Trail Only Folks Just Won't Give Up - Take Action

By BARRY SCOTT

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission just announced the first-ever in-person public hearing for Aptos, taking place on May 4, 6-7:30pm at the Rio Sands Hotel, 116 Aptos Beach Dr. in Aptos. Rio Del Mar and Aptos are the epicenters of anti-rail activism, so our attendance is essential,

The Trail Only alternative is still being presented to the public and we need to challenge that. Please attend to support the "Ultimate Trail" plan.

These events are the only chance to ask questions and provide input, in person, and we need to turn out in large numbers. You can also attend a virtual public hearing on May 2, but the in-person event is by far more important. If you have a Friends of the Rail Trail shirt, wear it.

The virtual public hearing will be May 2, 6-7:30pm. Click HERE to register.

For more details including the EIR, maps, and drawings click HERE. This information is also available at the  the Capitola Branch Library at 2005 Wharf Road in Capitola, the Live Oak Library at 2380 Portola Dr. in Santa Cruz, the Watsonville Public Library at 275 Main St. Suite 100 in Watsonville, and County of Santa Cruz Public Works at 701 Ocean St., 4th Floor in Santa Cruz.

22 Years of the Reel Work Labor Film Festival

By SARAH RINGLER

What do people do to earn a buck? We are starting the second week of our 22nd Reel Work May Day Labor Film Festival that, through film and music, exposes the all-encompassing world of work. An all-volunteer group, many from the labor movement, has been meeting and viewing films since December and has come up with a stimulating and provocative array of films that honor working people and their ability to organize to make life better for more people.  Events this year will be held in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, San Juan Bautista, Cal State University Monterey Bay, and on Zoom.

This year’s festival includes films from all over the world and highlights various occupations like domestic workers, farmworkers, steelworkers, people in education, women truck drivers, and more.

If you want a little history on the importance of May Day click HERE for labor historian Fred Glass newly released film We Mean to Make Things Over: A History of May Day, There will also be music and a May Day Rally in downtown Santa Cruz, Apr. 30 at noon. Meet at the Town Clock.

Since the festival features live and virtual events, some films can be viewed online. Check out our website and join us this year. Events are by donation. 

Mark your calendars. Here are this week's upcoming films:

Apr. 29 - Labor Action in Education - 6:30-10 at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz.  Event opens with music by Mike Stout and Jimmy Kelly. Speakers and films follow. 

Speakers: MC’d by Jason Rabinowitz (Teamsters Clerical CX2010),Yael Bridge and Yoni Golijov (filmmakers), Nelly Vaquera-Boggs (president PVFT1936), Lucia Cantero (grad student, filmmaker and activist) and Sarah Mason (UAW rep and strike organizer). 

Films:

The Wisconsin TA Strike In March 1970, Teach Assistants at the University of Wisconsin go out on strike for 24 days. It was the beginning of the first TA strike in U.S. history and still continues 50 years later.

When We Fight Film portrays the successful Los Angeles teachers strike in 2019.

Alma Mater by Lucia Alvarado Cantero

View on Zoom by registering HERE. 

Apr. 30 – Noon May Day Rally and March at the Santa Cruz Town Clock. 

Wear union clothes and bring signs and banners. We will meet at the town clock, march, then meet up at the Scribner statue in front of the Bookshop Santa Cruz for songs and solidarity.

2pm Film and panel discussion of City of Steel  at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz. Also can be viewed on Zoom by registering at bit.ly/RW23Apr30 

City of Steel  - Film describes the rise and fall of the U.S. steel industry centered in Pittsburgh, PA and told by those who worked in the mills. 

Panelists: Charles McCollister, historian (on Zoom); singer/songwriter Mike Stout and steelworkers,

Concert 6pm at the RCNV – Mike Stout and band playing labor songs at the RCNV.

May 1 – International Workers Day

7pm – Films on Zoom: 

We Mean to Make Things Over: A History of May Day - Made by long time labor historian, Fred Glass, this film reminds us of the sacrifices made for some of the labor rights that we have today.

Dignidad: Domestic Workers' Journey for Justice in California - Coming to this country with dreams of a better life, frontline caregivers, nannies, housekeepers risk it all to support their families.

View on Zoom by registering HERE.

