary on the treatment of minorities by American law enforcement, created by the E-Collective, his quintet that has been described as a “hip young band full of funk, R&B and groove colors.” CJ INFO: 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $30/adv, $35/door. 427-2227.
DISCO FUNK
LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES
Disco is risen, in the form of fiery Latin funk fusion band Los Amigos Invisibles. The Venezuelan group got their big break in the ’90s, when David Byrne stumbled upon their debut album in a Manhattan record shop; the Talking Heads frontman immediately called up Los Amigos to sign them to his Luaka Bop record label. Since then, the members of the group have moved to New York, created their own record label, won a Grammy, and toured extensively in more than 60 countries. The music video for their latest single, “Otra Cara Bonita” (“Another Pretty Face”), features a dancing pug wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Lounge music never looked so good. KS INFO: 9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 479-1854.
SATURDAY 7/16
JAZZ
GRACE KELLY
Mentored by alto sax great Phil Woods, saxophonist Grace Kelly started collaborating with master improvisers as a teenager, even recording with alto legend Lee Konitz. But she’s been determined to find her own musical path, mixing it up stylistically and even singing on her albums and gigs. Her recent album Trying to Figure It Out makes it clear that the 24-year-old considers herself a work in progress who enjoys pop and R&B as much as bebop. In a felicitous pairing, she’s found a regular musical home within the catholic creative proclivities of pianist/keyboardist Jon Batiste and Stay Human on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. ANDREW GILBERT INFO: 7:30 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 427-2227.
SUNDAY 7/17
CELTIC
PAUL MCKENNA BAND
Dubbed the best folk band to have come out of Scotland in the last 20 years, the Paul McKenna Band blends a love and deep appreciation of traditional folk music with a fresh, modern sound that has established the band as one of the standouts of the contemporary Celtic scene. If the bouzouki, fiddle, flute, whistles, bodhrán, percussion and tight vocals are your thing, don’t miss this opportunity to catch one of the best bands of their generation. CJ INFO: 7 p.m. Don Quixote’s, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $15/adv, $17/door. 335-2800.
MONDAY 7/18
POP
ALEXANDER JEAN
It’s kind of strange that duo Alexander Jean does not play music you can dance to. Mark Ballas, who formed the group with girlfriend BC Jean, makes his living as a professional ballroom dancer on Dancing With The Stars. (He’s been on 18 seasons thus far!) The duo plays a sound that falls somewhere between Alicia Keys-style ballads and acoustic-pop à la John Mayer. The group charted last year on iTunes with their tune “Roses and Violets,” a powerful, deeply emotional tune that easily sounds like it could have been penned for Adele. AC INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $12/adv, $15/door. 429-4135.
IN THE QUEUE
SWMRS
Punk rock outfit out of Oakland. Friday at Appleton Grill, Watsonville.
GUY FOX
Indie-pop out of the East Bay. Friday at The Pocket
ERIC MORRISON & THE MYSTERIES
Santa Cruz Americana. Friday at Don Quixote’s
PATO BANTON
Legendary British reggae artist. Sunday at Moe’s Alley
CULTURE SHOCK
Alternative Tentacles presents World Inferno and Friendship Society. Tuesday at Catalyst
Last week’s cover story about Lighthouse Field touched off a huge response, not only from locals who had their own perspectives on and solutions to the problems there, but also from those who wanted to comment on Santa Cruz’s legacy as an eco-conscious city, and where that reputation originated.
This week’s Green Issue touches on many of the same questions about our community’s role in protecting the ecosystem we live in. For me, the irony of Maria Grusauskas’ cover story is that when I was a student at UCSC in the ’90s, “tree hugger” was just coming into its own as the popular buzzword for anyone who wanted to dismiss the environmental concerns of activists at the university and beyond. It’s bizarre now to think that the idea of caring about the fate of one of our planet’s most important ecological resources was (and I suppose still is, in some circles) somehow supposed to be bad.
Back to the irony: even in Santa Cruz, we haven’t been tree hugging enough. As the story reveals, many of our oldest trees aren’t as protected as we think, and our urban canopy faces some serious threats—which even the people who care most about the heritage trees in our community feel they have little power to protect them from.
I hope this story spurs the same kind of discussion and action that last week’s did about an environmental issue that has even bigger ramifications.
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
House Pets
Re: “Field Goals” (GT, 7/6): Your article on Lighthouse Field overlooked an obvious solution to the problem: reinstate the traditional hours for off-leash recreation, before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. Prior to 2007, illegal camping was much less an issue at the field for one simple reason: off-leash dogs found the encampments and ate the campers’ lunch. Since 2007, our organization of responsible dog owners, Friends of Lighthouse Field, has campaigned to restore local control and multi-use to the field and adjacent Its Beach. FOLF has also arranged the repair of the crumbling cement steps leading down to the beach, at no cost to the city or state; successfully lobbied the city to install a dog bag receptacle at the top of the stairs (which we refill weekly); and joined Save Our Shores and Take Back Santa Cruz to clean up both the beach and the field (where we have discovered not only illegal camps, but also needles, drugs, and 9mm ammunition). Returning off-leash hours to Lighthouse Field and Its Beach is an idea whose time has come. Again.
Gregg Herken | Friends of Lighthouse Field, Santa Cruz
Hosts with the Most
Re: “Park Rangers Coming Downtown”: As one of the many residents living on Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz, I’d like to say thanks to Callie West and the other “downtown hosts.” In my own experience, they have been very helpful.
