Bruce Bratton hosts University Grapevine, linking local and campus issues, every Thursday 4-5 p.m. on KZSC 88.1 fm.
|
FIVE YEARS OF BRATTON ONLINE.COM. I've been writing this column for 33+ years and started it online five years ago last week. In the very first issue I asked why the Santa Cruz Police didn't go after the miserable noise polluting motorcyclists who roar though downtown. Shows how effective our police have been in five years or haven't you been downtown lately, the noise is worse now then it was then. In the second column (June 24, 2003) I asked Ryan Coonerty if he was going to run for City Council, he said he would. I also asked Lynn Robinson if she was running she said, "Why would I do that?". Five years later we can only guess why. There isn't any way to thank all readers and visitors and email writers to this site; it's been staggering and wonderful. I need to especially thank long time friend Richard Bender who first suggested going online after Santa Cruz Metro fired me, it seemed crazy at the time but damnation these five years online have been the best and most fun ones. Now's the time to give huge thanks to Gunilla Leavitt better known as Godmomas Forge go to http://godmomasforge.com/about.html to check what she does. Gunilla has put up with five years of all my edits, changes, last minute corrections and ridiculous questions and we are still friends!!! Next...over those 28 years of being in various newspapers in town I've had a bunch of ding-dong editors and a few good ones but none equal the work and time my daughter Hillary has devoted these last years in keeping this column readable, credible, and even logical. She's still working to teach me how to use hyphens (or are they dashes?), and how sentences should really be constructed. I forget to thank her enough and she deserves big thanks. Beyond that, have a happy fourth, I'm going to LA to see other daughter Jennifer plus grandsons and I'll be back a bit later next week.
CITY COUNCIL RACE 2008. Just to keep traditional I asked Ryan Coonerty last week if he was going to run this year he said, "I haven't definitively decided but am strongly leaning towards running and will make a decision in the next week or so. I love being on council, the issue for me was how to make a living and be on council without holding down four jobs as I have done for the last four years (teaching at ucsc and cabrillo, city council and bookshop). I think I have found a way to narrow it to three jobs, so serving on council seems more doable". I asked Don Lane he replied, "I'm planning to run. Still sorting a couple personal things before making it "official" – but I believe I will sort those things out and will run". Then he thanked me for checking. Katherine Beiers is running as previously mentioned and as everyone knows you couldn't stop Tony Madrigal from running if you tried.
BREAKING SENTINEL FIRING HEADLINES. That stuff I printed about The Sentinel firings in this week's column was only sort of true. The even more truthful report (so far) is much worse. Chris Watson book reviewer and writer extraordinaire, for 30 years was fired, unbelievable. Luckily she'll get a pension from when Ottaway owned the Sentinel. Tom Regan either quit or was fired too, a few weeks back. Copy Editor Marta Correll who edited the Features section and was formerly with Good Times was canned. Three people from the advertising department were dumped, names unknown as of now. No one was sent to Fremont as I printed, but there is talk about a central copy desk for many area community newspapers being moved somewhere over the hill. Another inside source says there are rumors of still more firings coming at both The Sentinel and at The S. J. Mercury.
We need to know more about what used to be our Sentinel. After The McPherson Family sold it to Ottaway (Dow Jones), they sold it to Community Newspaper Holdings who then sold it to Media News Group Inc. Media News group is the fourth largest news paper company in the US. They own 56 dailies, a CBS station in Alaska and 4 radio stations.
Go here to read more statistics and history. Don Miller's job is still secure, (probably thanks to God). But why he doesn't report all of the full news about the people we read every day and become so familiar with is just shameful. Why he didn't print Chris Watson a well deserved thanks makes you wonder. Wallace Baine says it's just a matter of time before he too gets the Sentinel scimitar.
METRO MAKEOVER. As of July 31 Steve Hahn, Will Mosher, and Garrett Wheeler the serious writers at Metro Santa Cruz will leave Metro Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz period! Word on and off the streets say they were bored with this college town, are moving to South Korea, and weren't getting enough money.
KUSP. The failed merger of KAZU and KUSP has caused some serious fretting about how to compete with NPR and money matters in general. The first rumors said that KUSP is going to drop ALL music programs and go to talk, news, and information I asked Terry Green KUSP station manager he said, "Speculation about KUSP dropping all music programming is unfounded. Bottom line is this... listener feedback (accumulated over the course of the past year and a half) indicates a stronger preference for more (and more diverse sources of) information through the workday, where right now we have about half music and half news. Listener feedback also indicates a preference for news during the early morning and commute times, and music in the evenings (so we're good on that score).So we might shift the music-to-news balance overall a little bit more in favor of news and information, if we were to honor the feedback we get from our listeners. But a wholesale decision to dump music programming is just not in the cards, not on my watch anyway. We've been actively discussing this situation internally (board, staff, volunteers) since the KAZU deal didn't work out (that is, end of February -- so about four months of internal dialog and debate). We hope to finalize a decision about our general programming strategy in the next few weeks, implementing any changes after that.
