Editor’s Notes
Serf City Times is unashamedly biased in its goal to support humanistic and progressive values. It also is focused on our county. For years I donated and volunteered in various ways to causes around the world. I then saw that the inequality, racism, exploitation, poverty, environmental issues, etc. was happening right here.
To keep Serf City Times going, I need your contributions. Not money, but continued commitment to progressive causes. Please send me notices of progressive events and stories as well as poetry, art and stories. Submit to coluyaki@gmail.com
Also, Serf City Times needs readers. Pass on to your friends. One can subscribe and find back issues HERE.
Serf City Times makes no profit. It is supported by my pension from 26 years of teaching middle school in the Pajaro Valley. It doesn’t really cost that much so don’t worry about me going broke.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Brown pelicans flying in formation near the Sea Harvest Fish Market and Restaurant in Moss Landing. The photograph is taken from the deck of the restaurant .
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Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report - New Covid Tracking Uses Wastewater Data
By SARAH RINGLER
Because of the availability of home testing, I will no longer be reporting 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 county data.
There was one new death announced this week, a vaccinated white male over 85 years old.
Click to view a graph of hospitalizations here.
I will no longer be reporting on vaccinations because two boosters, with probably more on the way, are not factored into the the county's vaccination data. Besides, there has been little change in the last seven months. Here are more details on the county's vaccination data.
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 now 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 more information, click here.
To get information of COVID-19 testing locations around the county visit this site. You can make an apppointment for a Rapid Antigen Test here. The government is issuing four free Antigen Rapid Tests here.
Any Californian, ages six months and older can get vaccinated for free. For information on getting vaccinated, click here.
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Deaths by age/268:
25-34 - 5/268
35-44 - 8/268
45-54 - 10/268
55-59 - 4/268
60-64 - 15/268
65-74 - 47/268
75-84 - 62/268
85+ - 117/268
Deaths by gender:
Female - 131/268
Male - 137/268
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Deaths by vaccination status:
vaccinated - 34/268
unvaccinated - 234/268
Deaths by ethnicity:
White - 155/268
Latinx - 90/268
Black - 3/268
Asian - 16/268
American Native - 1/268
Unknown - 0
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street - Mariachis meeting up before a performance in Castroville.
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Labor History Calendar July 22-29, 2022
July 29, 1970 United Farm Workers win grape contract after five-year strike.
July 29, 2010: Jail blockade forces sheriff to postpone immigrant raids in Phoenix.
July 29, 2013: Fast food workers strike for living wage in 7 US cities.
July 29, 2019: Unpaid Kentucky miners blockade train hauling their coal.
July 30, 2010: Four days of riots protest new Bangledeshi minimum wage of $43/month: 4,000 workers arrested.
July 31, 1901: Government crushes general strike killing hundreds in Barcelona, Spain.
July 31, 1922: Italy general strike against fascism.
Aug. 1, 1910: Miners locked out at South Wales’s Cambrian Combine pit; troops deployed against picketers.
Aug. 1, 1912: San Pedro longshore strike defeated with several IWW’s blacklisted.
Aug. 1, 1917: IWW Frank Little lynched in Butte, Montana.
Aug. 2, 1910: Green Corn Rebellion, a multi-ethnic revolt against World War 1 in Oklahoma.
Aug. 2, 1918: Vancouver general strike protests police murder of union organizer Ginger Goodwin.
Aug. 2, 2010: Bangladeshi garment factories reopen after crushing living wage rebellion.
Aug. 3, 1913: IWW Wheatland Hop strike: sheriff shot while breaking up strike meeting; Ford and Suhr framed.
Aug. 3, 1981: US air traffic controllers (PATCO) strike begins.
Aug. 3, 2017: Jakarta longshoremen strike.
Aug. 4, 1909: Swedish general strike against “right to work” contracts.
Aug. 4, 1997: 15-day UPS strike begins.
