Greensite… sitting this week out… Steinbruner… Felton Fire… VISTRA battery fires… Hayes… Marshall Meadows… Patton… We Might Well Ask Ourselves, “Why?”… Matlock… is on a break… Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover … Webmistress serves you… be yourself… Quotes on… “Hollywood”
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COMING TO YOU, STRAIGHT FROM SALT LAKE CITY! I’m posting this from a hotelroom in Salt Lake City. I’m here for a wedding, and taking in the sights and some good food while I’m at it. Today, for instance, I had the most amazing Eggs Benedict at a “Thai Fusion” brunch restaurant. It was in my top 3 ever as far as Eggs Benedict goes. The Hollandaise sauce was out of this world; it was rather lemon-y, which was perfect. After that, we went to see one of the largest open pit mines in the world: The Bingham Canyon Mine, AKA the Kennecott Copper Mine. It was established in 1903, and is three quarters of a mile deep and two and a half miles across. I can’t express how fascinating it was. Don’t be surprised if I return to this subject in the future.
I gotta crash, though. There’s the wedding tomorrow, and then more sight-seeing stuff on Friday and Saturday. I’ll tell you all about it next week!
~Webmistress
THE ODYSSEY. In Theaters. Movie. (8.5 IMDb) 
The “Helen is DEI casting!” and “Achilles is trans!” outrage tells me you looked up The Odyssey just long enough to be angry, without actually reading it or seeing the film. I’ve read it multiple times, from adolescence through university. It’s a legend Homer recorded centuries after the supposed events, preserved through oral tradition, and all the variations that adds to the story. Helen’s skin color has no significance to the story, and Achilles is already dead when The Odyssey begins. Elliot Page doesn’t play Achilles at all, but Sinon, the young man sent to war in another’s place.
Nolan’s Odyssey is a solid, faithful-ish telling, briskly told in about three hours (I know, that sounds like an oxymoron but it’s true). It adds some believable depth to Odysseus, gives Penelope less screen time than she deserves, and as a mythology geek I could nitpick the lack of spear fighting or the anachronistic Corinthian helmets instead of the Achaeans’ boar’s tusk helmets. But that’s fanboy trivia. At its heart, it’s a powerful story about responsibility and loss. Well worth a watch. Twice, if you can.
~Sarge
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. PrimeTV. Movie. (6.8 IMDb) 
Masters of the Universe (2026) was a genuine surprise. Rather than forcing the franchise into a dark, gritty reboot, it embraces the colorful, larger-than-life spirit of the original. It balances action, fantasy, and humor without winking at the audience, making the whole adventure feel sincere, fun, and delightfully goofy.
This isn’t trying to be the next great fantasy epic—it’s trying to be a Masters of the Universe movie, and it succeeds. Ignore the toxic nostalgia crowd complaining about the diverse casting of characters like Man-At-Arms, Triclops, and Ram Man, and you’ll find a tonally accurate adaptation that answers plenty of questions longtime fans have had for years (particularly namings). Stick around for the mid- and post-credit scenes. Well worth the watch.
~Sarge
QUICK LOOK AT NETFLIX. Netflix. Series, Movie. 
Here’s some stuff that’s not necessarily current, but currently on Netflix:
Veronica Mars think Buffy, but with no vampires, and lots of class conflicts, roofies … and the result … and murder in a small California coastal town. Young Kristen Bell (The Good Place) lives with her disgraced cop/now PI father, and is determined to solve the murder of her best friend, and the case that tanked her father’s career. A fun watch.
The Dead Don’t Die think Night of the Living Dead directed by Wes Anderson. Only in this case, it’s Jim Jarmusch. Zombies in a small town, with Bill Murray and Adam Driver starring. Tilda Swinton is a samurai. Much more like his 80’s films.
Mindhunter was pretty amazing, on and off; the casting for Big Ed Kemper was spot on. Period piece that follows the building of the FBI’s “profiling” division, focused on this new thing: serial killers.
The Enola Holmes movies: Sherlock (Henry Cavill)’s little sister, Enola (Alone backwards), breaks free of an attempt to ship her off to a deportment school, and takes up the family business on her own. There follow adventures, romance (on her terms), and occasional visits by her anarchist mother, Helena Bonham Carter. The first is a lot of fun, growing less (for me) as the sequels went on.
Marty: Life is Short, let’s hope it’s not for him! I love Martin Short, so this was a gem. An autobiographical history, chock full of familiar clips, as well as previously unseen personal movies, and of course a tremendous group of cameos.