INSIDE KUSP. Before Terry Green replied I'd asked several KUSPers what they knew about a music change one response was, "the current plan yet to be realized is to drop or restrict the KPIG-type light music during the 11am to 3pm block and add more talk/public affairs programming, some local. At the present in my opinion there are neither resources nor talent to accomplish this. The evening music blocks and weekend remain for now untouched. Another KUSPer replied, "I heard that they were thinking of dropping music during the day on the weekends. I'm not sure if anything has changed yet".
CRUZIO'S ENTIRE NEW HOME PAGE...or LINK LOCALLY!!! Westi Haughey of Cruzio's admin staff tells me they had worked over a year to perfect their new home page...and it looks it. More importantly Cruzio did a long survey of their customers and asked them what they wanted mostly on their home page. You should see it...
www.cruzio.com aside from storm warnings, road repairs, highway cameras 24/7, even a map of lowest gas prices that is up to the last minute , it's all there. They made it even easier to get your email as a customer. Beyond that I was surprised to learn that the survey showed customers wanted to have all local movie times, length of films and locations so that's all there too. There's a bikeway map, fire coverage, election info. AS you know Cruzio is a big supporter of buying locally and when you do your internet business with Cruzio that money stays local. They had 3,000 users register log in the first day and they get 10,000 visitors daily and that figure is growing rapidly. One of the biggest and best features that I think could help our community is that they now have an event calendar that everyone can use to first, check out a date even years in advance to see if there's a conflict then you can list that event all for free. Too many times around here events compete by accident that no longer need happen. Westi also helped me add new stuff to BrattonOnline.com and to University Grapevine listings...friendly people at Cruzio. Check them out and link local.
KAPU BACK AFTER FIRE. Tim Seidl Hawaiian music expert and KAPU DJ says - as of 12:45 pm today (Monday 6/30/2008) KAPU LP 104.7 FM came back on the air. After the Trabing Road fire shut down their transmitter. Tim enclosed links to their membership form and a sample letter to the FCC asking them to consider giving KAPU more power, but I can't forward them maybe next week. Tim's program doesn't have a name yet he's only been doing it two years. His sometime-on-air name is Uncle Haole Grande and his program is on Thursdays 4-6p.m. Yep, same time as mine on KZSC but you can't hear KAPU much more than a few blocks from the station.
CORPORATIONS - A QUICK QUESTION. More and more energy, concern and attention is being centered on just how destructive and powerful corporations have become in the USA and around the world. Corporations being regarded as having as many legal rights as human beings is scary enough. I'm not sure yet how we as citizens can do much about that- but why is it that, as a city Santa Cruz welcomes such corporations as Borders, Whole Foods, Safeway, Costco, and still tries to pretend it's an aware city.
N FRANCISCO'S SILENT FILM FESTIVAL. This year is the thirteenth year of the festival. Started by Stephen Salmons former Santa Cruzan and usher at the Rio Theatre he and Melissa Chittick founded The Silent Film Festival in 1992. Over 1,800 people came to the first festival, and annual attendance has grown over the years to nearly 11,000. The organization now involves a ten-person board of directors, a staff of four, a seventeen-member Advisory Committee, and more than 100 event volunteers. This year it runs July 11-13. I've attended at least the last 10 years and each year the appreciation of the art of Silent Films grows. Silent Films are a very different art form than sound films or movies, they're much more interactive. Go to www.silentfilm.org see such stars as Harold Lloyd, Colleen Moore, Marion Davies, Conrad Veidt, Lon Chaney, and Joan Crawford in beautifully restored and properly projected masterpieces all at the Historic Castro Theatre in San Francisco.
PROSTITUES PUMPING AND PIMPING PETROL. Some of my best friends are British Ex Pats that's why I started reading the Ex Pat Bulletin. Link onto this bit o' news.
Democratic Party Unity? We missed the Unity event Saturday at Peachwood's, but attendees reported a good turnout of over 100 Democrats. There were a reasonable number of Hillary people in attendance, but the majority was from Obama 's camp. It's going to take time to get past that bruising primary election between Hillary and Barack but let's keep our fingers crossed that we do get past it. I know lots of Hillary supporters that are as disappointed as I would have been if Barack Obama came in second, but to even suggest voting for McCain or not voting at all is unthinkable.
