Next issue April 7

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Feeding People Because They Need to Eat - Part 1

Because of the early morning March 11 breach of the levee on the Pajaro River, and out of concern for people who were displaced from the small community of Pajaro, Luz Maria Hernandez and her daughter, Aileen, spontaneously set up a place to serve hot food at Front and Main streets, at the base of Pajaro Bridge in Watsonville. Since March 17, at 7pm, anyone who needs food can come there and be fed. Many have contributed by donating cooked food, money, tents and just helping out. By March 20, the county of Monterey had joined them down the street with a food truck. Tents with campers are set up nearby in River Park and nearby. Luz Maria said that she was doing this because she remembered a time in her past when she couldn't afford to feed her children.

Good News - Court Orders State Back to the Drawing Board on Cancer-Causing Pesticide

By ANGEL GARCIA AND JANE SELLEN of Pesticide Reform

Oakland, CA – The Alameda County Superior Court ruled last week that a proposed regulation fails to protect farmworkers who labor near fumigated fields from harmful levels of exposure to the cancer-causing pesticide 1,3-dichloropropene, also called 1,3-D and Telone, its brand name. Judge Evelio Grillo gave the California Department of Pesticide Regulation six months to propose a new regulation that protects farmworkers and other occupational bystanders. DPR was also ordered to continue the current 1,3-D use limit of 136,000 adjusted total pounds per 6x6 mile “township”, which the draft regulation would have eliminated, and to maintain a prohibition on December applications of this pesticide until the new regulation is finalized and adopted. 

At more than 12 million pounds reported use per year, 1,3-D is the third most heavily applied pesticide in California agriculture, used as a pre-plant soil fumigant for berry crops along the Central Coast and for almonds, walnuts, sweet potatoes, and other crops in the San Joaquin Valley. 1,3-D is highly volatile, is classified as a Toxic Air Contaminant and a Prop. 65 carcinogen, and is banned in 34 countries. It is manufactured by Dow Chemical, an intervenor on the side of DPR in the case.

“We applaud the court’s ruling striking down DPR’s immoral and unjust draft regulation,” said Angel Garcia, co-director of the Lindsay-based Californians for Pesticide Reform. “The court has ruled that a draft rule that would have allowed farmworkers to work right next to the edge of treated fields while they are being fumigated was unlawful. We look forward to a new regulation that corrects the profound environmental injustice of failing to protect farmworkers from this highly hazardous and drift-prone chemical.” 

Two agencies, two different 1,3-D cancer risk levels

 State law¹ mandates that DPR must involve the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) as a partner in development of pesticide regulations that address risks to workers, including both fieldworkers and pesticide handlers.  DPR and OEHHA are sister offices within CalEPA, but have reached strikingly different conclusions about the hazards of 1,3-D exposure. In June 2022, OEHHA adopted a lifetime cancer risk level for 1,3-D - known as a No Significant Risk Level or NSRL - of 0.04 parts per billion (ppb), which is 14 times lower than the level (0.56 ppb) that DPR used for its draft regulation². In comments, Dow Chemical publicly supported DPR’s target level. By excluding workers from their draft regulation, DPR hoped to skirt the law and ignore the recommendations of OEHHA. A regulation based on OEHHA’s cancer risk level would be far more health protective. 

“OEHHA scientists have already informed Californians what the unsafe level of exposure to cancer-causing 1,3-D is. But DPR completely ignored that, siding with their buddies at Dow Chemical by proposing to allow for 14 times more 1,3-D in the air in Latino farmworker communities like mine,” said Yanely Martinez, Greenfield City Council member and organizer of Safe Ag Safe Schools. “We’re glad the judge sent DPR back to the drawing board to listen to OEHHA, because DPR’s proposal was unscientific and racist, as well as illegal.”

Are communities safe from 1,3-D? Not according to OEHHA’s No Significant Risk Level (NSRL)

DPR’s pesticide air monitoring network in farmworker communities indicates that, at all nine stations that tested 1,3-D in the air for more than two years, average air concentrations were above OEHHA’s 0.04 parts per billion NSRL. Schools have been the sites for five of these air monitor testing stations.

