SANTA CRUZ (July 2010) - “Flying is one of the most exciting and wonderful experiences I have encountered ‘yet’,” Ann grins. Bi-coastal elder Ann Goldsmith has one hell of a resume and she didn’t really start kicking up her heels until she pushed past 50. Now in her seventies, Ann, a teacher, minister and counselor, divides her time between her Aptos home and a rural cabin in Maine.
After decades of being a passenger, Ann is once again spreading her wings and flying into the wild blue yonder as an airplane pilot. The first planes she recalls were a far cry from the small aircraft and controls with which she is now becoming acquainted. “Fighters and bombers going off to war,” were Ann’s first glimpses of air travel.
Goldsmith grew up on the east coast during the 2nd World War. “Friends lost their brothers,” Ann recalls. “Everything was rationed. Newsreels showed deadly scenes, while films made it all romantic. From the age of 7 through 13, my childhood was overshadowed by war.”
SANTA CRUZ (June 2010) - The special election for State Senate District 15 takes place Tuesday, and expectations for voter turnout are low, due to the inconvenient timing and the fact that there is only a single race on the ballot. But the candidates for this seat couldn’t be more different, and we urge Central Coast residents to take the initiative and vote on June 22.
SantaCruzWire.com has offered the four official candidates free space to air their views on our site, and we are happy to report that Democrat John Laird and Independent candidate Jim Fitzgerald have submitted essays. We hope this helps clarify the issues at stake, and the differences between the candidates.
SANTA CRUZ (June 2010) - Ask where all the money is coming from to pay for all the Robo calls, TV and radio spots. What favors will have to be paid back to the special interest groups and union supporters?
Vote for the person not the party!
Are you tired of re-electing the same people year after year and getting the same results? My name is Jim Fitzgerald and I am running for State Senate. I am an Independent candidate – not a career politician. I will not accept any large donations from special interest groups, corporations, or individuals. I will never sell out on an issue, or trade a vote for a party favor or a campaign donation.
Campaign for the 15th Senate District Down to the Wire
By John Laird, Special to SantaCruzWire.com
SANTA CRUZ (June 2010) - The campaign for the 15th Senate District is down to the last few days
and it’s all about turning out voters—some of whom wonder why they’re
going to the polls again two weeks after the last election. More on
that in a moment.
The district includes the communities of Scotts Valley, Pasatiempo,
Happy Valley, Soquel Hills, Aptos Hills, Rio Del Mar, La Selva,
Seascape, Corralitos, Aromas and Watsonville in Santa Cruz County – and
overall is a classically gerrymandered district running from Los Gatos
and Saratoga in the north all the way to Santa Maria in Santa Barbara
County.
Originally drawn to favor Republicans, the district now trends
Democratic and Barack Obama carried it by 20 points. If no one gets 50%
this next Tuesday, the race continues to August 17. I am running
against Republican Assemblymember Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo and
two minor candidates.
The Governor called the race in a way that causes four elections in five
months on the Central Coast. He didn’t care that it would cost local
cash-strapped counties an extra $3 million, nor did he seem to care that
it would disenfranchise overseas military voters because there was not
enough time to get ballots over and back, given the quick timeframe.
But that overtly political move, designed to favor Mr. Blakeslee, has
backfired.
Unsafe for Swimming - Rotting Kelp Trumps Swimmers at Cowell Beach
Written by Maria Gaura
SANTA CRUZ (May 2010) – With its mild currents and wind-damping cliffs, Cowell Beach is widely considered to be the safest beach in Santa Cruz for children and novice swimmers. But this popular family beach, located at the foot of the Municipal Wharf, has been increasingly plagued by bacterial pollution in the water.
The water at Cowell was posted as unsafe for human contact 67 days in 2008, and a whopping 172 days last year. The persistently high levels of bacteria tend to coincide with warm summer weather, and seasonal crowds of beachgoers.
While some noxious bacteria are deposited in the waves by sea lions and other wildlife, county health officials increasingly suspect that piles of rotting kelp on the beach are contributing to the deteriorating water quality at Cowell. Problem is, coastal regulations make it almost impossible to drag the stuff away.
Because decomposing seaweed provides food for flies, sand fleas and other critters at the low end of the food chain, the California Coastal Commission in 2005 forbade Santa Cruz from using machinery to remove the slimy heaps from city beaches between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
A Community Response to Street Gangs in Santa Cruz
by Neal Aronson, Special to SantaCruzWire.com
SANTA CRUZ (May 2010) - For far too long, we as a a society have tolerated gangs, perhaps
because we didn't consider it to be our problem. It was always "those people"
killing each other "over there". We felt sorry for Salinas and Watsonville
and were glad we didn't have their problems. There have been incidents in
Beach Flats and Lower Ocean St., but they felt like isolated events, and it
wasn't our children being attacked. Even though they took place in Santa
Cruz, they weren't happening in our neighborhoods.