~Sarge
SUPERGIRL. In theatres. Movie. (6.1 IMDb)
Supergirl is 67 years old.
In that time, she’s been through a LOT of attempts to give her her OWN story instead of just being Jr. Girl Superman. She suffers here from 1) the Manosphere complaining that she’s not cute or “feminine” enough, and 2) people stuck on an older version of her, like comparing Super Friends Aquaman to Jason Momoa.
Loosely based on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King, and honestly drawing from True Grit too, Supergirl stars Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon) as Kara Zor El, who leaves Earth to escape the shadow of her cousin, Superman, and the expectations piled on her while still dealing with PTSD from the destruction of Krypton. She ends up caught in a child’s vendetta and a race against time to get medical help for Krypto (played by Krypto, from Superman).
The pacing isn’t the sharpest, but the soundtrack is a banger, the effects are great, and Jason Momoa as Lobo is a role he was born to play. Despite haters and Rotten Tomatoes, well worth a watch.
~Sarge
GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER. Netflix. Series. (6.8 IMDb)
Think Nancy Drew meets True Detective. Five years after the apparent murder of a popular high school student, aspiring journalist Pip Fitz-Amobi decides the case doesn’t add up. What begins as a school project quickly turns into a deeper investigation, uncovering secrets, lies, and long-buried resentments in a town convinced the mystery was solved years ago.
The show’s biggest strength is Pip herself (Emma Myers – Jenna Ortega’s bouncy rainbow werewolf roommate on “Wednesday”): smart, determined, and believable as an amateur sleuth. While it never gets as dark as True Detective, it avoids feeling like a watered-down teen mystery, delivering genuine suspense, credible twists, and enough suspects to keep you guessing. Based on the novel by Holly Jackson, it’s a fast, engaging binge that captures the appeal of a classic detective story while giving it a modern true-crime sensibility.
~Sarge
GOOD OMENS 3. PrimeTV. Movie. (8 IMDb)
In 1990, fantasy legend Terry Pratchett and young comic fantasy mavin Neil Gaiman collaborated on a novel built around the question, “What if the Antichrist got switched at birth?” and Good Omens was born.
In 2024, the third season of Amazon’s adaptation of the late Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens was put on hold after multiple allegations of sexual assault against Gaiman surfaced in the news.
The Amazon version of Good Omens thrived on the brilliant chemistry between David Tennant and Michael Sheen as Crowley, a demon, and Aziraphale, an angel, who have spent millennia on Earth in what increasingly resembles a Cold War marriage. Faced with the impending Apocalypse, both come to the conclusion that maybe it might be altogether better … NOT doing that.
Featuring a host of charming side stories that all somehow linked together, plus a simmering relationship between the two leads, the first season felt like a delightful Douglas Adams pastiche. Since season one adapted the novel itself, the second season came as a complete surprise. Crafted entirely by Gaiman, it leaned harder into the Crowley/Aziraphale relationship, along with a gloriously naked and amnesiac Jon Hamm as the angel Gabriel. A great deal happens, and it all ends on a heartbreaking cliffhanger.
Then came season 3 … NOT!
As allegations against Gaiman mounted, stretching from the mid-80s into relatively recent years, comics, films, and television projects tied to him began getting canceled or shelved, including Good Omens 3. Fortunately, Gaiman stepped away from the production, allowing fans to get a third season … sort of. Cut down to a single feature-length finale, it still manages to wrap up a surprising number of story threads, and may even produce a few sniffles.
Gaiman’s problematic history aside, worth a watch.
~Sarge
PANTHEON. Netflix. Series. (8.5 IMDb)
What if the threat isn’t AI? What if it’s UI: uploaded intelligence. Human brains destructively scanned, living only in the cloud. “Pantheon” explores this idea as exquisite, real science fiction. Not cheesy animated sci-fi melodrama, but a genuine exploration of love, grief, immortality, endless simulations, conspiracies, global politics, and so much more.
The animation is restrained, there to serve the story rather than distract from it. The characters are rich, not cardboard cutouts, whether good or bad. No supervillains. No Mary Sues.
It’s a dense story, so if science fiction concepts tend to lose you, this may not be for you. But if they don’t, this absolutely deserves a watch.
~Sarge
STRANGER THINGS – TALES FROM ’85. Netflix. Series. (5 IMDb)
Stranger Things exits stage left…then pops back out for one more bow.
