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Santa Cruz County Officials Silent About Battery Fire Health Crisis
BY KEITH MCHENRY
PHOTO CONTRUBUTED
The second lithium-ion battery fire this year at Vistra’s Moss Landing Battery Storage Facility blew toxic metals across Santa Cruz County on Feb. 18 and 19, making many people in our community ill. Santa Cruz County has not announced a health emergency or coordinated plan to respond to one of the largest health crises in our community’s history.
Please call or email Santa Cruz Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez at (831) 454-4818 - Lisa.Hernandez@santacruzcountyca.gov. Also, call or email Director of Environmental Health Andrew Strader at (831)–454–2022 - andrew.strader@santacruzcounty.us
Ask for there to be testing and treatment guidelines issued to all healthcare staff in the county and that the County initiate a county wide reporting system for those of us effected. Ask that they start county wide soil, water and air testing for cobalt, manganese, copper, nickel and lithium. If you detected a metallic taste in your mouth in Jan. 16 when the first incident occured or during this last flare up, get your blood tested for those chemicals.
Feb. 20, update on Moss Landing from Supervisor Glenn Church HERE.
Contact Santa Cruz County Supervisors HERE.
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Mobile Crisis Response Team Set Up With No Medical Staff
BY SHEILA CARRILLO
Last month, our local newspapers announced that Santa Cruz County has finally launched a new community helpline to provide 24-hour non-law enforcement mobile mental health services: “The Mobile Crisis Response Team started in mid-December. It uses teams of mental health professionals to respond to psychiatric emergencies throughout the county, offering on-site evaluation and care.” (Lookout Santa Cruz) As a long time advocate for an alternative emergency response program in Santa Cruz, this should have been good news, but instead alarm bells went off.
In the fall of 2020, during the pandemic, I was the full-time volunteer coordinator for Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs, serving daily — rather than the customary weekend — meals because all other community food support had shut down. I got to know a lot of homeless folks while I spent day after day at Lot 27 on the corner of Laurel and Front Street. I saw that some unhoused folks I encountered — though actually a surprisingly small number — suffered from severe mental health challenges.
After calling 911 two or three times, I became aware that Santa Cruz had no adequate emergency response for mental illness. When we called for help, a swarm of armed officers and multiple police cars, lights flashing red, would arrive and scare the living daylight out of folks. Whenever the police arrived, where food was being served, everyone in sight would panic and disappear, including the person we were hoping to help.
I wondered how much those counter-productive responses were costing we taxpayers.
Seeking solutions, I connected with a community group established by our local DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) chapter who had discovered the acclaimed CAHOOTS program, Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets, in Eugene, Oregon. Established in 1989, the CAHOOTS model consists of mobile emergency response vans staffed with two-person teams: a medic, nurse, paramedic, or EMT, and a crisis counselor trained and experienced in the mental health field, who respond to non-violent mental health and social service-related crisis issues on the streets and in homes associated with houselessness, substance abuse, suicide prevention, and interpersonal conflicts.
Over the years, committee members met with officials, putting on educational webinars for City and County staff and community members in the cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville expertly presented by Cahoot consultant Ben Adam Climer who provided details about their life- and dignity-saving 24/7 emergency response model.
At that time, CAHOOTS was attending to nearly 20% of all 911 calls at 1/3 the cost of law enforcement, freeing police, fire, prisons, hospitals, and ambulance for their critical work. Interest was high, eventually there was government funding available in the 2021 American Rescue Plan covid relief bill, but our efforts went nowhere.
In 2021, I was appointed to the Mental Health Advisory Board. I joined with the intention of lobbying the county to fund and implement a functional 24/7 alternate emergency response program.
As your article informs, we are finally seeing the rolling out of an alternative to police response for nonviolent emergency calls in our community. But tragically, in my view, Santa Cruz is implementing the wrong program.
The critical issue is the lack of a medical professional as required in the CAHOOTS model. To effectively serve the range of nonviolent emergency calls directed to an alternative emergency response team, it’s absolutely crucial to have one of the team be a medical professional. This is something that I learned from experience.
