DREAM INN BEING CONSTRUCTED. This was April 26, 1963. On the far left you can see the old Sisters Hospital which moved to the Branciforte Plaza on Soquel. The Dream Inn is often considered the local environmentalist’s biggest loss, and spurred them on to organize more efficiently. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

THE DE-SAL ISSUE. So much has been said….and will continue being said about this learning experience for our community. We should not lose track of the lessons, and stay on point. Gary Patton as our attorney in a letter to the City Council on behalf of our Community Water Coalition sums up the situation nicely. And I repeat most of his points here (he took 33 pages to write it!!).

(LESSON ONE).It isn’t just the 400 letters that were written in response to the EIR it’s that to continue and to pursue completing the EIR is pursuing the De-Sal water plant.

(LESSON TWO). It isn’t just the people of the City of Santa Cruz who say that the plans for our De-Sal were and are faulty and dangerous, it’s the State and Nation wide agancies that have judged our de-sal and the EIR report so negatively. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says that the discharged brine and the proposed dredging and pproject construction plans are dangerous. In their words, “CDFW recognizes the City’s significant efforts to date to evaluate both the City’s water supply needs and adequate flows for fish; however, the results of those efforts have not been accurately reflected in the draft EIR”. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that the EIR is full of faults. (NMFS) The National Marine Fisheries Service say the cities data is insufficient, and that the City doesn’t have all the information. The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) also recommends exploring land use alternatives before continuing with the present thrust towards a de-sal plant.

(LESSON THREE). Hold a series of educational meetings working with the community so we can reach a consensus.

(LESSON FOUR). We should never forget the people who pushed so hard and so long for a de-sal plant. People like Ryan Coonerty, Cynthia Mathews, Mike Rotkin, Neal Coonerty and Fred Keeley. These folks have woven themselves into our political fabric…they won’t go away, they are convinced they know what’s best for the community, and they haven’t given up on De-sal.

LENZ ARTS AND PAINT. Over the last few years I’ve gripped a few times about how crappy Lenz Arts building used to look. Now they’ve painted it… and we all need to say thanks. Lenz is on of the most used corners in downtown and you’d think especially since they sell paint*, it would never have become as shabby as it did….thanks. *( I know that house paint isn’t the same as… etc.).

SHAKESPEARE SANTA CRUZ. I’m not sure what to say that hasn’t been said already. As readers of BrattonOnline must know by now, I was part of the small band of sisters and brothers led by Audrey Stanley who created Shakespeare Santa Cruz back in 1980 and before. I had a part in King Lear, the very first play presented and I’m almost positive that I attended every single play in its 32 year history. For an interesting dialogue including reactions from Marco Barricelli go to Isaac Butler’s “Parabasis” blog.

VETERANS HALL RE-OPENING (A CORRECTION). I mentioned in the last BrattonOnline that Greg Caput was the only member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voting to re-build, re-hab and re-construct the Vet’s Hall. I’ve heard that from my fellow members of the Disabled Veterans of Santa Cruz County and lots of places. The truth is (from deep in the trustworthy bowels of our County government) that “the entire Board of Supervisors has always supported full reconstruction of the Vet’s Hall, and the Board has voted unanimously on every single item regarding the bidding, re-bidding and awarding of the
construction contract for the Vet’s Hall. To imply otherwise is factually wrong at best and disturbingly disingenuous”. I’m happy to print that correction, and happy too that the Santa Cruz Vet’s hall will re-open in a few weeks.

NEW CLASSICAL RADIO STATION. KYZZ 97.9 FM. Dan Morookian of KZSC fame told me about KYZZ 97.9 fm. the new all classical station. It’s automated, no announcers, no identifying of any music being played, no commercials. It plays “Tchaikovsky tchotchkes” endlessly. That means big orchestra-romantic drivel. The recorded message keeps saying “Bach is Back, Beethoven is back” but after listening off and on for days, I never heard those guys at all. KYZZ I think is simulcast from KMZT a pseudo-Mozart station in LA.

NEW OLD HISTORICAL COWELL KILNS UCSC PHOTOS FROM 1920’S. Frank Perry the new director of The Capitoila Historical Museum told us on the Universal Grapevine program (Tuesdays 7-8 p.m. KZSC 88.1 fm) that more than 50 “new” photographs from the limestone quarry days on the Cowell UCSC campus were given to UCSC recently. They were from a limestone worker named Silva who took the photos with his Kodak Brownie camera. The photos had been in Portland all these years. Hopefully we’ll be seeing them soon.

TIM GONCHAROFF OFF AND RUNNING FOR CITY COUNCIL.I met with Tim Goncharoff (his idea) last week. He’s really, really running for City Council. If you are on Facebook you’ve seen all his messages and plugs. He thinks that the City made a big mistake in their de-sal plans and wants to pursue water capturing and other measures long before pursuing de-sal again. He’s not setting a top on campaign limits and figures on spending $30,000 or more. He supported the warriors Arena. He was in favor of widening Highway One. He liked the ” bike trail on Arana Gulch”. He’s pro minimum wage for Santa Cruz. He couldn’t give me any names of supporters yet, but promised he would as soon as he got their OK. He wouldn’t say whether he’d vote more like Pamela Constock or Micah Posner. He’s got a degree in Planning and has worked as a professional for our county. He’s a member of the City Planning Commission. And has worked hard and suceeded in creating many environmentally sound County and City practices, such as the plastic bag ordinance. He has many good sounding conservation plans like wind power, solar power and more. He’s smart and works well with others. More later.

STORIES FROM THE URBAN FOREST. Gillian Greensite.

Part 2. HERITAGE TREE ORDINANCE: SUCCESS OR FAILURE?

The city’s Heritage Tree Ordinance was not passed by city council in 1973 as I described in Part 1 of Stories from the Urban Forest. Carole DePalma was able to find an old Sentinel article that jogged her memory of the sequence of events from those early years and gives us a more accurate historical record. The efforts started in 1973 and an emergency ordinance was imposed at that time but it was not until 1976 that the actual ordinance was voted into law. The removal of some large eucalyptus trees on the site of the former Santa Cruz hospital on Soquel Avenue sparked council member DePalma to initiate the proposal for a permanent heritage tree ordinance, which passed on a 5 to 2 vote. We owe Carole DePalma a vote of thanks for her vision and commitment to environmental protection at a time when the significance of preserving big trees was not so obvious as it is today.

So has the Heritage Tree Ordinance (HTO) done the job it was intended to do? Are the city’s large, significant or historical trees still alive 37 years after the ordinance was passed? The city has never made inventory of its heritage trees so complete numbers are unavailable but the data that is available suggests that the HTO has failed to protect our heritage trees.

In 2000, the Parks and Recreation Commission requested data from the then city arborist, Ray Sherrard, on how many heritage trees had been cut down in the previous 5 years. The results were staggering. Out of requests for permits to cut down 2,500 heritage trees, 2,350 permits were granted. According to the current city arborist, last year, permits were granted to remove 170 heritage trees and 11 were denied. She confirmed that last year was a typical year. That adds up to an additional 2,200 heritage trees removed, making a total of 4,550 heritage trees removed in less than 20 years. In a city less than 16 square miles in size.

