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California Department of Pesticide Regulation send out this email on Oct. 14 telling us that their 2023 Air Monitoring Report found no detectable pesticides in 95% of the samples collected. The nearest monitor to Santa Cruz County is
at Ohlone Elementary School, on the border of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. EDITOR
Pesticide Regulators Lie to the Public About Air Monitoring Results - Why It’s So Hard to Trust our State’s Scientists
BY JANE SELLEN
Here’s a simple math problem: There are ten gift bags with five items in each. Each bag includes a candy bar. What percentage of the bags have a candy bar?
Congratulations if you answered 100%.
But if you are the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), the answer would be 20%. Huh?
This week, DPR trumpeted their Air Monitoring Network results with the headline “2023 Air Monitoring Report finds no detectable pesticides in 95% of samples collected”. The press release repeated that nugget, in bold in case anyone missed it: “The 2023 data found that 95% of all samples collected had no detectable pesticides.”
Just one problem: The actual monitoring results showed fewer than 30% of samples with no detectable pesticides.
How did our state scientists come to issue such a deceptive news release? And why are they lying to the public about our air quality?
First the “how”: DPR analyzed each sample collected at four statewide monitoring stations for a suite of 40 pesticides. Some of those pesticides are not used near the monitoring station, while others are not even registered for use in California. The analysis detected pesticides in more than 78.7% of the samples. DPR didn’t like that number, so they simply changed the definition of “sample.” Instead, they counted each sample as forty “samples”, one for each pesticide included in the analysis, whether or not there was any possibility of finding it. Because when you’re the State, they let you do that.
So you could call DPR’s press release a lie, or you could call it Bogus Denominator Syndrome - padding the bottom line with irrelevant metrics to reach a mendacious but palatable figure.
Whatever you call it, it worked. The ag media ran with the DPR headline, and the lie was out in the world.
After an outcry, DPR amended the headline, changing “samples” to “sample analyses” but leaving the false statement in the body of the news release as of Wednesday:
As for “why”, that’s harder to answer. Why would our state regulator intentionally deceive the public about its own findings?
Despite its mission to “protect human and environmental health”, DPR is notorious for its industry-friendly rulemaking and media spin. Perhaps it’s not surprising that a department that gets most of its funding from a tax on pesticide sales would have every interest in protecting pesticide use.
DPR’s rulemaking on the third most-used pesticide in California, the cancer-causing fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene, is a prime example. In January, DPR finalized a rule that ignored the lifetime cancer risk level established by state scientists at the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and went instead with the number proposed by the manufacturer Dow, leaving communities exposed to 14 times more of this highly volatile carcinogenic pesticide than is considered safe.
The 2023 air monitoring results tell the story: more than one third of the samples collected at the Parlier monitor in Fresno County included detectable levels of 1,3-dichloropropene, and the average air concentration at all of the DPR air monitors exceeds the OEHHA level. At what DPR calls the “:Watsonville” site – which is actually at Ohlone Elementary School in North Monterey County – the 1,3-D levels have averaged more than twice the OEHHA cancer risk level since testing started twelve years ago.
So what can we do to stop a Department that has gone rogue? We must all make our voices heard:
- And DPR is conducting public hearings on 1,3-dichloropropene in January 2025 in Visalia, Salinas, Chico and online:
VISALIA
Jan. 8, 2025, Wed., 6-8pm
Visalia Veteran's Memorial, 609 W. Center Ave., Visalia, CA 93291
REMOTE (on Zoom)
Jan. 10, 2025, Friday, 10am-12pm
SALINAS
Jan. 16, 2025, Thurs., 6-8 pm
National Steinbeck Center, 1 Main St. Salinas, 93901
CHICO
Jan. 21, 2025, Tues., 6 - 8pm
Chico Women's Club, 592 East 3rd St., Chico
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Vote Jill Stein for President
BY NORA HOCHMAN
If you’re a progressive in California, you can vote for Jill Stein this election and have no fear that you’re helping Trump. In fact, it is vital that you vote Stein to make clear that the Democratic Party’s current policies (including the ongoing genocide in Palestine) are unacceptable to progressives. By voting Green we can build towards better policies and better candidates in 2026 and beyond.
