|
Mexican Fiesta Today in Watsonville Plaza
By WATSONVILLE FILM FESTIVAL
Watsonville Film Festival is excited to partner with Cabrillo College’s Hispanic Serving Institution Week to present a Mexican Fiesta at the Watsonville Plaza today, Sept. 15, from 5-7pm. This free family event will feature wonderful musicians & dancers. Enjoy live music by Mariachi Juvenil Corazón Jaliscience from Hollister and Laura Rebolloso, singer, dancer, poet and co-founder of the legendary Son Jarocho band from Veracruz, Son de Madera. Rebolloso is considered a virtuoso of the four- stringed instrument known as leona. She will perform with Son Jarocho Santa Cruz. The celebration also includes a dance performance by Watsonville's own folkloric group, Esperanza del Valle. See poster below.
| |
|
Hope for More Affordable Housing
By MARY LYNN SIMONS
The only way to build more affordable housing in California is with an amendment to the state Constitution which would allow the state to float bonds to borrow money that can be used for affordable housing and public infrastructure. Market rate housing will not be able to solve the problem of high rent. Without the government stepping in, not enough market rate housing can be built. The bill, ACA 1, by 4th District Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, lowers the threshold for approval for bonds and taxes from a supermajority to 55%, making it easier to borrow money, in order to build.
Those NIMBYS who feel the city of Santa Cruz should call its own shots are in tune with other wealthy coastal community voters, who want to ignore the problems of the state. I think of those who have opposed BART around the Bay, leaving us with poor train service, unlike every other wealthy nation. They feel they have arrived and the hell with everybody else. There's a French word "arriviste;" in Anglo-Saxon English the phrase is "Pull the ladder up; I'm up". In other words, property owners have what they want and do not want others to have the same. But the city of Santa Cruz belongs to the County of Santa Cruz and the State of California. We must consider all the people. To allow the coast to be inhabited only by people with a lot of money is grossly unfair. Some people in town assuage their guilt saying, "I don't want any housing until the poor are housed." However, we need housing for all income levels, and with more housing all will benefit.
The construction industry has nothing to do with ripping off the people. We live in a capitalistic country (no set prices) and builders charge what they must to pay their workers and be competitive, make a profit, supply and demand. It's not an evil plot! Who else can build but a builder? They know how to do this complex job. I have always been puzzled, as a person from the east, why people are so in love with a lot of crappy architecture downtown and frankly, all over California. Lower Pacific? Lower Front? Ocean Street? Give me a break. This stuff is junk and often under-utilized junk. Build more housing so people can enjoy and add to the town.
As for direct democracy, fine. In this case people will probably vote for their own selfish sentimental choice: "I want Santa Cruz to be the way it was when I moved here in 1990." People are exiting the state; we need more housing; I support the Democratic legislature and Governor Newsom. Fortunately, the city of Santa Cruz is right on target with state demands. Let's hope the amendment will allow the construction of more affordable housing.
Sept. 9 at 8am. Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Yolo, successfully pushed ACA 1 through the Assembly Floor. It will now go to the Senate. Contact your state senator now: Robert Rivas and John Laird.
| | |
|
Lani Faulkner is Running for District 1 Supervisor
By TINA ANDREATTA
Lani is committed to community involvement and brings a wealth of experience to her campaign. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Santa Cruz Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Community Traffic Safety Coalition, and the local chapter of the NAACP. She spent nearly 15 years managing clinical trials for biotechnology companies, an experience that gives her a proven track record of facilitating collaborations between government agencies and the private sector.
She taught science at UC Davis and other colleges. Lani was a Mountain Biking Coach for over 7 years. Everywhere Lani works, she’s known as a coalition builder.
We are thrilled to invite you to a forum Sept. 19, 6:30pm at 1900 17th Ave., Santa Cruz. See the poster above. This event is a fantastic opportunity to meet Lani and hear from her and other Live Oak Community leaders on our shared vision for a better Santa Cruz County.
Special Hosts: Mark Stone, former CA State Assemblymember District 29,
John Leopold, former member of the County Board of Supervisors, District One, Jeremy Ray, Live Oak School District Trustee, Marlize Velasco, Live Oak School District Trustee and more.