Some loss of heritage trees over time is to be expected. Some trees may become a hazard, some may become diseased, some may cause structural damage with no options for addressing the problem. However, in my 38 years experience trying to save big trees, particularly on the lower westside, few fell into those categories justifying removal. In the majority of cases, the trees were healthy and sound, any structural problems fully capable of being resolved. So why are so many tree removal permits granted? I suspect that it’s the easy way out for the decision-makers. There has always been a tension between private property rights and the public good. Many don’t see trees as a public resource. They are outraged if they are told they can’t cut down a healthy big tree on their property. The city, instructed by the city attorney, caters far more to the tree owners than the trees or the ordinance that was passed to protect them. The Heritage Tree Grant program that was passed by council in 2002 to help property owners financially with the care of their big trees was de-funded a few years ago. The Parks Department could have added it to this year’s budget request but didn’t, which reflects their low priority for heritage trees. An ordinance is only as good as the people implementing it. Our remaining heritage trees will only be saved if we demand their protection”. Gillian Greensite. (Coming soon Part 3: Heritage Tree Ordinance Revisions: Sharpening the Axes).

HEAL THE SICK…EVEN LOCALLY?? We probably don’t “have all the information” as our Mayor sez, but how come in the last very few years, the HMO Secure Horizons has dumped all Santa Cruz citizens from coverage, Kaiser Permanente hasn’t allowed any locals to belong to their plan for decades, we hear hundreds of Medical professionals complaining about ever lowering reimbursements…and yet…and yet PAMF (Palo Alto Medical Foundation) is growing by leaps and bounds all over our county!!! Doctors from private practices and other services are joining PAMF, they are sure huge hereabouts. Somebody who knows should explain how this works. I like PAMF, they treat me “excellent well”, but how does this happen?

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary again discusses the concept of Land Use and what our involvement could and should be. He pushes the Carmel Valley Association as an example. He then tells us about the Aptos Local Economies (ALE) group who are working on action against the Safeway expansion in Aptos. Here’s their website. http://www.aptoslocaleconomies.com . The Pajaro River Flood Prevention Authority meets Friday 9/6. Their website is http://www.pajaroriverwatershed.org . He closes with news about a Seaside Sustainable Living tour on Sunday, 9/8. Read his website for full details. Read all of above at Gary’s KUSP Land Use scripts http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse (Gary Patton is “Of Counsel” to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net )

VINTAGE DE CINZO. DeCinzo has been on vacation, that’s why we haven’t seen his works in the Sentinel and won’t until next Friday. Scroll down for a classic DeCinzo now !!!

EAGANS DEEP COVER. Tim gives us a lesson in the recesses of our Congress. Wheel below.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “What? You haven’t seen 20 Feet From Stardom yet? Not even once? Find out why you should this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). Also more good news about the US edition of my novel, “Alias Hook,” coming soon from St. Martin’s Press!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975″

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. On September 3 Susan Myer Silton tells us about Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia that she’s directing for our Jewel Theatre Company, and playing Sept.5-22. Then Doug Keegan the program director of the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project (SCCIP) brings us new news about their program.September 10 has Tina Brown and Rose Sellery giving details on their Fashion Art Extravaganza 9/28, followed by Jeff Sanford talking about his Cartoon Jazz Orchestra’s newest release. Thom Zajac discusses the 29 years of Comic News on Sept. 17. Patricia Matejcek returns that sema night to talk about South Couny issues. Author, poet, retired Cabrilho College professor Don Young also returns on September 24 to talk about his two new collections. Linda Hoeger- Thompson talks about Companion for Life programs and services after Don Young. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click herehttp://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Conpany. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

QUOTES. All are from Henry V.

“O! for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention!
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act”.

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more”.

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers”.

“Thus far, with rough and all-unable pen,
Our bending author hath pursued the story”.

CABRILLO/CABRILHO COLLEGE. Circa 1962. Plenty of parking spaces here. According to Kevin Newhouse’s Aptos book…it was 1958 when the County voters voted to create a junior college. The location was a hassle then and it still is, being between Watsonville and Santa Cruz. Wally Trabing, longtime columnist for the Santa Cruz Sentinel, suggested the name “Cabrillo” even though Cabrillo or Cabrilho (his Portuguese name) never saw any of California north of Santa Cruz island. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

GREAT QUOTE…“Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” –Nineteenth century Ne-hilawe- (Cree) proverb

DE-SAL AND BILL KOCHER. Pages can and should be written about the history and manueverings behind Santa Cruz and the de-sal battle. I’m with Jean Brocklebank’s warning that the city also went ahead with the EIR on Arana Gulch after it seemed to be a dead issue. They turned around and passed it later after the EIR was certified….they’ll do the same thing with De-Sal. I spoke with Bill Kocher just after he announced retirement. He said there wre plenty of people in the department who could handle his old job. Why they are looking so far afield seemed to baffle him. He said that the city will now be cutting all ties with Cal Desal. I’m personlly betting that Kocher never again links his name as a consultant or anything dealing with De-sal plants. He said, in many words and in many ways, that he was doing what the city asked him to do re: de-sal, and that they changed their minds. I’m betting that Rotkin, Keeley, Coonerty (Ryan and Neal) plus Mathews all truly believed in, and still believe in de-sal and pushed the rest of the council and staff into this mess.

Out of all this was Mayor Hilary Bryant’s statement and unbelievable quote in last week’s Sentinel…”You can’t let the community make the decision when they don’t have all the information,” Bryant said. Isn’t this what all bloated, better-than-thou politicians believe? That they have all the pure, undeniable facts with no bias, no angles, no financial ties, just pure information??? She doesn’t have “all the information”, the City Council doesn’t have “all the information”…and what’s worse, rumors now have it that she is thinking about running again. Let’s hope she has more information this time.

SAUL LANDAU— BOTH SAD AND GREAT NEWS. I’ve mentioned before that Bob Taren, a close friend of Saul Landau’s told me that Saul Landau has cancer of the bladder. Now Bob informs us that The Cuban government has awarded Saul Landau its highest honor the, “Cuban Medal of Friendship”. Alarcon is the past president of the Cuban Assembly. Bob said he was told that among those present at the ceremony was Pablo Armando Fernandez the port laureate of Cuba and other dignitaries. Ricardo Alarcon said “Saul Landau deserves this recognition and much more. He has given our people a sincere, unlimited, authentic friendship all his life. In his early youth he embraced revolutionary ideas and never abandoned them. He always upheld these ideas far from dogmatism, bureaucratic or sectarian distortions. He has been a loyal friend since the long gone times of Ramparts Magazine and Studies on the Left to Progreso Weekly, and his intense participation in the struggle for the liberation of our five compañeros unjustly punished for fighting against terrorism”… he said more than that.

In accepting the award Saul stated, “The Medal of Friendship and ICAP represent the virtues of the Cuban Revolution as in 1959, when I began supporting the solidarity movement as President of the Students Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Then, Cuba represented, as it does now, justice and equality as a force for global progress toward peace and the end of oppression. These values deserved universal support in the beginnings of the Revolution, in the same way they deserve it in 2013.I feel deeply honored and touched by this recognition. Read the entire piece from Radio Havanna Cuba . Saul’s an old friend from our days together in the San Francisco Mime Troupe and I’ve re-printed his weekly Progreso Weekly articles in BrattonOnline for over a decade.

Saul Landau is an Institute for Policy Studies fellow whose films are on DVD from roundworldproductions@gmail.com

Click for a larger image of this article from 1970…

CRAZIEST IDEA YET. Don Webber shook most of the western world with a question…”Why doesn’t UCSC build their own De-Sal plant?” They have the land, and from all we hear they have a crying need to expand, so they can build their own water source…who’s to stop them?

