First Filipino American Festival in Watsonville, Oct. 1

By SARAH RINGLER

Filipinos have lived and worked in Watsonville for nearly 100 years but they have been in the continental United States since 1587. The Tobera Project, founded in 2019, and responsible for the digital archives of Filipinos in the Pajaro Valley,  “Watsonville is in the Heart,” is now sponsoring a fun-filled festival, from noon to 5pm, tomorrow, Oct. 1 .

The event starts off at noon with comedian Allan Manalo. There will be music, a Filipino jazz band “Autonomous Region,” songs, poetry and later in the day, live DJ Lito.

Not to be missed, by me, are the following food booths: Tita Lalaine, La Boba & El Grano Café, Adobo To Go and the Lumpia Lady.

October is Filipino American History Month, first introduced by the American National Historical Society in 1992 and officially recognized by the US Congress in 2009. 

SantaCruz4Bernie County Election Recommendations

By JEFFREY SMEDBURG

Santa Cruz for Bernie Team endorsed a bunch of smart, forward-looking, compassionate candidates, and sensible measures. They would all like your help and support. But don't feel overwhelmed! Just pick one, or two, and devote your time and energy to help them get elected.

Justin Cummings for 3rd District Supervisor - Sign up to volunteer CummingsForSupervisor.com

Joy Schendledecker for Santa Cruz Mayor - Volunteer and donate at JoyForSantaCruz.com

Héctor Marín for Santa Cruz City Council District 4 - Hector4SantaCruz.com

Sean Maxwell for Santa Cruz City Council District 6 - Volunteer and donate at MaxwellForCityCouncil.com

Gail Pellerin for State Assembly, 28th District. 

California State Propositions: (on everyone's ballot)

• YES on Prop 1 - To enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution.

• YES on Prop 26 - Sports betting in person on Tribal lands.

• NO on Prop 27 - Sports betting online controlled by corporate gambling interests.

• YES on Prop 30 - Wealth tax for zero emission vehicles & wildfire protection.

Local Ballot Measures: (voted on by jurisdiction)

• YES on K & L - Santa Cruz City High School & Elementary School District Bond Measures, for facility upgrades and affordable teacher & staff rental housing.

• YES on N - City of Santa Cruz Empty Home Tax, revenue dedicated to truly affordable housing. Volunteer and donate EmptyHomeTax.org

• YES on O - City of Santa Cruz Our Future Our Downtown, to nix an unneeded six-story parking garage, remodel the library in place, and preserve a downtown commons (previously endorsed).Yard Signs now available.

Volunteer, endorse and donate at OurDowntownOurFuture.org

• YES on P - City of Santa Cruz Transient Occupancy Tax, a non-regressive source for needed revenue.

• YES on Q - City of Watsonville Planned Growth and Farmland Protection, a grassroots initiative to limit sprawl.

• YES on R - City of Watsonville Community Investment Tax, a half-cent sales tax for necessary maintenance (parks, roads, library) and services (afterschool and senior meal programs).

• NO on S - Planning for City of Watsonville's Future, would undermine Measure Q's urban boundary growth limits.

In the short clip above, Katie tells an excited Kyle that citizen Jane is coming to Santa Cruz. Bring a friend!   

Citizen Jane Jacobs who defeated famous New York developer Robert Moses will be in Santa Cruz, Oct. 6 at 7pm at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St. in Santa Cruz. Suggested donation $15. 

Photo by TARMO HANNULA 

A female great-tailed grackel perches on a decaying cattail at Pinto Lake County Park in the Pajaro Valley. 

Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report 

By SARAH RINGLER

The Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly releases data on the current status of Covid-19 and monkeypox in the county. Pfizer and Moderna Bivalent Covid-19 boosters are now available. Go HERE for details. 

There were no new Covid deaths this week. Click to view a graph of hospitalizations here.

The department is monitoring for monkeypox viral DNA in wastewater solids. The heatmaps and charts display data from WastewaterSCAN’s monitoring for monkeypox viral DNA; the results shown include the northern California communities served by the Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network (SCAN) and the communities in California and across the US participating in WastewaterSCAN.

Because of the availability of home testing, I will no longer report on changes in the active cases in the county. The Health Department is now collecting data 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 chart below shows the latest county data which is from Aug. 31.



Here are details on the county's vaccination data. It has not changed since July 10 and does not include the boosters. 

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.

The county's Effective Reproductive Number is still below one. See the second chart below. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing. The chart, released from the California Department of Public Health below shows several predictions from different agencies. For information, click here.

The government is issuing free Antigen Rapid Tests here. If you have not ordered tests or have only ordered one set, you are entitled to a full 12 boxes. Order now while supplies last. To get information of COVID-19 testing locations around the county visit this site. You can make an appointment for a Rapid Antigen Test here.