Whether you live in District 1 or another district it’s important to support and endorse these candidates for Supervisor, the most powerful office in the county.
| |
|
Moss Landing Artist Opens Her Art Home
By NANCY RUSSELL
I will be participating in the Monterey County Open Artists Studio tour again this year. See the poster below. There will be many paintings and lots of cards. You will be welcome in my studio and my house. There are also many new additions in my yard. My house is also my art.
Sept. 30, Oct. 1, 7 and 8 from 11-5pm, please come by. My address is 10942 Pieri Court, Moss Landing. Please tell your friends and come if you are able.
| |
|
Train Ride to a Party - Rail & Trail Festival
By FAINA SEGAL AND FRIENDS OF THE RAIL & TRAIL
The Rail & Trail Festival on Sun. Oct. 1 features a round-trip train ride through the redwoods to a party at Roaring Camp. The afternoon picnic features a live string band music, raffle prizes, games for children, and a delicious lunch with local craft beverages.
Volunteers will be on hand to share the history - and future - of rail transit in Santa Cruz County, as well as updates on the 32-mile Rail Trail construction projects.
For complete information and tickets, please go to www.RailandTrail.org. Proceeds benefit the Friends of the Rail & Trail.
| |
|
Is this Santa Cruz in the future? NO!
Take action against the Santa Cruz City plan to build multiple 12-story skyscrapers with 80% to 90% unaffordable units.
Help get 4K signatures by Oct. 8 to put this on the ballot.
CLICK HERE to go to HousingForPeople.org
| |
|
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
A red-shouldered hawk soars over Watsonville.
| |
|
Wide Downstream -1994 by Wayne Thiebaud
Javier
By WOODY REHANEK
Sometimes we’d build cities –
not actual cities, but models—
as a special class project.
The kids would bring objects—
shoeboxes, oatmeal cylinders, soup cans—
& I’d bring motherboards from old computers
resembling intricate cities in aerial photos
& we’d arrange them on drawn streets
where Matchbox cars could mingle & meet.
Then students like Javier would draw
false fronts and tape them to the buildings:
groceries, banks, offices, & skyscrapers
w/ tiny intriguing rectangular windows.
Javier approached things differently:
he loved to draw things VERTICALLY
so that the streets ran up the sides
of buildings like the incredible
streetscapes of Wayne Thiebaud
who Javier had never heard of.
When Open House came along in May
I proudly showed Javier’s parents
his works of stunning originality.
After all, he had independently created
a great artist’s masterworks, I told them.
Javier could become an architect!
They silently stared at the drawings,
then at me, across a vast gulf
of misapprehension—the rift
between originality & practicality,
Latinx & white, 5th grade & middle school,
between OCD & “normality.”
Shaking heads, they walked away.
| |
|
Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report - Dip in Rt Number Continues - At-Home Test Kits Expiring
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. Before using, check the date on your box or go HERE to get more information.
The state's website reports that the current total of confirmed Covid deaths in Santa Cruz County is at 330, up from last week's 329.
The three graphs below give a picture of what is happening as of Sept. 6. 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 - These people dance to live music in Watsonville Plaza recently. Young men sport a new style of hat.
| |
|
Labor History Calendar - Sept. 15-21, 2023
a.k.a Know Our History Lest We Forget
Sept. 15, 1845: Women cotton workers strike for 10-hour day in Allegheny, PA.
Sept. 16, 1873: Mexican revolutionary Ricardo Flores Magon born.
Sept.16, 1923: Japanese anarchist Osugi Sakae murdered by police.
Sept. 17, 1868: Working Women’s Association formed in US.
Sept. 17, 2011: Occupy Wall Street begins.
Sept. 18, 1889: Jane Addams founds Hull House in Chicago.
Sept. 18, 1995: Manila General Strike against price hikes and privatization.
Sept. 18, 2015: General Strike closes ports in Finland.
Sept. 19, 1885: Chinese coal miners driven out of Black Diamond, Washington.
Sept. 19, 2018: General strike demands minimum wage increase, better schools and health care, and legalization of strikes in Swaziland.
Sept. 20, 1792: First French republic.
Sept. 20, 1878: Upton Sinclair, socialist and author of “The Jungle,” born.
Sept. 20, 1891: African-American share-croppers strike in Lee County, Arkansas and more than a dozen killed.