LATTÉ BREAKING NEWS & RUMORS. Supervisor Greg Kaput told me that if all goes well, and apparently it is going well that the Santa Cruz Veterans Memorial Building will open in September. He said all of our County Supervisors now support the re-supporting of the building….which they didn’t before. WE can now assume that oft-mayor and council person Mike Rotkin will change his prefix to “De-salinist, Feminist, Socialist Mike Rotkin“. Rumors have yet to be checked, but it’s being whispered that Greg Archer really isn’t Polish and that he’s just trying to pass. That DeCinzo cartoon last week the two of us “curmudgeons” sitting in front of Lulu’s at The Octagon was nearly scurrilous….I don’t hate Girl Scouts or even the forcing those little girls to wear uniforms and them having to make god pledges, I just think their door to door selling and competing over junk food cookies teaches them bad ideas.

NEW JAPANESE 2011 TSUNAMI FOOTAGE. Dale Matlock sent the clip shown to the right and added, “It’s amazing to see how this thing builds within the 26 minutes shown- and the relative calm of those behind and around the camera(s). You’ll need a tall glass of your favorite beverage to assist you to the end, where the fires are then raging. Not sure of the exact locale, or how close to the sea it is, but all I could think of was the San Lorenzo River and its tributaries during such an event. Cheers, Dale”. To which I’d add just how do you think our City Council would respond to a disaster of this size? How prepared is Santa Cruz? But of course it could never happen here. But when it does, the Tannery will be the first to go, then Pacific Avenue will flood out. But since the City Council has all the information about tsunamis and how we’ll be saved we don’t need to worry.

ELERICK’S “INPUT” & LISA JENSEN’S “LINKS”. Both Paul Elerick and Lisa Jensen are on vacations. No, not together…I don’t think they even know each other. Paul went to Michigan and Lisa and husband Jim Aschbacher went to Sweden, for some reason.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary’s on vacation now too but he writes and broadcasts aboutWater Wisdom and the State Water plan.He talks about The New Complete Streets Guidebook and how it minimizes car usage. There’s a Land Trust Bar BQ thiss Saturday August 24 (see details) there’s also a new Carmel River Stewardship Manual that could and should be applied to other rivers we all deal with. He closes with news about a rules for De-Sal projects happening in Sacramento next Wednesday.Read all of above at Gary’s KUSP Land Use scripts http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse (Gary Patton is “Of Counsel” to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net

EDUARDO CARRILLO MUSEUM. (MUSEO EDUARDO CARRILLO). Betsy Andersen tells us « We are seeking to reconnect with old friends of Eduardo’s. We would love to be able to stay in touch with them and hear their stories and let them know about news regarding Eduardo. We are having an event…See the video, meet our director Pedro Pablo Celedon at MAH, Thursday September 19th 5:30-7:30. She added that there is aRetrospective of Ed’s work scheduled for 2015 at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. More news upcoming. On top of that…Museo Eduardo Carrillo has been awarded $50,000.00 toward the completion of the documentary “Eduardo Carrillo: A Life of Engagement”. In awarding the grant, Peter Mithoefer, representing The Robert T. Keeler Foundation, said, “We look forward to the realization of this tribute to Ed’s inspiring life and work.” Professor Dr. Gilberto Cardenas, The Julien Samora Chair Latino Studies and the Director of the Institute of Latino Studies in at University of Notre Dame, Indiana says, “Eduardo was a true pioneer. He exhibited his art and was recognized in the early 1960’s. That was so early for a Mexican-American to gain recognition”. Ralph D’Oliveira, co-founder of the Tortuga Patrol mural project in Watsonville, CA states,“He was always just ahead of his time in terms of his art view. He didn’t believe you built fences to get ahead, you opened up fences-you opened up doors.” While earning his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees at University of California, Los Angeles the arts of Mexico were missing from the curriculum. In 1972, when his teaching career began at UC Santa Cruz, Eduardo developed culturally relevant classes for an increasingly diverse student population. He taught there for 25 years until his death in 1997. Our film will trace Eduardo’s discovery of his Mexican heritage in Baja, California. The simplicity of life, beauty of the land and authenticity of the people drew him back again and again. “Eduardo Carrillo: A Life of Engagement” will underscore his connection to his roots in San Ignacio, Baja, California. As the cultural environment of the 1960’s changed global perspectives so did his understanding of his place in the world. We will share how his evolving relationship to his ancestral homeland exerted its influence on his art. It was a geographical connection, a familial connection but beyond that it was a spiritual relationship that evolved over many decades. This story will be told in our film.For more information please contact: Betsy Andersen ,Director, Museo Eduardo Carrillo 831 239- 411 or spark@cruzio.com and Visit www.museoeduardocarrillo.org

VINTAGE DE CINZO. Curmudgeon DeCinzo checks out a “more uniform approach” to learning. See below.

EAGANS DEEP COVER. Check out Tim’s approach to GOP politics and how we really feel. Scroll a few feet downwards.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to Podcasts. New Capitola History Museum Frank Perry guests on August 27^th followed by Cabrillo College Gallery director Tobin Keller. On September 3 Susan Myer Silton tells us about Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia that she’s directing for our Jewel Theatre Company, and playing Sept.5-22. Then Doug Keegan the program Director of the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project (SCCIP)brings us new news about their program.September 10 has Angelo Grova giving details on his Fashion Art Extravaganza, followed by Jeff Sanford talking about his Cartoon Jazz Orchestra’s newest release. Patricia Matejcek returns on Sept. 17 to talk about South Couny issues. Author, poet, retired Cabrilho College professor Don Young also returns on September 24 to talk about his two new collections. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click herehttp://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Conpany. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

QUOTES. “There are fools , damn fools, and jockeys who remount in a steeplechase“, John Oaksey. “Of course I have played outdoor games. I once played dominoes in an open-air café in Paris”, Oscar Wilde. “Anybody can win, unless there happens to be a second entry”, George Ade.

SANTA CRUZ BEACH & BOARDWALK 1940. By taking a closer look you can see the historic La Bahia Hotel in the lower left corner. You don’t need to look so hard to see the Historic Casa Del Rey Hotel that vanished with a FEMA payback right after the 1989 quake. Then there’s the Boardwalk pier and the freely flowing San Lorenzo River with the once-named “Opera Island” just before the railroad bridge. photo credit: private photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DENTIST CHRISTIE AND HIS ROOT CANAL PROBLEM. The case of Dentist William Christie versus his wanting to destroy the 4 Canary Island Pine trees that are on his property isn’t over yet. The deep roots are causing him great pain and obviously something needs to be extracted. Environmentalists and Tree lovers plus the Historical Building Preservationists are at odds over this and are eagerly waiting for the cities’ decision. Former mayor Chris Krohn, former professor Jim Funaro, UCSC’s Gillian Greensite and many others are working hard to save those 70 foot tall pines. Dentist Christie’s office is across the street from the Good Will Store and where India Joze used to be. That’s the corner of Union and Center….you’ve seen and read about this battle I’m, sure. Dentist Christie (and you know what they say about Dentists) has brought wild and weird politics into it Christie was once the Chairman of The Santa Cruz Police Review Board but he was so pro any and all police actions he was removed. Now in his appeal to the City he calls Krohn” a single uninformed individual”, “with too little to do” and that his actions are due to their “radically different political differences”. He even continued by calling ME “poorly informed, but deeply opinionated”. He repeated my line in this space about how Christie’s patients should go to “more environmentally minded dentists”. Near the close of his ranting and bitching he threatens the city with “I feel there could be legal ramifications here”. What a guy! what a dentist. You gotta wonder about a guy who opens a dental practice between and among four very young pine trees and then spends years, dollars and legal time fighting about their growing. It’s like moving to Times Square and complaining about the traffic. Or moving to Death Valley and suing over the amount of sand. There’ll be announcements any day now whether or not Our COURAGEOUS City Council will vote to save those trees. Be sure to read Gillian Greensite’s series on our Heritage Trees and how our Santa Cruz has treated them.

