CARTOON by STEVEN DECINZO
Help Empty Home Tax Now
By CYNDI DAWSON
If you think taxing empty homes not used for at least 120 days a year to raise funds for affordable housing is part of the solution to get more affordable housing, now is that time to join us in this all hands on deck effort. We need 2,000 more signatures to get on the November ballot and we have until April 21, 50 days, to turn them all in.
All of us who can are stepping up and doing extra. We will not make it without more people doing more. Will you join us?
If 100 of us got 22 signatures this weekend, we would get 2,200 signatures and Empty Home Tax would be on the ballot. Ballot initiatives are people powered and your effort directly affects whether this happens or not.
The best way to get signatures is by canvassing. Every Saturday and Sunday, we go out from the Tabby Cat Cafe from 4-6pm. You can get details on canvassing events on our Calendar. You can sign up to join or just come Saturday or Sunday at 4pm to get a walklist and your gear. New canvassers please come at 3:30pm. No experience is necessary and we provide all the gear you need.
For more information, to donate or to canvass, click here.
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No War with Russia Rally
Saturday, Noon-2pm, Town Clock Santa Cruz
Join CODEPINK and allies on March 5 to demand an end to the drumbeat of war with Russia over Ukraine. This rally will coincide with activities around the country to resist the normalization of war and demand that not a single bullet or gun be sent to the Ukraine.
Food Not Bombs will be providing free meals. Bring pink signs with the following messages: No War with Russia, No to war YES to peace!, Give PEACE a budget!, Fund HEALTHCARE NOT WARFARE or Diplomacy not war! Contact Code Pink Santa Cruz for more information.
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All films in the festival will be available to watch from March 11-20. To view the exciting list of films or to view the in-person screening of "Real Women Have Curves," click here.
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"For every action, there is an equal
and opposite reaction."
Issac Newton published his third law of motion in 1687
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
A juvenile red-tailed hawk searches for lunch in Watsonville.
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Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report
By SARAH RINGLER
The Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly releases data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. Total known cases as of March 3 were 46,443, up 1% from last week's 43,295. There were two new deaths.
The government is issuing four free Antigen Rapid Tests for free here.
Because of all the home tests currently available, these numbers are underestimates according to Corinne Hyland, County Health Services Agency spokesperson. She recommends people with minor symptoms stay home, isolate and rest.
Confused about testing? Lisa Krieger's Jan. 13 front page article in the San Jose Mercury News has comprehensive information gleaned from various sources on how to make some sense of the various tests, incubation periods, contagion, viral levels, etc.
Hospitalizations stayed the same from last week. Click to view a graph of hospitalizations here.
There have been few changes in the last week. Active cases in south county dropped by 7%, north county increased by 7% and and mid county stayed the same. See details in the chart below.
On the county's vaccination webpage, the vaccination rate has not changed since Feb. 6; 80% of the county have had at least one dose and 74% have had two doses. 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 below one. See chart below. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing.
To get information of COVID-19 testing locations around the county visit this site. Click here to make an appointment to get tested.
Any Californian age 12 or up can get vaccinated for free. For information on getting vaccinated, click here.
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% deaths by ethnicity:
White - 57%
Latinx - 35%
Black - 1%
Asian - 7%
American Native - 0%
Unknown - 0%
% deaths by gender/% of population:
Female - 49%/50%
Male - 51%/50%
Deaths by age/228:
25-34 - 2%
35-44 - 3%
45-54 - 4%
55-59 - 1%
60-64 - 6%
65-74 - 17%
75-84 - 23%
85+ - 43%
% active cases testing positive by region/% of population:
Mid-county - 9%/12%
North county - 50%/56%
South county - 40%/32%
Under investigation - 1%
Deaths by vaccination status:
vaccinated - 25/254 = 10%
unvaccinated - 229/254 = 90%
Weekly increases in positive tests:
June 12-19, 2020 - 7%
June 19-26 - 23%
June 26 to July 3 - 22%
July 3-9 - 23%
July 9-16 - 40%
July 16-23 - 20%
July 23-30 - 27%
July 30-Aug. 6 - 13%
Aug. 6-13- 12%
Aug.14-20 - 16%
Aug.20-28 - 10%
Aug. 28-Sept. 3 - 10%
Sept. 3-10 - 6%
Sept. 10-17- 8%
Sept. 17-24 - 7%
Sept. 25- Oct.1 - 5%
Oct. 1 - 9 - 4%
Oct. 9-15 - 4%
Oct. 15-22 - 5%
Oct. 23-29 - 4%
Oct. 30-Nov. 5 - 6%
Nov. 5-12 - 10%
Nov. 12-19 - 11%
Nov. 19-26 - holiday
Nov. 19-Dec. 3 - 29% 2 weeks of data for this week only
Dec. 3-10 - 16%
Dec. 10-17 - 17%
Dec. 17-24 - 14%
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Dec. 24-31 - 19%
Jan. 1-7, 2021 - 13%
Jan. 7-14 - 14%
Jan. 15-21 - 11%
Jan. 21-28 - 5%
Jan. 28-Feb. 4 - 5%
Feb. 5-11 - 2%
Feb. 11-18 - 2%
Feb. 18-25 - 1%
Feb. 25-March 5 - 1%
March 5-11 - 1%
March 11-18 - 2%
March 18-25 - .5%
March 25 - Apr. 1 - .7%
Apr. 1-8 - 0.1%
Apr. 9-15 - 1%
Apr. 16-22 - 2%
Apr. 22-30 - 2%
Apr. 30 - May 6 - .3%
May 6-13 - 2%
May 13-20 - 0%
May 24 - Data readjustment by county means percentages cannot be calculated this week.