I do look forward to the presence of park rangers, whom I’m hoping will be able to curtail the ongoing hazards of people riding bicycles and skateboards on Pacific Avenue sidewalks.
As a disabled senior, I’ve been struck twice by bicycles on the sidewalk. My next-door neighbor—a 74-year-old with impaired sight and hearing and using a walker—has been hit twice and knocked over within a block of our residence.
If people aren’t aware, there are ordinances against any self-propelled vehicle operating on the sidewalks (excepting wheelchairs), and the fine can be onerous (as well as the possibility of confiscation of the device).
In any case, thanks to the downtown hosts, and welcome rangers.
John Mills | Santa Cruz
Online Comments Re: Lighthouse Field
Not to take anything away from Gary Patton and his lifetime of notable work and achievements, because I’ve been a fan before, during, and after the 1990s when he and I were county supervisors (he for Santa Cruz County, I for San Luis Obispo), but I want to remind readers that the environmental community began stirring in Santa Cruz in the late ’60s, early ’70s, by citing these two examples: After an uproar of protests, a proposed nuclear power plant, to be built south of Davenport, was permanently shelved in 1971 and never seriously raised again. That same year, after a similar campaign against the state’s plan to expand Highway 17 into a commute corridor, the state removed that highway and those plans from the Freeway System, saving the coast from major developmental pressures from the Santa Clara Valley. Both campaigns were led by a group of local citizens working for an organization called Santa Cruz County Council on the Environment (which I had the privilege of chairing in ’70-’71), and without these victories, Santa Cruz County and the coast would look dramatically different today—and not for the better.
And Gary Patton still had a lot of work to do during his 20 years in office in the never-ending battle to save the sense of place of Santa Cruz County and the coast. — Bud Laurent
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GOOD IDEA
PHONE PLAN
Mobile Ranger, a phone application company, has released a new Santa Cruz Beaches Tour, the 17th addition to their free, self-guided tours. This one includes Elkhorn Slough, Seacliff State Beach, Natural Bridges State Beach, Greyhound Rock and Año Nuevo State Park. Along the way, users have access to learn about topics varying from elephant seals to local geology.
GOOD WORK
TEXTBOOK KINDNESS
Some hard-working students will find a clearer path to success now that Mary Solari, a philanthropist whose three children attended Cabrillo College, has made it easier for 101 more students to attend the school this fall. Solari, a longtime Cabrillo supporter, has donated $255,000 to the Cabrillo College Foundation, enough to provide $2,500 scholarships for 101 recent high school grads.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Nothing that the human enterprise does can come anywhere near the elegance and efficiency of a robust global forest.â€
In the grand scheme of things, the science of trees is relatively new. There’s still a lot we don’t know, and 1,000-year-old trees that hold the genetic secrets to many unanswered questions are few and far between—and continuing to disappear, even as scientists scramble to clone them. But of the many benefits science has found trees to provide for life on Earth—releasing oxygen, filtering water and air, acting as natural mood elevators, discouraging crime, improving commerce, and hosting microorganisms that may be major contributors to rainfall, just to name a few—the most significant is a voracious appetite for carbon dioxide. “As natural canopy declines, in the third world and in our country, the urban tree population is really what everyone’s relying on [to mitigate] global warming,” says Leslie Keedy, the urban forester for the City of Santa Cruz since 2000. We’re standing under the biggest redwood tree in downtown Santa Cruz. Like several other redwoods that have adapted to city life, its massive 6-foot-diameter trunk oozes out over the Church Street sidewalk, which was replaced years ago to accommodate it. “It’s probably about 100 years old,” says Keedy—a baby, compared to a few last old-growth redwoods hidden away in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which are estimated to be 1,400 to 1,800 years old, and top out at nearly 300 feet. PROTECTIVE FORCES Bark of a ceiba tree growing at City Hall. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER “This is one of our natives. They have flat leaves so they drink the fog, and then the fog drips down. Most of our redwoods don’t have flat leaves, but our coastal redwood does, to kind of grip the fog,” says Keedy. She points toward a second towering redwood behind it, which, under the city’s Heritage Tree Ordinance, is close enough to a law office that its removal would likely be approved if the owner, citing safety issues or structural damage, applied for a permit to do so. “But this one is far enough away that he’ll never get a permit out of me in my lifetime,” Keedy says. Over the past 16 years, Keedy admits she’s grown a thick skin, much like the bark of the ceiba tree growing at City Hall, as all of the city’s tree removal permits—required for any “heritage tree,” or tree with a 44-inch-or-greater circumference—fall on her. Last year, 296 removal permits were filed with the city, Keedy says, 85-90 percent of which she approved. “The majority are legitimate requests for property damage, tree health, dead trees and construction,” she says. The Santa Cruz City Council does, of course, retain the right to overrule a denied permit if the owner appeals, as it did with a century-old redwood tree on Pine Street last year, which was causing damage to a garage. This year’s permit requests include nine heritage eucalyptus trees at a construction site on Western Drive, seven of which will be approved, as three are dead and four warrant removal due to defects and decline in health, says Keedy. Between 1995 and 2013, 4,000 heritage trees were removed in the city—equivalent in carbon emissions to at least 1,000 cars annually, says climatologist Andrew Gershenson, Ph.D. “Since the fate of most of these trees is to be disposed of by chipping, the vast majority of this carbon is released to the atmosphere within five years,” wrote Gershenson in a letter to city council in 2013. Of 2,500 permits applied for between 1995-2000, 2,350 were granted. “While the numbers have dropped since then, it’s fair to say we have far fewer heritage trees left to remove,” says Gillian Greensite, a longtime local tree advocate. This year, though, Santa Cruz’s urban canopy faces a bigger hit than normal, as both the city and county respond to PG&E’s Community Pipeline Safety Initiative, which has earmarked thousands of trees for removal throughout the state within 14 feet of its gas pipelines. As of a public hearing on July 6, 38 trees on city property, including 10 heritage trees, had been listed for removal, and 275 trees on private property—122 of which are heritage—await review. Separately, in the county at large, 292 public trees and 724 private trees—most of them in the 5th District—are earmarked for removal and awaiting review.