LATTE BREAKING NEWS. Michael Bethke told me he is definitely NOT running for City Council or anything because he has a bad hip problem. Don Lane repeated the non-news that he too isn’t running for anything, it just seems like he is. You’ve seen those Segways around town, right? One of the Segway Tour owners set me straight, they are NOT for rent, and they are for tours only and there are two tours per day. Those Segways cost $7,500 each and people were breaking them…so tours only NO rentals.

BAGS FOR SALE. I just learned the news that when our more than benevolent County Board of Supervisors passed that ordinance about plastic bags that they are now charging for what they used to give away for free. The money Safeway, Whole Foods, CVS gets from selling you those bags….they keep!!!. Another corporate crime aided by our Supes!!! That money should go to our arts organizations, our schools, or some environmental cause. Let’s right this wrong ASAP.

STORIES FROM THE URBAN FOREST. by Gillian Greensite(The first in a series)

Part 1: “History of the Santa Cruz city’s Heritage Tree Ordinance. Like most cities in California and many across the nation, Santa Cruz has a Heritage Tree Ordinance, designed to protect large, old, unique or historic trees living within the urban boundary. Today, the need for such an ordinance seems a no-brainer. The urban tree cover is declining nation-wide at four million trees per year, according to the US Forest Service. The level of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere recently broke the once unthinkable barrier of 400 parts per million for the first time in three million years. Forty years ago, however, the need for an ordinance to protect our urban forest was not so obvious to the general public. But as is often the case, a few individuals saw the need, put their heads together and with the help of a sympathetic city council, passed the Heritage Tree Ordinance into law in 1973.

The spark that ignited the cause was the felling of an old English walnut tree for the construction of a building behind Holy Cross church. According to the story shared by M. Lachman, this particular walnut tree was not only good eats but had a unique history. It was from this tree in 1812 that the Mission Indians hung Father Quintana due to his cruel treatment of them, including beatings with a metal-tipped whip. While there is no reference to this particular tree in the historical records, its destruction was the incentive for Mr. Lachman to seek out landscape architect Roy Rydell and city planner Joe Hall to begin the process of crafting an ordinance to protect Santa Cruz’s old and significant trees.

There were differences of opinion on what should constitute a heritage tree. Some felt that the ordinance should cover only a limited number of outstanding trees such as the Black Walnut on Cedar St. before it was butchered. Others felt that the ordinance should include protection for a broader range of trees. Undoubtedly there were some who felt no trees needed protection, arguing that the marine terraces were originally treeless. The city council of the day, including the newly elected Bert Muhly, who played a significant role in the establishment of the California Coastal Commission, debated the various points of view and decided to protect trees based on their size, their uniqueness and their historical significance. The council also debated the appropriate size for a tree to be designated as heritage. With few ordinance models from other cities to use as a guide, the council came up with a figure based on a unique calculation. The circumference for a tree to be designated as heritage would be 44 inches or, as the local press reported the council’s deliberations, the size of council member Muhly’s waistline! As it turned out, 44 inches circumference or 14 inches diameter is somewhat similar to the tree size criterion for ordinances in other cities, although most protect trees of even smaller size.

Part 2: Heritage Tree Ordinance: Success or Failure? (Next Issue)

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary reports on our County Board of Supes being back and in session. He relates about PG&E and their problems in Monterey and how they relate to San Bruno’s disaster, and if the City should buy the Golden State Theatre. He deals with Monterey’s de-sal plans and plant and how the Monterey Herald newspaper likes the agreement. He tells about Cal Am and who owns the rights to our water…and Monterey’s water. Read all of above at Gary’s KUSP Land Use scripts http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse (Gary Patton is “Of Counsel” to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net

VINTAGE DE CINZO. It couldn’t happen here to our very own Starbucks…could it ??See below a few pages.

EAGANS DEEP COVER. Tim Eagan introduces us to Rocco, the peoples candidate. Scroll down a page or four.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “In celebration of marriage equality, take a look at my favorite same-sex domestic partnerships in the movies—and feel free to suggest your own—this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). After that, I’m on vacation, so meet me back here in two weeks!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE, the radio program I host, happens each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Universal Grapevine is on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. . . Kevin Newhouse guests on August 13 to tell us about his new Arcadia book on Aptos. He’ll be followed by Dean Kaufman, the Santa Cruz County Veteran Advocate. Santa Cruz County Supervisor Greg Caput talks politics and about his background on August 20. On September 3 Susan Myer Silton tells us about Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia that she’s directing for our Jewel Theatre Company, and playing Sept.5-22.September 10 has Angelo Grova giving details on his Fashion Art Extravaganza, followed by Jeff Sanford talking about his Cartoon Jazz Orchestra’s newest release. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click herehttp://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sand hills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

QUOTES. “A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first”, Chanakya “I’m an introvert… I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky,” Audrey Hepburn. “He plants trees to benefit another generation”, Caecilius Statius.

LA BAHIA…FORMERLY CASA DEL REY APARTMENTS. The La Bahia Apartments were originally designed as the luxury Casa Del Rey Apartments. Back in the Golden Age of Santa Cruz Tourism, before WWII, they were part of a sprawling tourist complex that included the Casa Del Rey Hotel (300 rooms), a 150-unit Cottage City, a trolley terminal and railway station, a night club, convention facilities in the Boardwalk Casino, gardens, tennis courts, a putting green, and the golf and country club at Pogonip. photo credit: private photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

CITY COUNCIL NEWS. It’s only a little early to fan the flames on our City Council status but according to well planted sources Hilary Bryant won’t be running again. She’s had a much tougher time as mayor than she anticipated, they say. David Terrazas will be running and folks are still wondering why he bothers, or what he’s accomplished. Lynn Robinson is termed out of the City Council and it’s entirely possible she’s planning on running for Neal Coonerty’s Supervisor seat. Lynn would have the
support of the “rightish” Pamela Comstock supporters such as Take Back Santa Cruz, Debbie Elston’s Santa Cruz Neighbors, Cynthia Mathews’ Downtown Neighbors and that kind of organization. Names floating around for council seats include Rick Longinotti of the anti de-sal group, Ed Porter, past council member, is thinking about it too. Michael Bethke has
been attending anti-de-sal meetings and trying to make big impressions around town, and I’m guessing he’ll go for it. Richelle Naroyan‘s name has been floating around even though her last Council campaign “didn’t work
for her” and she quit running.

BOARD OF SUPERVISOR NEWS. As we read in last week’s Sentinel, Ryan Coonerty “de-murred” twice about his position on de-sal. That’s odd, especially when you consider that it was Ryan who voted and worked hard, many times, and voted and approved the spending of more than 17 million
dollars so far, just to investigate and promote de-sal.

COASTAL COMMISSION NEWS. Before, during and after his appearance on Universal Grapevine last Tuesday State Assemblyman Mark Stone talked about the past, present and future of the California Coastal Commission. He introduced me to former Commission member Steve Blank over at Lulu’s.

