|
Premier Showing of Common Ground at the RioTheatre Followed by Q&A
By SAM EARNSHAW
Jo Ann Baumgartner, Executive Director of Wild Farm Alliance (WFA), a Watsonville-based non-profit, will be part of the Q&A session. WFA is a national organization that helps growers bring nature back to the farm. From planting hedgerows and installing bird boxes, to offering beneficial bird and insect field days, videos and publications, they are part of the growing regenerative agriculture movement.
| |
|
Affordable Housing Conference Oct. 14
By JOHN HALL
A conference, “Affordable Housing in Santa Cruz: Diverse Perspectives on Our Crisis,” will be held on Sat., Oct. 14 from 9:15am - 3:15pm at the London Nelson Community Center, rm. 3, 301 Cedar Street in Santa Cruz.
The in-person event features three panels discussing the crisis of affordable housing in our community — how did we get here, where are we at, and where can we go from here? Come and hear diverse perspectives. Whether you're a concerned citizen, a local policymaker, or simply want to learn more, we hope you will take part. Don't miss this opportunity for dialogue. Together, let's work towards finding solutions for affordable housing in Santa Cruz.
Organized by Our Downtown, Our Future, the conference co-sponsors include the UCSC Student Housing Coalition, the Campaign for Sustainable Transportation, Housing Santa Cruz County, the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, and the Santa Cruz Climate Action Network.
Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley will make opening remarks. Panelists include former county supervisor Gary Patton, UCSC professor Miriam Greenberg, Housing Santa Cruz County Executive Director Elaine Johnson, affordable housing developer Diana Alfaro, former Santa Cruz Mayor Bruce Van Allen, and more.
For the detailed program and to register, go to HERE. Tickets are sliding scale - free to $25 - include lunch with Erik’s Deli's non-vegan and vegan sandwiches and salads. For questions, email HERE.
| |
|
People As Numbers
By SARAH RINGLER
I really feel that a part of most of us shrinks whenever we come upon a person living without a home. The situation in our area and California has gone on way too long. Years ago, those of us who were fortunate enough could give a person some spare change and it could provide some kind of brief respite of their choice. A small cup of coffee at 7/11 is now $1.79 and a single bottle of beer is over three dollars. Even if you have a hundred-dollar bill to give out, it might only give one night at a cheap motel. One feels so helpless. The problem is so big.
Santa Cruz County’s 2023 Homeless Point-in-Time Count and Survey was released in August and I just had time lately to pour over it. The Point-in-Time (PIT) Counts are mandated by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a way of documenting people in the country who are experiencing homelessness. States are divided into Continuums of Care (CoCs) units which roughly are counties in the state – California has 44 CoCs but 58 counties. Santa Cruz is its own CoC. Counts are usually done every other year, but because of Covid, the 2021 count was nixed. There has since been counts in 2022 and 2023.
Usually, PIT counts are done during the last 10 days of January, but this year in Santa Cruz County, since it was particularly wet and rainy, it was done countywide on Feb. 23. 416 people were interviewed by the PIT team.
Most changes from 2022 to 2023 showed results in the range of plus or minus 5%, but a few numbers showed real change. I have highlighted a few below. HUD directs the procedure with many web pages of information; I don’t have the expertise to question the results.
This year’s count showed a 22% decrease in homelessness from 2,299 people in Jan. 2022, to 1,804 in Feb. 2023, a decrease of 495 individuals. Some of that decrease comes from 91 people who died in 2022. The highest unsheltered population recorded in the last twelve years was in 2013 at 3,536.
Families are one particular area of grave concern.The number of unsheltered families increased by 52% from Jan. 2022. There were 50 families with 158 members in Jan. 2022 and 76 families with 263 members in Feb. 2023.
The number of people who considered Santa Cruz County their home before they became unsheltered decreased from 89% in Jan. 2022 to 75% in Feb. 2023. In Jan. 2021, 78% were local.
