Photo by TARMO HANNULA
A red-tailed hawk finds dinner off of Riverside Drive in Watsonville.
Year of the Gopher
By SARAH RINGLER
Although it’s the year of the Ox in Chinese mythology, it looks more like the year of the gopher around here. My yard is pocked marked with horseshoe shaped holes - an indication of their presence - and my iris garden is gone. Although I’m no gopherologist, I have had forty years of experience with them and have gathered a broad spectrum of facts and myths.
In a bid to keep up with other countries who were trying to hone in on the riches of the northern Pacific coast of North American in the 1800s, the Russians staked their claim at Fort Ross, north of San Francisco. The settlement was short lived and lasted until 1841. One reason was because of the army of gophers who would decimate their crops starving them out and leaving them with nothing after all the time invested in hoeing the soil, fertilizing, planting, watering and weeding. I know how they felt.
Gophers, like many rodents, have teeth that continuously grow. If they don’t gnaw on something, their teeth will continue to grow curving around and penetrating their lower jaw.
Gophers are also bleeders. They lack a clotting mechanism and bleed to death when cut. This information led me one time to mix broken glass into my garden soil.
Yes, I was trying to kill them. I admit it and I’m not ashamed. I also heard that they were attracted to Juicy Fruit Gum and would eat it and choke to death. I tried that too.
For a while, my husband considered himself a gopher bounty hunter. He got pretty good at trapping them and enjoyed the challenge. One time, when he was removing one from a trap, it turned out to still be alive and jumped out of the trap into the nearby birdbath. It stood up on its hind legs and snarled with bared teeth as my husband jumped back in fear. He quickly recovered - my husband I mean - and attacked back.
These techniques were marginally effective and often hardly made a dent in the number of plants I lost. That is why there seems to be an entire industry that promises to get rid of them. Various traps with grabbing and stabbing mechanisms look like they could have been used during the Inquisition. One of my favorites was based on the belief that gophers don’t like loud sounds. It was a solar operated stake that you stuck in the ground that emitted beeps every so often. It didn’t work either; one gopher dug a hole around the stake burying the solar sensor in dirt so it wouldn’t beep anymore.
My neighbor even hired a gopher specialist who for $50 promised to catch her’s. He was a very sensitive individual and refused to come back to her place after finding out she tried to catch one on her own.
More effective is to grow plants they don’t like or use sturdy baskets made of chicken wire. And don’t buy the woven metal ones with staples at the bottom. The staples rust out within a year and gophers have free access again.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Defend the Camp
By KEITH MCHENRY
This is a crisis time for those who live outside and the ranks of the unhoused are growing. The city announced that they would start clearing the camps in the Pogonip starting on July 1 because of the very real fire danger, but those people are not being provided any place to move. The “Camping Services and Standards Ordinance” can also take effect in early July.
The overnight “safe sleeping” program in a parking lot is inhumane. Even so, city officials suggest that providing a dusk to dawn slab in a parking lot for “at least 150 people,” will justify the clearing of the camp.
Nighttime enforcement of the ordinance requires that people experiencing homelessness have access to either an overnight sanctioned sleeping location (such as an overnight shelter or an overnight “safe sleeping” program in a parking lot), or a 24/7 sanctioned sheltering location.
For San Lorenzo Park and the Benchlands, Santa Cruz will not take an action that would cause it to violate any applicable order or injunction issued by the court in the case: Santa Cruz Homeless Union et at v. City of Santa Cruz et al, Case 5:20-cv-09425-SVK.
There are regular meetings sponsored by the people living on the Benchlands, the Santa Cruz Homeless Union, Food Not Bombs and HUFF. Agenda items include campaigns of continued mutual aid and the formation of strategies in response to any announcement that the Benchlands Camp will be evicted without providing dignified housing for those who living in the park. We hope you and your group will agree to add their support to this list of community groups. Click here to support Food Not Bombs or email to volunteer. Click here to learn more about The Santa Cruz Homeless Union and here to donate. Click here for HUFF.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
A curious towhee ponders the photographer from a roof in Santa Cruz.
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"We live in a land where the past is always erased and America is the innocent future in which immigrants can come and start over, where the slate is clean. The past is absent or it's romanticized."
Toni Morrison
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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. The number of cases on Thursday totaled 16,269, up 23 from last Thursday's 16,246. There were no new deaths and the number remains at 207. There were no changes in all the categories.
Santa Cruz County issued a Press Release on the Delta variant that is more highly transmissalble and more resistant to monoclonal antibody treatment. One individual, a male in his 50s has been identified. For updates from the state, go here.
The county's vaccination data is now available. 58% of the total population is fully vaccinated and 67% has had a least one dose.
The county's Effective Reproductive Number is staying 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 tested without a doctor’s request, call 1-888-634-1123 or go online at https://lhi.care/covidtesting. Other testing sites that may have restricted access can be found here.