Steve retired from the Commission in June. Mark and every other environmental believer knew that Steve Blank was a vital force on the commission following closely in Peter Douglas‘s footsteps. Mark also added that the Coastal Commission is weakening and is bowing more and more to local government decisions. That’s bad news, because as we know so well in Santa Cruz County so many times local government decisions are controlled
by developers and weak supervisors.

HOW SOON WE FORGET. It was two years ago that The California Coastal Commission voted 6-4 against approving a change in our city’s coastal plan to allow Charlie Canfield’s 125 room condo-hotel La Bahia Hotel to be built. Now Charlie Canfield’s back with Craig French as project manager wanting to build a 168 room hotel. We’ll see about those plans later. What caught my eye were statements in the Friday, August 12, 2011 Santa Cruz Sentinel by our then Mayor Ryan Coonerty and Mark Stone, who was our County Supervisor and a Coastal Commissioner (and was one of the 6 votes against changing the coastal plan). Mark Stone was quoted as saying, “I think a project like this can be done within the framework that exists”. Mayor
Ryan Coonerty said, “We are extremely disappointed. This was a good project that reflected the values of Santa Cruz”. “Mark Stone failed to represent the community, and I am extremely disappointed in his leadership”.

DE-SAL ITEMS. It really isn’t a terribly big deal but just when you believe that our City Council is supposed to be representing us and not selling us a bill-of-goods we have Councilperson Cynthia Mathews trailed by Trink Praxel passing out pro De-Sal pamphlets at the League of Women Voters last meeting when the League had invited Gary Patton to talk to them about the area’s water problems. The huge question remains why is our city council so determined to sell us on de-sal? Is it Bill Kocher’s face saving plot? Who and what’s really behind this financial commitment the council has maintained….is something lurking?

SAN FRANCISCO SILENT FILM FESTIVAL. About 16,000 of us saw 17 newly discovered and restored silent films in 3 days and opening night. It’s been happening every year for 18 years in San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre.

Three films, Denmark’s The Golden Clown (1926), Russia’s The House on Trubnaya Square (1925), and Germany’s The Weavers (1927) are permanently entered in my “Best Films I’ve Ever Seen” list…for life. More than being screened at the proper speed and being shown on the big screen,
the Silent Film Festival goes to great research and expense to bring the finest of live musical accompaniment to each film. Whether it’s The Matti Bye Ensemble from Sweden, the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra from Colorado or the renowned Gunter Buchwald singing and playing his carefully researched film scores, the live music adds considerably to this Silent Film art form. I’ve said before that “comparing Silent films to talkies is like comparing books to television”. That certainly was true again this year.

Please note that The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is moving its play dates to May 29-June 1st 2014 to take advantage of the less expensive hotel and off-season visitor rates. Plan ahead, go here www.silentfilm.org
to check it all out.

VINTAGE DE CINZO. The ever-alert DeCinzo strikes again with dis-arming candor….scroll below.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “This week at Lisa Jensen Online Express, find out why the complex Danish drama, The Hunt, hits a bull’s eye. And the celebration of marriage equality
continues with a look at my Top Five favorite domestic partnerships in the movies.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Assemblyman Mark Stone will be on July 23 bringing us up to date on Sacramento and his job He’s followed by Attorney Bob Taren rapping on local issues. Ed Holmes talks about The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s annual visit on August 6. Kevin Newhouse will talk about the new Aptos History picture book on August 13. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s pod casts. Click here http://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Conpany. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

QUOTES. “Awards are like hemorrhoids; sooner or later every asshole gets some”, Frederich Raphael. “I’ve done my bit for motion pictures….I’ve stopped making them”, Liberace. “It’s greater than a masterpiece….why it’s mediocre”, Samuel Goldwyn.

BAY & HIGH STREETS BEFORE UCSC. 1957. On the left is the present UCSC Campus. That’s Meder Street coming straight down to the bottom center. If you squint you can see them building Highway One over the San Lorenzo at the top left, and yes you should have bought property back then. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DE-LAYING THE DE-SAL VOTE. Behind closed doors the plot is underway to delay the peoples voting on Santa Cruz’s de-sal plant. Delay it until even 2016!!! That way Ryan Coonerty won’t be facing it as an issue when he runs in for the Board of Supervisors in June. It’ll stop de-sal from being an issue in the City Council elections too. Finding all sorts of ways to hold up the EIR appears to be the main tactic. Just watch out that’s all. Who’s behind the “closed doors” you ask, and we’ll guess Bill Kocher, Fred Keeley, Cynthia Mathews, both Coonertys, and a few more subcutaneous suspects that we’ll name later.

ENDORSING RYAN COONERTY. Just a warning to folks who are thinking of endorsing Ryan Coonerty….WAIT!!! many, many names and ideas are being hatched as candidates and of course women are playing a big role in breaking the good old boy board of supes bastion. If you’re looking for a pro-de-sal plant, an anti homeless, limiting people’s time to speak at the City Council….Ryan’s your guy, but just wait until all the other candidates come forth.

HISTORIC TREE ORDINANCE. Santa Cruz has developed a wide split between the Environmentalists and the Historic Preservationists. It all is coming to a near fever pitch over the four 70 foot Canary Island pines around Dentist William Christies office across from The Goodwill Store in downtown Santa Cruz. Christie wants them cut down because they are mucking up his office building. One well known historic preservation friend of mine put it very clearly, “fuck the trees”. People who love trees and see more benefits in having big trees downtown like Chris Krohn, Gillian Greensite, Rachel O’Malley and Jim Funaro are working hard to save them. This “Christie vs. the Trees” battle grows into our City Council wanting to revise and weaken the entire City ordinance on historic trees and last Tuesday night the City Council started to hear about that. The citizens who like trees say the ordinance violates CEQA. The City ignored them so Wittwer & Parkin attorneys send a letter saying the same thing. Then City attorney Barisone says there is a threat of a lawsuit. There wasn’t and he knew that. But the Council went into one of their famous closed sessions. Yes, Micah Posner went along with all that stuff too, in case you wondered. We need a CEQA review on what the City is trying to do to our trees. If the council and Parks & Recreation Dept. have their way the city of Santa Cruz will look like early Barstow!!…or late Barstow?

SILENT FILM FESTIVAL. Now in its 19 year The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is again bringing newly discovered and restored silent masterpieces to the silver screen….and they’re projected and shown properly. Started by former Santa Cruzan Stephen Salmons (a once usher at the Del Mar) the festival has grown to world wide fame.

Go here www.silentfilm.org to read the complete four day schedule. It’s at the historic Castro Theatre, there’ll be around 16,000 participants (most of us stay over). You should go to see at least one of these classics. For me silent films compared to talking films are like comparing books to TV. I’ll be there all four days, I’ve been attending for at least 10 years and love every reel of it.

KENNETH BRANAGH’S THE MAGIC FLUTE….WHAT??? I was hugely surprised when I saw the 2012 film of art’s The Magic Flute directed by Kenneth Branagh at Cedar Street Video. I hadn’t heard one word anywhere in the opera gangs about it and having nearly worshipped Ingmar Bergman’s version decades ago it amazed me that Branagh would try another. He set it in World War 1, and then he had Stephen Fry write a new libretto. If I can sit through more than the opening eight minutes after many attempts, I’ll let you know.

NEW IMPORTED TOOTHPASTE. You may recall that I’ve been collecting tubes of toothpaste from all over the world for decades. I just want to thank Tamara Parker (formerly titled a para-legal now it and she are called Legal Document Services). Tamara just returned from Singapore with a tube of Yunnan Baiyao, and you know what that’s like!! And artist / painter Sheila Malone, recently came back from Paris and points east, added a tube of Soulange les dents sensibles, as we say. Yes, they both have du fluoride!!