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These days, rural Oklahoma is the last place anybody would look for leftist revolutionaries, but in 1917 the area exploded into full-blown insurrection. The state's tenant farmers, many of whom were Socialist Party members, viewed the Great War in Europe as a conflict that benefited only the rich. When the federal government enacted a draft, an uprising in eastern Oklahoma saw local townspeople skirmishing with rebellious farmers, including whites, blacks, and American Indians. More than 250 men were arrested — some sentenced for up to ten years' imprisonment.This is the backdrop of William Cunningham's powerful novel The Green Corn Rebellion. First published in 1935, it tells the story of Jim Tetley, who wants simply to be a good farmer — if the banks will only let him. As Jim copes with poverty, family rivalries, and community tensions, he must also weigh the need to respond to the call for armed rebellion.
Although the insurrection itself succeeded only in undermining the socialist movement and fueling the Red Scare of the 1920s, Cunningham's incendiary writing has been compared to that of Erskine Caldwell. A uniquely American story with roots set deep in Oklahoma soil, The Green Corn Rebellion will attract all readers interested in the state's tumultuous history and in populist causes.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Obama's Short Ribs
By SARAH RINGLER
This Asian-Mediterranean fusion dish was served to President Obama and his wife Michelle at the Red Rooster Harlem Restaurant for a fundraiser in 2011 for his reelection campaign. It was prepared by star chef Marcus Samuelsson.
It was the first time Obama had been to Harlem since his election and the neighborhood was thrilled. The $30,800 a head fundraiser however brought some mixed reactions from the Harlem neighborhood where the median income was $25,000, according to Daphne Chen of the Columbia Daily Spectator, although huge crowds of people still showed up. The recipe appeared in the Sept. 28, 2016 New York Times.
Chef Marcus Samuelsson was born Kassahun Tsegie in Ethiopia in 1971. His mother died in a tuberculosis epidemic when he was one and he was later separated from his family during the Ethiopian Civil War that lasted from 1974 to 1991. He and his sister were adopted by a family in Sweden where they were raised. He attended the Culinary Institute in Gothenburg, Sweden, apprenticed in Switzerland and Austria, then came to the United States where he became the youngest chef at age 24 to receive a three-star review from the New York Times. He continues to teach, open restaurants, show up on TV shows, cook and write cookbooks like “The Red Rooster Cookbook” where this recipe was printed.
This is not the first recipe that I have featured that mixes Mediterranean and Asian flavors. Mediterranean ingredients like red wine, thyme and bay leaves mellow out the salty soy sauce, zingy ginger and sweet plum sauce. Rarely does a home cooked meal have such a deep and pleasing flavor. Some of that flavor comes from long and slow cooking. I served the ribs with cornbread and spinach.
3 pounds beef short ribs
Kosher salt and pepper
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled, trimmed and chopped
2 celery ribs, trimmed and chopped
1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed, smashed and minced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch of peeled ginger root, chopped
½ cup red wine
3 cups beef stock
½ cup plum sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs parsley
2 bay leaves
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Pat meat dry and rub with kosher salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. When oil shimmers, add the short ribs and cook each side of the ribs for about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a plate.
In the same pan, add onions, carrots, celery, lemongrass, garlic and ginger. Season with salt and cook until the onions soften in about 5 minutes. Add the wine, cook and stir to soften any hard bits that may have formed on the pan. Add broth, plum sauce, soy sauce, thyme, parsley and bay leaves.
When the broth mixture is simmering, add the short ribs and juices. Cover and put into the oven for 2 hours or more until meat is very tender and pulls off the bone with a fork.
Remove meat from the cooking liquid and skim off the fat with a metal spoon or a fat separator. Dispose of the fat and strain the liquid and vegetables through a sieve. Save the liquid and the sieved vegetables.
Take the bay leaves and thyme stems out of the vegetables. Put them in a food processor with 1½ cups of the liquid and run until you have a smooth sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Return sauce to a pan and heat with the short ribs. When heated, serve with cornbread and steamed spinach.
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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
If you are enjoying the Serf City Times, forward it on to others. We need readers, artists, photographers and writers.
Thanks, Sarah Ringler
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Welcome to Serf City Times Over time, our county has grown more stratified and divided with many people feeling 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
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