"Mongol" for best movie of the year! I don't mean to step on any of Bruce's movie reviews, but every so often we see a movie that really deserves praise. The movie "Mongol", now playing at the Nickelodeon is one of them and is going to draw record setting audiences during its run there. This film from Kazakhstan (yes, with subtitles) kept us on the edge of our seats for the two hours it ran. Let's just start with the subtitles. They were in a font that could be easily read, and stayed on-screen long enough to read them along with listening to the sound track. You can read any number of movie reviews of this film that has been nominated for best foreign film of the year. The movie is spectacular, see it! To top off a wonderful afternoon at the Nick, we found ourselves just a few rows from friends Bill and Joyce Malone, Dick and Diane Doubrava, and Berta Richardson. We had a great discussion in the lobby after the movie, congratulating ourselves for picking a great movie to spend Sunday afternoon watching.
RELEASE OF PLASMA INCINERATOR PERMIT DELAYED. The Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control is dragging its feet when it comes to releasing a copy of the permit application for the plasma trash incinerator by AdaptiveARC that the County of Santa Cruz is proposing to place in South County at the Buena Vista Landfill. The request made by Bradley Angel of Green Action for Health and Environmental Justice has gone nowhere, and the legal counsel for the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control says that delay is due to the possibility of the permit being protected as a "trade secret." Angel claims says this is unacceptable considering that the plasma incinerator will be coming back to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors in just six weeks on August 12th.
South County residents are not holding their breath waiting to obtain a copy of the permit either. They are already forming the Pajaro Valley Coalition for Environmental Justice to campaign against the plasma incinerator being placed in the Pajaro Valley. They cite environmental justice concerns, including unanswered questions about toxic pollution and waste possibly being generated by the incinerator. They claim the incinerator would be placed right next to the Buena Vista Migrant Labor Camp that houses nearly 500 Latino migrant workers and their children, and would be only a short distance from Pajaro Valley High School, which is 92 percent Latino. In addition, they claim the County is trying to fast track the "demonstration" project without doing an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as required by California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Coalition may also be teaming up with the Natural Resources Defense Council to fight the incinerator. Stay tuned for more on this fight!
COMMUNITY TELEVISION WILL NO LONGER BROADCAST PV SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS. Last Wednesday's school board meeting of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District may be the last to be broadcast on Community Television of Santa Cruz County. The school board voted to slash the nearly $9,000 it allocated to broadcast recorded meetings. Some residents claim this would make the school district less transparent at a time when it has come under scrutiny for alleged Brown Act violations, had two lawsuits filed against it for such violations, and received harsh criticism by the Santa Cruz County Grand Jury about its lack of transparency. The school district, which is the largest in the county with nearly 20,000 students, claims that the cuts were necessary under the current budget crisis. However, left unexplained was why during such a budget crisis they approved $300,000 for a Dallas-based energy consultant just last January and four 3-year hefty contracts for assistant superintendents, with increased benefits, with a price tag of approximately $600,000 ?? Surely the small budget for Community Television desperately needed to be cut to pay these costly district bills. Hopefully, this school board will make the wise decision of getting their meetings back on the air soon.
PATTON'S PROGRAM. Gary Patton (former Santa Cruz County Supervisor) tells us about Monterey's green building program is it a goal or a requirement? He tells us about AB 32 the Global Warming Solution Act. Carmel Valley is talking about becoming incorporated. The Coastal Commission's definitions it's scope and protection are talked about and lastly Gary salutes the Fourth Of July talking about the constitutional right of self government.
EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. Scroll down for Tim's new voter game..."When In Doubt Panic!" it's a game the whole Nation can play.
LANDAU'S PROGRES. Believe it or not Saul Landau reports on his tour of Graceland, plus he paid $24 to get in. he of course goes on to discover more of North America...don't miss it.
WATERS WEIGHS IN. Christina celebrates Independence Day with lunch at Soif, and a few observations on Oswald, Lulu's and the downtown dining scene. She and I agree again on SFOpera's version of Das Rheingold. All at http://christinawaters.com.
SAVAGE GRACE. You'll never think about Bakelite the same way after you see Julienne Moore in Savage Grace. Bakelite, invented in the '20s was used to make toys, pot and pan handles, radios, jewelry, and it's still used in electronics. This is a true story from the book of the very rich descendents of the family of Dr. Leo Baekelund. It takes the idea of love your mother to new dimensions (yes incest!) and there's gay love, and murder, and not exactly your average summer time movie watching but the acting is wonderful. If you go don't blame me if you end up feeling bad.