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary’s KUSP broadcasts cover; A Green Infrastructure Webinar, and opening a new road on Fort Ord to make it easier to get to Salinas. He talks about the pollution on Pinto Lake and plans for land use in Carmel Valley. He closes with a plug for The Ventana Wilderness Alliance. Read all of above at Gary’s KUSP Land Use scripts http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse (Gary Patton is “Of Counsel” to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net)

VINTAGE DE CINZO. Ever vigilant DeCinzo takes a peek at Santa Cruz High School. Scroll downwards.

EAGANS DEEP COVER. Father Eagan takes a relatively “Christian” point of view….see below.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Cabrillo Stage celebrates marriage equality with a fizzy production of La Cage aux Folles, and Pedro Almodóvar turns a disaster movie premise into a frothy comedy in I’m So Excited, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Assemblyman Mark Stone will be on July 23 bringing us up to date on Sacramento and his job He’s followed by Attorney Bob Taren rapping on local issues. Ed Holmes talks about The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s annual visit on August 6. Kevin Newhouse will talk about the new Aptos History picture book on August 13. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s pod casts. Click here http://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Conpany. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

QUOTES. “When men have to do with one another, they are like verbs…almost all verbs are irregular“, Soren Kierkegaard. “Why doesn’t everybody leave everybody else the hell alone?”, Jimmy Durante. “It took me a long time to discover that the key thing in acting is honesty. Once you’ve learned to fake that, you’ve got it made“, Peyton Place

COOPER HOUSE aka. SANTA CRUZ COUNTY COURTHOUSE This magnificent structure stood at the corner of Pacific and Cooper Streets (now O’Neills). It became our Cooperhouse, a center of community and cultural attractions until the quake of ’89 caused minor damage and it was torn down for greedy profit, even though it was retrofitted before the quake. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

RYAN COONERTY’S SUPERVISOR CAMPAIGN.Ryan did admit to me last week that my early announcement of his running for County Supervisor “speeded up his timeline”. Other reactions say it really flummoxed his campaign. Folks now wonder if Papa Neal Coonerty’s wheelings and dealings had a long time plan. First we have Daddy Neal in as our City Mayor followed by little Mayor Ryan. Now we have Pops leaving his Supervisor job early and plotting to get boy Neal in his seat. Fred Keeley also told me in no uncertain terms that “Yes” I’m supporting Ryan for Supervisor. Now we can do some deep wondering about Keeley’s heavy involvement in Bruce McPherson’s very recent Supervisor campaign and his equally serious work now on behalf of Ryan. Makes some of us wonder just what Keeley is up to? Yes as you can imagine it really does weaken Neal’s power, commitment, and influence on the Board of Supervisors being a lame duck. By the way Don Lane isn’t running for Supervisor in case you heard those rumors.

FAIRFIELD INN & A DESIGN REVIEW…WHAT’S THAT?? As you probably read The Santa Cruz City Planning Commission not only approved a new 86 room FAIRFIELD INN out on Mission Street near Moore Creek & Western Drive. Not only that but they said this cookie cutter Best Western-Holiday Inn-Super 8 copy was “well designed”!!! If anyone has ever wondered why the entrances to Santa Cruz are so ugly and why Ocean Street’s structures are so terrible looking it’s because Santa Cruz has no design committee. No-one in our city structure ever says no to developers…it’s as if we want to look like San Jose. This 3 story hotel was proposed and approved years ago. Then it had 103 parking spaces now the city allowed Lotus Management of San Jose to cut that back to 83. Go here to see what and how the Fairfield Inn will look like.

SANTA CRUZ COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION’S GREEDY “POLICY“. Our once friendly “community centered”, “community owned” now charges $15 each time they verify a low income senior’s bank account. Mindy Gardner, the branch manager of the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union Front Street office told me it’s their “policy”. It seems greedy, mean, corporation like, and not at all in the spirit of folks like Margaret Cheap who was a key creator of our Credit Union back in the day. I checked around about Verification of Deposit “policies”. Bay Federal Credit Union doesn’t do it, Dientes Community Dental Care doesn’t do it, even CVS and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation doesn’t charge when they too have to verify charges or account info, only our Santa Cruz Community Credit Union thinks it’s important to charge that $15. Boo!

MOTORCYCLE MENACING & NOISY NEANDERTHALS. Eric Rice emailed to say, “Hi: Enjoy the column every week. I’m with you on the need to silence loud, obnoxious motorcycles. I don’t understand why the City Council doesn’t order the police to make citing them more of a priority. I suspect Mr. Lee Quarnstrom’s assessment of law enforcement’s point of view is correct. Ever try working a guide dog anywhere near some of those noisy Neanderthals? My wife has, and it about scares the dog out of its harness”. Eric.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary reports on his KUSP program, “The land use decisions we make, though our local government process, will have a big impact on the future of our local economy, on our ability to achieve our social equity goals, and of course on the natural environment that sustains our human civilization and everything else. To me, our self-government system is really a three-layer cake. The “people” are the ultimate source of political power, but our system has the people delegating their power to elected representatives. Those elected officials, then, hire staff people who actually do most of the work involved in government. In this way of looking at the governmental process, it is vital that the elected officials forcefully and effectively transmit to the staff the demands, and the questions, and the concerns of the public. The elected officials are supposed to require the staff to be responsive to whatever concerns are uppermost in the public’s mind’. Read the rest of Gary’s weekly report at his KUSP Land Use scripts http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse (Gary Patton is “Of Counsel” to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net)

VINTAGE DE CINZO. DeCinzo visits Big Sur…with a point to make. Look below a few pages.

EAGANS DEEP COVER. Tim shows us four versions of Democracy….scroll down a bit.

LANDAU’S PROGRES. Bob Taren, a close friend of Saul Landau’s told me that Saul Landau has cancer of the bladder. We probably won’t be reading his columns any more. Saul Landau is an Institute for Policy Studies fellow whose films are on DVD from roundworldproductions@gmail.com

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “How bad can The Lone Ranger really be? What new twist can the great Neil Jordan bring to the vampire movie? Find out this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNICYCLYING & JUGGLING. They’d get busted if they tried this on Pacific Avenue. I can’t embed the video, but it’s worth a click to check it out. Here’s where to click.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Audrey Stanley talks about Shakespeare Santa Cruz season on July 16, followed by Carolyn Swift discussing the brand new Capitola Picture book by Arcadia. Assemblyman Mark Stone will be on July 23 bringing us up to date on Sacramento and his job He’s followed by Attorney Bob Taren rapping on local issues. Ed Holmes talks about The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s annual visit on August 6. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES.In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click herehttp://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Conpany. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

QUOTES. “A dead atheist is someone who’s all dressed up with nowhere to go“, James Duffecy. “What he lacked in depth as a preacher he made up for in length“, Mark Twain. “What do people say when God sneezes?”, Henny Youngman

THE ALMOST HISTORIC “PALO ALTO” CONCRETE SHIP. This photo was taken in 1947. The “Palo Alto” was built of concrete by the U.S. Government in 1918, and it cost $2 million. It was towed to where it is today (Seacliff Beach) in 1930. It broke in half during a storm in 1932, and just sort of rots there as we peek. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

NEAL COONERTY OUT, RYAN COONERTY RUNNING.According to unimpeachable sources it was the out-and running news this weekend, Ryan is chasing around trying to gather supporters and endorsements and is running for Dad’s County Supervisor job. Earlier and well planned rumors had it that Lynn Robinson was going to run for the Supervisors job…nope. We can bet that Ryan’s going to his long time Developer Donators such as Bill Brooks, Craig French, Charlie Eadie, Jesse Nickell, George Ow, and Louis Rittenhouse. And he’ll go for his continuing Beach Boardwalk backers like Charlie Canfield and Chris Reyes. Anti-Desal folks need to remember that it was Ryan and Dad Coonerty who brokered or shuffled the UCSC Growth- City Water- “Bring on De-sal” deal. In case you’ve forgotten check out Ryan’s old City Council campaign website, read such endorsements as Joe Appenrodt, Bob Bosso, Scott Daly, Darrell Darling, Ken Haber, Tom Honig, George Newell, Mark Primack, Peter Prindle, John Burroughs, Robert DeFreitas, Carol Fuller… all of which means that there’ll be lots of big bucks spent on this next Supervisors Race. What we really need, instead of Ryan Coonerty is a woman on that all male, right leaning and very important Board of Supes.