Set between seasons 2 and 3, this animated take brings back the core crew without sanding things down for kids. It’s not anime or cheap knockoff – dipping their pens in the Spiderverse/Arcane inkwell, with a creative, stylized look. It’s also more focused than the later live-action seasons, trimming most of the adults and zeroing in on the kids. Best of all, Will Byers actually gets to be a character instead of a punching bag, helped by the addition of Niki, an Amazonian punk rocker who connects with him over their shared outsider status. The recast voices are a little jarring at first, but you should settle in. Rough reviews aside, it’s worth a watch.
~Sarge
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Sarge, aka Jeffery Sargent, cut his teeth on the Golden Age of Hollywoood on TV and with regular trips to the Sash Mill. Film classes then, at Cabrillo with Morton Marcus, broadened his scope – he found he preferred Keaton over Chaplin, and Akira Kurosawa was his Yoda. Sarge spent 15 years working in Special Effects, on everything from Starship Troopers to Battlestar Galactica. He is a staunch geek who has a weak spot for Cozy Mysteries and loathes “Reality” shows. While he doesn’t care for the unrelenting banal horror of “True Crime”, he licks his lips over a twist like the end of Chinatown. Email Sarge at JeffLSargent@gmail.com |
Gillian is out this week, back next!
| Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild. |
Last Friday, the people of Felton voted to significantly increase their fire district assessments in order to pay for full time firefighters on duty. This was a Prop. 218 vote, so votes of those who pay more counted with greater weight. The weighted vote approval was 67.88%. Of the 1,181 ballots submitted and counted, 825 voted in favor of the assessment increase, and 325 voted to oppose it.
Felton Fire Assessment 2026
Most property owners will be paying $641.66 annually.
The following day, the Board met in Special Meeting to interview three candidates for Fire Chief. The era of turbulence seems to have come to an end, and the people have placed great trust in their Fire District leaders to steer the ship in a more stable direction.
Interim Chief Isaac Blum did an outstanding job. A round of applause also goes to the Felton residents who organized, did in-depth research and determined the new Assessment increase was reasonable and necessary. They then knocked on doors and did tabling at every opportunity to help people understand the issue.
Bravo!
The alternative would have been to likely consolidate with Santa Cruz County Fire Department, pay alot more, and lose all independent governance. You can watch how that option plays out in Pajaro Valley Fire District in the coming months. Pajaro Valley Fire Protection Disctrict | COOPERATIVE FIRE PROTECTION PROVIDED BY CAL FIRE
SCOTTS VALLEY FIRE CHIEF TO DISCUSS NEW FIRE FEES
Did you know that if you are at fault in an auto accident that requires the Scotts Valley Fire District to respond to help you or others, you will be charged a Fire District Recovery Fee through your insurance, even if you live within the boundaries of the City of Scotts Valley and pay to maintain the Fire Department? This is something new for the City of Scotts Valley Fire District, and was voted in by the Fire District Board and launched last March.
Listen in THIS FRIDAY on KSCO Radio AM 1080 at 2pm to the interview with Scotts Valley Fire Chief Mark Correira.
- The district has signed an agreement with Fire Recovery USA, one of several firms that bill insurance companies for emergency services. Many auto policies include coverage for these services as part of their standard policy. When the Fire District responds to an auto accident and provide services, the responsible party’s insurance is billed for those services.
Services range from basic scene management (blocking traffic to prevent secondary incidents and applying absorbent for fluid spills) to more intensive operations such as vehicle extrication using hydraulic rescue tools. The billing rates are based on national averages and range from $618 to $1,859 depending on the level of service provided. Most insurance companies process these claims routinely without question. The Fire District can also charge for helicopter landing zone services and additional hourly rates for extended incidents.
The Fire District staff coordinate with law enforcement to determine fault. While this is usually straightforward, for more complex cases they obtain an involved driver’s insurance information and let Fire Recovery USA handle the claims process. While the Fire District does have to wait for CHP reports, but that is the exception and not the norm. They have found it is best to grab the information at the scene.
This is a cost recovery program where Fire Recovery USA submits bills with the expectation of payment, but the Fire District does not pursue collections against individuals. If the company doesn’t pay after three bills, it is written off as uncollected.
According to Scotts Valley Fire Chief Correira, “this program is well-established in other parts of the country and is gaining popularity, which is why multiple companies provide this service. It’s new to our area, with SVFPD being the first in the county to implement it. Hollister Fire is the next closest agency using this approach.”