May 27 - June 3 - 0%
June 3-10 - 0%
June 11-17 - .25%
June 18-24 - 0%
June 25-July 1 - 0%
July 2-8 - .3%
July 9-15 - .2%
July 16-22 - .5%
July 23-29 - 1.2%
July 30-Aug. 5 - 2%
Aug. 6-12 - .7%
Aug.13-19 - 4%
Aug. 20-26 - .7%
Aug. 26-Sept. 2 - 3%
Sept. 2-9 - 2%
Sept. 10-16 - 1%
Sept. 17-22 - 1%
Sept. 23-30 - 2%
Oct. 1-7 - 0%
Oct. 8-14 - 1%
Oct. 15-21 - 1%
Oct. 22-28 - 1%
Oct. 29-Nov. 4 - 1%
Nov. 5-11 - 1%
Nov. 12-18 - 2%
Nov. 19 - Dec. 2 - 2 weeks 2%
Dec. 2-9 - 2%
Dec. 9-16 - 1%
Dec. 16-23 - 1%
Dec. 24-30 - 2%
Dec. 31 - Jan. 6, 2022 - 5% Growth of home tests underestimates cases below. See above .
Jan. 7-13 - 9%
Jan. 14-20 - 15%
Jan. 21-27 - 9%
Jan. 28 - Feb. 3 - 31%
Feb. 3-10 - 3%
Feb. 11-24 (2 weeks) - 5%
Feb. 25- March 3 - 1%
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street - The pink umbrella man, Robert Steffen, is well known on the streets of Santa Cruz. He even has his own website. My nephew, Trevor Hartzell, who was visiting from Nevada, nearly got beat up one time years ago when he was trying to defend Mr. Steffen from harassers. He is shown here walking along West Cliff Drive.
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Labor History Calendar for March 4-10, 2022
Lucy Parsons, left, described by the Chicago Police Department in the 1920s as "more dangerous than a thousand rioters," was a journalist, editor, feminist, public speaker and activist dedicated to the liberation of the working class. In 1905, she participated in the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World. She wrote for numerous publications.
March 4, 1910: IWW wins Spokane free speech fight.
March 4, 1937: UAW sit-down victory in Flint, Michigan
March 5, 1871: Birth of Rosa Luxemburg, Marxist economist.
March 5, 1917: IWW Everett workers' trial for defending union hall begins.
March 6, 1903 Japanese and Mexican beet workers successful fight against pay cut in Oxnard.
March 6, 1984 Year-long British coal strike begins.
March 7, 1860: 6,000 shoemakers and 20,000 other New England workers strike inLynn, Massachusetts.
March 7, 1932 Detroit police fire at hunger march, killing 4.
March 7, 1942: IWW co-founder and labor organizer Lucy Parsons dies.
March 8 - International Women's Day
March 8, 1908: Thousands in New York needle trades demand higher wages, shorter hours and end to child labor.
March 8, 1995: US stock market crashes, too many workers have jobs.
March 8, 2021: 700 strike St. Vincent Hospital - longest nurses' strike in Massachusett's history.
March 9, 1879: Italian IWW leader Carlo Tresca born in Sulmona, Italy.
March 9, 1986: 100,000 march for freedom of choice.
March 9, 2017: Egyptian court orders release of oil workers arrested for striking.
March 10, 1906: Coal dust explosion kills 1, 060 workers in Courrieres, France sparking a 55-day strike.
March 10, 1913: Harriet Tubman dies.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Cold Weather Jamaican Stew
By SARAH RINGLER
You can burn incense to make your home smell fragrant or you can cook with spices and herbs. The aromas, as they waft through the house and the neighborhood, can provide brief moments of pleasure for those who encounter them.
The recipe below has a very pleasant combination of herbs and spices and takes a few hours to prepare. It’s recipes like these that account for my cupboard being full of jars and bags of old outdated spices and herbs.
Meat in this recipe adds texture and flavor here but can just as well be omitted.
Also, the green bananas are good but Jamaicans really like plantains and luckily they are readily available here in Watsonville. They are much larger than your average yellow banana and they aren’t ready to sauté until they are completely black and the stem breaks off easily.
When I make this recipe, I slice the plantains lengthwise and sauté them in butter first and then add them at the end.
2 1/2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder cut into 1-inch cubes
2 medium onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoons ginger
1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup hot water
6 medium carrots, peeled
3 pounds medium yams or sweet potatoes
3 completely green bananas or one large and very ripe plantain
1-14 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes, not drained
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place lamb in a large shallow casserole or in a 13 by 9 inch baking pan. Sprinkle the meat with the onions and the garlic.
In a small bowl, combine coriander, oregano, cumin, ginger and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the meat. Drizzle soy sauce over the meat. Slowly add hot water. Cover tightly with a lid of aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 11/4 hours.
While the meat is cooking, cut carrots into thick diagonal slices. Peel and slice the yams or sweet potatoes into quarters. Add the carrots and sweet potatoes or yams to the meat mixture. Cover again and bake 15 minutes longer.
Peel the banana and cut into chunks. Drain 1/2 cup of the canned tomato juice and stir in 1/4 cup of flour until the mixture is smooth. Reserve the rest of the canned tomatoes. Stir the tomato and flour mixture careful and thoroughly into the casserole. Add bananas and canned tomatoes with the remaining liquid. Stir. Replace cover and continue baking until meat and vegetables are tender, about 30 to 45 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with rice. Makes about 6 servings.
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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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