A number of medical conditions present with symptoms that look like mental illness. I recently literally stood next to an officer and the mental health specialist team while neither one understood that the person who seemed crazy was diabetic and having a diabetic seizure, not a mental health crisis. I knew the man and knew he didn’t want to get into any kind of van to possibly be “5150’d.” (5150 refers to the California law code for the temporary, involuntary psychiatric commitment of individuals who present a danger to themselves or others due to signs of mental illness.) I managed to send the team away, and the unhoused folks who had experience with his symptoms helped me understand that he was in insulin shock.
I have learned that many common medical problems can present as a mental health crisis: a variety of types of urinary tract infections, diabetes, liver failure, certain vitamin deficiencies, such as Vit B12 deficiency, to name a few.
My belief is that If you have a medical problem and are unhoused, it may be dangerous to call MERT or MERTY because our new emergency response teams operate without a medical professional. I warn folks not to call unless they are willing to take the chance of being misdiagnosed and risk being locked up in a mental health facility with no legal process, like a young housed and employed woman I know. Suffering from a bout of extreme insomnia and appearing to be insane, she wound up being involuntarily committed.
I also warn unhoused folks not to voluntarily go to the Telecare corporation, a Santa Cruz Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) Center, in Soquel that is a locked acute psychiatric inpatient program where a person can be admitted voluntarily or involuntarily. Reviews of PHF are damning, and I have yet to hear anything positive resulting from someone having been locked up there for their 5-7 average days of treatment.
Granted, 24/7 mobile crisis response is a giant step for our County. But with unhoused folks making up about 43% of the County Behavioral Health Department’s clients, it is crucial that the unique physical and mental health issues among this highly vulnerable population are understood and appropriately attended to. For this and many other reasons, as CAHOOTS knows, emergency response teams must be composed of a medic and a social workers.
Laura Chatham, retired math teacher and advocate for the rights and well being of Santa Cruz’s unhoused.contributed to and edited by Sheila Carrillo.
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Editor's Note: The following editorial was just published by the Barre Montpelier Times Argus, a local 5-days-a-week print and online newspaper based in Barre, Vermont. It was forwarded to me by Rick Goldsmith, producer/director of the film Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink that was shown last year at the Reel Work labor Film Festival. It is the story of how the hedge fund, Alden Global Capital, went around the country buying up newspapers, like the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the San Jose Mercury, selling off their valuable assets like downtown buildings, and gutting staff, demonstrating that they cared more about making profits than provided the community with news.
Freedom of the Press
Since Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, this newspaper and members of its staff have been subjected to false accusations of misrepresenting facts, misinforming the public, censoring community voices, and foisting personal and political agendas on our readership. Some of our accusers have used vulgar and profane language. Some of the charges have come in the form of hostile telephone calls, emails and personal attacks on social media.
On Aug. 16, 2018, as an act of solidarity, U.S. newspapers and news organizations published, posted or broadcast editorials opposing press-bashing. The idea was sparked by the Boston Globe’s editorial page editor and embraced across the nation. Today, after a fresh round of accusations, we republish our words from 2018 as a reminder of our role and as a defense of our integrity.
We are the enemy. It’s true. We say that with no hesitation. If you abuse power, we are the enemy.
When you use propaganda to mislead the people, you are the enemy.
If a public official deliberately hides documents or closes meetings, we are the enemy.
We will come after you if you are an oppressor of the underprivileged. We will never allow anyone to silence the voices and opinions of others.
If you ignore laws and human rights, you are the enemy.
We will call out discrimination, any willingness or eagerness to hate, narrow-mindedness.
We will exploit anyone who creates smoke to divert anyone from the fires that you build.
We are the enemy of ignorance, all ignorance.
If you suppress, we are the enemy.
If you scheme, we are the enemy.
If you use conflicts of interest to gain leverage, you are the enemy.
If you are, in any form, an enemy of the public trust, then, of course, we are the enemy.
If you believe facts are subjective and truths should be measured in shades of gray, then we are your enemy in black and white.
And when you say there is no need for a free press, we are absolutely, unequivocally, your enemy.
So now that we have established ourselves as your enemy, know this: We are not the enemy of the people. Our readers and the public are our allies against you. We represent the communities we serve; we are their reflection — good, bad and indifferent. They depend on us to collect, vet and present information in spite of selfish motivations.
We are the watchdogs, sometimes the only ones who will stand up and say, “Hold on.” We will say, “I don’t think so.” We can declare, “Out of line.” And we are not afraid to say, “You’re wrong.”