What is the value of your vote if you vote Harris?
California is such a deep blue state that the individual votes of Californians in the general election have no meaningful impact in selecting the next president. California is so deeply blue that even if every person who had voted for Bernie in the 2016 primary had switched their vote to Jill Stein in the general, Hillary would have still beaten Trump by millions of votes in California and received all 54 of California’s electoral college votes. The same is true of 2020: if every person who’d voted for either Bernie or Warren in the primary had switched to Green in the general election, Biden still would have won California by millions of votes.
There are several important reasons why you should support Stein.
Jill Stein is unequivocally against the genocide in Gaza, whereas both Trump and Harris support the continuation of Biden’s policy of unconditionally arming Israel. As a progressive, you must make your opposition to the genocide clear, which is precisely what a Stein vote does.
Only Jill Stein takes a strong position against fossil fuels. Harris has recently boasted about her role in increasing our domestic fossil fuel extraction to all-time record highs and has refused to support a ban on fracking. Harris supporters claim she must support fracking in order to get elected, but polling data shows fracking is unpopular both nationally and in Pennsylvania.
Stein supports a single-payer healthcare system similar to the program championed by Bernie, but she also goes a step further in advocating for a public healthcare system like the UK’s NHS. Harris and Trump, on the other hand, both support the continuation of our private system that costs far too much and gives some of the worst outcomes amongst wealthy nations.
By voting for Stein, progressives can create pressure on the Democratic Party to halt its race to the right. The Democratic Party believes that the progressive vote is guaranteed for them, allowing them to abandon progressive positions in pursuit of “moderate” and “conservative” voters. Progressives must make it clear that we will walk away if our core principles are violated.
A vote for Stein is also more than a way to send a message; it is a way to build a viable alternative. If the Green Party can get more than 5% of the popular vote nationally then in 2028 the Green Party will be eligible for a public grant of about $10 million. Stein 24 has raised only about $1 million, much of which has gone towards ballot access. A public grant would allow the Green Party to devote resources to running a more serious campaign in 2028.
A vote for Harris in California is effectively meaningless. A vote for Stein signals opposition to genocide and pushes our political system left.
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Support Harm Reduction Coalition of Santa Cruz
BY HRCSCC TEAM
After months of diligent and painstaking work behind the scenes on a new application to be re-authorized by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), we are overjoyed to share that we are in the next phase of our authorization process. We’ve been rather silent in this process, but the time to be loud has finally arrived, and we would like to call on our wonderful community to ask for your support.
In our next season, we remain true to our ethos of low-barrier, evidence-based mobile harm reduction services that meet the needs of our participants, prioritizing accessibility and equity within Santa Cruz County, only this time with expanded capacity and stronger protections. CDPH has completed their process with law enforcement officials under the clarified definition of consultation and the public is now invited to share their feedback, support, and any concerns.
State law allows the CDPH to authorize syringe access and disposal programs in communities demonstrating a need for expanded services. Outside of this, legal protections exist for physicians and individual community members facilitating the secondary exchange of safer-use items. However, as an organization, the CDPH authorization is a necessity in safeguarding our SSP program services and outreach efforts. We cannot provide the essential services our participants depend on us for without it.
We need you more than ever. Our goal is to flood the public comments with an abundance of love and care. We ask that you join us in fighting for harm reduction in our community by filling out this short form. If you can, we’d encourage you to share your experiences and speak from your heart on what really matters to you. Public comment closes on Nov. 4 at 11:59pm.
We have attached a template here with talking points if you would like to add comments to the space provided in the form:
I support HRCSCC and urge you to approve of their authorization, because:
· Overdose deaths and rising rates of preventable infections of HIV, Hepatitis C, Sexually Transmitted Infections including congenital syphilis are preventable.
· HRCSCC’s valued partners at the County Syringe Service Program experience enormous restrictions on their outreach and supply distribution. The two programs collaborate and HRCSCC shares resources when available.