BEFORE THE RAINS. I'd guess this is the last Merchant Ivory film since Merchant died three years ago. As such it's a beautifully photographed, lush looking film but it's also boring. It's about the class system in 1930's India and about adultery and about the 1000th time we've seen this plot.
WALL- E. Pixar does it again with an imaginative creative story and animation that is way beyond other studios. It's a look into the future of our planet maybe after what Werner Herzog sees (read the review of Encounters at The End of The World). At moments it's very cute, depressing, don't even think about it, just go - you'll love it.
WANTED. Angelina Jolie is getting a bit skinny and this movie (we are not calling them films anymore....they don't use film) has moments of awe inspiring scenes and effects that are truly exciting. The plot is weird, implausible, almost nonexistent, and erratic and only exists to build these thrilling action bits onto. James McAvoy plays a nerd who turns Schwarzenegger and even that is made near - plausible if you've swallowed everything that comes before. I'd go if I were you and if you're into special effects, stunts, and stupid plots. Read The New Yorker review by Anthony Lane its way better than the film, talk about ripping apart a movie...whew!! By the way and I like to remind everybody from time to time that there are more New Yorker subscribers in California than in New York. More than that, there are more New Yorker subscribers in Northern California than in Southern California.
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Werner Herzog has been making movies for nearly 50 years. Early on he made' "Even Dwarfs Started Small" and then went on to make films on every continent. If you've seen even a few of his films you know he's been searching for something beyond normal movie boundaries. Beyond using actors, beyond plots, and with "Encounters" you get the feeling that he's finally finding a way to say what's almost on his mind. It's all about Antarctica, not the penguins (he hates them), it falls under the heading documentary but its Herzog's statement about earth, the future of mankind, and about undiscovered beauty. It is one of the most thoughtful movies I've seen. Only see it on the big screen, it'll fail to impress you on your little tv.
GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON. There is still too much myth, BS, and sheer lunacy surrounding Thompson's life and writing. This documentary made by friends including Johnny Depp almost explains what Thompson's life was all about. It's a looney, tragic and brilliant tribute to him and if you have any admiration or curiosity about this mess of a human see it and appreciate what his life must have been. The political content is well done too.
MISTER LONELY. I don't know why but Werner Herzog acts the part of a faux priest in a sequence unrelated to the main story that no critic has figured out yet. Imagine a Michael Jackson imitator falling in love with a Marilyn Monroe imitator, but the MM imitator is married to a Charlie Chaplin imitator who treats her evilly and they have a daughter who acts the part of Shirley Temple. And this is not a comedy, and it isn't a very good movie either AND it is totally an original plot that coulda been a contender. Go see it, very touching and Samantha Morton plays the woman who plays Marilyn.
EAST CLIFF VIDEO'S NEW STORE. I've been going to Cedar Street Video for years and have never run out of good videos. Now East Cliff Video also owned by Sami Abed has moved from the exact corner of 17th and Portola to the East Cliff Shopping Village where the drug store used to be, across from where Polivio's used to be.. The Video store is next to El Rosal Panaderia my favorite source of Menudo on Sunday's and pan dulce the rest of the week. East Cliff Video has a huge collection of foreign, independent, and classical films plus hundreds of films that were never released in the USA. I'll start reviewing them pretty soon. They have so many I'm just starting alphabetically with the titles containing "A". I asked Sami Abed about how many titles they have at the store he replied, "I couldn't give you an accurate number but I'd just say the store specializes in foreign and documentary films. We offer the dollar nights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Another unique thing we do is if there's a film a customer wants and we don't have it – we do our best to find it and stock it as a rental. This policy is one of the reasons we have such a distinctive selection. The other reason is that I spend a lot of time on the internet researching new releases. Sami isn't kidding, stop by and browse, tell them I sent you.
SPAM NAMES. Genuine authentic mostly fake names from my Spam Filter this week...and you can and should send in yours too. Letha Corona, Guillaume Dougal, Mercedes Maloney, Ranny Ming, Lagerberg Creitz, Idema Zongo, Chastity Barnhart, Carma Peggie, Febrya Fagan, Coy Barr, Velisse Rosana, Brinkley Mahbuba, Deloris Neme, Clifton Boon, Latisha Cassidy, McGaffigan Slay, Selena Shari, Issy Miley, Hiram Abdenace, Germaine Dahlia, Benn Hyman, Lambert Busalace, Dougy Dundee, and Ogara Priddy. Carma Peggie has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. I host this weekly radio interview program on KZSC 88.1 fm on Thursdays. The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is the largest and most famous of all the many Silent Film Festivals around the world. It's all due to Stephen Salmons former Santa Cruzan (he was an usher at the Rio Theatre). He'll be on University Grapevine KZSC 88.1 this Thursday (7/3) from 4-4:30 talking about the 13th annual festival held at the famed Castro Theatre from July 11-13.Then John Kegebein the ongoing blood and guts and now interim manager of our Santa Cruz County Fair will tell us about all the new attractions for this year's fair.