May 2 – International Film Festival on Zoom

Films: C’era Una Volta a Ribolla (Giovanni Guidelli, 2022, 19 min, Italy) 

Cubana 455 (Enrique Berumen García, 2022, 30 min selection, Cuba) 

Sampo (Marziyeh Riahi, 2023, 13 min, Iran) 

View on Zoom by registering HERE. bit.ly/RW23May3

May 4 -- Gentrification and Displacement – 7pm Resource Center for Nonviolence. 

Film: City Rising: Examining Gentrification and Its Historical Roots - The journey of California communities that are fighting gentrification and seeking responsible development. 

Speakers: Rick Longinotti and Gretchen Regenhardt

May 5 – Farmworkers – 7pm at the Forum Room A150, at Cabrillo College Watsonville, on the plaza at 318 Union St. Also in the plaza from 2-7 is the Watsonville Friday Market featuring produce, flowers, food and more. There will also be, in honor of Cinco de Mayo, music, dance and poetry. Come out early, do some shopping and join in the festivities.

Films: Ghostly Labor: A Dance Film -A visually beautiful film of various dancers performing in several agricultural fields. 

Fruits of Labor - A high school senior who also works in the fields doesn’t know if she'll be able to graduate from high school.  

Speakers: Kathleen Kilpatrick, Woody Rehanek, Yanely Martinez and Mark Weller from Safe Ag Safe Schools and the campaign for Organic and Regenerative Agriculture.

Click HERE for the full program and more information on registering for Zoom..

All Aboard! State Delivers Grant Money For Sustainable Transportation

By FAINA SEGAL

We at Friends of the Rail Trail are thrilled to share that Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties have been awarded three state grants to advance our regional sustainable public transportation initiatives. Santa Cruz METRO was host to California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin on Apr. 24 as he announced the new grant awards from CALSTA, the California State Transportation Agency. These grants, received as part of the Transportation Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) fund METRO and Rail projects that will greatly benefit our community in the following ways:

Passenger Rail Service on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line, $3.5M - This grant funds much of the needed pre-construction design work for our zero-emission passenger rail project and also funds much of the state and federal environmental clearance work. The grant also includes designing the remaining sections of the Coastal Rail Trail. Zero-emission rail service will bypass traffic congestion on the highway, reduce overflow traffic on local streets, and reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, while providing accessible and reliable transportation options for our residents and visitors. The Coastal Rail Trail segments will provide Mid County and South County bike and pedestrian access. 

Pajaro/Watsonville Rail Station in Monterey County, $2.3M - This grant funds environmental and design work for the planned multimodal rail, bike, and bus regional transit hub, just a few blocks from downtown Watsonville on the other side of the Pajaro River. This transit hub will serve as our local regional rail connection, making it possible to travel by rail from Santa Cruz County to the rest of the USA by connecting to the new rail services that Monterey is planning. These new rail services will connect Monterey, Salinas, Castroville, and Pajaro to Gilroy, San Jose, and the rest of the state. 

Santa Cruz METRO: Service Improvements, Affordable Housing, and Zero-Emission Buses 38.6M - This grant will fund increasing the frequency of bus service along Hwy 1 and Hwy 17, adding zero-emission hydrogen-powered buses and hydrogen fueling capacity, and building new affordable housing at both the Watsonville and Santa Cruz METRO centers. This will significantly improve METRO bus service county wide and provide much-needed housing options for our community.

These three projects are deeply interconnected. They exemplify our Coast Connect vision, which is why Friends of the Rail & Trail wrote letters of support for all three of these projects. Together these projects are the keystones to providing a transformed transportation system in Santa Cruz County. By supporting them, the State of California is showing commitment to improving our local transportation options, improving our quality of life, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, and improving access to opportunities for everyone.

Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin passed on a message from Governor Newsom in his remarks today: “Our state is placing a high priority on investing in public transportation projects that aim to shift away from fossil fuels while making public travel more rider friendly. Today's announcement not only provides better travel alternatives but also helps to speed up our transition to a cleaner, healthier transportation future for all Californians." 

This is fabulous news as we see the State come out with such strong support for public transportation, and of course for our favorite projects. Passenger rail service and the 32-mile Rail Trail are included in the County General Plan, the Regional Transportation Long Range Plan and the California State Rail Plan which puts our projects in a prime position to continue getting state and federal grants. Continuing on this path, the RTC estimates we could have rail service starting in just 10-15 years. 

Please join us in expressing our deep gratitude to the federal and state agencies for their generous funding support, as well as to the METRO and RTC staff who have been instrumental in making these projects a reality. 