We will kick over stones. We will ask hard questions. We will separate facts from fiction.
We will challenge you to prove yourself. We will ask you to think for yourself. We will force you to say “yes” or “no.” We will make you uncomfortable.
We will hold on to certain issues like a dog with a bone, until we are certain our investigation is complete.
We will also make mistakes. And we will own them, and we will correct them. We will sometimes publish an incomplete story. But we try, at all costs (and with far limited resources than ever before), to avoid presenting something that could be construed as “fake news.” That does not serve our interest to be the vehicle for answers, information or truth.
And if we are doing our job well, no one is ever really happy with us. But we earn respect.
To those who say journalists are the enemy, we definitely are. We actually wear that charge as a badge of honor. We are proud of the work we do and the purpose that we serve.
Because without us, or with even a hint of a state-run media, facts have no value.
George Seldes was fond of quoting Abraham Lincoln, who, during the Civil War, once famously said, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” Seldes was an investigative journalist, correspondent, editor and author. He lived in Hartland Four Corners and died in 1995 at the age of 104. Over the course of his career, Seldes influenced many young people to become journalists. He also was hated for standing up to authority, both in foreign nations for his news coverage, and at home for his harsh criticism of the American press. But he did journalism a favor by being everyone’s enemy and making us all squirm and question roles — both as consumers of news and newsmakers.
James Russell Wiggins, a career journalist who worked for The Washington Post and later retired to Maine, summarized the thread of the Fourth Estate’s purpose as this: “Americans will be tempted, in the years ahead, to sacrifice the principles that have made their country what it is. It will seem appropriate and convenient to meet the demands of crisis by bending a little here and giving a little there. It is an inclination that will have to be resisted at the first trespass upon our freedoms, or other invasions of individual rights will come swiftly upon us.”
That day is here, friends.
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No Sanctions or Suspensions for UCSC Students Protesting Genocide
SUBMITTED BY STUDENTS WHO OUT OF FEAR OF RETALIATION WANT TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS
Two UC Santa Cruz undergraduate students, Luke Jenny and Izabella (Iz) Campos Layne, have been suspended for one quarter based on bogus charges related to their human rights advocacy for Palestinians enduring the genocide in Gaza, during the protests last school year. See the description of the horrific events on the night of May 30 at UCSC HERE.
UCSC has attempted to stifle Palestine organizing and advocacy through the arbitrary punishment of individual students and implementing measures that criminalize freedom of speech, such as Time, Place, Manner (TPM) policies. Both Luke and Iz have been given four sanctions: suspension for one quarter, 20 hours community service, apology essay, and stayed/deferred suspension. Deferred suspension essentially means that any actions that violate any student conduct measure can result in further suspension. With the current TPM policies, this means that using a megaphone or putting up a folding chair can result in suspension.
The persecution of Iz and Luke, just two out of the more than 120 UCSC students, faculty, workers, and community members arrested last May 31, 2024, sends a repressive message, aimed at chilling campus free speech and quashing Palestine solidarity organizing. At a time when our fundamental rights to protest and free assembly are under threat and many in our university community are under attack, UCSC has placed itself firmly on the side of fear and repression. These two suspensions have been wholly discretionary, arbitrary, tyrannical, and unjust throughout the hearing proceedings. Whereas the standard in criminal proceedings is “beyond a reasonable doubt,” the standard used in student conduct processes is typically “a preponderance of evidence.” By contrast, the standard used in these cases was “a preponderance of information.” Characterized by a lack of evidence, these biased proceedings were tilted, from the start, in favor of the university in order to mete out punishment.
The case against Iz, a deeply respected campus organizer, bears the hallmarks of a selective prosecution for crudely political purposes. Iz was suspended for allegedly adding gravel to an existing barricade. Administrators were able to prosecute Iz only because they picked her out of a large crowd as a prominent campus activist while video-surveilling the encampment. Those people whom they did not immediately recognize were not brought up on charges. Iz, moreover, was prevented from presenting testimony in her favor whereas the university’s witness was allowed to counterfactually speculate on theoretical harms.