(*Please note that I was one week ahead with info last week)
QUOTES. "You smash it-and I'll build around it." -John Lennon. "Hate the sin and love the sinner" -Mahatma Gandhi. "The native is the oppressed person whose permanent dream is to become the persecutor." -Frantz Fanon. "College isn't the place to go for ideas." -Helen Keller.
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
|
BONNY DOON FIRE. A couple who sell real estate in Bonny Doon put up a Bonny Doon website that has a lot of area residents reactions and inside looks at the fire up there. Check out http://www.bonny-doon.info. Read Rachel Goodman's letter, read the other letters too. See why the entire county needs better communication especially during emergencies. I keep asking every so often, when will our city or county create a plan for floods, tsunamis, earthquakes...not just those inane Red Cross printouts but real escape routes and carpooling and disaster plans with specifics in them. We had nothing before the 1989 earthquake and we've developed nothing since...haven't we learned anything?
"FIGHT SIMMERS OVER PLAN FOR HUGE SAFEWAY STORE" That was the title of an article in the San Francisco Chronicle for Saturday, June 14. It is surprising to see how the residents around College Avenue and the Rockridge Center in Oakland are fighting Safeway's demolition of the existing store and 60,000 sq. ft. expansion when Santa Cruz went so ascend-up to support the same Safeway expansion here. Click on the link and see how the community is concerned about nearby businesses. Read how they care how out of scale the new Safeway will be. See how Safeway plans to put the parking underground. Oakland likes its small mom and pop businesses and is fighting to preserve them. One blogger calls it "Union-busting-Slaveway" in Santa Cruz we have a Sierra Club official being paid to help Safeway expand by fighting the environmentalists, and our city council never batted an eye over supporting and encouraging it. I agree Santa Cruz is weird, but not always in a good way.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/14/BAI7118U11.DTL
BARACKS SISTER. Maya Soetoro-Ng, Barack Obama's sister, came to Santa Cruz after her visit to Watsonville last week. She was also at many big deal fund-raisers but the one at London Nelson's big meeting room was for free, and it was wall to wall and everybody had a good time. Maya told mostly cute things like Obama's ears were big enough to hang umbrellas on. Obama loves Scrabble and they play annually. Obama taught her about poetry, philosophy, and why she needed to get credentials to make something of herself. Bill Monning who was there gave a special thanks to Emily Reilly who was also there and so was Cynthia Mathews, who spoke about measure T. (more later). He said the assembly campaign was clean and honest and dealt with the issues, and everyone agreed and applauded. Maya went on to answer when asked, that Obama did tell her he wasn't going to appoint a "potted plant" as vice president. We all assumed that means someone who wasn't decorative and would just sit there...and get "potted"??? :-) Maya and her mom had a pretty rough time of it and brother Obama was a good influence on her she said, and we believed her.
McCAIN SUPPORTERS. One political website lists all local campaign donors and supporters so I checked out McCain people...no surprises there. Harvey Nickelson was number one with $2,500, followed by Gary Reece of Gill properties also $2500, then came Terry Gritton, Henry Pearce and Theodore Showalter. That's in case you wonder who in hell would not just vote for but even donate to McCain...now you know.
COUNTY ONLY PROVIDES 75% OF BALLOTS? It was at Barack's sister's gathering that someone (maybe it was Bill Monning, I forgot) mentioned that our county only provides voting ballots for 75% of the registered voters. It was then stated that with the interest being so high for this next election that the turnout could be as high as 80%. If you know anything about there only being 75% let me know or tell Gail Pellerin or somebody...quick.
SENTINEL FIRINGS CONTINUE. There were still more Sentinel firings Friday June 20. Inside rumors have it that about half a dozen newsroom jobs were moved to Fremont. Details might follow but these latest reductions haven't been reported anywhere and the loss should not go unnoticed. I'll work on some verifying but it ain't easy.