EPA TEAM ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT MOSS LANDING BATTERY FIRE
Last week, the EPA had a team of people available at the Castroville Farmer’s Market, answering questions anyone had about the Vistra Battery Fire in Moss Landing. I spent about an hour talking with engineer Mr. Kazumi Brockman. It was a lot better than being restricted to two minutes of public comment that receives no response.
I learned
- The air monitors are at 6′ elevation and are all around the “hot spot” and the perimeter and data is submitted daily. They monitor for PM 2.5 , metals and HF.
- The debris analysis will be released to the public this fall, before Phase II transports actually begin.
- The debris, based on projected contaminant levels, will be transported to Buttonwillow, CA
- The trucks transporting the batteries for recycling in Nevada were not required to identify the cargo, as the Dept. of Transportation classifies lithium batteries in Class 9, optional placarding. The engineer said the EPA encouraged Vistra to placard the trucks for the safety of any first responders in the event of an accident. He said Vistra complied.
- The EPA cannot directly operate drones for air monitoring but can hire contractors to do it. I pointed out that the EPA had not asked any contractors to conduct airborne sampling during the fire. The engineer and maiin public outreach person were unresponsive.
- Clean up work stops if certain wind speeds occur. The site is sprayed with water to control dust and a material was sprayed over the debris earlier this year that acts much like a sealant. Water sprayed goes into an existing subsurface collection system that is sampled. The Dept. of Water Resources oversees that.
- Phase II will begin this fall.
- Total clean up is scheduled to be completed in 2027.
- They still claim not to know the cause of the fire, and quickly mentioned “litigation”. When they stated that newer projects are designed to be much safer by being containerized with individual unit suppression systems, I pointed out that it is the same suppression and monitoring system technology that was in the Moss 300 facility, and that knowing why it failed is imperative to protect areas in future BESS projects. I pointed out that the container modules off-gas when there are problems and that putting such hazards near residential areas is unacceptable. They were silent.
I appreciated having an opportunity to have unlimited conversation with these people, but still feel Vistra and the EPA are not being completely truthful.
Entry to Vistra’s Battery Fire Clean Up site from Dolan Road, Moss Landing.
LIVESTOCK BARNS AT COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS NOT YET DEMOLISHED DUE TO BAT POPULATION
The Santa Cruz County Fair Board voted last month to demolish the historic pig, goat and sheep barns at the Fairgrounds and put the demolition project out to bid. Three bids were received, and the work was to begin August 16 with completion before the opening of this year’s Fair on September 16.
Luckily, the State required environmental review. EcoSystem West biologists determined there are populations of roosting bats in the barns that would be harmed by demolition. The Fairgrounds CEO Dori Rose Inda explained that the biologist is working with California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife to “re-roost” the bats so that demolition can proceed.
Please write California Fish and Wildlife Senior Biologist Alexis Harrison <alexis.harrison@wildlife.ca.gov> and ask that demolition of the Santa Cruz County Livestock Barns not move forward until the roosting bat population has migrated out of the barns.
In my opinion, the barn demolition work should wait until later this fall when the bats migrate, if they are a migrating species.
The Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds could become a “Community Resilience Center” if the County’s OR3 is successful with their grant application for $10 Million to upgrade Fairgrounds infrastructure to offer emergency shelter for people and livestock. The grant funding, offered by the California Strategic Growth Council, would be implemented over six years, requiring the Fairgrounds to be accessible year around for sheltering and education, not just during emergencies.
After six years, the Fairgrounds would be responsible for upholding the terms of the grant for another nine years, a total of 15 years under the grant implementation period.
The County already has an MOU with the State-owned Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds (14th District Agricultural Association) for emergency sheltering of people and livestock. The MOU ends in 2031.
Take a look at the Letter of Commitment from the Farigrounds CEO and the explanation by OR3. (pages 88-92): July 28 2026 Board Packet
While the California Dept. of Food and Ag (CDFA) was given a one-time General Fund allocation of $150 Million in 2020-2021 to create “Community Resilience Centers”, Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds did not apply. Fairground and Community Resilience Centers Programs
The grant writing staff at the County’s Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience (OR3) will learn next spring if the grant application is awarded. Stay tuned.