LAST WEEK’S FLOOD PHOTO. Scroll down to last weeks flood photo taken at Soquel and Seabright…Jeff Hawkins was kind enough to tell us “That Studebaker is a 1948 Champion, so I’m guessing the pic is from ’50-’54”.

MIKE ROTKIN NOT RUNNING, EVER. Mike said I could quote him when he said that he’s definitely not running for City Council, not running for the Board of Supervisors, and not running for State Assembly either. He said he’s happy with his job with the Union. I asked him about that and about the rumors that he was using his union work to make sure the proposed de-sal plant would use union labor so that the unions would come out in favor of De-Sal. He replied… “Bruce, I don’t know that my job is of any general interest, but I am Vice President for Organizing for the University Council of the American Federation of Teachers. We represent all of the lecturers and librarians in the UC system. I am paid hourly up to half time. My work involves service on the union Executive Committee, Helping coordinate organizing efforts on ten campuses, including teaching organizing skills, and I am the Chief Negotiator for the Librarians and on the bargaining team for the lecturers. I also advise on grievances and other contract enforcement issues but my work on that overlaps with many others” Mike continued, “There is no connection to any of my community work on desalination, but to answer your specific question, I’d love to see any and all jobs be union jobs, so, of course, I hope that the desalination project, if approved, would use union labor. But I wouldn’t be charging any work I did in advocating for that on that to my union. That’s just volunteer work as a community activist”. There we have it.

PHIL SLATER. According to Phil’s longtime friend Andy Schiffrin, Phil died peacefully after a lot of years of suffering from non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The Chronicle and The Sentinel had fine obituaries, and Andy said the NYTimes was excellent. Here it is…

DOWNTOWN MOTORCYCLE SICKNESS. Chip from The Downtown Association wrote, “Bruce, I’ve actually done a bit of digging on the motorcycle thing. I’m sure it’s a much more interesting story that the cops love noisy bikes, but what I have learned is that the California Vehicular Code trumps our city noise ordinances and unless the mufflers are illegal (Which I’m sure some of them are) PD can’t really do much. Also, as you can imagine it’s not the easiest thing to enforce being the problem is three blocks away a second after the pollution occurs.” That’s got to be one of the lamest excuses I’ve heard. You’d think The Downtown Association would be a leader in trying to promote our downtown ambiance.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Once again, land use attorney and former Santa Cruz County Supervisor Gary Patton sums up the De-Sal issue…” The City of Santa Cruz and the Soquel Creek Water District are planning to build a 2.5 million gallon per day desalination plant, expandable to a 4.5 million gallon per day desalination plant.

Both the City and the District have real problems. The Soquel Creek Water District relies on groundwater, and faces groundwater overdraft and seawater intrusion. The City relies mostly on surface water, and has water supply problems in drought years. Both agencies decided some time ago that desalination is their best option. Both agencies have been members of Cal Desal, an industry support and lobbying group devoted “solely” to desalination. The Water District recently quit Cal Desal, but the City of Santa Cruz continues to be a member, and to fund the group. Skeptics, including members of the Community Water Coalition, a community group I represent as an environmental attorney, want to take a very hard look at the cost and other impacts of desalination, and thoroughly to consider alternatives” Gary also tells about Affordable housing and the law, about CPAD a great online resource, and about our Central Coast water problems.

Read all of above at Gary’s KUSP Land Use scripts http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse (Gary Patton is “Of Counsel” to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net)

VINTAGE DE CINZO.Summers here and so are the Boardwalk Concerts….see a few pages down.

EAGANS DEEP COVER. T. Eagan depicts the adventures of Mindy Moderate, scroll below.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes “Looking for something fun to do with the kids this holiday weekend? Why not sign up for a summer refresher course at Monsters University? Read all about it this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG.

On July 9 Ellen Primack talks about The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, then Scott McGilvray talks about his film “Water for Santa Cruz” and the big de-sal event happening at the Rio on July 11. Audrey Stanley talks about Shakespeare Santa Cruz season on July 16, followed by Carolyn Swift discussing the brand new Capitola Picture book by Arcadia. Assemblyman Mark Stone will be on July 23 bringing us up to date on Sacramento and his job. Ed Holmes talks about The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s annual visit on August 6. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES.In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click herehttp://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Conpany. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

QUOTES. “On the fourth day of July following, a party of about two hundred Indians attacked Boonsborough, killed one man, and wounded two”, Daniel Boone

“Your mind must always go, even while you’re shaking hands and going through all the maneuvers. I developed the ability long ago to do one thing while thinking another”, Richard Nixon. “The true profession of man is to find his way to himself”, Hermann Hesse.

RAINY DAY AT SEABRIGHT AND SOQUEL STREETS.I’d guess at the date of this photo but car enthusiasts (like Paul Elerick) can, and I hope will tell us what year (years?) this could be. But I do know that second car is a Studebaker. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

ROARING MOTORCYCLES IN DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ. From last week’s column…”Considering all the complaints about how offensive panhandling is why doesn’t our City Council direct the Santa Cruz police to ticket those really offensive non-muffled motorcyclists that roar up Pacific…especially on weekends when the tourists are here. Why don’t they ticket that stand up tubbo on the 2 wheeled scooter with the phoney chromed twisted exhaust pipe? These deviants create far more pollutants and bad vibes than any panhandlers. Lets see some action here…this is a decades old problem. Out City Council has never addressed it”. Lee Quarnstrom erstwhile reporter and columnist for decades in our County replied, “About 20 years ago, for my column in the Mercury News, I asked a Santa Cruz cop why officers don’t write tickets for exceeding noise standards when obnoxious Harley-Davidson drivers roar down the street. His answer: “Most police officers either own a Harley-Davidson, have owned a Harley-Davidson or want to own a Harley-Davidson. That’s why.”

Then former Santa Cruz city council person and Mayor Chris Krohn emailed, “I am definitely with you on muffling the motorcycles. My bro had a bike for years. He even went to the famous Harley gathering in Sturgis, Utah. He says it is DEFINITELY an enforcement issue. Every one of those loud bikes has been modified and usually against the law. He believes police in general are sympathetic to these loud Harley bikes and riders. And, in defense of the council I was on…we definitely talked about these loud machines. Even got that irrelevant NO loud motorcycles sign put out there at the head of the mall near Tampicos…does anyone pay attention? No, but I thought once you had the sign up then you can enforce. Police used to say they needed a sound meter to record the decibel level…I think they can cite if the motorcycle has been modified…but I would check that”.