FRANKLIN MARSHALL. Every so often somebody asks about Franklin Marshall and what ever happened to him. Franklin is the guy who was pushing the Children's Museum, then he actually printed a children's book about Louden Nelson (his spelling) that was full of lies and myths. After that Good Times did a story about Marshall that detailed most of the many schemes he tried to pull off around town that never worked. Well, he's back and I saw him, stay alert.
MEASURE T. If you've never toured our 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center up in DeLa Veaga park near the Stroke Center, you should. Hopefully you've never had to use their expertise either but our Center has won awards for being so well run and efficient. The tax that supported the City of Santa Cruz's share of operational costs has run out. So there's a Measure T mail only ballot that'll be happening very soon. Vote Yes on measure T when you get your ballot in the mail. More on this later.
2120 PROJECT. Everyone knows some kind of development is going to happen in this huge plot of land on Delaware and Swift. We just need to make sure that the City and the developer Craig French know what the community wants and needs there. As Reed Searle wrote: There will be a hearing before the Planning Commission. This hearing is the final opportunity to make whatever points may be appropriate to the Commission regarding this project. The project is the biggest one in the history of the City, except for the University. This project will most certainly very substantially affect the Westside and indeed the whole City.
A final decision regarding the project will be made by the City Council. That hearing is scheduled for July 22. Recommendations by the Planning Commission are not binding on the Council, but may be persuasive. The Commission and ultimately the Council may approve, deny, modify or set a series of conditions on approval. Particularly as regards traffic, water and parking, suggestions for conditions to minimize expected adverse effects on the community could be very important. This project is expected to generate 5129 new daily auto trips at buildout. When all other projects in the mill are considered, a total of over 20,000 new Westside daily auto (and truck) trips are planned for our part of the city. By way of comparison, the SCCRTC monitoring report issued in March 2005 indicated daily traffic on Mission St at Baldwin, at 28,578. If most or all of the traffic to be generated by cumulative projects uses Mission St., and we certainly hope it would, we're looking at over 40% increase, and this is in addition to "normal " traffic growth. The traffic would intrude on residential areas unless there is adequate mitigation. The draft EIR does not attempt to alleviate this---it only says that intersection improvements and payment of the traffic impact fee are adequate mitigation. As noted in the notice of hearing, this Planned Unit Development may include up to 248 new residential units as well as 145 industrial or commercial units. The Westside is already short of parks, and no additional park space is provided for. Water, of course, is another very serious problem.
We are advised that the final draft of the EIR and the Staff report will be available on the Planning Dept website on Monday, June 23. That doesn't give much time prior to the Planning Commission meeting for review and preparation of whatever comments may be appropriate. Since the final decision is made by the City Council, comments may be made then as well. These are certainly encouraged and the hearing before the Council is surely the more important. Comments made before the Planning Commission will be reflected in the minutes of that meeting, so they are also significant. Until we see the final EIR and the staff report, we do not know whether the project will be approved, and if so, what conditions may be recommended.
I hope concerned residents attend both hearings. It is not an understatement to say that the future of the City is most definitely at stake. Certainly the proposed project has many good points. Whether the good parts can survive the imposition of reasonable conditions and even what conditions are reasonable, I don't know. I do know that we owe it to ourselves to be involved in the process. That first meeting of the Planning Commission is this Thursday June 26 7 pm., 809 Center St., Santa Cruz, CA All persons who may be interested are hereby invited to present oral or written statements at or before said hearing. Delaware Multi-Use Project, 2120 Delaware Ave. 05-285 APN 003-121-01.
Now fast-forward to the Saturday, June 21st edition of the Register R-P. Front page close-up of a firefighter and a raging inferno just off Highway 1, an above-the-fold headline, "Fire rages near Hwy 1" and an article entitled "City may ban sale of all fireworks – City Council calls special meeting". Here's the chance to reverse the decision to sell fireworks, let's hope the City Council hears from their constituents and does that. Along with preventing more needless fires, it would have to be a moral booster for those heroic men and women who have battled the recent fires around the clock. I hope they are represented at Wednesday's special meeting of the Watsonville City Council.
How much longer do we have to wait for officials to tell us what really caused the Trabing fire, the Martin fire, the Summit fire and the rest? Something needs to be done to make these facts known to the public. A KPIG disk jockey just proclaimed that lightning caused the fire on Buena Vista Avenue! He's about 24 hours off, since that fire took place on Friday, the electrical storm on Saturday. He's probably confusing the fire on Buena Vista with the lightning-caused fires the following day on the south side of Mt. Madonna. Has the arsonist who started the fires along Highway 1 been identified? It would be nice to know how the investigation is progressing!