SOQUEL PIONEER PICNIC…150 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF RAILROAD CONNECTING THE COUNTY
Last weekend, over 140 people gathered in Pringle Grove in Soquel, across the street from Bargetto Winery, to carry on the traditional Soquel Pioneer Picnic, happening since 1939. This year’s Speaker was Mr. Frank Perry, local historian, describing the determined efforts of Frederick A. Hihn to connect Santa Cruz County via rail. After four different attempts, he was successful…and 150 years later, the railroad connecting Santa Cruz and Watsonville is languishing.
Frank Perry describes multiple attempts by F.A Hihn to
connect Santa Cruz and Watsonville by railroad,
finally accomplishing it 150 years ago.
MORE ABOUT THE AUGUST 4 SPECIAL BOARD OF SUPERVISOR MEETING AND IMPENDING SALES TAX BALLOT MEASURE
Many thanks to reader Bruce H. who sent information about Senator Laird’s SB 762, allowing some local jurisdictions, including Santa Cruz County, to impose higher total sales tax than is constitutionally allowed. SB 762 does the same as Senator Laird’s SB 1078 that was written specifically for Santa Cruz County.
However, it appears that Senator Laird did a gut and amend action that bill to become something else.
Here is the Amended Version of SB 1078, no longer co-sponsored with Assemblymember Addis and Pellerin:
Introduced by Senator Laird
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis and Pellerin)February 13, 2026
An act to add and repeal Chapter 3.85 (commencing with Section 7294.7) of Part 1.7 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. An act to amend Section 51.1 of the Civil Code, relating to civil rights.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
SB 1078, as amended, Laird. Transactions and use taxes: County of Santa Cruz. Civil rights violations: service of process: Civil Rights Department.
Existing law, including the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Ralph Civil Rights Act of 1976, and the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, specifies various civil rights based on specified characteristics. Among these rights are the right to be free from discrimination in business establishments, right to be free from violence or intimidation, and right to be free from interference with the exercise of legal rights through threats, intimidation, or coercion. Existing law establishes liability for sexual harassment within certain professional relationships. If a violation of any of these specified civil rights is alleged or the application or construction thereof is in issue in any proceeding in the Supreme Court of California, the state court of appeal, or the appellate division of a superior court, existing law requires each party to serve a copy of the party’s brief or petition and brief on the State Solicitor General at the office of the Attorney General.
This bill would additionally require each party to serve a copy of the party’s brief or petition and brief on the Director of the Civil Rights Department.
Existing law authorizes various local governmental entities, subject to certain limitations and approval requirements, to levy a transactions and use tax for general or specific purposes, in accordance with the procedures and requirements set forth in the Transactions and Use Tax Law, including a requirement that the combined rate of all taxes that may be imposed in accordance with that law in any county not exceed 2%.
This bill would authorize, until December 31, 2030, the County of Santa Cruz, by an ordinance adopted by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, to levy a tax pursuant to the Transactions and Use Tax Law at a rate not to exceed 0.5% for general and special purposes, subject to voter approval, as specified. The bill would authorize those taxes to exceed the 2% limit described above.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Santa Cruz.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The bottom line is that the Board of Supervisors will be holding a Special Meeting on August 4 to sneak a new sales tax measure on the November ballot, just bartely making the deadline of August 7 for their required action.
NEW KIOSK AT 701 OCEAN STREET COUNTY GOVERNMENT BUILDING
The County Government Building at 701 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz recently got a major remodel of the 5th Floor Board of Supervisors chambers and bathrooms.
Now, the wobbly public notice kiosk has been replaced with an attractive new kiosk just outside the building where meeting agendas are posted. It helps to thumb through the agendas of Commission and Board meetings to see what is happening.
R.I.P. JEFF SAVAGE AND CAP PENNELL
Recently, two have passed that will leave especially big holes in the lives of many, and certainly mine. Jeff Savage was a kind and funny guy, known as Boring Jeff, and hosted “In the Driver’s Seat” on KSCO Radio. I looked forward to his programs on Friday to learn about all manner of car issues from Jeff and his encyclopedic knowledge. Sadly, he passed away recently due to an aggressive brain tumor.
Last week, Cap Pennell stretched out on the couch to take a nap before lunch and never woke up. He was a well-known Amateur Radio mentor and historian, well-known and respected. Cap was always listening on the radio bands, and saved the County’s emergency communication operations several years ago when there was a major fiber optic vandalism act that took out all phones and 9-1-1 emergency dispatch. I like to think that Cap is still listening…just in a different way.
I will miss both of these amazing fellows. Godspeed to both of them, and blessings to their families and friends.