For vaccine information in Santa Cruz County, click here.
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% deaths by ethnicity/% of population:
White - 55%/58%
Latinx - 36%/34%
Black - 0/1%
Asian - 7%/4%
American Native - 0.5%/not available
% deaths by gender/% of population:
Female - 51%/50%
Male - 49%/50%
Other - 0
Under Investigation - 0
Deaths by age/202:
30-39 - 2%
40-49 - 3%
50-59 - 2%
60-69 - 13%
70-79 - 21%
80-89 - 31%
90+ - 27%
Tested positive by region/% of population:
Mid-county - 21%/12%
North county - 20%/60%
South county - 58%/29%
Under investigation - 0%
Weekly increases in positive tests:
June 12-19 - 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%
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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%
Dec. 24-31 - 19%
Jan. 1-7 - 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%
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street -
By SARAH RINGLER
A dashing skateboarder rides his electric board along the streets of Monterey.
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Labor History Calendar for July 2-July 8:
July 2, 1894: Federal injunction issued against Pulllman Strike.
July 2, 1986: 2-day General Strike protests military rule in Chile.
July 3, 1835: Children of Paterson, NJ strike for six-day work week, 11 hour day.
July 4, 1994: Nigerian oil workers strike for restoration of democracy that leads to a general strike.
July 5, 1888: 1,400 women strike at Bryant & May match factory in solidarity with fellow worker for criticizing working condition and win in London.
July 5, 1934: Longshoremen strike and the Battle of Rincon Hill, San Francisco, CA.
July 5, 1935: National Labor Relations Act passes Congress.
July 6, 1892: Stikers battle Pinkertons in Homestead, PA.
July 6, 1911: Joe Hill's "The Preacher and the Slave" first appears in IWW's LIttle Red Songbook.
July 6, 1916: IWW dock striker Thomas Kenney killed by scab, Philadelphia.
July 7, 1912: IWW lumberworkers whot at by company gunmen, 2 killed and many woomen and children wounded at Grabow, LA.
July 7, 1994: Nigerian soldiers replace striking oil workers to break strike against the dictatorship.
July 8, 1842: First US antracite coal strike.
July 8, 1998: Two day general strike against of phone company ends in Puerto Rico.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Pistachio cookies
By SARAH RINGLER
These pretty, spongy, golden green cookies made from ground pistachios, are just sweet enough. The recipe is from Nicole Malik at deliciouseveryday.com.
Pistachio nuts still seem special to me even though these days they are easy to find and mostly affordable. They are best when crunchy so if you’ve had some sitting in the cupboard for a while, this is a good way to use them up.
Some of you may remember when pistachios came in small long packages with dyed red shells. Since most of the nuts came from the Middle East at that time, the red dye was a way of hiding some of the blotches on the shells, according to Anne Ewbank’s story, “America’s Pistachio Industry Came from a Single Seed.” California’s pistachio business grew from a small niche industry in the late 1970s after the U.S. placed a retaliatory embargo on Iranian products after Iranian college students, protesting America’s support of the monarchy of the Shah, stormed the American Embassy in Tehran. The Iranian Revolution ensued and the current Islamic Republic was established in 1979. Iran continues to grow pistachios as it has for the last 8,700 years is now the world’s largest producer of pistachios, followed by the United States.
The measurements below may seem awkward; I had to convert metric measurements to the U.S. Customary System of Units to fit the American kitchen. Even after The Metric Conversion Act was passed by the U.S. government in 1975, the country still hasn‘t universally adopted the metric system and remains the only country in the world except for Liberia and Myanmar who haven’t. I purchased a battery-operated kitchen scale with ounces and grams to help me make the conversions.
The recipe also called for caster sugar, also called castor sugar, superfine or baker’s sugar. It is a more finely ground white sugar, but not as fine as confectioners’ sugar, and blends in easier and more efficiently than “regular” white sugar. It’s easy to make by putting white sugar in a blender or food processor and running for a minute or two until the sugar grains become finer.
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar ground in the blender or food processor
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon plain flour
3 egg whites
Preheat the oven to 320 degrees and lightly butter two cookie tins or line them with parchment baking paper. Process regular white sugar for a very short time in a blender until it becomes fine, but not powdery. Set aside in a small bowl.
Place 1 1/4 cups of the pistachios in the same food processor and mix just until finely ground. Make sure you don't turn it into pistachio butter.
Place the ground pistachios, ¼ cup of the caster sugar and the flour in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
Place the egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until soft peaks form. Add the remaining caster sugar gradually and beat a little longer. Fold the egg whites into the pistachio mixture and stir carefully just until well combined. You want to keep the batter fluffy. Place heaped teaspoons on the baking trays. Chop the remaining pistachios and sprinkle over the top of the cookies.
Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly golden and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
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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 © 2021 Sarah Ringler - All rights reserved
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