· The medical model by design is not low-barrier and is inaccessible for people who have experienced medical trauma, people with barriers to transportation, or mobility issues. Harm reduction allows for more flexibility, rapport, and the opportunity to heal from mistrust.
· Removing harm reduction services does not decrease drug use, but it does increase infections and risk of death. Prior to HRCSCC, Watsonville Works staff were finding home-made manufactured syringes that were dangerous to use. Since ceasing syringe distribution, many program participants have resorted to syringe sharing and reuse out of necessity.
· HRCSCC is independently grant-funded, bringing resources into the county, expanding access to healthcare supplies, and relieving financial and staffing capacity strain on local healthcare systems.
· In 2020, Dr Gail Newel and the Board of Supervisors declared racism a public health crisis. HRCSCC is an anti-racist organization, committed to dismantling structural racism by working closely with public health officials and other community based organizations to address inequities of service provision within our community.
· HRCSCC has been partnered with the Santa Cruz County’s Health Services Agency over the past four years for Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) with a dedicated MAT Navigator who provides non-coercive, low-barrier case management.
· HRCSCC offers more than supplies and disposal services, but human connection and tangible support. Their staff were frontline providers in 2020 providing education and PPE during the first wave of COVID-19, assisted participants and FEMA processes during the flooding of 2023, and have stepped into public health emergency mitigation with HSA to respond to outbreaks of Shigella and Syphilis in the last year. HRCSCC has hosted multiple COVID-19 vaccination clinics, and has offered testing for HCV/HIV at various points. To donate or contact, click HERE.
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The Election: Santa Cruz for Bernie Checks In
BY JEFFREY SMEDBERG
My ballot came today in the mail. I signed up for BallotTrax so I'll be notified when Elections gets it and when it is counted at wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov.
If you don't get your ballot this week, call Santa Cruz County Elections at 831-454-2060. You still have time to update your registration or register for the first time.
Here are SC4B Candidate Endorsements for Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisor Endorsements. Last fall our SC4B membership endorsed candidates for the March Primary election. Two endorsed County Supervisor candidates are in run-off elections in November and will benefit from your vote, your volunteering, and your donations. Those candidates are:
Kristen Brown, Santa Cruz County Supervisor District 2, Aptos to Watsonville.
Monica Martinez, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors District 5, San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley, and a sliver of Santa Cruz.
Presuming that there would likely be broad consensus among our membership on state propositions and local ballot measure, your SC4B Steering Committee chose to offer its recommendations rather than hold an endorsement forum involving our entire membership. Here are the ballot measure recommendations.
California State Propositions
Prop. 2: School Facilities Bond. NO POSITION. Issue $10 billion in bonds to fund construction and modernization of public education facilities. For decades state voters regularly approved school bonds, the last one for $9B in 2016. In 2020 they broke the trend by rejecting a $15B bond.
Prop. 3: Right to Marry. VOTE YES. Repeals Prop. 8 and establish a right to marry in the California Constitution. Voter-approved Prop 8 of 2008, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman, was invalidated by the US Supreme Court in 2015. Prop. 3 would protect against future SCOTUS shenanigans.
Prop. 4: Environmental Bond. VOTE YES. Issue $10 billion in bonds to fund state and local parks, environmental protection projects, water infrastructure projects, energy projects, and flood protection projects, with 40% earmarked to mitigate environmental racism. Supported by environmental and labor groups; opposed by anti-tax groups.
Prop. 5: 55% for Housing Bonds. VOTE YES. Lowers the vote threshold from two-thirds to 55% for local bond measures to fund housing projects and public infrastructure. Would put approval of local government projects on parity with school district bonds that currently have a 55% threshold. The 2/3 vote requirement for new taxes enacted by Prop.13 in 1978 is a high bar.
Prop. 6: End Slavery. VOTE YES. Remove involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime from the state constitution. Solves for California the 13th Amendment problem in the US Constitution which allowed the continuation of slavery after the Civil War through mass incarceration.
Prop. 32: Increase Minimum Wage. VOTE YES. Increases the state's minimum wage to $18 per hour by 2026 for all workers, with future annual increases. No organized opposition has emerged. The last time voters rejected minimum wage increases in any state was in 1996 in Missouri and Montana.