MAKE ONE CALL. WRITE ONE LETTER. SUBMIT A COMPLAINT TO THE NEWLY-SEATED COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY.
DO ONE THING THIS WEEK AND MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE.
Cheers,
Becky
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Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes. She ran again in 2020 on a slightly bigger shoestring and got 1/3 of the votes.
Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com |
As rich and diverse as the Monterey Bay is for Life, there are some standout places within that larger geography, and one of those places is Marshall Meadows. The name refers to a bunch of patches of coastal prairie at the top of UCSC and into Wilder Ranch State Park, bisected by Empire Grade. This place is named for Mary Elizabeth Marshall who owned the meadows in the late 1880’s. She was the daughter of Isaac Graham who brought her West with him in 1852. She apparently used portions of the meadows for a flower garden, but I need to do more work with old maps to figure out where her house was (let me know if you know!). Before that, native peoples lived in and managed the meadows; they had a village site that has been well studied by archeologists there. It is because of native people’s management that we have such beautiful and biologically important meadows presently. The meadows are known by various names including ‘Marshall Flats,’ ‘Marshall Field,’ and ‘Twin Gates.’
Biota
Marshall Meadows is home to some very interesting species. The endangered Ohlone tiger beetle miraculously is hanging on there, living as it does on trails where bikers are likely to smash them. The endangered San Francisco popcornflower is also found there. A species that should be listed as endangered, the Pt. Reyes Horkelia, is thriving in portions of the meadows. These prairies are also home to locally rare patches of goldfields, large flowered star tulip, Pacific panicgrass, and ladies tresses orchid. Because of the wetlands and extremely poor soil, the meadows have unusually dense patches of native grasses and reduced competition from invasive, non-native plant species. As a result, there are colorful patches of native flowers beginning in late winter and going right through spring. That profusion of flowers supports a bunch of interesting pollinators, some of which are probably undescribed species.
Mima Mounds
Marshall Meadows features a very interesting phenomenon: mima mounds. These are hummocks around 3 feet tall and 15 feet or so in diameter. In between the mounds are wetlands and even small winter-time pools. The varied topography allows both wet- and dry-adapted plants to thrive close to one another. Mima mounds can also be found on other parts of campus and within Wilder Ranch State Park as well as at Santa Cruz City’s Pogonip and Moore Creek greenbelt areas, and, further afield, at Point Lobos State Reserve, and Fort Ord National Monument.
Fire and the Meadows
Human-caused fire impacts have long been an issue in these meadows. The native peoples probably used cultural fire in various ways in the meadows, but their wisdom specific to that spot, developed over thousands of years, has sadly been lost. Old World peoples banned fire and then, once the genocide was largely over, hypocritically used it themselves when they realized how important it was to keep pasture open for livestock. At UCSC’s founding, they continued to use fire in the meadows and chaparral to reduce fuel loading in preparation for wildfire. When I started my job as Campus Reserve Steward in 1992, the University had neglected its fire management for some unknown number of years for, again, unknown reasons. However, Dean Raven with the grounds department was enthusiastic in his support of my proposal to start up the burning again to maintain the prairies and so we began exploring options. Somehow, folks determined that fire could happen but only on Campus Reserve land, on the western side of Empire Grade where there hadn’t been fire for decades or maybe even so far back as with the native peoples. Students collected pre-fire data and I solicited expert opinion about what to do. There were many false starts but CALFIRE managed to make bare dirt around ‘burn units’ to do a training fire. Eventually, the agency lit the fire, huge flames erupted, native grasses were killed, and the meadow was permanently converted to a more weedy prairie. That was around 1994. Fast forward to 2020 and the other side of the road was blitzed.
The 2020 CZU fire didn’t reach Marshall Meadows, but it was close. CALFIRE mobilized a bulldozer to cut a bare soil fire line along the fire road at Marshall Field, scraping away all of the native plants and disturbing the soil badly.
Draining the Meadows
Start with Santa Cruz County Public Works, add in the University and State Parks maintenance crews, and overlay that with hordes of rules-ignoring mountain bikers, and you have a recipe for drying out the precious Marshall Meadows. The Public-Works-dug ditches along Empire Grade are deep and carry a lot of water, draining and eroding the wetlands of Marshall Meadows. The ditches lead to ditch-caused gullies in the forest, and the eroded soil dumps into streams that would otherwise support endangered steelhead. Thanks (NOT), Public Works, for accelerating the extinction of multiple species!