We look forward to collaborating with everyone on what rail service will look like and being a part of the Reimagine METRO project to bring a new, accessible and affordable transportation system to Santa Cruz County. 

Also we'd like to give a huge thank you to all the Rail, Trail and METRO supporters. You help bring these projects to life with your support and advocacy.

We’ve redone our railandtrail.org website. For current Coastal Rail Trail status go HERE. 

Photo by STARLING LINDEN

World Labyrinth Day - Walk for Peace

By STARLING LINDEN

Every year on the first Saturday in May, thousands of people around the globe participate in World Labyrinth Day as a moving meditation for world peace and celebration of the labyrinth experience. Many “Walk as One at 1” local time to create a rolling wave of peaceful energy passing from one time zone to the next. We'll be hosting a Labyrinth walk at our farm in honor of this world event and hope you will be able to attend.



World Labyrinth Day - Labyrinth Walk for Peace

May 6, 11-3pm

At the beautiful Mariquita Farm in Watsonville

Our journey begins with a walk in the Lavendar Labyrinth followed by a tour of hundreds of heirloom roses with a rose petal oil tutorial. Enjoy a light salad, snacks and beverages.

Please click on Eventbrite for more information and to purchase tickets.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA 

This Anna's hummingbird zooms in for a sample of nectar.

Changes in Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report

By SARAH RINGLER

The California Department of Public Health has taken over Covid-19 reporting from the The Santa Cruz County Health Department and regularly releases data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. There have been no new deaths in the county since Dec. 15.

The first graph below, updated Apr. 26, shows the Rt Number. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing.

The second graph below, update Apr. 26, shows data that the Health Department collects for Covid and Mpox from wastewater at the City Influent, for the city of Santa Cruz, and from the Lode Street pump stations for the county.

The third graph below shows hospitalizations as of Apr. 26. Click to see more information on hospitalizations HERE.



The vaccination data for the county has stayed fairly constant increasing very little over time.

Go HERE for information on vaccination records, treatments, vaccines, tests, safety in the workplace and more.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Fashion Street - Taking it all with you. A woman strolls along Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville.

Labor History Calendar - April 28-May 4, 2023

a.k.a Know Your History Lest We Forget

April 28, Workers’ Memorial Day

April 28, 1997: Protest by Nike shoe workers winds wage hike in Indonesia.

April 28, 1998: Danish General Strike for shorts hours begins.

April 28, 2021: Massive strikes against austerity met with police gunfire with at least 10 workers killed in Columbia.

April 29, 1911: Magonistas launch revolution in Baja California, Mexico.

April 29, 1865: Shawl weavers protest poverty with 28 killed in Srinagar, Kashmir.

April 29, 2013: Unionists and civil rights activists begin weekly Moral Monday protests in North Carolina.

April 30, 1899: 1,200 arrested in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in miners’ strike.

May 1 World Labor Day

May 1, 1886: General strike for 8-hour day in Chicago and other cities.

May 1, 1986: 1.5 million join South African general strike against apartheid. 

May 1, 2006: Some 2.5 million workers rally in US for immigrants’ rights. 

May 2, 1919: Bavarian revolution crushed.

May 2, 1984: 33,000 West German metal workers strike for 35-hour week.

May 3, 1886: Police attack McCormick Reaper strikers.

May 3, 1926: UK General Strike.

May 3, 1934: IWW strike at Draper Manufacturing in Cleveland, Ohio.

May 3, 1937: Spanish republican army attacks workers.

May 4, 1886: Police attack Haymarket Square rally called to protest police brutality at McCormick Works.

May 4, 1926: British general strike in support of British miners.

May 4, 1961: U.S. Freedom rides.

Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.

"Again and again the workers attempted to throw off some of their shackles, and every time the whole dominant force of society was arrayed against them. By 1825 an agitation developed for a ten-hour workday. The politicians denounced the movement; the cultured classes frowned upon it; the newspapers alternately ridiculed and abused it; the officials prepared to take summary action to put it down. As for the capitalists-- the shipping merchants, the boot and shoe manufacturers, the iron masters and others-- they not only denied the right of the workers to organize, while insisting that they themselves were entitled to combine, but they inveighed against the ten-hour demand as 'unreasonable conditions which the folly and caprice of a few journey-men mechanics may dictate.' 'A very large sum of money,' says McNeill, 'was subscribed by the merchants to defeat the ten-hour movement.' And as an evidence of the intense opposition to the workers' demands for a change from a fourteen to a ten-hour day, McNeill quotes from a Boston newspaper of 1832.