Dwindling Forests
Global forests removed about one-third of fossil fuel emissions from the atmosphere annually between 1990 and 2007, according to the U.S. Forest Service. But global forests are declining at an alarming rate—falling not just to the ax, but also to warmer temperatures, drought and disease. SHAGADELIC, BABY A heritage bunya-bunya tree on Chestnut STreet, estimated to be at least 100 years old. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER Currently, Bhutan is the only country in the world with a negative carbon footprint. Here, forests cover 72 percent of the land, absorbing an estimated 6 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, while the country produces only 1.6 million tons. In 2005, the Amazon Basin went from being a carbon sink to a carbon source, following an El Niño drought with high winds that killed, according to NASA, half a billion trees in 48 hours. Substantial forest die-offs in British Columbia became a carbon source in 2008, and the list of significant die-offs continues to grow, as carbon release fuels a positive feedback loop of more warming. Santa Cruz County, located at the end of a 450-mile-strip that is the only place in the world where redwoods grow, has not been immune to global trends. “We are at the southernmost end of their range, and, being that, we’re seeing a lot of damage in the landscapes,” says Peter Shaw, Ph.D, chair of the horticulture department at Cabrillo College. “Scotts Valley’s Santa’s Village area, there was a whole row of a cultivar called Santa Cruz, and they are all dead. Probably 30 of them. And I see dead redwoods all over. We’re losing our Monterey cypress, as well.” Shaw, who has documented more than 283 tree species on his blog Trees of Santa Cruz County, attributes the die-offs to drought and a marked decline in fog over the past few summers. He also notes that the county’s oak trees took a big hit in the sudden oak death epidemic that appeared in 1995, which scientists predict to accelerate after 2020.
The Advocate
I meet Greensite under a tunnel of catalpa trees on Catalpa Street—which is one of the only city streets besides Walnut Avenue where the trees form a canopy over the road. Greensite began advocating for big trees soon after she arrived in Santa Cruz in 1977 and noticed massive 80-to-120-year-old cypress and eucalyptus trees coming down in her lower Westside neighborhood, one after another. “I didn’t know the system then, so it took me a while,” says Greensite, “but I tried to save quite a few, and was not successful.” Her list of lost trees is long and meticulously documented, including seven eucalyptus trees that were removed by the Seaside Company from behind the Sea and Sand Inn, ending in 2011. After the trees were removed and their roots rotted, the cliffs collapsed, requiring the Seaside Company to put in a retaining wall, finished earlier this year. “The myth has developed in Santa Cruz that we’re such a tree city, [that] even if a tree was to fall on your head you’ll never get a permit. It’s really strange how myths arise, because it’s the opposite,” says Greensite. “Santa Cruz does not have a good track record for saving trees.” Up until the late ’90s, Front Street was lined with 40-60-year-old red flowering gum trees, also known as corymbia, which flame red-orange with flowers in summer. “It was stunning,” says Greensite. But in the late ’90s, Jim Lang, director of Parks and Recreation at the time, ordered them all removed. “I was sitting next to him when the decision was made, and I said ‘Jim, why would you cut down those beautiful trees?’ And he said, ‘They’re not our idea of a street tree,’” recalls Greensite. “Meaning they drop their stamens and things and were messy.” When asked about the decision for this story, Lang declined to comment.
“People tend to forget that trees are alive, that they’re living things. We tend to just look at them as objects.” — Matt Ritter
There are a couple of red flowering gums remaining down by the Laurel Street bridge, she says, and a beautiful example of a 40-60-year-old red flowering gum on Center and Cedar streets, which Keedy says she saved from being cut down for a Barry Swenson Builder development project, since the roots are primarily on the opposite side of the proposed building lot. In 2013, the city broadened its Heritage Tree Ordinance, adding allergies and economic hardship to the list of defensible tree removal permits, and exempting itself from conducting environmental reviews. In response, Greensite founded the grassroots organization Save Our Big Trees, which filed a lawsuit against the city for dropping environmental reviews, required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Save Our Big Trees lost at the local level, but won at the state appellate level, which ruled that the City of Santa Cruz go back to the previous ordinance. “That is a stronger ordinance—it obviously doesn’t protect a whole lot, when you look at the numbers of permits, but it’s better than what was going to happen,” says Greensite. “We need, actually, a stronger ordinance, and I hope to be able to work with [Keedy] to craft a truly stronger ordinance that isn’t catering to special interests who would like to remove tree protection, but who truly want to protect trees.”