Times have changed. In the last year two young men were murdered in
our neighborhoods and a young man, the son of my friend and neighbor,
was wounded while walking his dog on the west side. People are taking
notice and are filled with outrage and fear. How could this happen here? While
we were naively thinking this was someone else's problem, the gangs have
been growing more brazen and are now claiming our streets as their
territory.
Castoffs into Couture - Mission Hill Students Fashion Wearable Art
Written by Maria Gaura
SANTA CRUZ (May 2010) - Hand-sewn platform shoes, a man’s “blazer” alight with appliquéd flames, a taco-shaped hat and a handbag crafted from vinyl record albums.
These arresting fashion statements were among 128 student-made garments and accessories created this year at Project Runway for Teens, a school-wide wearable art show organized by Mission Hill Middle School art teacher Kathleen Crocetti.
Almost as unusual as the finished clothing was the source of the artists’ materials. As part of an ongoing partnership between the school and Goodwill Industries, more than 100 Mission Hill students were invited into Goodwill’s Union Street store for a special shopping day and allowed to take home any garment they wanted – for free.
SANTA CRUZ (MARCH 2010) — Maggie Vessey’s first indication she might become a world-class runner came when she was 6 years old. Her much-older cousin had challenged Vessey to a footrace and the two took off running across a practice field at Mar Vista Elementary School. Vessey won easily.
“I felt as tall as she was. It was just effortless,” said the now 5-foot-8 Vessey. “Running was the most pure feeling of being alive. I felt it even as a kid.”
But some of that joy began to leak out of running as word got around about Vessey’s innate ability, and other kids began challenging her to races. “It was a tangled web,” Vessey said as she sipped a bottled water after a recent training run, “because I liked to beat people too.”
Now 28 and about to embark on a series of track races that will take her around the world, Vessey still copes with the yin and yang of her sport: the nerves and insecurities that competition brings against the absolute freedom and joy of running. She has spent the past years working hard to find a balance, she said: not only in track, but also in her life.
Canine Chaos: Why Dogs Don't Belong in Downtown Santa Cruz
Written by Tara Leonard
SANTA CRUZ (March, 2010) - I’m a dog person. My house is littered with slobbery tennis balls, my car stocked with extra leashes and dog treats. Sometimes the very best part of my day is spent tossing a stick for my ridiculously enthusiastic pets who are ceaselessly entertained by the joy of retrieval. It’s impossible not to share their delight in the everyday routine of walks, play and meals (Food? For me? I LOVE you!). In short, I think everyone should have a dog.
Practice Makes Perfect: Music Students Shine at Certificate of Merit Exam
Written by Tara Leonard
SANTA CRUZ (March, 2010) - Eleven-year-old Isabel Corser sat at the upright piano, her blond hair still wet from swim practice, her bare right foot working the damper pedal as she played a lulling rendition of Sparkling Waters by Martha Sherrill Kelsey. Finishing with a confident flourish she said, “That piece is flowing, so it makes me think of a river moving. But my other one is completely different.” Turning back to the keyboard, she launched into a bouncy, happy Little Joke by Kabalevsky. “That one is more staccato,” she explained. “If you were walking, staccato would mean you pick up your feet quickly.”
Corser, along with more than 29,000 music students across
California, is practicing for the annual Certificate of Merit music
exam. For over 70 years CM, as students call it, has been sponsored by
the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC),
a statewide network of professional music teachers. Here in Santa Cruz
County, the exam takes place on Sunday, March 21.
SANTA CRUZ (February 2010) - When Patty Sapone was 20 years old and studying to be a police officer, she took a job working security at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk – the first woman ever to hold that position. There wasn’t much of a honeymoon period.
“It was rough-and-tumble,” Sapone said recently, grinning at the memory. “I got in a fight my second day at the job. I’d never been in a fight in my life before I put a uniform on.” Sapone won the scuffle. And she learned something about her abilities as a woman entering a traditionally male profession.
“I learned that I could jump in, and I could prevail physically,” Sapone said. “It’s not so much that you need a certain personality type to succeed (in police work), but you need the realization that you can do these things, and you can prevail.”
Sapone went on to thrive in a profession that is nearly as male-dominated today as it was when she took her first patrol job with the Santa Cruz Police Department in 1980. Sapone retires this month with the rank of Deputy Chief, earned in the course of a 30-year career with the SCPD.
Will Bankruptcy Strengthen the Santa Cruz Sentinel?