In Luke’s case, the conduct process was transformed into an absurd, labyrinthine ordeal. He is accused of kicking a police officer, based solely on the testimony of a single officer. Yet, despite the presence in the area of over 100 police officers from multiple jurisdictions, many with body cameras, his accusers failed to offer any video evidence to support their charge, even after previously claiming such evidence exists. Instead, they withheld access to bodycam footage that may have definitively shown the allegation to be fabricated. Nowhere, moreover, has the process addressed what is verifiably true: namely, the police injured Luke, slicing his hand, necessitating a hospital visit and stitches. (See photo in support letter link below.)
We, the undersigned, condemn the suspensions of Iz and Luke as an assault on all our constitutional rights to engage in free assembly and free speech. We see this action in the context of increased surveillance of students, excessive spending on policing, and the development of new policies to prevent students and workers from effectively voicing their concerns. In lockstep with the tyrannical policies of the new presidential administration, the UCSC administration’s attempt to suffocate activism is part of a larger, concerted effort to reverse the recent victories of student and worker organizing and prevent further mobilization.
And to that, we say, "No!" We the students, workers, and faculty of this university, parents of UCSC students, and members of the community demand no academic repercussions for Izabella Campos-Layne or Luke Jenny. The university should immediately withdraw the suspensions, and other sanctions (apology essays, community service, and criminal deferred suspension), and cease all attempts to further injure either of these students. Further, in light of the danger this selective persecution poses, we demand that the university fundamentally rework its judicial process so as to guarantee due process, a jury of one’s peers, and protection against double jeopardy.
We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with the movement for Palestinian liberation locally, the students targeted, and against unconstitutional repression of the freedom of speech. We demand that the University of California, Santa Cruz administrators drop all sanctions imposed upon Luke Jenny and Izabella Campos Layne.
Please sign this letter of support by clicking HERE. Add your name in the form after bottom of the letter and the 847 signatures.
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The "Zine" First issue of local Palestine News/Art - Read and Share
BY SHEILA CARRILLO
A Rose Shoulders Up, is the first issue of a zine created by several people in the local organization Palestine Solidarity Central Coast.
Several contributions feature artwork from Amna, an artist in Gaza and niece of the Monterey area community member Rolla Alyadi.
We hope with this zine to also fundraise on her behalf and that of her family. Other contributions include an overview of consequential moments in 2024 from Palestinian Resistance, an interview with local Palestinian community member, an essay on Euro-Amerikan Settler-Colonization and "Israeli" Zionist Settler-Colonization, etc.
There will be further updates on a release party/fundraiser in the coming month and we hope you check it out. This zine is a collective effort, many thanks to everyone who contributed submissions this month. Free Free Palestine!
A Rose Shoulder's Up, Issue 1 February 2025
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It's Cold and Wet Outside
BY BRENT ADAMS
Warming Wednesday is 12-3pm at 150 Felker St. At the Lorenzo River side gate, anyone who sleeps outside can obtain a tent, blankets, jackets, shoes, clothing, hygiene items, first aid supplies, etc.
Donated items can go to the Donation Barrel at REI Sports, Commercial Way and 150 Felker St. where there is a Donation Portal through the fence. Donate funding support to warmingcenterprogram.com or write a check and send to: Warming Center Program, PO Box 462 Santa Cruz, CA 95061
Contact:
Emergency Homeless Hotline: (831) 246-1234. Office: (831) 588-9892
warmingcenterprogram@gmail.com IG: @warmingcenterprogram
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Time to Plan for a General Strike?
BY SARAH RINGLER
Lately this website has been circulating through our community. It appears to me that right now the site is polling the public to see if there is interest in participating in a General Strike. If you are interested, check it out.
From the homepage: "We’ve voted, we’ve protested, and this country still does not work on behalf of us working people. The General Strike is a network of regular people who know our greatest power is our labor and our right to refuse it. If we all strike together, we can make real change.
"What are your demands? Our broad list of demands includes, but is not limited to: Climate action. Universal healthcare. Racial justice. Reproductive rights. LGBTQIA+ rights. Living wage/raise the minimum wage. Immigration reform. Education reform. Gun safety. Tax the rich. Affordable housing. Disability rights. Welfare and child support reform. Voters rights. Constitutional convention. Paid family and medical leave. Criminal justice system reform. Workers’ rights. Permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
"Specific demands will come from leaders and experts of existing fights for racial, economic, gender and environmental justice.