The University has done its best to keep the fire road open, building up gravel and digging ditches to dry up the road, further altering the wetlands in the meadows. State Parks once wanted to build a parking lot in the meadows, a story detailed here. Parks continues, like the University, to ‘maintain’ the destructive roads.
Meanwhile, massive numbers of mountain bikers are flaunting rules and adding to the wetland draining and destruction. The trails they use are eroding, making channels that drain the wetlands, sending precious water quickly into ditches and drying out the meadows. Occasionally, State Parks has put up signs ‘closing’ trails during particularly wet weeks: it is difficult to overlook the ‘trail closed’ signs tossed into the bushes and the steady line of bikers seeking muddy gear and ‘joy’ on the sunny days between winter storms.
Restoring the Meadows
Amongst all this negativity, there is some good work going on in Marshall Meadows towards restoration and management of the habitat and species. UCSC associates are keeping their eye on the illicit mountain biking trails, putting up signs and discouraging use. Occasional volunteers and staff are physically removing invading brush and trees. Fuels clearance along Empire Grade also worked well at removing invading woody species. State Parks has been maintaining a regular burn regime on the meadows they manage, and, although timed badly for germinating annual wildflowers, the fires have seemed to maintain meadow habitat while enhancing some perennial native species. State Parks’ program of invasive exotic species control has also been very important at maintaining Marshall Meadows. I hope that folks maintain these activities and more people recognize the importance of stewarding these meadows in the future.
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Grey Hayes is a fervent speaker for all things wild, and his occupations have included land stewardship with UC Natural Reserves, large-scale monitoring and strategic planning with The Nature Conservancy, professional education with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and teaching undergraduates at UC Santa Cruz. Visit his website at: www.greyhayes.net
Email Grey at coastalprairie@aol.com |
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Why should a middle-class nurse pay a larger share of her paycheck [to Social Security] than a wealthy corporate lawyer?
The question I have posed above comes from Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Moreno, writing in The New York Times, in a column whose online title reads as follows: “Bernie Moreno and Elizabeth Warren: Our Plan to Save Social Security.”
That’s Bernie Moreno, in the picture at the top. I am telling you this just in case you didn’t immediately recognize him (and I’m betting that anyone reading this blog posting probably didn’t). I know a lot about Elizabeth Warren, and would recognize her anywhere, but I certainly wouldn’t know Bernie Moreno if he knocked on my door – something that is highly unlikely, since Moreno is the senior U.S. Senator from Ohio, and I am virtually certain that he does not regularly visit or vacation in Santa Cruz!
In case you’re totally clueless, our Social Security System is heading for real problems, the key problem being that the monies being placed into the Social Security Trust fund are not going to be adequate to fund future Social Security payments, starting in 2030, or thereabouts.
If you click the link I have provided above, and read the Moreno-Warren article (it’s a “gift” article and should be available even to non-subscribers), you can find out more. The key point I am attempting to highlight is that if those people who have annual incomes above $184,500 were to pay the same percentage into Social Security that people pay who have the same annual income that I do (and that you do, too, probably) the Social Security System’s solvency would be extended for another generation.
As Warren and Moreno correctly note:
This is a no-brainer: The wealthiest Americans, who have benefited the most from America’s opportunities, should contribute the same percentage of their income as a factory worker in Chillicothe, Ohio, or a teacher in Worcester, Mass.
Or, I might say, a teacher or a restaurant employee in my own hometown of Santa Cruz, California.
So, we might well ask ourselves, “Why?” Why don’t they?
Well, the rich get let off the hook because our political system is reacting to the power of money. It’s supposed to react to the power of the people.
Who do you think could do something about that?
Right! YOU could!
And me, too, of course!
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Gary Patton is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney for individuals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. You can read and subscribe to his daily blog at www.gapatton.net
Email Gary at gapatton@mac.com |
Dale is taking a break.
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Dale Matlock, a Santa Cruz County resident since 1968, is the former owner of The Print Gallery, a screenprinting establishment. He is an adherent of The George Vermosky school of journalism, and a follower of too many news shows, newspapers, and political publications, and a some-time resident of Moloka’i, Hawaii, U.S.A., serving on the Board of Directors of Kepuhi Beach Resort. Email: cornerspot14@yahoo.com. |
Each week, I will feature a selection of interesting and historically significant places in Santa Cruz County from the 1986 edition of Donald Thomas Clark‘s wonderful book, “Santa Cruz County Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary“, published by the Santa Cruz Historical Trust.