Prop. 33: Allow Effective Rent Control. VOTE YES. Repeals Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act. Would allow local jurisdictions to enact effective rent control without current severe limitation to apartments built before 1995 and exemption of single-family units. In arguing against 33, Costa-Hawkins supporters point to academic research that shows with rent control, tenants are less likely to move, which we consider a benefit. SC4B and Our Revolution have always supported rent control.
Prop. 34: Penalize Certain Political Speech. VOTE NO. Requires health care providers to spend 98% of revenues from federal discount prescription drug programs on direct patient care. Deceitfully couched as a patient protection measure, it's a vindictive reprisal aimed directly at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation for their sponsorship of Prop. 33 and other rent control initiatives. Prop. 34 is sponsored by the California Apartment Association.
Prop. 35: Tax on Managed Care. NO POSITION Permanently authorizes a tax on managed care organizations to fund Medi-Cal programs. Broadly supported by healthcare organizations and both major political parties. Strong opposing arguments by the League of Women Voters, Alliance of Retired Americans, The Children’s Partnership, and California Pan-Ethnic Health Network gives us pause about this complex financing proposal.
Prop. 36: Crack Down on Crime. VOTE NO. Would increase penalties for certain drug crimes and theft convictions and allow a new class of crime to be called treatment-mandated felony, although treatment money would be reduced. Would repeal elements of Prop 47 of 2014 that reduced sentences, prison populations, and recidivism while funding treatment services. Prop 36 is promoted through heightening fear of property crimes. It is supported by the Republican Party and law enforcement; opposed by the Democratic Party and ACLU.
Ballotpedia.org was the prime source in compiling these summaries.
Local Ballot Measures
Meas. Q: Local Water & Wildlife Protection Act. NO POSITION. A broad array of potential projects to enhance wild-land resiliency in the face of climate change, widely supported by environmental, Democratic, and labor groups as well as most local elected officials. We advise caution as the advisory board to oversee spending of this general fund money may have limited authority over priorities compared to the local government bureaucracies. Also troubling is the lack of an exemption on this property tax, estimated to be $89 yearly, for those on a low or fixed income.
Meas. Z: City of Santa Cruz Soda Tax. VOTE NO. Tax on the distributors of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages. Posed as a benefit to community health, the tax has minimal potential to reduce health risks as it will be easy to avoid the surcharge by shopping outside city limits. Revenues would go into the City's general fund with total lack of expenditure control and not even a suggestion of spending for health. The tax is regressive in nature, with more impact on lower income residents, and hypocritical in light of the Council's refusal to consider progressive taxes on those who have the money such as a real estate transfer tax. We hate to be on the same side of this issue as Coke and Pepsi who are bankrolling the opposition, but this tax is a bad idea.
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Rail & Trail Westside Harvest Tour
BY SARAH RINGLER
Transportation options offered by the Rail & Trail project make it an important news item to keep up with. Here's a summary but contact railandtrail.org if you want the full story.
Don't miss the Harvest Tour, poster above, on Oct. 19 for the Westside scavenger hunt, treats, drinks and activities.
The Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line is a 32-mile rail line owned by the County of Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, California office of Rail Transportation and Federal Rail Administration are working together to implement new passenger rail service from Santa Cruz to San Jose. The new 22-mile service between Santa Cruz and Pajaro with stops in Seabright, Live Oak, Capitola, Aptos and Watsonville is being designed now.
70% of the Santa Cruz County population both lives and works in the county and most commuting is done in the narrow North-South corridor between the Santa Cruz mountains and the Coast of the Monterey Bay. This happens to be the exact corridor that the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line serves. In fact, Santa Cruz County grew up along and around the rail line, which is why it’s no surprise that it serves the densest neighborhoods and job centers in addition to over 40 schools and 92 parks.
Click HERE to donate and support this endeavor.