While the air monitors were placed near fields, some of the readings came from applications miles away. A one-day in January 2020, a spike of 20.8 parts per billion at Sequoia Elementary in Shafter originated from a 1,3-D application 7.5 miles away, according to DPR³. 1,3-D can drift for miles at harmful levels.

Melissa Dennis, a second grade teacher at the 98% Latino Ohlone Elementary School in the Pajaro Valley where one of the pesticide air monitors sits, commented: “My students are worth 14 times less than others in California. That’s what DPR was telling us with its 1,3-D proposed regulation.”

Bianca Lopez, co-founder of the Modesto-based Valley Improvement Projects said: “The court’s decision is a huge win for farmworkers, and puts the agricultural industry on notice that it can no longer go on poisoning workers with harmful chemicals. It’s no mystery why a department like DPR, which gets 80% of its funding from pesticide sales, would be so determined to preserve the use of a heavily used chemical like 1,3-D.” 

Ms. Lopez added: “DPR has shown itself to be more interested in preserving use of this hazardous pesticide than in protecting human health. Now, they must listen to the scientists at OEHHA who have called for far greater protections from this deadly chemical.”

Click HERE for citations.

Feeding People Because They Need to Eat - Part 2

By KEITH MCHENRY - Food Not Bombs co-founder

A global war is boiling in the back kitchen with the noisy rattling of a brass kettle on a gas stove left unattended. Millions of us stand at the register discovering our food stamps have diminished leaving our families with half full bellies as the banks of the exploiters slide into insolvency promising to take us all down with them.

The invisible masters of our cloud-based universe struggle to delete the digits of uncomfortable empathy. Google makes sure every search reveals a truth vetted by Langley. Their local enforcer of cruelty, Google chief attorney Halimah Delaine Prado and her Take Back Santa Cruz husband Manuel press their City Manager Matt Huffaker into action. They are but just a few of the many AI bots that infest our town.

Force those without housing into the atmospheric rivers to shiver in weeks of drenched clothing. Deny the hundreds of homeless access to the empty parking garages and lock the doors of the Civic Auditorium tight as 40 mile an hour shards of cold water pierced the flapping garbage bag raincoats to shreds.

The Prados may not have succeeded in having the home of Alicia Kuhl’s family and my car towed but they were victorious in making hundreds of their neighbors miserable in the brutality of our floods. The next advance in their campaign of pain was the eviction of the Food Not Bombs meal from the protection of Garage 10 and threats of arrest outside City Hall. Next was the attempt to cut off Food Not Bombs sources of food with the promise of forcing the all-volunteer group into some dark patch of sidewalk where the public never passes outside Housing Matters in their effort to hide opposition to their wars and exploitation. The people we want to reach avoid the Coral Streets of America.

Just as Houston Mayor Taylor claims in his effort to drive Food Not Bombs out of sight into a fenced lot under a freeway, Matt Huffaker will claim that we need his permission to share food with those he refused to feed and has forced them to endure weather sure to kill.

But you never need permission to help the hungry. Sharing food is always an unregulated gift of compassion. This kindness is protected by the US Constitution. There are some things that the government has no say in and the Food Not Bombs protest and meal at the Town Clock is one such assembly.

If they can give you a permit they can take it away. Somethings we experienced in San Francisco in the 90’s has led to Food Not Bombs’ global policy against accepting or requesting permission. We showed that the issue was never about permits, it was always about our independence and desire to change society so no one is forced to seek a meal at a soup kitchen or sleep in the streets.

Consider risking arrest if these heartless bureaucrats attempt to drive our message of Food Not Bombs into the shadows of the homeless industrial complex.