The Next Fight
The Saturday afternoon sun filters through the catalpa tree’s light-green, heart-shaped leaves, which are interspersed with white flowers in the spring. It’s a mystery who planted these trees, or how old they are, but some of the trunks are massive. Four of the catalpas, which continue on to Melrose Avenue, are slated for removal by PG&E, and, according to Keedy, will not be replaced with catalpas, which she says are a problematic tree due to their tendency to decay. All of the trees removed by PG&E, she says, will be either replaced by three 15-gallon trees, one 24-inch tree, or mitigated with a $150 bond. “I have no problem with PG&E being concerned about safety,” says Greensite. “However, have all our cities gas pipelines got new valves? Have they got shut-off valves? In other words, has everything been done below ground to ensure safety before we start talking about trees? Now the answer to that could be yes, but I don’t see evidence of that.” FOR THE LOVE OF TREES Santa Cruz’s urban forester Leslie Keedy under one of the city’s oldest magnolia trees. Keedy will lead a free walking tour of significant downtown trees, departing from City Hall at 9 a.m. on Sat., July 16. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER When I ask PG&E spokesperson Jeff Smith for specific examples of trees obstructing pipeline access, he uses the analogy of a car manufacturer sending a car owner a notice about a potential flaw in the car that could pose a safety risk. “And it’s really the same kind of sense behind this,” says Smith, “in that our focus is on safety, and we want to make sure that we have a gas system that is as safe as possible for the community, and we’ve identified this as a potential risk, and there have been instances elsewhere where not being able to have that access has been a concern in terms of making that situation safe.” Greensite suggests that the city, still working on its final agreement with PG&E, require the utility to map the root systems of each tree slated for removal with Ground Penetrating Radar, to verify its obstruction, but the city has not requested this, according to Keedy. Private landowners with earmarked trees on their property will soon be receiving notices from PG&E in order to review and negotiate potential removals. “Our commitment is to not move forward with the replacement of any tree until we have a signed agreement from the customer that they are comfortable with the approach that’s going to be taken,” says Smith. But Greensite doubts many private landowners will challenge PG&E, since the utility will be appraising the value of each tree and compensating the owners. “I think it’s over 50 percent of houses in Santa Cruz that are non-owner occupied, so the property owner lives somewhere else. And I think the absentee landlords will say, ‘sure, take it down, you’re going to pay me as well? Great’,” says Greensite, who notes that the 110-year-old red horse chestnut tree on Broadway—removed by the city in 2014 to make room for the Hyatt Hotel construction, had been appraised at around $30,000. When the red horse chestnut tree was finally cut down—following months of community vigils to try to save it—the city made a point of promising to save a neighboring pine tree by putting protective barriers around it, says Greensite. “Well, they started construction, and they sliced down to get all of their concrete laid right next to the tree, and I just noticed yesterday, it’s dead. It’s totally dead,” she says.
Tree City, USA
Santa Cruz is one of 156 communities in California with the designation “Tree City, USA,” given by the Arbor Day Foundation to communities committed to protecting their urban canopies to offset greenhouse gases. But Greensite says trees are rarely part of the discussion when it comes to the city’s Climate Action Plan. “When I go to their meetings and hear their updates, it’s all about transportation, which is great, and saving energy with lights, etc.” says Greensite. “Trees are so far down on the list.” In Santa Cruz’s Climate Action Plan, an 80-page document available online, the word “trees” appears three times—counting their mention in the subhead “Green Space, Parks, Gardens and Trees”—on page 71 and 72. A heritage eucalyptus on the Westside. PHOTO: GILLIAN GREENSITE Every year, urban forests alone sequester nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of carbon and remove air pollutants within their communities that would cost nearly $4 billion to clean up in other ways, writes science author Jim Robbins in The Man Who Planted Trees, including very toxic ones, from lung-cancer-causing particulates to benzene, sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides and lead—all of them health hazards. “If I was going to plant one tree in this country it would be near a building to reduce energy use, to get both carbon sequestration from the tree and reduction in energy use,” says Dave Nowak of the U.S. Forest Service. A tree near a building can reduce the need for air conditioning by 30 percent and reduce 25-50 percent of energy needed for heating, which translates, at the low end, to 16,000-20,000 pounds of carbon in unburned fossil fuel. But the right tree in the right place is so critical that Nowak and his colleagues created a software program called i-Tree, in which homeowners can enter their address to find out energy effects and other services provided by specific trees for their location. In order to ensure the substantial carbon sink that Santa Cruz heritage trees constitute—1-2 metric tons of carbon absorbed each year for a mature heritage tree—Gershenson recommended, in 2013, that the city significantly alter its replanting policies, and replace trees taken out with trees that are “functionally similar.” But when I asked the city for its public-record data of trees removed and trees replanted, they were unavailable. “All trees removed and all trees planted go into the city’s database,” says Keedy, “but the one gal that did it for 20 years just retired [in February], and she was the only one that really knew our new system, and so our data entry has kind of fallen into disrepair, and we are playing catch-up getting all of the trees planted into the database.” Under the Heritage Tree Ordinance, those who secure a permit to remove a heritage tree must either replant a tree on their property or pay the city $150. The missing data includes the number of bonds paid to the city in lieu