Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Two new locomotives designed in Germany but assembled in Sacramento, have just been added to the Amtrak Coast Starlight. The passenger train travels between Seattle to Los Angeles. It is shown here passing through Pajaro, which is called Watsonville Junction, and some day will be added as a stop. You now have to board in either San Jose or Salinas.

Soupstock 2023 - the 43rd Year

By KEITH MCHENRY - FOUNDER OF FOODS NOT BOMBS

Food Not Bombs is celebrating 43 years of sharing food and protesting war and poverty. Eight college-aged activists started the first chapter in Boston in the spring of 1980. We held a theatrical soup line outside the Federal Reserve Bank to warn the public that the policies of investing in weapons instead of funding housing, healthcare and other social services would lead to a country where people would need to seek meals at soup kitchens just to survive.

The first Soupstock was held at the Bandshell in Golden Gate Park and featured the group Clan Dyken; we are honored that they have agreed to perform at this year's celebration. Also, don't miss local singer and artist, Russell Brutsché. We encourage community groups and artists to set up a booth at the concert for free.

We hope you will join us on the lawn at the the Duck Pond Stage, enjoy a free meal and will be moved to dance to our revolution.

For information and to donate, go to Food Not Bombs.

Digital Painting by HAZEL KYLE

Inspirational Whale

By HAZEL KYLE

Here is my digital painting of a whale I'd like to share with the people of Santa Cruz. It is beautiful and sad to think about how fragile a whale's glorious existence has become. It is a thing, I think, for many people to be awestruck into activism. My hope is that people become filled with such endearment for the Earth that we do everything in our power to protect it. I have begun to feel that way. I was filled with that type of admiration and joy when I saw this whale.

This painting is of a humpback whale in Costa Rica, but I feel the same way when I see gray whales in Santa Cruz. When I see a whale I am filled with an awakening fear that subsides into fierce love. It is the same type of love I have for a cousin who I don't see often and when I finally do, I can't believe how much my memory has faded, how lovely that cousin has grown to be, or maybe was, the whole time in my absence. It is the kind of love that makes me want to stop the world for her. 

Flashmobs in the Teahouse

By WOODY REHANEK

Pop loved local Bay Area auctions.

One day he brought home three

4x6-foot lattice window casements.

He planted four 4x4s in adobe soil

beneath the poplar grove at the end

of the swimming pool (installed in

the 60s). Then he mounted the windows

on the north, east, & west sides so 

he could walk in facing the house

& pool to the north. There, he would

dream away, contentedly smoking his

pipe. Usually he would just stand there,

musing through the lattice windows. 

"Woody, you're living in a dream world," 

he would sometimes say to me. Or,

"Off we go, into the wild blue yonder!" 

Or "Lily, this is LIVING!" Other times 

he might shout non-sequiturs like 

"By the horns of the great Wapiti!" or 

"It's something fierce...!" I think I 

inherited my love of wordplay--

linguistic linguini--from Pop: 

words running like flashmobs 

through the teahouse of our minds.

First Friday - Downtown Santa Cruz - June 2

By SARAH RINGLER

Russell Brutsché "Hi-Rise Santa Cruz" painting in the poster above, will be on display at the Wallflower Boutique, 103 Locust St. in Santa Cruz, June 2, from 5-9pm. He will also show his 3-D model of what downtown Santa Cruz will look like after all the new buildings are completed. He and his work have also been featured in a piece by Wallace Baine in Lookout that gives Baine's reactions to the big changes in downtown Santa Cruz.

48th Annual Santa Cruz Pride Parade, June 4

By GINNY SCHWINGEL

Medicare for All-Santa Cruz will be walking in the Pride Parade June 4. Come walk with us to show your support for the national MFA and for CalCare, a California state-level single-payer universal healthcare system. For information text Ginny.

Meet us on Pacific Ave. toward Elm St., after the vehicles and between Hospice of SC and SC Community Health. Look for the waving CalCare placards. All walkers must be in place by 10:45.

MFA-SC will have an information booth after the parade until 4pm. Stop in and if you'd like, stay for a while to help inform folks about the advantages of single-payer universal healthcare, whether on the national or state level. Canada got its system province by province; if California enacts CalCare, you know the other states will follow.

Mark Your Calendar - Mime Troupe Coming

By SARAH RINGLER

Mark your calendars now for the Aug. 19-20 San Francisco Mime Troupe presentation of their new "Breakdown, A New Musical," 3pm, outside at the London Nelson Community, 301 Center St. in downtown Santa Cruz. Get there early for a good spot. Bring low backed chairs or blankets if you want to sit closer to the stage.

For cathartic laughter under the gray skies of living in the USA, you can't beat the Mime Troupe, now in their 64th year. After going to their shows since at least the 1980s, I always hoped they run out of material. Lo and behold, things have gotten worse.

On July 1 they begin their tour in Berkeley and end it in San Francisco Sept. 4. For information and to donate go HERE.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA 

A cedar waxwing takes a perch in an apple tree in Watsonville.

Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report

By SARAH RINGLER

The California Department of Public Health now 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. There have been no new deaths in the county since Dec. 15. Since cases are still appearing, and there are still vulnerable people, I will continue reporting the graphs below.

The three graphs below give a picture of what is happening currently. 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.