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Elizabeth Williams
FOLK ART
Assemblage Dolls and Painted Cut Outs
Fruition Brewery
918 East Lake Ave.
Watsonville
fruitionbrrewing.com
Oct. 4-31
@ewilliamsart6
elizabethwilliams-art.com
EW text: 831-722-3068
| CARTOON BY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS | |
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Red Hot Camaro
BY WOODY REHANEK
Cruising in Peter's
hot red Camaro
jumping red lights
as they change from yellow
shredding the dead
like there's no tomorrow
Sugar Magnolia & Scarlet Begonias,
Fire on the Mountain
& finally, Althea
all of it reaching
a grand crescendo.
Sugaree makes its own reality
which is a liquid
taking the shape
of the mind's container.
In the Y Pool
you're a floating head
& God is none the wiser
as the Dead play on.
***********
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
With a 68-inch wing span, this turkey vulture soars above Struve Sough in Watsonville as Day of the Dead approaches.
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Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report
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 Oct. 16.
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 TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street - A woman checks her mobile phone while standing outdise a home in Bay Village in Watsonville
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Labor History Calendar - Oct. 11-17, 2024
a.k.a Know Our History Lest We Forget
Oct. 18, 1927: IWW Colorado mine strike: first time all coal fields are out.
Oct. 19, 1993: Air France workers strike against layoffs – direct action closes airports.
Oct. 19, 2011: Two-day strike against bank-imposed austerity shutters Greece.
Oct. 20, 1887: Birth of John Reed, author of “Ten Days That Shook the World.”
Oct. 20, 1983: Death of Merle Travis, songwriter who wrote “Sixteen Tons” and “Dark as a Dungeon.”
Oct. 21, 1967: Massive anti-war demonstration at the Pentagon.
Oct. 21, 2021: South African metalworkers win 16-day national strike.
Oct. 22, 1878: Anti-Socialist Law passed in Germany.
Oct. 22, 1956: Hungarian students and workers demonstrate in solidarity with Polish workers – regime is scared.
Oct. 23, 1956: Hungarian Revolution begins; workers’ councils demand workers control of society.
Oct. 24, 1940: 40-hour workweek law takes effect in the US.
Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.
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“You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store."
Merle Travis from his song "Sixteen Tons"
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Ethiopian Spinach and Cottage Cheese
By SARAH RINGLER
If you still have some chard, kale or spinach in your garden after the recent summer-like weather, this recipe is a great way to utilize them. All of the ingredients are familiar but combined in a different way that makes a pleasant and mild vegetable dish. This recipe is inspired by one in “Cindy’s Supper Club” cookbook by Cindy Pawlcyn that is in the Watsonville library.
Everyone knows they should eat a lot of greens and this mixture is a very pleasant way to enjoy them. Ethiopian food usually is served with a large sourdough pancake called an injera. The injeras are spread out on a large plate and topped with stews made of vegetables and meat. All the eaters sit around the same plate and eat with their hands. It's made from teff flour that is available in bulk from Staff of Life. Mix the teff with water, cover and let sit for a few days until it bubbles. Cook like pancakes on a lightly oiled griddle.
I’d like to thank Helen Coons for her enjoyable letter. Her daughter, who was visiting, inadvertently invented a new dish when she accidentally put the curry mixture her mom had made from my column on her oatmeal – she thought is was cinnamon. Helen, who loves curry, said she loved it. She sprinkles curry on her food as a pick me up. She didn’t mention what her daughter thought about it.
¼ cup butter
2 tablespoon minced onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
pinch cinnamon
pince cardamom powder
pinch ground cloves
pinch nutmeg
½ cup cottage cheese
Salt and pepper
2 cups cooked spinach, chard or kale
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat. When it has melted add the onion, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg. Keep on high heat just until the butter starts boiling. Remove from the stove and let it sit for a half hour or so in a warm place.
Cook the spinach, chard or kale.
Just before serving, mix the butter and spice mixture with the cottage cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the cooked greens and serve.
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Send your story, poetry or art: 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
Send comments to coluyaki@gmail.com
If you are enjoying the Serf City Times, forward it on to others.
Subscribe, contact or find back issues at the website https://serf-city-times.constantcontactsites.com
Thanks, Sarah Ringler
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