of planting. That said, Keedy estimates that 200-300 trees are planted each year in a non-drought year. But Greensite, skeptical that the number could be so high, says that the majority of people pay the bond rather than replant. “Over the past 30 years, I’ve seen 27 mature, beautiful heritage trees cut down in my immediate neighborhood and one crepe myrtle as a replant onsite for the five large cypresses removed at the end of my street,” says Greensite. In 2015, being a drought year, Keedy estimates that about 150-175 trees were planted. “Approximately 80 percent of the trees I see that are in new landscapes right now are crepe myrtles,” says Keedy. “They’re pretty, and they really have their place in the world, but they’re really downsizing the urban forest. They just stay small.” Matt Ritter, Ph.D., professor of biology at Cal Poly, has been the chair of San Luis Obispo’s Tree Committee for the past seven years. The committee, consisting of seven tree experts that review all of the city’s tree removal permits, grants about 50 percent of 120-200 annual requests. The committee, he says, takes the heat of the decision off of the city, and bolsters the decisions against potential lawsuits. Ritter says crepe myrtles, often favored by downtown associations and business owners, are an example of inappropriate tree planting. “People tend to forget that trees are alive, that they’re living things. We tend to just look at them as objects,” says Ritter, who equates the crepe myrtle to the closest thing there is to a plastic tree. The city’s oldest coastal redwood, on Church Street. PHOTO: KEANA PARKER “My advice to cities in general is to always plant the biggest possible tree you can that is appropriate for the space. Having a huge boulevard in which you plant these little lollipop crepe myrtle trees is a waste of a tree. They’re capable of making a beautiful accent, but you wouldn’t want them as a boulevard tree because they don’t get very big, they don’t provide the shade, they don’t provide all of the benefits you want from a large canopy cover that can really cool urban places and do everything we want a tree to do for us,” says Ritter, noting that the proven long-term benefits of large canopy trees, like the sycamores growing on the east side of Pacific Avenue, include improved commerce due to people staying longer to shop in shady areas. As the cherry trees planted along Pacific Avenue—which once hosted a diverse array of tree species, each with their own plaque—die, they will be replaced by crepe myrtles, says Keedy, who also notes that she plants large-stature trees whenever possible, especially in medians where powerlines don’t interfere. “I’m hoping to plant new canopy trees on Delaware, probably over the next one or two years, but I’m waiting for funding,” says Keedy. Currently, Santa Cruz’s Heritage Grant Fund, which Keedy says disappeared for a few years during the economic downturn, contains $25,000, down from $50,000 in the early 2000s. The fund is available to assist any resident who wants to care for aging trees. Keedy also notes that anybody who wants to plant a tree on their property for future generations can do so, without a permit—but placement and careful consideration is recommended. “We shouldn’t think of trees as only beautifying a city or suburb, but as a strategically planted ecotechnology, part of a living, versatile, valuable environmental infrastructure,” writes Robbins in The Man Who Planted Trees. “Planting trees, I myself thought for a long time, was a feel-good thing, a nice but feeble response to our litany of modern-day environmental problems. In the last few years, though, as I have read many dozens of articles and books and interviewed scientists here and abroad, my thinking has changed. Planting trees may be the single most important ecotechnology that we have to put the broken pieces of our planet back together.” As for the future of Santa Cruz’s heritage trees, Greensite says it depends on a level of consciousness around trees that isn’t there for a lot of people, including those governing the city. “It’s been very hard to see a lot of the trees go,” she says. “But I tend to sort of not spend a lot of time mourning, and say ‘on to the next one,’ knowing that there will be a next one.”
Edit 7/13/16: This show has been cancelled due to health reasons.
Buckwheat Zydeco, born Stanley Dural, Jr., is one of the first artists who comes to mind when it comes to zydeco music. A gritty, soulful and powerful vocalist, accordion player and organist, Buckwheat got his start backing legendary artists, including Joe Tex, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Eric Clapton, and his mentor Clifton Chenier. As bandleader, Buckwheat has been ambassador to the Southwest Louisiana sound for decades, and is one of the country’s undisputed musical treasures.
INFO: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 29. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 427-2227. WANT TO GO? Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 27 to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the show.
On the front page of Jesse Daniel and the Slow Learners’ website, there’s a black-and-white photo of Daniel flipping off the camera. It might sound like a punk rocker making a bid for street cred, but in fact Daniel plays country music, and the pic is an homage to the late, great Johnny Cash. Daniel does have some punk roots—he played in several hardcore bands growing up—but when he writes and records his own music, it’s always country. “Whenever I sit down and try to write a song, it always has a little bit of twang to it,” he explains. Daniel has more in common with classic country artists than new mainstream country stars. “I love Buck Owens. He’s my all-time favorite, and Merle Haggard. Their ability to sing a sad song, but in a chipper way. Sing a sad song, but you also feel kind of happy listening to it. It’s not depressing to listen to.” Daniel has been writing country songs for four or five years, but he recorded his first solo EP, American Unknown, last December. He played all the instruments himself, with the help of local musician Henry Chadwick, who recorded him at his studio. After releasing the album, Daniel assembled the band the Slow Learners to play the songs live. “In my life, it’s taken me quite a long time to learn some things, so I called them that to take the spotlight off of my own learning difficulties,” Daniel says.