'Had this unlawful combination had for its object the enhancement of daily wages, it would have been left to its own care; but it now strikes the very nerve of industry and good morals by dictating the hours of labor, abrogating the good old rule of our fathers and pointing our the most direct course to poverty for to be idle several of the most useful hours of the morning and evening will surely lead to intemperance and ruin.'"

by Gustavus Myers, 1907

The History of the Great American Fortunes

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

A 50s Meal that Stacks Up Just Right

By SARAH RINGLER

Sometimes you need to make a meal that can feed a lot of people, that can also be made ahead of time, and satisfy diverse appetites. Burmese Staki-Uppi qualifies. In this recipe, you prepare a basic chicken stew with rice. Then, you prepare seven different toppings. People can “stack up” as many or as few of the toppings as they desire but to get the full experience, but I suggest that you try it all. 

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Kids can choose just what they want so this is also good for a mixed age crowd. You can even prepare a vegetarian tofu stew for those who don’t eat meat. This recipe can feed around 8-10 people. I must say up front that I don’t know why this dish is attributed to the Burmese, so I have not updated it to Myanmar Staki-Uppi to save offending anyone. 

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This recipe is a long time favorite of the Ringler family. It originates from when my father taught at Bakersfield High School from the mid-1950s to the mid-60s. In those times, a family could easily survive on one person’s income. Bakersfield High had a faculty wives’ group, of which my mom was a part; they socialized and provided support for each other and their families. This recipe, and the “Bakersfield High Faculty Wives’ Cookbook,” are a combination of two influences – the 1950s and a group of women from many parts of the United States who ended up with the families in Bakersfield and contributed their regional dishes. (I’m not sure what the faculty husbands did.)​

Burmese Staki-Uppi

1 3-4 pound chicken

Carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaf and flour for chicken stock

5 cups cooked rice 

2 cups sharp grated cheese

2 cans drained crushed pineapple

2 packages chow mein noodles

1 cup thinly sliced green onions

3 chopped tomatoes

2 cups lightly toasted sweetened coconut

1 cup finely chopped roasted and salted peanuts

salt and pepper to taste.

​Wash the chicken thoroughly and place it in a large, heavy pot that has a lid. Cover the chicken with water and add, a carrot, celery tops, a bay leaf and maybe some parsley. Add a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil then turn down the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for about an hour until the meat is done. When the meat is done set aside to cool. 

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When cool, take the meat off the bone and set aside. Discard the bones and skim off the fat from the stock. Keep about three tablespoons of the fat. Refrigerate the meat and let the stock sit if you will be serving this dinner in the next hour or two.

​Prepare the other ingredients and refrigerate the cheese, tomatoes, green onions and pineapple. To toast the sweetened coconut, spread it on a cookie sheet and carefully toast at about 300 degrees for about 10 minutes. Shake the cookie sheet every so often so the coconut toasts evenly. Put aside to serve later. Just before serving the meal, heat the chow mein noodles on the same cookie sheet for about 10 minutes at 300 degrees. 

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Cook the rice.

​In a heavy pot, add the three tablespoons of fat or use butter or cooking oil. Turn heat to medium and when oil is hot, whisk in two and a half tablespoons of flour. Keep stirring and when the flour is turning golden, gradually whisk in three cups of stock. Keep stirring until liquid is slightly thickened like gravy. Add the chicken pieces. If the gravy is too thin, you can add a few more spoonfuls of flour to coat the chicken pieces before you add them to the stock. Cook for a 10 minutes at low heat, add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Welcome to Serf City Times Our county has problems and many people feel left out. Housing affordability, racism and low wages are the most obvious factors. However, many groups and individuals in Santa Cruz County work tirelessly to make our county a better place for everyone. These people work on the environment, housing, economic justice, health, criminal justice, disability rights, immigrant rights, racial justice, transportation, workers’ rights, education reform, gender issues, equity issues, electoral politics and more. Often, one group doesn’t know what another is doing. The Serf City Times is dedicated to serving as a clearinghouse for those issues by letting you know what is going on, what actions you can take and how you can support these groups.This is a self-funded enterprise and all work is volunteer. 

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