Sept. 20, 2019: Global Climate Strike.
Sept. 21, 1896: Militia sent to Leadville, Colorado to break miners’ strike.
Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.
| |
 | |
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Chocolate Potato Cake with Caramel Sauce
By SARAH RINGLER
Here is a simple chocolate cinnamon loaf cake made from leftover mashed potatoes. Its delicate flavor is really enhanced when the more challenging to make caramel sauce is poured over it.
The cake is from the vast archives of over 1,700 recipes from the Idaho Potato Commission's website that has really gone to town trying to convince you of the versatility of the Idaho russet potato. If you like potatoes and want to be amazed, it is worth a visit. The worldwide acceptance and embrace of the potato is a testimony to their greatness. It has been almost 500 years since it was first introduced to the outside world by the Spanish when they colonized Peru, Chile and Bolivia around 1550. The commission's homepage alone features Indian Masala Idaho Potato Salad, Persian Potato Rogan Josh, Moroccan Potato Salad, Green and Red Breakfast Potato Enchiladas, and a real mixed Irish and Italian dish called Potato Gnocchi with Stout Braised Short Ribs and Irish Cream Sauce. Oddly, although Idaho is a big grower of potatoes, as of 2021, China led the world with producing 25% of the world's potatoes; India and the Ukraine are second and third according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
For your enjoyment and educational purposes, I added this caramel sauce recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe website. It is long and detailed but does a pretty good job of explaining the process. Chemically, you are making an invert sugar through a chemical reaction called hydrolysis; it is not without difficulties. Be prepared for frequent warnings about "undissolved" sugar resulting in "crystalization," not what you want for a smooth sauce. The leftover sauce keeps in the refrigerator for up to a month and is great on ice cream.
Cake:
1/3 cup butter
1 cups sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup mashed potatoes from one large baked or steamed russet potato
1/2 cup grated chocolate or cocoa powder
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9" by 5" loaf pan with parchment paper or lightly grease the pan.
Mix the dry ingredients, the flour, baking powder, and spices in a bowl.
Place butter and sugar in a stand mixer or bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the grated chocolate or cocoa, milk and potatoes. Mix well.
Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Gently stir in the nuts.
In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold one-third of the egg whites into the batter, and then gently fold in the remaining whites. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
Caramel sauce:
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
In a small, heavy saucepan, slowly combine the sugar and water, taking care not to let any of the mixture splash onto the sides of the pan. Set the pan over low heat and stir the mixture gently until the sugar is dissolved, 6-10 minutes. Again, don’t stir vigorously or else the syrup will splash onto the sides of the pan, which can cause crystallization. The sugar must be completely dissolved.
To tell if the sugar is dissolved, dip a spoon in the sugar mixture and when cooled, feel and taste the mixture. If the sugar is dissolved, the syrup will be smooth and not grainy. If you still feel grains of sugar, keep stirring over low heat until it is completely dissolved. If you notice any sugar particles on the sides of the pan, gently wash them down with a clean wet pastry brush.
Once the sugar is completely dissolved, increase the heat to medium or medium-high and bring the syrup to a boil. Cover the saucepan and let the syrup boil without disturbing for 2 minutes. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to boil, without stirring, until the edges start to turn golden brown. It is critical not to stir the caramel during this stage because this is where it is most likely to crystallize. Again, crystalization happens when undissolved sugar grains and other substances fall into the syrup while it is boiling. By not stirring, the syrup doesn’t move around as much, which reduces the chances of any undissolved sugar granules falling into the caramel.
Once the syrup has turned a light golden brown, carefully and gently stir the syrup or swirl the pan until it turns a deep amber, caramel color. This takes about 5-7 minutes. Do not stir vigorously or quickly and don’t scrape down the sides of the pan while stirring. Simply move the spoon or rubber spatula slowly over and around the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat and add butter. Gently stir until the butter is mixed in then stir in the milk or cream. If the sauce becomes lumpy and isn’t whisking together, set the pan over the still-warm burner and stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and salt.
Serve the sauce warm or at room temperature. Store the sauce in a jar or airtight container, tightly sealed, in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Reheat on low power in the microwave or in a saucepan, adding a tablespoon of two or water, if needed, if the sauce is too thick.
| |
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
| |
|
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
| | | | |