Any Californian, ages six months and older can get vaccinated for free. For information on getting vaccinated, click here.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Fashion Street -  A man and his dog enjoy a slow cruise along West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz.

Labor History Calendar Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2022

a.k.a Know Your History Lest We Forget

Sept. 30, 1911: National strike of more than 40,000 railway shopmen inspires Joe Hill’s song, “Casey Jones – The Union Scab.”

Oct. 1, 1910: LA Times building blown up – McNamara arrested. 

Oct. 1, 1949: 500,000 steelworkers strike.

Oct. 1, 1997: Pickets in solidarity with striking Liverpool dockers turn back Neptune Jade, a scab-loaded ship from Oakland port. 

Oct. 2, 1889: London tailors win shorter hours. 

Oct. 2, 1968: Massacre at Tlateloco in Mexico City with 500 killed by Mexican troops. 

Oct. 3, 1909: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn arrested in Missoula, Montana in a free speech fight.

Oct. 3, 1945 Seven-state Greyhound bus strike begins. 

Oct. 4, 1887: Louisiana militia shoot 35 Black strikers and lynch two. 

Oct. 4, 1916: General strike against conscription in Australia.

Oct. 4, 1946: US Navy seizes oil refineries breaking 20-state strike.

Oct. 4, 2018: “Fast Food Shutdown” strikes by food and delivery workers in the UK.

Oct. 5, 1934: 40,000 miners and iron workers strike, seizing towns near Gijon, Spain, 3,000 killed.

Oct. 5, 1990: 75,000 service workers strike against austerity in Costa Rica.

Oct. 6, 1845: First US co-op store opens in Boston.

Oct. 6, 1986: 1,700 female flight attendants win 18-year lawsuit for $37 million in damages from United Airlines which fired them for marrying. 

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

“But I'll tell you more about that later... or maybe I won't, because some wounds just don't heal even if you talk them out. On the contrary, the more you dress them up in words, the more they bleed.”

Subcomandante Marcos

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

French Cooking with Zucchinis

By SARAH RINGLER

Here is a nice little French dish from Julia Child. Surprisingly, it is a simple and easy dish called Tian de Courgettes au Riz, or roughly translated as zucchini and rice casserole. Tian describes an earthenware casserole dish and the food cooked in it. Common to the province of Provence in France, the dish can be round or square and has a top that is slightly wider than the bottom, like a pie tin. I used a 10 ½ inch diameter cast iron frying pan that worked for frying the onions and later for baking the tian. It saved one washing.

Since this dish gets most of its flavor from the cheese, it is important to choose a cheese with a pleasing taste. Asiago fits the bill nicely. A cheese that is too mild will make the dish bland.

Although this dish is simple, it does take a little while during which you will get to learn how much water is in two pounds of zucchini. The dish can also be made in advanced and baked later. 

Tian de Courgettes au Riz

2 pounds zucchini

1 brown onion, finely diced, about 1 cup

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil in all

2 1/2 cups warm liquid: zucchini juices plus milk, heated in a pan

2/3 cup parmesan, asiago or Jarlsberg cheese, grated

1/2 cup medium grain white rice

2 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons salt

Black pepper

Wash, dry and grate the zucchini with the grater’s large holes. Put grated zucchini in a large bowl and sprinkle with 2 tsp salt. Mix well using a fork or your hands. Then place zucchini in a colander over a bowl. Let sit for at least 20 minutes while the liquid drains into the bowl. 

After 20 minutes, using your hands and a wooden spoon, squeeze any additional liquid out of the zucchini into the bowl. Set aside. 

With the zucchini still in the colander, rinse it under cold water for 15 seconds into the sink. Squeeze out excess water also into the sink. Dry the zucchini as much as possible with a cloth or paper towels.

Make the gratin by putting the zucchini juices in a large liquid measuring cup. Add milk to make a total of 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Warm this liquid in a microwave or on the stove.

Heat 2 tablespoon of the olive oil in medium frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and sauté for 8 minutes until they are translucent and starting to turn golden. Turn heat up to medium high, add the zucchini and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.

Remove pan from heat, add all but 2 tablespoons of grated cheese and stir quickly to combine. Add some black pepper, and then taste to check the flavor. Add more salt if necessary. 

Finally, add rice and the liquid and bring dish to a simmer. If you are making this dish in advance, refrigerate then return the pan to simmer before you bake.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you are not using an ovenproof frypan, pour the contents into a buttered baking dish. Sprinkle over the remaining 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese and drizzle over the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil. Cover with lid or foil, then place in the top 1/3 of the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the lid/foil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more until the top is golden and the liquid appears to have been absorbed. Tilt the dish slightly and if liquid runs out, return to the oven for 5 minutes at a time until there is no longer any liquid.

Rest for 10 minutes before serving. The dish will continue to cook a bit. Serve warm.

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 © 2022 Sarah Ringler - All rights reserved