INFO: 9 p.m. Friday, July 15. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Upcoming adventures might make you more manly if you are a woman. If you are a man, the coming escapades could make you more womanly. How about if you’re trans? Odds are that you’ll become even more gender fluid. I am exaggerating a bit, of course. The transformations I’m referring to may not be visible to casual observers. They will mostly unfold in the depths of your psyche. But they won’t be merely symbolic, either. There’ll be mutations in your biochemistry that will expand your sense of your own gender. If you respond enthusiastically to these shifts, you will begin a process that could turn you into an even more complete and attractive human being than you already are. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I’ll name five heroic tasks you will have more than enough power to accomplish in the next eight months. 1. Turning an adversary into an ally. 2. Converting a debilitating obsession into a empowering passion. 3. Transforming an obstacle into a motivator. 4. Discovering small treasures in the midst of junk and decay. 5. Using the unsolved riddles of childhood to create a living shrine to eternal youth. 6. Gathering a slew of new freedom songs, learning them by heart, and singing them regularly—especially when habitual fears rise up in you. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Your life has resemblances to a jigsaw puzzle that lies unassembled on a kitchen table. Unbeknownst to you, but revealed to you by me, a few of the pieces are missing. Maybe your cat knocked them under the refrigerator, or they fell out of their storage box somewhere along the way. But this doesn’t have to be a problem. I believe you can mostly put together the puzzle without the missing fragments. At the end, when you’re finished, you may be tempted to feel frustration that the picture’s not complete. But that would be illogical perfectionism. Ninety-seven-percent success will be just fine. CANCER (June 21-July 22): If you are smoothly attuned with the cosmic rhythms and finely aligned with your unconscious wisdom, you could wake up one morning and find that a mental block has miraculously crumbled, instantly raising your intelligence. If you can find it in your proud heart to surrender to “God,” your weirdest dilemma will get at least partially solved during a magical three-hour interlude. And if you are able to forgive 50 percent of the wrongs that have been done to you in the last six years, you will no longer feel like you’re running into a strong wind, but rather you’ll feel like the beneficiary of a strong wind blowing in the same direction you’re headed. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): How often have you visited hell or the suburbs of hell during the last few weeks? According to my guesstimates, the time you spent there was exactly the right amount. You got the teachings you needed most, including a few tricks about how to steer clear of hell in the future. With this valuable information, you will forevermore be smarter about how to avoid unnecessary pain and irrelevant hindrances. So congratulations! I suggest you celebrate. And please use your new-found wisdom as you decline one last invitation to visit the heart of a big, hot mess. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): My friend Athena works as a masseuse. She says that the highest praise she can receive is drool. When her clients feel so sublimely serene that threads of spit droop out of their mouths, she knows she’s in top form. You might trigger responses akin to drool in the coming weeks, Virgo. Even if you don’t work as a massage therapist, I think it’s possible you’ll provoke rather extreme expressions of approval, longing, and curiosity. You will be at the height of your power to inspire potent feelings in those you encounter. In light of this situation, you might want to wear a small sign or button that reads, “You have my permission to drool freely.” LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The latest Free Will Astrology poll shows that thirty-three percent of your friends, loved ones, and acquaintances approve of your grab for glory. Thirty-eight percent disapprove, eighteen percent remain undecided, and eleven percent wish you would grab for even greater glory. As for me, I’m aligned with the eleven-percent minority. Here’s what I say: Don’t allow your quest for shiny breakthroughs and brilliant accomplishments to be overly influenced by what people think of you. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You are at the pinnacle of your powers to both hurt and heal. Your turbulent yearnings could disrupt the integrity of those whose self-knowledge is shaky, even as your smoldering radiance can illuminate the darkness for those who are lost or weak. As strong and confident as I am, even I would be cautious about engaging your tricky intelligence. Your piercing perceptions and wild understandings might either undo me or vitalize me. Given these volatile conditions, I advise everyone to approach you as if you were a love bomb or a truth fire or a beauty tornado. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Here’s the deal: I will confess a dark secret from my past if you confess an equivalent secret from yours. Shall I go first? When I first got started in the business of writing horoscope columns, I contributed a sexed-up monthly edition to a porn magazine published by smut magnate Larry Flynt. What’s even more scandalous is that I enjoyed doing it. OK. It’s your turn. Locate a compassionate listener who won’t judge you harshly, and unveil one of your subterranean mysteries. You may be surprised at how much psychic energy this will liberate. (For extra credit and emancipation, spill two or even three secrets.) CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What do you want to be when you grow up, Capricorn? What? You say you are already all grown up, and my question is irrelevant? If that’s your firm belief, I will ask you to set it aside for now. I’ll invite you to entertain the possibility that maybe some parts of you are not in fact fully mature; that no matter how ripe you imagine yourself to be, you could become even riper—an even more gorgeous version of your best self. I will also encourage you to immerse yourself in a mood of playful fun as you respond to the following question: “How can I activate and embody an even more complete version of my soul’s code?” AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): On a summer day 20 years ago, I took my 5-year-old daughter Zoe and her friend Max to the merry-go-round in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Zoe jumped on the elegant golden-maned lion and Max mounted the wild blue horse. Me? I climbed aboard the humble pig. Its squat pink body didn’t seem designed for rapid movement. Its timid gaze was fixed on the floor in front of it. As the man who operated the ride came around to see if everyone was in place, he congratulated me on my bold choice. Very few riders preferred the porker, he said. Not glamorous enough. “But I’m sure I will arrive at our destination as quickly and efficiently as everyone else,” I replied. Your immediate future, Aquarius, has symbolic resemblances to this scene. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Early on in our work together, my psychotherapist confessed that she works only with clients whose problems are interesting to her. In part, her motivations are selfish: Her goal is to enjoy her work. But her motivations are also altruistic. She feels she’s not likely to be of service to anyone with whom she can’t be deeply engaged. I understand this perspective, and am inclined to make it more universal. Isn’t it smart to pick all our allies according to this principle? Every one of us is a mess in one way or another, so why not choose to blend our fates with those whose messiness entertains us and teaches us the most? I suggest you experiment with this view in the coming weeks and months, Pisces.