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 - Used plastic tarps from fumigated fields head off to be disposed of probably eventually ending up in the Pacific trash vortex, aka the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Labor History Calendar - June 2-8, 2023

a.k.a Know Your History Lest We Forget

June 2, 1916: IWW Mesabi Range strike.

June 2, 1924 Supreme Court overturns law restricting child labor. 

June 2, 2006: 80,000 march in support of striking teachers in Oaxaca, Mexico.

June 3, 1919: Vancouver BC general strike begins in sympathy with Winnipeg general strike. 

June 3, 1933: IWW hop pickers win 50% pay hike in Yakima, WA.

June 3, 1952: US Steel, now USX, strike begins.

June 4, 1974: Occupied Regent Knitting factory reopens under workers’ self-management; it last 8 years in Saint-Jeromeme, Quebec. 

June 5, 1933: Over 800 Mexican pickers strike in the San Gabriel Valley berry fields. 

June 5, 1995: 2,500 peasants shut down Mexico stock market for two hours seeking back pay.

June 5, 2013: Bangladesh police fire on garment workers seeking back pay.

June 5, 2013: Turkish strikes hit repression. 

June 6, 1917: 164 killed in Speculator Mine disaster in Butte, Montana.

June 6. 1931: Lansing, Michigan general strike protests arrests of union activists. 

June 6, 2018: Jordan austerity general strike.

June 6, 2022: Detained immigrants strike over $1 a day wages in Bakersfield, CA.

June 7, 1904: Militia sent to Cripple Creek, Colorado to suppress Western Federation of Miners strike. 

June 7, 1913: IWW Pageant of Paterson Silk Strike performed at Madison Square Garden, NYC

June 7, 1968: Women workers strike Ford, demanding equal pay in England.

June 8, 1847: British 10-hour Act for women and child workers. 

June 8, 1904: Militia kill six striking miners in Dunnville, Colorado. 

June 8. 1956: Polish workers revolt, Poznan.

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

"Some people see things that are and ask, 'Why?' Some people dream of things that never were and ask, 'Why not?' Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that."

"Some people have no idea what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it."

George Carlin

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Matzoh Leek Lasagna

By SARAH RINGLER 

I’d seen leeks in the vegetable section of the grocery store for years. Someone must be buying them because why else would they still be there? I had no idea what they tasted like or how to prepare them. One evening, in a hostel in the city of Cork in Ireland, I watched a guy, out of the corner of my eye, cut up and fry a leek for dinner. That was it – one sautéed leek. 

Leeks are members of the onion family thought to be a native of Central Asia. Dried remains have been found in archeological sites in Egypt and in Mesopotamia. Today, it is the national emblem of Wales where it relates to a legend where the Welsh King Cadwaladr of Gwynedd fought an ancient battle against the Saxons in a leek field. He directed his soldiers to identify themselves by wearing a leek on their helmets. Also, the name of Agatha Christie’s famous character, the French detective Poirot, comes from the French word for “leek”. In the past, leeks were much more popular and form the base of the French soup vichyssoise and the Welsh cock-a-leekie soup. 

Leeks look like giant green onions or scallions. The white and pale green parts are what are usually eaten. The dark green top is commonly discarded because it is tough and tastes more like cabbage. To maximize the white part, farmers mound up dirt around the base of the leek. That is why they need to be washed very well. 

This is one of my favorite recipes and I make it a few times a year. The source for the recipe is “Sephardic Flavors” by Joyce Goldstein, an inspirational cookbook with a lot of great ideas.

Leek and cheese matzoh lasagna

5 medium leeks

3 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegetable oil

1 chopped onion

1 cup (1/2 pound) ricotta cheese

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoons salt or salt to taste

1/2 teaspoons black pepper

freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 cup fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried dill

About 4-5 matzoh squares

1 1/3 cups grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese

Cut away the root ends of the leeks and most of the green part – discard. Peel away any loose layers and cut them in half lengthwise. Then, cut the lengths crosswise into thin slices. Soak slices in a large bowl of cold water. Swish them around to loosen any dirt. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well in a colander. You need to have about 3 1/2 cups sliced leeks. 

In a large bowl, beat 2 of the eggs, then mix in ricotta, salt, pepper, nutmeg and dill. Set aside. Taste and adjust flavors. Grate the cheese

Warm the butter or oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the leeks and onions, and cook, stirring often, until they are both very tender – about 15 to 20 minutes. 

Drain if necessary. When done, remove from the heat and cool.  When cool, add leeks and onions to the ricotta cheese mixture.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil or butter an 8-inch-square baking pan.

Beat the remaining egg in a shallow pan large enough to hold one matzoh. Put come cold water in another pan that is also large enough to hold one matzoh square. Soak a matzoh in the water for about 3 minutes – enough time for it to soften but not to disintegrate. Shake some of the water off of the matzoh and then dip it in the beaten egg. Finally, put it in the greased baking pan. Fill the bottom of the pan with one solid single layer of the prepared matzohs. Sprinkle that layer with 2/3 cup of the grated Gruyere cheese. Next, add the leek and onion filling. With the rest of the matzoh, make the top layer. Sprinkle that with the rest of the cheese. Bake the pie until browned, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit 10 minutes. Serve. 

For variations, you can add spinach or chard instead of leeks. You can also add a middle layer of matzoh. It fills an 8-inch square cake pan nicely. This easily feeds four people. 

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. 

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