Rail Trail Supported by SC City Council

By FAINA SEGAL 

Monday night our community came together to support the Rail Trail at the Santa Cruz City Council meeting and the City Council listened. They voted unanimously to certify the final Environmental Impact Report for segments 8 and 9. This is exciting news - it means that the city can finalize the design and engineering for these sections of trail. These finished engineering drawings will be used to start building the Rail Trail that will connect the Boardwalk, Seabright, and the harbor to 17th Ave and the Simpkins Swim Center in Live Oak.

In just 72 hours, over 200 Rail & Trail supporters submitted comments supporting the project. Thanks to their advocacy we were able to overcome the naysayers who showed up Monday night to try to stop the trail. But these opponents aren’t going away. 

• After months of silence, the opponents of the Rail Trail published an opinion piece in the Santa Cruz Sentinel trying to rally people to oppose it.
• About a dozen opponents turned out to the Santa Cruz City Council meeting to advocate for stopping everything and tearing out the tracks. 
• Rail Trail opponents are continuing to use dishonest scare tactics. The North Reach trail to Davenport is already fully designed, permitted, and funded, yet opponents continue to make unfounded claims otherwise. 

It’s clear that the trail opponents will continue to attack the Rail and Trail projects, both in public and through back channels. Continued advocacy is how we will counter this and keep the projects moving. 

Segment 8 of the Rail Trail will go from the Santa Cruz Wharf past the Boardwalk and across the San Lorenzo River. The plan is to improve this segment to make the existing Beach Street bike path better, including important safety improvements at intersections. 

Segment 9 will go all the way from the San Lorenzo River trestle to Simpkin Swim Center on 17th Ave. in Live Oak. This exciting segment will create a new direct route between Santa Cruz and Live Oak for bikes and pedestrians. Starting at the San Lorenzo River trestle, the trail will go under Murray St., beside the tracks, directly to Seabright. The trail will cross the yacht harbor on a new dedicated bike and pedestrian bridge on the inland side of the rail bridge. Then it will continue along the rail corridor behind Twin Lakes and emerge on 17th Ave. at Simpkin Swim Center, just a few blocks from Del Mar Elementary School, Shoreline Middle School, and Cypress High School. 

The new Rail Trail route will be shorter and safer than the existing on-street bike and pedestrian infrastructure, which is especially dangerous around the Murray St. bridge and Twin Lakes State Beach. Once Segment 9 is built we will all be able to easily and safely ride our bikes between Santa Cruz and Live Oak, opening up bike transportation options to Santa Cruz County residents and visitors of all ages.

Write to the City Council now and thank them for supporting the Rail Trail. Also, help us continue our work to keep the Rail & Trail projects moving forward. The Spring Challenge Match means that for a limited time, your donation to Friends of the Rail & Trail will be doubled! Click here to contribute to the Spring Match and keep us strong for the coming year. 

Pajaro Forum by Santa Cruz Black

By SARAH RINGLER

Although people from Pajaro were allowed to return to see their homes Thursday, they face many problems that come, not only from the breach of the levee at around midnight March 10, but slow-reacting government agencies, long time negligence of the area and bureaucratic roadblocks. According to Cesar Lara, director of the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, “For 48 hours after the breach, it was chaos.” Shelters were slow to open and filled quickly. Some people were turned away and ended up sleeping in their cars, if they had one.

Santa Cruz Black held an online community “Forum on the Levee Breach” Wednesday night with the purpose of “bringing to the forefront the flooding of the Pajaro Valley and the inadequate response regarding the infrastructure failure, centering on families of color impacted by the recent storms and property.” Hosted by Ayo Banjo, staff member of Santa Cruz Black, the forum featured District 4 Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, farmer Ed Ortega, MariaElena De La Garza, Executive Director of Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, David Reid, Director of the Santa Cruz County Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience and Cesar Lara, director of the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council. Over 55 people attended. Speakers relayed what was being done by their various agencies and problems they encountered.

Bureaucratic obstacles came from protocols that demand that certain requirements be met for disaster assistance. An assessment, due today, two weeks after the breach, is needed to open up some funding. FEMA funding can’t go to undocumented people, which many people in Pajaro are. However, SB227 allows undocumented to get unemployment. 