Written by Maria Gaura
SANTA CRUZ (January 2010) – After more than a year of increasingly urgent rumors, the Santa Cruz Sentinel’s parent company filed for bankruptcy protection January 22, a move expected to vaporize $765 million in bad debt and transfer most of the company’s stock to its creditors.
Losing more than three-quarters of a billion dollars would be considered a grim turn of events for nearly any company. But many media observers say they are cheered by the terms of the MediaNews Group bankruptcy, and expect it to benefit the Sentinel, its workers and news consumers in Santa Cruz County and beyond.
“I see all of this as good news for the papers, employees and debt holders of MediaNews Group,” said Mario van Dongen, a former Sentinel publisher who is now director of sales and marketing at the Portland Oregonian. “Cutting the debt … will give the papers some very important breathing room.”
Three Cups of Tea Fundraiser Back by Popular Demand
Written by Tara Leonard
SANTA CRUZ (January, 2010) -- Moved by the community response to their inaugural tea cup fundraiser last February, Santa Cruz artists Steven and Bonnie Barisof are planning a second annual event on February 11 at the Rio Theatre. Inspired by Greg Mortenson's bestselling memoir, Three Cups of Tea, the event raises money for Mortenson's Central Asia Institute to help build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"If you educate a girl, you educate a community,” Mortenson writes in his new book, Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books Not Bombs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. “The
better educated a woman is, the less likely she will be to let her
children join the Taliban…Their greatest fear is not the bullet, but
the pen.” Or in this case, the potter’s wheel!
SANTA CRUZ (December 2009) - Teachers take tests. In addition to all the exams I endured to get through college and acquire a master’s degree, I have taken the CBEST, the CLAD, the CSET, and probably a few others I have forgotten, sweating with a number two pencil in hand, and paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege, all in order to teach high school English.
Teachers give tests. We administer finals, read essay exams, proctor SATs, and enjoy the sadistic thrill of passing out pop quizzes. Although you run into the odd dreamer now and then who says, “those things are meaningless” and insists only on “authentic assessment,” most of us cannot conceive of education without the forced, timed exhibition of knowledge known as a test.
Why then are teachers so reluctant to be paid according to their students’ performance on a test?
LA SELVA BEACH (December 2009) - Custom bike builder Craig Calfee has spent two decades crafting featherweight bicycle frames out of high-tech carbon fiber, and selling them to elite cyclists. But his travels in Africa got him thinking about a different type of building material - and a different type of bicycle rider.
The result of Calfee’s brainstorm is Bamboosero, a line of moderately-priced bikes with frames made of bamboo. The frames are engineered to Calfee’s high standards, but handmade by craftsmen in Africa, Asia and Latin America out of locally-sourced bamboo. While Bamboosero aims to do good, it isn’t a charity – it’s a business partnership with an altruistic edge. Bamboosero aims to bring desperately-needed skilled jobs to developing nations by training workers, helping them set up workshops, and marketing their products in wealthier countries.
“We’re trying to develop a market, and an industry,” Calfee said. “And the way to start is by selling bikes in the U.S. and Europe. By just being good customers we can have a huge impact on people’s lives.”
SANTA CRUZ (December 2009) - Dennis
Morton leaned across a table at Santa Cruz County’s Juvenile Hall reading aloud
a paragraph penciled by a 14-year-old boy.The topic
was the boy’s first drink and he wrote that the alcohol had felt like “medicine”
for how it made his problems fade away.Morton, a teacher and radio-show host, nodded his head slowly at the
paragraph’s conclusion. “That
was a very full story in six lines,” he said. “How did it sound to hear what
you wrote?”
The boy,
dark-haired and built like a linebacker, dropped his head.“It
sounded good,” he said shyly.
Exchanges like that go on each week in juvenile detention facilities across
the San Francisco Bay Area. They’re at the heart of a program called “The Beat
Within,” which aims to promote literacy and provide positive recognition for
teenagers behind bars. Each week, the program distributes a
thick newsletter featuring writing and artwork from incarcerated teens, along
with essays from men and women doing harder time in prison.
Now a
score of writers – from bestselling author Karen Joy Fowler to novelist Laurie
King – are pitching in to help keep the program alive in Santa Cruz’s Juvenile
Hall.
Trans-Africa Cyclists Rally for Tour of California
Written by Maria Gaura
SANTA CRUZ (December 2009) - The Tour of California bike race is an eight-day, 750-mile trek that summits a couple of mountain passes and includes at least one heart-stopping ascent per day. Big whoop. Santa Cruz filmmaker Brain Vernor has ridden a road race that makes Levi Leipheimer’s recent Tour of California victory look like the pony ride at the county fair. And Vernor rode his race lugging a backpack full of camera equipment.