These are our friends and neighbors whose homes have been destroyed. My daughter knows the families that lost their homes on Trabing Rd. She also knows the family who lives in the only house left standing on Trabing Rd. If these fires were deliberately set, we need to know, and we need to know what to look out for.
Too Many Close Calls at Trabing Fire in Buena Vista. Special thanks goes out to all the firefighters who doused flames and saved homes, pets, and farm animals in South County. Drivers on Highway 1 can see part of the fire damage between the Mar Monte and Buena Vista Exits. However, one has to drive down Buena Vista and Larkin Valley Roads, now that they have opened up by local law enforcement, to see that there were many close calls to people's homes. Unfortunately, some folks were not so lucky and suffered major losses, but the situation could have certainly been much worse. The Watsonville City Council has since called an emergency meeting to consider banning the sales of "safe and sane" fireworks for this upcoming Fourth of July celebrations, after they had just given a recent approval. These firework sales have usually funded many non-profit, church, cheerleading and local sports teams, and would certainly be a financial blow to some. But looking at the extent and seriousness of the latest blaze, keeping fire hazards to a minimum may be that ounce of prevention that will go a long way this summer.
RUSSIA BUILDS MONUMENT TO THE ENEMA. Simon Kelly and his old friend Gregory Tarsy sent this in, and I know you wouldn't believe this without some kind of proof so here's the link to Yahoo's site complete with the story about the new enema monument They say it isn't campy or kitsch it's sincere, and before you bother writing yes, I do think we need something similar in front of our city hall.
CHRISTINA WATERS WEIGHS IN. This week Christina rants about the underwhelming SF Opera production of "Das Rheingold," and savors a few good meals. Plus a hot sauce you absolutely require. All at http://christinawaters.com She also mentions cooking classes with Diana Kennedy and a winery saved from South County fires.
TIM EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. Tim and family were driven from their Bonny Doon home and he's taking his first week-long vacation in thirty years.
LANDAU'S PROGRES. Saul talks about "Life and Commercial Death Along The Mississippi". It's Landau's version of part of American history when you click there be sure to watch the Tiger Woods clip on You Tube that's right next to it.
LIME KILN HISTORY. After damning Chancellor Blumenthal last week for continuing to allow the historic lime kiln buildings to deteriorate Stan Stevens emailed to say, "I enjoyed reading your newsletter this week. I always go first to the photo. This one, with the Cowell oxen and limestone, allows me to suggest to you and your readers that our History Publications Committee (of which I am Chairman) recently published a book that ought to be acquired by anyone desiring more information on this important industry that was so critical to Felton and Santa Cruz: "Lime Kiln Legacies The history of the lime industry in Santa Cruz County, California" Welcome to the Lime Kiln Legacies website: www.limekilnlegacies.com
Lime Kiln Legacies, published in May, 2007, by the Museum of Art and History, traces the history of lime making in Santa Cruz County, California, from 1791 to 1946.In the late 1800s Santa Cruz was the most important lime manufacturing area in California. Much of the lime was transported by ship 75 miles north to San Francisco where it was used to make mortar and plaster for constructing buildings. Today, many of Santa Cruz County's historic lime kilns remain standing, and some are preserved in parks where they are popular hiking destinations (see links).The authors (all volunteers) are: Frank Perry, Bob Piwarzyk, Mike Luther, Alverda Orlando, Allan Molho, and Sierra Perry. Foreword by Kenneth Jensen. Index by Stan Stevens. Cover and book design by Mike Clark (Don Clark's son).Lime Kiln Legacies is now available from the Museum Store, at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz; price:
$24.95. And all good, independent book stores.
CLAIRE BRAZ VALENTINE AND WILMA MARCUS CLASS."THE CURTAIN OPENS" There'll be a three-day play writing-to-performance workshop in downtown Santa Cruz with Claire Braz-Valentine and Wilma Marcus Chandler. "See your creative ideas move from improvisation, memoir, poetry and narrative to a completed play with actors and directors bringing your script to life". Claire Braz-Valentine is a widely-published and internationally produced playwright, poet, newspaper columnist and writing teacher in both the Bay Area and Butte County. Wilma Marcus Chandler is a nationally published writer, playwright, actor and director who teaches theater in Santa Cruz. August 1, 2, 3 2008 Friday 7-9 pm, Saturday 10-4pm and Sunday 10-4 pm. Limited enrollment Fee: $190.00 (lunches included) Call: 831-475-4362 or 530-872-7918 for details and enrollment
MONGOL, THE MOVIE. It's hard to believe but this is a film about the soft side of Genghis Khan. It's like a John Ford western, Kurosawa's epics, and except for a little ethnic (and time) problem Jimmy Stewart could have played Genghis. It's exciting, well acted, absolutely beautiful, and from what they say it's been heavily researched...go see it.