Many people in Pajaro are farmworkers and won’t be able to return to work until June, if then. Also, many are renters. The area currently doesn’t have a sewer system and there is not drinkable water. 

MariaElena De La Garza and Cesar Lara both called for the need to have an Eviction Moratorium to protect these people. It is also questionable it they should pay rent at all for a place that doesn’t have the legal requirements like water and sewage. 

A visit to the area yesterday showed a lot of people shoveling out mud and piling up destroyed furniture and belongings. Pods of portapotties have been distributed around the neighborhood. Trucks with showers and clothes washing facilities have been installed in the parking lot of Pajaro Middle School where I taught years ago. Various agencies are now appearing with food, vouchers, clothing and other needed goods. There is still a long way to go.

Visit and support Santa Cruz Black here.

RosaAzul at El Vaquero, March 26

By SARAH RINGLER

RosaAzul is back and making their debut at El Vaquero Winery, 2901 Freedom Blvd. at the turn off to Corralitos Rd. 

Sun. March 26, 4pm

Tickets $20 

RSVP appreciated

RosaAzul features José Chuy Hernandez on Vocals/Guitar, Adam Bolaños Scow on violin, Jose Sanchez on trumpet and Dr. Russell Rodriguez joins on guitarron & vocals.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA 

A double-crested cormorant airs its wings on a post in Struve Slough in Watsonville.

Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report

By SARAH RINGLER

The Santa Cruz County Health Department 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 second graph, updated March 15, shows the Rt Number. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing. To view the distribution of cases around the county, look here.

The Health Department is collecting data 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. See webpage HERE. The first and fourth charts below shows county data from March 15. The fourth chart below shows wastewater projections.

The third graph below shows hospitalizations as of March 15. Click to see more information on hospitalizations HERE.



The vaccination data for the county is divided into three categories. As of March 16, Primary Series recipients are still at 77.2%, Primary Series and Boosted are at 68.8%, up from 68.7%, and Bivalent Boosters, are at 33.5%, up from 32.4%.

This webpage also has a link where you can get a digital copy and scannable QR code of your vaccination record. Keep track of your four-digit code because that is your access to the site.

To order free at-home COVID-19 test kits, go HERE. You can make an appointment for a Rapid Antigen Test HERE.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Fashion Street - These individuals sport colorful wigs while riding in an open party bus in downtown Palm Springs on a cold Sunday night in February.

Labor History Calendar - March 17-23, 2023

a.k.a Know Your History Lest We Forget

March 24, 1976: Coca-Cola workers occupy Guatemala City plant.

March 25, 1873: Rudolf Rocker, German labor activist is born.

March 25, 1894: First “Poor People’s March” on Washington.

March 25, 1911: Triangle Shirtwaist fire kills 147 workers locked in a ten-story high building by New York City bosses. Anti-labor owners of the factory, Max Blanck and Issac Harris, had fought labor reforms proposed in a 1909 gathering and hired thugs to out to picket lines and beat workers.

March 26: 1850: Birth of Edward Bellamy, author of Looking Backward.

March 26, 2011: main governor orders labor history mural dismantled.

March 27, 1885: Army fires on general strikers in Charleroi, Belgium, killing many.

March 27, 1912: Start of 8-month Fraser River Strike by IWW railroad construction workers in British Columbia.

March 28, 1972: Quebec general strike.

March 28, 1983: 96% of Argentine workers strike; junta totters. 

March 29, 1948: Police charge strikers blockading NY Stock Exchange doors, 43 arrested.

March 30, 1918: Chicago stockyard workers win 8-hour day. 

March 30, 2020: GE workers demand Lynn factory convert to make ventilators. 

March 31, 1994: French students celebrate defeat plan for sub-minimum wages for young workers.

March 31, 2020: Whole Foods workers strike for hazardous duty pay.

April 1, 1946: 400,000 U.S. miners’ strike.