Admittedly, the elite riders in the Tour of California pedal a lot faster than Vernor and the fifty or so other participants in the 7,500 mile Tour D’Afrique, an annual road race that wends from Cairo, Egypt, to Cape Town, South Africa. And yes, the ToC athletes put in thousands of training miles preparing for the main event.
But they don’t sleep on the ground for four months at a stretch, they don’t ride for weeks on unpaved roads, and they almost certainly don’t eat stewed camel meat after a day in the saddle. Vernor has done all of the above, and filmed the experience, creating “Where Are You Go”, a documentary of the 2008 Tour D’Afrique.
SANTA CRUZ (November 2009) - The bike path that trisects UC Santa Cruz’s Great Meadow offers spectacular views of Monterey Bay, and an exhilarating free-fall on the downhill ride. But a rash of serious accidents in recent months has campus officials trying to slow cyclists who blast downhill at speeds as high as 40 miles per hour, and sometimes end up in the emergency room.
This month, shortly after another cyclist was carted away in an ambulance, UCSC’s department of Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) posted informational signs along the path, Burma-Shave style, showing some chilling statistics.
“13 solo crashes on bike path in two years,” read one sign. “7 by ambulance, 4 by helicopter, 2 walked away,” read another. Further along, at the top of the final downhill run, a third sign said “Please slow down.”
SANTA CRUZ (November 2009) - The recent funding crisis facing the state Healthy Families program, which provides much needed health insurance to California’s children, highlights an oft-ignored reality; that our failed state budgetary process and ideological entrenchments have a real-world effect on the health of actual children.
SANTA CRUZ (November, 2009) -- It was exactly one day prior to a scheduled event where residents were
set to gather downtown to mark the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta
earthquake when Tyler Tenorio was senselessly murdered. The anniversary event would memorialize the death and destruction that Santa Cruz suffered two decades earlier as a result of a natural catastrophe. More pointedly, the event would also celebrate the remarkable efforts of residents who tirelessly worked together with a sense of optimism to rebuild a broken city.
It is a tragic coincidence that it has taken the murder of a sixteen-year-old boy to catalyze our community to work together again to find solutions to address an entirely different type of challenge – ensuring that Santa Cruz is a safe and sustainable city for future generations.
How Weird is My City? Santa Cruz Redefines "Normal"
By David Hoban, Special to Santa Cruz Wire
SANTA CRUZ (November 2009) - In 1968 my wife and I lived in London. Having been natives of Philadelphia, a colonial city with neighborhoods named after those in London, we were soon at home. So, it was with surprise in 1972, when we moved to Santa Cruz, that we found ourselves, culturally like fish out of water.
On every day of the year except Halloween, I often found myself confused. I couldn’t tell who was in costume at any given time. There was the ever- changing Santa Cruz top ten: The Sun Man, Ginger, The Dancer, The Shopping Bag Lady, The Umbrella Lady, The Rainbow Lady, and occasional men in suits. Surely in Philadelphia they would have been institutionalized. Yet here they were a part of a fabric of tolerance. What the hell was going on here?
Hungry for Books: Monarch School Students Read for the Record
Written by Tara Leonard
SANTA CRUZ (October, 2009) -- Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar is about a ravenous young insect on his way to becoming a beautiful butterfly. For children everywhere, the ability to read is critical in helping them to spread their academic wings and succeed in school and beyond. That’s why, on a sunny October morning, students at Monarch School in Santa Cruz joined others around the globe in reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar as part of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record program.
SANTA CRUZ (October 2009) -- We cross all sorts of thresholds everyday. Awakening from sleep, we
cross one. There are the literal ones as we walk from room to room
or leave the house. When we get in our car or saunter into a coffee
shop, yet others. We notice them especially when something unexpected
happens.The word for threshold in Latin is liminal. A
modern dictionary tells us the word now means “belonging to the point of
conscious awareness below which something cannot be experienced or
felt.” I’d like to borrow this evocative word to describe my experience
of downtown Santa Cruz, a place that periodically is scorned for its
low-life, frightful vulgarity and underworld ambiance. I descend into
the downtown just about everyday, and I guess I’ve been fortunate not to
have succumbed to oblivion, rage, or numbness. In fact, I love
this daily descent, a stark contrast with profound similarities to my 34
year ascent up to the City on a Hill, UCSC.
SANTA CRUZ (October 2009) - Five students sit in Gary Milburn’s classroom, all assigned to traffic school for running stop signs, going the wrong way, or wearing iPod headphones while threading through traffic.
The four men and one woman are quiet, resentful and a little embarrassed to be here, but Milburn’s first comments catch them by surprise. “You’re all here because you did something right,” Milburn says, with complete sincerity. “You rode your bike instead of driving a car.”
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