The gender breakdown in the Feb. 2023 survey was 68% men, 31% women, and 1% transgender/gender, non-conforming. The reported racial backgrounds were: 81% White, 44% Latinx, 6% Black, 7% multiple and 4% claim American Indian/Alaskan Native. Sexual orientation: 85% reported being straight, 6% bisexual, 2% lesbian, 2% gay, 1% queer and 4% other. The number of respondents who had been in foster care but were now homeless decreased from 39% to 23%
Fewer people slept is tents from Jan. 2022 to Feb. 2023 - 48% to 35%. More people slept in vehicles - 38% to 46%. About the same number, 16%, slept outdoors or on the streets. Evictions as a primary condition that led to homelessness decreased from 37% in Feb. 2022 to 19% in Jan. 2023.
People reporting substance abuse as a Primary Condition That Lead to Homelessness, rose from 9% of the population in 2022 to 24% in 2023. Under another category, Self-Reported Health, fewer reporting drug and alcohol abuse – from 67% in 2022 to 46% in 2023.
Other Self-Reported Health categories showed fewer claiming physical disabilities from 57% in 2022 to 34% in 2023. Fewer reported chronic health from 49% in 2022 to 29% in 2023. Psychiatric or emotional conditions reports were the same at 39%. Disabling Conditions, which are described by HUD as developmental or long-term physical or mental impairment that impacts a person’s ability to live independently but could improve with stable housing, were reported by 77% in 2022, and had gone down to 50% in 2023.
Under the category Services Currently Accessing, fewer Day Shelter Services were utilized in 2023(23%) compared to 2022(36%). Also, bus pass use decreased from 46% to 24% and health services decreased from 46% to 19%.
Under the category Duration of Current Episode of Homelessness, 35% had experienced 1-11 months of homelessness in Jan. 2022; it dropped to 22% in Feb. 2023. But for those who had been homeless one year or more, the numbers increased from 59% of the population in 2022 to 74% in 2023. To assess the situation for yourself and see the PIT Counts from 2011 to 2023, go HERE.
To keep up on what's really going on, subscribe to the Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom mailing list huff@list.huffsantacruz.org. Robert Norse, who had been involved and working on this issue for decades, presents a knowledgeable and straight forward, but with some humor, look at the streets and environs of Santa Cruz.
San Jose's Mayor Might Have Answers
For the first time in a long while I felt a scintilla of hope. The San Jose Mercury News ran an editorial on Oct. 1 titled, “Time for the blame game on homelessness to end” by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. Finally, the leader of the twelfth largest city and the third largest urban economy in the US, says unequivocally, that there is an answer. Using historical evidence, he cites the catastrophic 1906 San Francisco Earthquake where around 325,000 people were left homeless. Mahan writes, “that in an emergency, you take emergency action – such as building simple, decent shelters for everyone affected.”
Military-style tent camps were constructed with the Army managing 26 official refugee camps. Gradually, residents who could, rebuilt. But some working-class people did not have the resources to rebuild. On public land, like in Dolores Park, Precita Park and what is now Park-Presidio Boulevard, the city’s relief organization constructed over 5,600 cottages. The walls were redwood, shingles were cedar, and they were painted green so they blended with the natural environment. Tenants paid $2 per month toward the final cost of $50. As the emergency subsided, people who lived in the cottages were allowed to move them to other locations. Often, they were hauled away by horse or buggy but sometimes piece by piece by hand.
Remaining cottages built in San Francisco after the earthquake -- some remodeled into mansions on the market in Jan. 2022 for $4.6 million -- are now part of a preservation project, the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of San Francisco’s 1906 Earthquake Refugee Shacks There are still many around the region including one, in the photo below, that ended up in Santa Cruz on 9th Ave.
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
| |
|
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Saturday Eclipse
By TARMO HANNULA
An partial eclipse of the sun will happen Saturday morning that will be visible, unless clouds get in the way, for folks in the Monterey Bay Area.
According to the Space Science Institute, the moon will pass between the sun and Earth, causing a partial eclipse, known as an annular solar eclipse.
The drama starts at 8:05am with the maximum eclipse happening at 9:20am. The path of the eclipse starts in Oregon and moves southeastward, leaving the U.S. at the Texas Gulf coast.
Our area should experience between 70 and 80% eclipse of the sun. Visit scigames.org/eclipse to find out what it will be like in your area and for safe viewing information. Do not stare directly at the sun. Watsonville Public Library on Main St. is giving out free safety sun glasses and info sheets.
| |
|
Laird's Bill That Requires Emergency Plans for Industrial Battery Facilities Is Signed by Newsom
By SARAH RINGLER
Senate Bill 38, John Laird’s proposed bill prompted by three incidents of thermal runaway in two years at the Moss Landing Lithium Ion Battery Energy Storage System was signed into law by Governor Newsom on Saturday. One particular incident that was witnessed by Laird, who was driving to a meeting in Monterey from Santa Cruz, caused Hwy. 1 to be shut down for 12-hours and a shelter in place order was imposed in and around the community of Moss Landing.