April 1, 1963: Longest newspaper strike in U.S. history ends in New York.

April 1, 2016: 1-day teachers’ strike demand adequate funding in Chicago.

April 1, 2021: 1,100 Alabama miners' strike Warrior Met Coal demanding return of $1.1 billion in concessions.

April 2, 1920: T-Bone Slim’s “The Popular Wobbly” published in One Big Union Monthly.

April 2, 2015: Students, teachers strike against austerity in Quebec. 

April 2, 2018: Oklahoma teachers strike for school funding.

April 3, 1930: British coal miners win 7½ hour work day. 

April 4, 1914: Unemployed riot in NYC.

April 4, 1968: Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

April 4, 1995: Army fires on 500,000 Iranian workers, killing several.

April 5, 1930: Gandhi begins march to the sea. 

April 5, 2010: 29 killed in explosion at non-union Massey coal mine after years of safety violations in West Virginia.

April 6, 1903: Holland general strike.

April 6, 2017: General strike brings Buenos Aires to a standstill.

April 6, 2019: General Strike demands end to dictatorship in Sudan.

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

I'm not upset that you lied to me,

I'm upset that from now on

I can't believe you.

Friedrich Nietzsche

March 20 was the anniversary of the start of the Iraq War that was justified by the false allegation that the country possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction. At least 4,480 Americans died and more than 32,000 were wounded. At least 100,000 Iraqis died. Thousands more from both countries have developed illnesses from exposure to burn pits, open areas where trash from paint, medical and human waste, ammunitions, unexploded artillery, plastics, petroleum products and other garbage were burned by the US forces in Iraq.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Turkey Sandwich Vietnamese Style

By SARAH RINGLER

Vietnamese cooking is noted for its combination of two of the world’s most highly rated cuisines, Asian and French. Unfortunately, there are few Vietnamese restaurants in our county, but a quick trip over the hill will yield a wide range of choices. One that I can recommend is Vung Tau, at 535 E. Santa Clara, in downtown San Jose a few blocks from city hall.

Although the ingredient list below might seem a little overwhelming, it is broken into three manageable parts. Shredded daikon and carrots are mixed with a dressing and made into a slaw. A spread is made from oil, fish sauce and soy sauce. 

Next, the bread is heated and ingredients are layered on in the order listed below. Finally, you get to eat it and enjoy the wonderful mix of crisp vegetables, rich liverwurst, sliced turkey and crusty baguette.      

Banh mi is the Vietnamese word for bread. The French style of bread, the baguette, was introduced to Vietnam when the French attempted to colonize them in the mid 1800s and again after World War II. The liver paté is also French influenced however I used liverwurst.

This recipe was inspired by one in “The Epicurious Cookbook” by Tanya Steel from the Watsonville Public Library. Epicurious is also an Internet database of over 200,00 recipes hand-coded by monks in upstate New York.  If you like to cook, check out the website. 

Banh mi

½ pound daikon, peeled

1 carrot, peeled

½ cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 24-inch soft baguette

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce, nam pla or nuoc mam

½ teaspoon soy sauce

½ pound liverwurst, or liver paté

2 pickled jalapeños, seeded and thinly sliced

½ sweet onion, thinly sliced into rings

¾ cup cilantro sprigs

2 cooked chicken or turkey breasts, thinly sliced

Lettuce leaves 

Mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Shred the daikon and carrot with a grater using the middle size holes. Toss together with vinegar, sugar and salt. Let sit for about 15 minutes - stirring occasionally.

Heat the baguette in the oven for about 5 minutes until it is crusty. Then cut off the ends and slice horizontally down the middle. 

Mix the oil, fish sauce and soy sauce. Brush on each cut side of the bread. Spread the liverwurst on the bottom layer. Top with chiles, onion and cilantro.    

Drain the daikon and carrot mixture. Mix the chicken, daikon mixture and lettuce over the cilantro. Spread the top layer with a little mayonnaise. Cut crossways into fourths and serve. Serves two. 

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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