Homework: What’s the best, most healing trouble you could whip up right now? Go to freewillastrology.com and click “Email Rob.”
On Thursday, July 14, Venus becomes the Evening Star in our night sky, setting a few hours after sunset. Venus remains a bright glittering “star” until Dec. 31, the last day of 2016. We know Venus is a planet (inside our solar system and reflecting the Sun’s light) and not a star (generating its own light). But “star” to the ancient seers meant “a bright point of light in the sky.” Planets “wander” (move about). Stars, being “fixed,” don’t visibly change their relative positions from each other. Venus, bright and dazzling, sometimes shines 15 times brighter than our brightest star Sirius. On some moonless nights, the bright light of Venus can cast shadows. Only the Sun and moon, brighter than Venus, can cast shadows, although from a very dark sky location in summer, the Milky Way is collectively bright enough to do this, too. Venus has no moons or rings, and is esoterically referred to as “Earth’s elder sister.” Slightly smaller than the Earth, Venus is covered with thick clouds that reflect sunlight. Mayan astronomers had accurate knowledge of the motion of Venus. They knew when Venus would appear in the east, after disappearing in the west. Venus, the morning star, was the patron planet of warfare. The Aztecs, also knowing of Venus, performed rituals when Venus aligned with the Pleiades. Thinking Venus was two separate starry objects, the Greeks named the morning star Phosphoros, “bringer of light”; and the evening star Hesperos, “star of the evening.” A few hundred years later, the Hellenistic Greeks realized Venus was a single “star.” Venus as evening star has many names. Shining brightly after sunset, Venus is called “star of dusk,” “Hesperus” and “Vespers”—“light coming at Vespers” (calling us to evening prayer or song). On the night of Friday, July 15, Mercury joins Venus, both in Leo, in the sky at twilight.
ARIES: You may attract all sorts of love, attention, dramatic and passionate situations and invitations to the arts. To others you look romantic and available. Self-expression becomes important because your creative abilities are emerging in abundance. Everything’s so exaggerated all the time. But know it’s only for a short time. Reveal your heart. Be a blessing to everyone. TAURUS: You’re truly the harmony within the conflicts and chaos of our times. Although love is deeply felt, you may only express it through the arts or music. Take up a visual art, like drawing or painting. There’s an ending to many matters of the past. You work toward this ending. It’s a clearing. Then your next life adventure begins. GEMINI: Venus is your Soul ruler. What does that mean? Gemini flows to us through Mercury if we are building our personality. Mercury creates the conflicts we learn to harmonize. When our personality is directed by the Soul, Gemini flows to us through Venus which lends unity, balance and scientific study to your mind. You see everything as equal and learn to see yourself as valuable. CANCER: Money and how you value and use money becomes a focus. You’re concerned often with finances. Venus is attracting comfort, a sense of pleasure and ease with money and material resources. It’s important to visit galleries, view art and artifacts, fine and beautiful things, luxurious items that create material comfort. You don’t have to purchase them. But look at them. They uplift your usually serious spirits and offer you peace of mind. LEO: Work closely and offer personal attention to those around you. As you do, the love deeply hidden in your heart will begin to come forth. People will find you more friendly and charming than usual. Leos need this recognition of their love and goodness all the time. Are you using your creative abilities, offering your gifts of beauty, taste, discrimination, ease of knowledge and natural grace to others? Are you painting? VIRGO: Compassion and understanding become great forces that impel you to help others in need. You understand the problems and difficulties humanity experiences. You want to help and to save. There are some things in your life, like emotions and feelings, that are hidden away from everyone. This, you sense, is for protection. Know that the angels surround, listen to and protect you. LIBRA: It’s with friends, social circles, groups and organizations that Libra finds identity. You need to feel a sense of belonging and to offer and receive group support in all endeavors. Everyone who loves you wants to help manifest your visions and dreams. What are those dreams and visions? You need intelligent and artistic people and those who understand and act upon altruistic goals. You are the first humanitarian. SCORPIO: You’re learning how to contribute talents and gifts to the world. You’re a role model, guide and mentor to others. At times Scorpio must go into hiding. Other times we must emerge and do our part. This is your emerging time. People above honor you. They play out the parts of parents, figures who discipline us. You do your part to be strong and successful and learn kindness. SAGITTARIUS: You’re searching for the truth everywhere, about yourself and who you’ve become. As our consciousness expands, we seek outside of ourselves like-minded ideas, people, philosophies, etc., building a bridge between ourselves and the world and seeking places where our ethics, visions, sense of justice and adventure intersect. We cannot accept limits or anything conventional. Knowledge is synthesizing into wisdom. CAPRICORN: On a very subtle level notice if you are seeking to unify with others, to walk in their shoes (know their experiences). Notice if you feel the need to resurrect, to redeem or release something in order to have more freedom. Perhaps you are reflecting the needs of humanity also seeking freedom. Things financial may occupy your mind—inheritances, legacies, resources held in common with others. Relationships seek depth and intimacy. You allow for nothing superficial. AQUARIUS: As you relate to others in your world, notice that you are becoming more and more aware of intimacy, closeness in relationships and even lack of closeness. You seek more depth in one-on-one interactions. You’re attracted to intelligent quick-witted people. You understand the young ones. You love to communicate new ideas, the future, and all things pertaining to energy. You realize projection doesn’t work. It’s not beneficial at this time to be alone. PISCES: Life at times feels critical with self-adjustment, work, health and nutrition. Daily routines have been changing. Perhaps even a small pet entered your life unexpectedly. In terms of food, refrain from starches, simple carbohydrates and all sugars. You need support from others. You seek a complete change in daily life and an expansion of what you do. Find and read the “Prayer of Jabez.” Follow the instructions.