The law, which seems like a “no-brainer,” requires industrial battery facilities to have emergency response and community notification plans drawn up and submitted to the counties in which they are located. Chief of North Monterey County Fire, Joel Mendoza, had been stymied by the lack of information during the three incidences. Click HERE for the Serf City Times report.
| |
|
Letting Go
By WOODY REHANEK
"$166 for possession of two owl
feathers? Someone just gave them
to me. I didn't know they came
from a threatened species, & I
didn't kill the owl. I just stuck
them on my dash," I whined.
The Fish & Game officer was
unsympathetic. He put the owl
feathers in his car. "Well," he said,
"you can always go talk to Judge
Edwards in his chambers in
Okanogan." That's what I did
a couple of weeks later.
Judge Edwards was a reasonable
man. "Edward," he said, "the
officer was overzealous & he wrote
the ticket wrong. I'm going to put
you on probation. As long as you're
NOT in possession of owl feathers
for the next six months, we'll just
let the whole thing go."
Here are two young great-horned owls in Arana Gulch several years ago.
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
| |
|
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Marbled godwits work the shoreline in Moss Landing.
| |
|
Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report - Order Free At-Home Test Kits
By SARAH RINGLER
The California Department of Public Health reports on Covid-19 for The Santa Cruz County Health Department. They regularly release data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. Since cases are still appearing, and there are still vulnerable people, I will continue reporting the graphs below.
At-home Covid-19 test kits that were sent free from the government earlier are now expiring. The program that started in Jan. 2022 has distributed 600 million test kits. If you still have those tests, before using, check the date on your box or go HERE to get more information. Recently, the Biden administration announced that it will provide four free tests per household that will be delivered by the US Postal Service. Go HERE to order.
The state's website reports that the current total of confirmed Covid deaths in Santa Cruz County is at 335, up from 333 for the last two weeks.
The three graphs below give a picture of what is happening as of Oct. 12. The first graph below 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 shows data that the Health Department collects for Covid from wastewater at the City Influent, for the city of Santa Cruz, and from the Lode Street pump stations for the county. This graph shows wastewater level to be below Center for Disease Control's moderate risk threshold.
The third graph below shows hospitalizations. 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 new information on vaccination records, treatments, vaccines, tests, safety in the workplace and more.
| |
|
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street - A man strolls past a large mural in downtown San Francisco.
| |
|
Labor History Calendar - Oct. 13-26 , 2023
a.k.a Know Our History Lest We Forget
Oct. 13, 1909: Education reformer Francisco Ferrer executed; Spanish gov’t says free schools let to worker revolt.
Oct. 14, 1883: International Working People’s Association founded in Pittsburgh, PA.
Oct. 14, 1976: Canadian general strike.
Oct. 14, 2022: Philadelphia Museum of Art settles 19-day strike as workers prepared to shut down Matisse gala.
Oct. 15, 1915: IWW free speech fight in Fresno, CA begins.
Oct. 16, 1859: John Brown attacks Harper’s Ferry Arsenal.
Oct. 16, 1919: Deportation Act for anarchist immigrants.
Oct. 16, 2022: McDonald’s workers strike in Glasgow, Milan, Norfolk and Paris.
Oct. 17, 1950: “Salt of the Earth” strike in Silver City, NM; strikers wives walk picket lines for seven months during 14-month strike.
Oct. 18, 1927: IWW Colorado mine strike: first time all coal fields are out.
Oct. 19, 1993: Air France workers strike against layoffs – direct action closes airports.
Oct. 19, 2011: Two-day strike against bank-imposed austerity shutters Greece.
Oct. 20, 1887: Birth of John Reed, author of “Ten Days That Shook the World.”
Oct. 20, 1983: Death of Merle Travis, songwriter who wrote “Sixteen Tons” and “Dark as a Dungeon.”
Oct. 21, 1967: Massive anti-war demonstration at the Pentagon.