MONGOL, THE PENCIL. I was going to make a joke about thinking "Mongol" the movie was about pencils as in "Mongol Pencils"? Being as how we are so internet-minded I looked up Mongol Pencils, wow!! First there's a Pencil of the Month club go here and check it out.http://www.pencilthings.com There you'll find all about collector's and really valuable pencils. You can go over-board and check into fountain pens...I remember fountain pens...go to the Pen Addict at http://penaddiction.blogspot.com . I'm not sure which is better the movie or the websites check them both out.
LOVE GURU. Mike Myers has made this the most tasteless and least funny of all his films. It's embarrassing to see how low he will go to make a buck. Ben Kingsley, Deepak Chopra, Jessica Alba, and Justin Timberlake are all in it too and they should all be ashamed.
GET SMART. Never being a fan of the original 1960's TV series I can only judge this one as it goes, and it's making millions at the box office but it's still a bomb. Anne Hathaway is gorgeous as always and Steve Carrel does what he can with lame idiotic humor but it is a waste of time. Not a smart or clever line in it. No wit, no cleverness, not even creative visual comedy that is worth your admission fees.
WAITING FOR GODOT FINALLY EXPLAINED!! In Die Weit for June 20, 2008 I caught this final answer to one of life's most intriguing problems.....
A French school teacher, Valentine Temkine, has succeeded, as Matthias Heine reports, in historically and geographically locating Samuel Beckett's absurdist play "Waiting for Godot", which supposedly took place in no-man's land. "Godot, whom Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for, is a Resistance smuggler, who is supposed to smuggle them out of occupied France into the Italian zone. The two of them are Jews on the run who come from Paris' 11 arrondissement. They are probably waiting to be rescued in the spring of 1943 on the dry, limestone heights of the Southern Alps, somewhere like the Plateau de Valensole. All of this is clearly indicated in the play – at least in the original French text." You can check out part of the source at www.signandsight.com
BRIT COPS IN HELICOPTER SEE AND CHASE AN UFO. Just read this report. It sounds amazingly real. http://www.telegraph.co.uk And it's just weeks since the Brits officials released all their official reports on UFO's.
SPAM NAMES. Tom Noddy gets what I like about goofy Spam Names and says, "Mr. Zongo M. Wederaogo...Like you, I'm not so interested in spam names that are odd only because they're culturally different than ours "Tom" (much less Noddy) is a fairly odd sound in several language groups who would need a vowel ending for it to sound "right". But this name is just too cool to skip. I googled it and Zongo is the name of a market town in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a not uncommon first or last name in that part of the world ... if I had a kid, I'd have to consider it. But I'd still hope he didn't grow up to become a spammer. Oh ... and this one too earns its place on the list for its musical quality: Miss Letisha Aisha", Tom Noddy. Mr. Les Fairbanks of New York City and a constant BrattonOnline reader adds, "I knew these people... E Pluribus Eubanks, and Shackup Sweetly" and Les never lies. My own weekly additions are Tameka Lusk, Fidole Forrest, Rory Orr, Linwood Pugh, Corby Serge, Isidro Camacho, Ewart Hong, Ania Lulu, Bat Meenie, Moultrie Jernigan, Cassandra Sherika, Hartwell Gamaliel, and Ilario Jaik. Rory Orr is a great name except when you see him you'd have to say "how are all the little Orr's" and you'd probably snicker. Then again you could drive by his house and say "hey isn't that the Orr House" and everybody would snicker some more and giggle a lot.
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is the largest and most famous of all the many Silent Film Festivals around the world. It's all due to Stephen Salmons former Santa Cruzan (he was an usher at the Rio Theatre). He'll be on University Grapevine KZSC 88.1 this Thursday from 4-4:30 talking about the 13th annual festival held at The famed Castro Theatre from July 11-13.Then John Kegebin the ongoing blood and guts and now interim manager of our Santa Cruz County Fair will tell us about all the new attractions for this year's fair.
QUOTES. "Every man's life is a fairy tale written by God's fingers", Hans Christian Andersen. "Only that in you which is me can hear what I'm saying", Baba Ram Dass. "There is nothing new except what has been forgotten", Marie Antoinette. "Reality is a movie", Abbie Hoffman.
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
 |
© 2003-2005 Bruce Bratton • info@brattononline.com • HOME |  |