“Nuggets” If I find something topically relevant, but not necessarily directly related to the week’s selection, you’ll see it under the Nuggets heading. Note: for reasons of brevity, sources are usually dropped when I reproduce an entry. You can always email me if you’re curious, or, even better, buy a copy of the book!
Dateline: July 29, 2026
This week’s entry caught my eye because of the Porter family name. According to Find A Grave, Mary Elizabeth Easton Porter was born in Santa Cruz County in 1870, and died in Santa Barbara County, age 87, in 1957. Not to be confused with Mary Porter Sesnon (the daughter of her husband’s uncle, Benjamin Porter, and of a previous generation).
The Porter family name is instantly recognizable in Santa Cruz County, not the least because Soquel’s main drive is Porter Street (there’s also Porter College up at UCSC, the Porter-Sesnon House at Cabrillo, etc.) There were and have bean a LOT of Porter folk over multiple generations. The Santa Cruz Trains web site has a detailed history of the Porter Family, which among other things, explains the origins of this week’s entry: “When The Forest of Nisene Marks was formed in 1965, the matter of the Porters’ property had to be resolved [the family’s summer long time family home, the Porter House]. After long negotiations, it was agreed that the larger parcel would be donated in exchange for the creation of the Mary Easton Picnic Area.”
Clark doesn’t mention this, but Warren R. Porter also founded prominent local companies Graniterock (the gravel, sand, concrete, and asphalt company) in 1900 and Granite Construction (1922), as per the SCC History Wiki. The Graniterock Blog has a piece on The Easton Family of Santa Cruz who also played a big part in the founding of the company.
There’s very little I can find online about Mary Easton specifically, which I think speaks to the sexist bias of historiography in general. Clearly, she must have held some significance in the family’s mind, for the price of donating their portion of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park to be naming part of it after her. The Mary Easton Picnic Area is right after the main parking space inside the park, and the short Porter Trail inside the park takes you from it, to the Porter Family Picnic Area. See this map (PDF) to locate it.
I’ve mentioned some of this local online historical resources I use to research the topics for each column, but Find A Grave is a general purpose tool/site that often yields fascinating information and links (as mentioned in my recent column on Winkle’s Bridge).
A picnic spot in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. Named for Mary Easton Porter, wife of Warren R. Porter. Porter, born in Santa Cruz, March 30, 1861, was the son of John T. Porter, one of the founders of the Loma Prieta Lumber Company incorporated in 1883 to log much of the area encompassed by today’s state park. Warren R. Porter was bookkeeper (1884), then secretary (1886-1902) of the lumber company. He was incorporator (1888), director and (1900-1922) president of the Pajaro Valley National Bank, Watsonville. From 1907 to 1911 he was lieutenant-governor of California. Mary Easton was the daughter of Rev. G. A. Easton, rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley. They were married August 23, 1893, and built their residence
at the company town, Loma Prieta. See also Porter Family Picnic Area, and Porter Gulch [3].
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Thomas Leavitt is the husbandy thing to our illustrious webmistress. A resident of Santa Cruz (now part time) since 1993, his interests include history, technology, and community organizing. He started the world’s first self-service web hosting company, WebCom, located at 903 Pacific in May of 1994. He’s been part of too many community organizations to mention, and ran for City Council in the early aughts. Email Thomas at ThomLeavitt@gmail.com |
“Hollywood”
“I used to think as I looked out on the Hollywood night, ‘There must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me dreaming of being a movie star.’ But I’m not going to worry about them. I’m dreaming the hardest.”
~Marilyn Monroe
“Hollywood is a sewer with service from the Ritz Carlton.”
~Wilson Mizner
“Hollywood will put you in a box, so to speak. Some people will have seen you in ‘La Bamba’ or another dramatic film and think, ‘Okay, that’s what Lou does.’ But they don’t really have an idea of the range or diversity that I can bring to a project.”
~Lou Diamond Phillips
“It’s said in Hollywood that you should always forgive your enemies – because you never know when you’ll have to work with them.”
~Lana Turner
“Where I come from, it’s a little bit like England. We start from the theater, and we do films a bit on our free time. The history of making films in Scandinavia is so old, it’s like the oldest. The Nordic film industry started before Hollywood, in Stockholm, in Copenhagen.”
~Michael Nyqvist
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Figure out who you want to be, and then be that! |
Direct questions and comments to webmistress@BrattonOnline.com
(Gunilla Leavitt)