"When the The General Strike has reached 6M Strike Cards, we will reach out to our partners to draft these demands. Sign your Strike Card now to get us closer to the 11M cards we need to Strike!"
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CARTOON BY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
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PHOTO TARMO HANNULA
A curlew works the shoreline at Moss Landing.
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Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report - Cases Currently Waning
By SARAH RINGLER
The California Department of Public Health and Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly release data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county as well as information on influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Mpox. Since cases of Covid are still appearing, and there are still vulnerable people, I will continue reporting the graphs below.
The three graphs below were updated on Feb. 19. The first graph is the Effective Reproductive Number. When the line rises above one, it shows that 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. The third graph below shows hospitalizations.
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PHOTO BY TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street - A couple out for a walk.
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Labor History Calendar - Feb. 14-20, 2025
a.k.a Know Our History Lest We Forget
Feb. 21, 1934: Augusto Cesar Sandino assassinated in Nicaragua.
Feb. 22, 1855: Trails of Eureka Rebellion miners begin, end in acquittals for all in Australia.
Feb. 23, 1904; Hearst’s San Francisco Chronicle attacks Japanese workers.
Feb. 23, 1996: 2-day general strike begins in Hamilton Ontario.
Feb. 23, 2018: Teachers strike shuts down public schools across West Virginia.
Feb. 24, 1834: Six British farm laborers arrested and deported to Australia for organizing a union.
Feb. 24, 1912: Women and children beaten by police during Lawrence strike.
Feb. 25, 1913: IWW Paterson silk strike begins.
Feb. 25, 1941: 2-day Dutch strike against Nazi deportation of Jews begins.
Feb. 25, 2010: 21 killed in Garib sweater factory fire in Bangladesh.
Feb. 26, 1943: Mine disaster kills 75 miners at Red Lodge, Montana.
Feb. 27, 1921: El Salvador shoemakers win strike for higher wages: prompts government crackdown.
Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.
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PHOTO BY TARMO HANNULA
Out of This World - A neighborhood in Belize City.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Long Dark Evenings - Have a Party
By SARAH RINGLER
Chase away the long winter nights by having a party. Don’t succumb to the winter blues otherwise known as Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. Invite some friends and acquaintances over, provide some food and drinks and make sure to invite at least one friend who is a wannabe comedian.
The crab season has opened and it is time consuming to clean them, but it’s worth it. Prices are pretty high. The best deal I have found is from Vicki Crow on her boat, the Beticia, on Dock A at in Moss Landing. You know she is there if you see her sign out at the entrance to the Moss Landing Boat Harbor.
This recipe has been adapted from a recipe in Melissa Clark’s column in the Nov. 17 New York Times. I altered it to reflect the availability of good quality Mexican ingredients as well as local, fresh crab.
Use the jalapeños carefully. Chipotles are also jalapeños that have been left on the plant until they turn a deep red. Then they are spiced, smoked and canned. Nothing should overpower the taste of the crab. Make the dip earlier in the day, then bake it about a half hour before you will be serving it.
California Chipotle Crab Dip
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
2 chopped green onions
1 pickled medium sized jalapeño, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon chipotle pepper, chopped
½ lime, zest and juice
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1 ½ - 2 cups cooked crabmeat with all shells removed – about 2 Dungeness crabs
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons grated Monterey Jack cheese
salt and pepper
Stone ground tortilla chips
After removing the meat from the crabs, pick through again to avoid the rude shock of biting into a shard of a hard shell. Enlist someone else to do this if you are burnt out, preferably someone who has experience.
In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, green onions, jalapeño, chipotle pepper, lime zest, lime juice, cilantro and crab meat. Add the ½ cup of grated cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until about a half hour before you will be serving it.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the crab mixture into a lightly buttered glass pie plate, gratin dish or shallow casserole pan. The mixture should be about 1 to 1 ½ inch deep. Sprinkle with the remaining 3 tablespoons of cheese. Bake until the top is brown, about 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve with fresh tortilla chips. Serves about 10 at a party.
To make open face sandwiches, spread this mixture, before you bake it, on slices of sourdough. Top it with the grated cheese and bake in the oven until golden brown on top. Makes about 4 open faced sandwiches.
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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
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Copyright © 2025 Sarah Ringler
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