A Smile from the Evening Sky
By JOE JORDAN
The story goes that, as Noah's flood was ending, a rainbow appeared in the heavens as a sign from the creator that such an apocalypse would never befall the world again. As many in our region now endure destruction and sorrow, we all hope for relief from the skies, coming as a return to the cool, moist, gentle breezes characteristic of our familiar marine layer.
Such a change of weather could clear out a lot of the smoke that's been filtering the sunlight in uncanny ways you may have noticed, as well as the very odd colorations of the sun itself. The ground has been so golden-orange that shadows appear blue, by perceptual contrast. Even under the ominous pall in the sky, reflections of the sun on car windows appear as if little orange lamps have been placed around the landscape.
Beginning this weekend, if anything at all is visible in the sky at twilight time, a beautiful little arc of light will hang low in the west, different in nature from the colorful rainbow. A thin crescent moon will "smile" down upon us, with a Cheshire-cat grin! It's always my favorite lunar phase, as it's both beautiful and interesting. What makes it especially intriguing is the very faint glow around the entire circle of the rest of the moon, the part that's not in the bright crescent which is being directly lit by the sun.
Ever wonder what is causing that silvery, ghostly glow? This subtle phenomenon is called "earthshine," because it's the light from the nearly full earth, as seen in the moon's night sky when we experience a crescent moon in our sky. Close your eyes and picture a time when you saw bright moonlight all over snow or rocks or fields at night, with the full moon above. Well, what we see in the earthshine, up there on the moon, is the ground on the night side of the moon, all lit up by the full earth! Some traditions have called it the "old moon in the new moon's arms.” You'll see that it gets fatter,“waxing," and stays up or sets later, from one night to the next as the moon works its way eastward around the world, taking about a "moonth" for a full orbit!
This article and next week’s sequel, “high"-"light" the phenomena of the subtle natural lighting that occurs at night. It also promotes the mission and work of the International Dark Sky Association, that also happens to have a chapter here in the Santa Cruz area. Check it out!
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PVUSD Needs Major Reform
By ADAM BOLANOS SCOW
It is no secret that the Pajaro Valley Unified School District, PVUSD, has long suffered from major problems and administrations that are out of touch with the community. With two seats up in the general election in November, the community has the opportunity to finally have a majority on the Board of Trustees who will fight for them. After receiving strong encouragement from many community leaders, I am running to be one of those Board members, representing Area 6, which includes Watsonville, Freedom, and Amesti.
Over the last several years, this administration, with the blessing of a majority of the Board of Trustees, has squandered a surplus on needless consultants and excessive administrators, while firing staff and refusing to increase teacher pay. The district suffers from a teacher shortage and teachers are among the lowest paid in our region.
This spring, in a 4-3 vote, the PVUSD Board approved spending a whopping $5 million on renovating the district headquarters. The headquarters are located in a red-tagged building adjacent to Corralitos Creek. Shortly after, the Board voted to lay off over 35 classified staff employees, some who are classroom assistants in the special education department, citing budget concerns. Meanwhile, the administration has taken no pay cuts and has even added a new executive position. In a district where many students, staff, and teachers are having a hard time making ends meet, especially during distance learning, these actions are unacceptable.
As a board member, I will fight for an open budget process that empowers community members and gives us the best chance of retaining and hiring good teachers and staff members. It is finally time to trim the bloated administrative budget. Finally, we must improve and create better career paths with the understanding that a 4-year college path is not for everyone. PVUSD must have a much stronger partnership with Cabrillo College and have stronger ties to our famous organic agricultural sector. PVUSD touches so many lives and it must work better for our community.
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"A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves." Marcel Proust |
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Sarah's 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 following announcement was added to the site last week and continues to be shown:
"Due to a significant and unresolved problem with the State of California’s CalREDIE reporting system, the County of Santa Cruz Public Health Department, as well as county public health departments statewide, are experiencing significant underreporting of COVID-19 testing results. Because of this problem, the information presented in this dashboard/these dashboards may be incomplete. We will provide updates on the status of these reporting delays as soon as they are available. Additional information about these delays may be available from the State of California."
On Aug. 20, there were 1,569 cases that tested positive, a 16% increase from last Aug. 13. Seven people have died.
To get tested without a doctor’s request, call 1-888-634-1123 or go online at https://lhi.care/covidtesting. The testing clinic is at at Ramsay Park in Watsonville. Other testing sites with that may have restricted access can be found here.
To visit the website for the Santa Cruz County Health Department:
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Tested positive by age:
17 and under - 13%
18-34 - 35%
35-49 - 24%
50-64 - 20%
65 or older, 8% tested positive
Tested positive by ethnicity, rounded off:
5% Multi-Race and other - 9% of the county's total population
37% white - 56% of the county's total population
58% Latinx - 34% of the county's total population
Tested positive by gender:
53% female
47% male
0% Under investigation
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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-August 6 - 13%
August 6-13 - 12%
August 14-20 - 16%
Tested positive by jurisdiction:
3% Capitola
17% Santa Cruz
2% Scotts Valley
17% unincorporated
51% Watsonville
Under investigation 9%
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YOUR STORY HERE: Please submit a story that you think would be of interest to the people of Santa Cruz County. Photos are also welcome. Try and keep the word count around 400. Also, there should be suggested actions if possible. Submit to coluyaki@gmail.com
If you are enjoying the Serf City Times, forward it on to others. We need more readers 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, 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 not a profit-making enterprise and all work is volunteer.
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