Oct. 21, 2021: South African metalworkers win 16-day national strike.
Oct. 22, 1878: Anti-Socialist Law passed in Germany.
Oct. 22, 1956: Hungarian students and workers demonstrate in solidarity with Polish workers – regime is scared.
Oct. 23, 1956: Hungarian Revolution begins; workers’ councils demand workers control of society.
Oct. 24, 1940: 40-hour workweek law takes effect in the US.
Oct. 25, 1934: 25,000 dye workers strike in Paterson, New Jersey.
Oct. 25, 2011: Police evict Occupy Oakland, fracturing Iraq veteran’s skull; protesters take the site back the next day.
Oct. 26, 1905: First soviet in St. Petersburg.
Oct. 26, 1936: Hitler opens Office for Combatting Abortion and Homosexuality.
Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.
| |
 | |
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Sweet Beans, Nuts and Seeds
By SARAH RINGLER
I have been keeping a jar of these beans as a staple in my refrigerator for the last few months, remaking them as I run out. Whenever I need a small snack or a topping for a salad, this little sweet mix of beans, nuts and seeds adds a new dimension of flavor and a protein-filled complement. It also goes great with barbecued meat.
Kongjaban is a member of the kim chee category of Korean dishes. These are small dishes of fermented or pickled vegetables that are served with fish or meat. Some Korean places go all out with five or more of these little bowls that you get automatically when you order the entrée. If you really enjoy one of the bowls and finish it, often it will refilled. Even though it is part of the dinner, it seems like they are freebies.
I felt like a scientist the first time I was served this mixture at the breakfast buffet at the Hotel Ibis in Seoul. Although we didn’t stay at the Hotel Ibis, we went there for their uptown breakfast buffet because the food at the place where we stayed was not very interesting. It was served in a cold and empty basement, consisted of a choice between Cocoa Puffs, Frosted Flakes, squares of white bread, instant cup of soups and watery coffee. I don't even eat that at home.
I usually carry a sketchbook when I travel and make notes and drawings of what I experience. This time I made detailed notes about dishes served at the breakfast buffet. It really was a chance to taste and learn about different food that I would never have been able to order because I didn’t know and couldn’t read the dishes’ names in Korean.
The bowl of black beans with green pumpkin seeds caught my eye because it looked like a Mexican salsa. The sweet taste with the various textures of the different nuts, seeds and beans was novel and familiar at the same time. I poured over the ingredients in the bowl - some of which I could see, and others that I had to surmise — to try and figure out what was in it. Later when I returned home, I found some recipes on the Internet and went about trying to duplicate the one I had at the Ibis. The one presented here is as close as I could get.
Kongjaban Korean Sweet Black Beans
1 cup black beans, washed and soaked for 8 hours, then drained
2 cups water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
½ cup rice vinegar
8 small garlic cloves, or larger ones cut up
4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup toasted peanuts
1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped chives or green onions
Wash and soak black beans for 8 hours. Rinse and put in a pot with 2 cups water and garlic clove chunks. Bring water and beans to a boil and cook for 20 minutes until still crunchy but not too hard to be inedible. Add water if necessary.
Turn heat up and cook to reduce the amount of liquid to about ½ cup. Turn down heat to medium-low and add soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil. Simmer until flavors have combined and liquid cooks down — about 10 minutes. You should be able to make tracks at the bottom of huge pan with a wooden spoon. But, don’t make it too syrupy.
Toast the seeds and peanuts in a 325-degree oven for about 15 minutes. Add sesame seeds last. Stir and mix often so they don’t burn.
Add the seeds, nuts, chives or onions and vinegar to the beans. Keep in a jar in the refrigerator. Serve as a side dish or on a salad.
| |
|
Send your story, poetry or art here: Please submit a story, poem or photo of your art that you think would be of interest to the people of Santa Cruz County. Try and keep the word count to around 400. Also, there should be suggested actions if this is a political issue. Submit to coluyaki@gmail.com
Send comments to coluyaki@gmail.com
If you are enjoying the Serf City Times, forward it on to others. We need readers, artists, photographers and writers.
Subscribe, contact or find back issues at the website https://serf-city-times.constantcontactsites.com
Thanks, Sarah Ringler
| |
|
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.
Copyright © 2023 Sarah Ringler - All rights reserved
| | | | |