Spending hours on the water, pounding board against wave, is an exhausting sport. Since burritos are not yet waterproof, finding a seaside snack can be a challenge. But those catching a wave at Steamer Lane off West Cliff now have a quick fix for that problem. Fran Grayson, known for her Truck Stop food truck, recently opened Steamer Lane Supply, a café-and-supply store by Steamer Lane. The café will serve food, and on the weekends Truck Stop will be parked there, too, for even more bites. In order to help keep the beach pristine and safe for wildlife, Grayson has gone to great lengths to avoid selling anything with plastic or unsustainable products. Is Steamer Lane Supply more of a café or a surf shop? FRAN GRAYSON: It’s a café that has beachy things, like wax and leashes and emergency things people would need, sunscreen, stuff like that. I also have my own line of apparel. I’m also selling shirts and hats made by other people, primarily local surfers. This whole thing started with me surfing, and being hungry when I got out of the water. I had so many conversations with people saying, ‘Gosh, I wish there was some food out here so I could eat something and keep surfing.’ Do you cater your menu to hungry surfers? Yes, definitely. And to all of the people that use that same space; exercising, dog walking, tourists. We’re doing the poke bowl because it’s quintessential surf food, and quesadillas because people can walk with them. I even make food for the dogs, too. You can buy a slice of doggy frittata, which has meat and eggs and rice and cheese in it. What’s an arepa? It’s a Venezuelan and Columbian dish, a corn cake that’s grilled and split open and stuffed with whatever kinds of things you want. It’s much different from a tortilla because it has more of the consistency of grits, and it’s crispy on the outside. It looks about the size of an English muffin, a little bigger. The most you can say about them is “coming soon.” What other kinds of food do you sell? We make a range of kind of unusual quesadillas with various fillings. it’s folded and tucked, sort of like a flat burrito, but we like them better because they’re really crispy on the outside. We have some really good hot dogs. 4505 Hot Dogs. [They] come from San Francisco, and they have bacon inside. It’s really good. We make homemade eggrolls. We make ‘grab ‘n’ go’ sandwiches. We also sell pastries and donuts. The truck is doing fish tacos and burgers mainly right now, and will transition to arepas soon.
Open daily 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Lighthouse Field State Beach at West Cliff Drive.
The next time you head to Chaminade Resort & Spa to hang out with friends over a glass of wine on their beautiful patio—which is definitely one of the best spots in town, with its magnificent panorama of the Monterey Bay—try Dancing Creek Winery’s 2009 Merlot. I was there recently with friends and we all enjoyed this well-made wine, along with a few munchies to go with it. Good-quality Merlot partners well with food, and this one hit the spot with its rich flavors and red-fruit aromas, made with grapes harvested from the Santa Cruz Mountains. It sells for $34 at Chaminade and $29 at the winery. “This is a wine that’s so vibrant and alive that it might make you want to dance!” say winery owners Jim and Robin Boyle. “Lovely aromas of tangy cherries mingle with a cupboard of baking spices to lure you in. Then you dive deeply into rich flavors of briary blackberry, roasted chestnuts, chervil, and black olive tapenade, with a hint of capers.” Sound good? Then head out to the Boyles’ winery to try some. You will get to taste their other outstanding wines such as Syrah and Pinot—and don’t miss the Late for the Dance Zinfandel, a robust late-harvest after-dinner drink. Dancing Creek Winery, 4363 Branciforte Drive, Santa Cruz, 408-497-7753, dancingcreekwinery.com. The Boyles’ tasting room is very close to the famous Mystery Spot, and open every third Saturday of the month from noon to 5 p.m. They will be open for Passport Day on Saturday, July 16.
Wine Tasting & Food Pairing
Wargin Wines in Watsonville is hosting a Sangiovese 101 event with chef Tanya DeCell preparing some delicious food. Taste Sangiovese wines from Italy and California and compare the differences. A three-course tasting with local seasonal ingredients will highlight the wine flight. The price of $40 per person includes wine, food and a recipe to take home. The event is 2-4 p.m. Sunday, July 17 and advance registration is requested. warginwines.com, 888-247-8333. Wargin Wines is at 11 Hangar Way, Watsonville, 531-8108. They also have a tasting room at 5015 Soquel Drive, Soquel.
“All the baggy clothes. I just don’t think that it looks good—and I’m wearing them, too.”
Dan Quinto
Scotts Valley
Paramedic
“High-waisted cut-off shorts that are just too short. ”
Grace Poppke
Santa Cruz
Student
“Pants below the butt.”
Sunita Chethik
Soquel
Retired Teacher
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