We need to realize that these loud bikers hit Pacific Avenue almost always on weekends, when most of our “visitors” are here. It’s like Hollister and Hells Angels back in the day. Regarding the sound meter recordings, why don’t the police site with probable cause and force the offenders to report to the police station? The nuisance alone would end this needless insult and offending destruction of our Downtown environment that locals and tourists love so much. Get on it…City Council!!!

SAFEWAY IN APTOS UP TO OLD TRICKS.You can just tell that the Aptos Safeway developers are up to their old tricks. They’ve stopped talking (and pretending to listen to) the businesses next door that will be the most affected. No news on any existing leases. And just like they did when they built the monster store on Mission Street they have really junked up the Aptos store. Signs and ugly banners everywhere, crowding the aisles with large end caps, stashing boxes and product way too high along the aisles. I didn’t check the lighting at Aptos Safeway but on Mission Street they would let the fluorescent lights burn out and not replace them to add to the “We need a New and much larger Store” pitch. It’s corporation power at its worst. You’d think that Charles Eadie, their local “face man” would have more community pride than to let Safeway pull these tricks all over again. I’m also betting that we’ll see the same thing happen at the Morrissey-Soquel Safeway site once the lease battle with the Staff of Life’s old site owner is settled.

COUNCIL CAMPAIGNERS UP TO OLD TRICKS TOO.More bets are possible that Michael Bethke is plotting, planning and hoping to get the Lynn Robinson backers when her term is up in November 2014 . Hilary Bryant and David Terrazas terms end then too.

APTOS ACADEMY CLOSING.The Academy has been open since 1994, and recent news has it that it’s closing. Now we’ll never find out the connections it has or had with Scientology. Director Shea Pase, Doctor Duncan McCollum and all those Academy connected folks rarely mention their Scientology links.

ADJUSTING MAH AND COOPER STREET RUMORS.I wrote this last week… “Whatever grant it was that MAH applied for to revivify Abbott Square isn’t happening. Plans to create a spouting play around fountain and to add a deck around the Octagon Lulu’s aren’t occurring either. Nor will plots to make Cooper Street a pedestrian walk-around space happen. Geez!!!” That was last week!!!

This week MAH director Nina Simon replied, “The Abbott Square project is very much ON – we just didn’t get the first grant that we applied for to support the design/build. We just completed the concept plan and we are psyched to raise money to make it happen over the next couple of years. We are also working closely with the City to get some of the artistic pathway elements that affect Cooper Street started as soon as possible. It’s true that we did not receive the money to accelerate the project, but it is still absolutely happening and so far, happening on schedule. Because the Abbott Square report is very large, you can download it from the web at this link .I’m excited about how this report captures the spirit of what we are trying to accomplish in Abbott Square, while highlighting the opportunities to layer in powerful artworks and creative experiences.

Because of my impending baby, I expect it will be the fall before we jump back into action and fundraising to make this vision a reality. Thanks for your continued interest in the project. Please feel free to get in touch with me anytime you want to know where things are at”, Nina. Well, that’s great news and it just shows you just never know!!!

THE BIG DEBATE.The main issue locals have to decide is…was our 2013 summer on Wednesday or Thursday this year??

MICHAEL BRYANT RETIRING FROM KZSC. KZSC 88.1 fm won’t be the same after Michael Bryant retires as station manager in June of 2014. He continues to pull off miracles in dealing with the 100’s of students, the UCSC admin, and us “community member” programmers. He’s sort of a cross between Mother Theresa and Steve Jobs and replacing him ain’t gonna be easy.

MORGUE NEWS, or WHERE’S THE MORGUE? (from last week) Speaking of Universal Grapevine… Sheriff Phil Wowak was my guest a few weeks ago. In researching for the show I realized our Sheriff is also our County coroner. So I asked him (I didn’t know) if we have a morgue? If so where is it? Since hearing his answer I’ve asked several friends….no one knew about any local morgue….do you know about any local morgue? ANSWER…many folks sent in guesses, answers, and more questions. The truth is that yes we do have a county morgue. It’s over in the Emeline Avenue County Complex.

A SURE WINNING BET.Speaking again of Universal Grapevine…on last week’s program Joe Jordan of Sky Power Institute either reminded or informed us that…THE EARTH IS CLOSER TO THE SUN IN THE WINTER. Check it out, and then go win big bucks from your friends at the bar.

ELERICK’S INPUT. Paul Elerick went to Michigan on vacation for a few weeks.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary talks about Monterey County’s land use issues, and a possible new Business park. Then he says, “I would like to make a report on two meetings being held Thursday day and evening in Santa Cruz. One is about the Ocean Plan and one is about the Ocean Street Plan. The topics are quite different, and only one of the meetings is open to the public.

If you care about the future of land uses along the Ocean Street corridor in the City of Santa Cruz (and I hope lots of people do care about that) you should consider showing up at the meeting of the Santa Cruz City Planning Commission, scheduled to begin at 7:00 o’clock Thursday evening at the Santa Cruz City Hall. On the agenda is consideration of the Draft Ocean Street Area Plan and a Local Coastal Program amendment, calling for the development and improvement of the Ocean Street area. The intention of the Ocean Street Area Plan is to create a more welcoming environment along Ocean Street, which is the main entrance to Santa Cruz for visitors from over the hill, and particularly those bound for the beach. According to the City staff, there won’t be any environmental impacts! The “Ocean Plan” is something else. It is a state-adopted plan intended to protect water quality in our marine environment. Today, representatives of the State Water Resources Control Board are meeting at UCSC, in a meeting not open to the public, to discuss possible amendments that could regulate and/or facilitate desalination facilities. I will keep you posted when any formal Ocean Plan amendment is proposed”. Read all of above at Gary’s KUSP Land Use scripts http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse

(Gary Patton is “Of Counsel” to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net)

VINTAGE DE CINZO.More serious than sex, De Cinzo shows us genuine horror. Scroll down wards.

EAGANS DEEP COVER. Tim Eagan dares to depict SCANDAL in our political system…see below.

LISA JENSEN LINKS.Lisa writes: “Say hello to summer this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com), get nostalgic for the drive-in movie culture of yore, and watch what happens when Shakespeare meets screwball comedy in the entertaining new Joss Whedon film “Much Ado About Nothing“. Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG.

Jane Gregorius and a friend talk about the Pajaro Valley Arts Council “4F” show on July 2 followed by Anita Monga from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. On July 9 Ellen Primack talks about The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, then Scott McGilvray talks about his film “Water for Santa Cruz” and the big de-sal event happening at the Rio on July 11. Audrey Stanley talks about Shakespeare Santa Cruz season on July 16, followed by Carolyn Swift discussing the brand new Capitola Picture book by Arcadia. Assemblyman Mark Stone will be on July 23 bringing us up to date on Sacramento and his job. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES.In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click herehttp://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Conpany. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

QUOTES. “After all is said and done, more is said than done”, back of a van parked on Chestnut Street last Sunday. “In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer”, Albert Camus. “Being a child at home alone in the summer is a high-risk occupation. If you call your mother at work thirteen times an hour, she can hurt you”, Erma Bombeck

OFFICIAL OPENING OF OUR MUNICIPAL WHARF. This was in 1918; little did these folks know how we would beautify our wharf with our fabulous commercial enterprises. Do note the northern angle the wharf takes…that’s what’s saved it from the monstrous waves and storms over all these decades (nearly a century!) photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

WHERE’S THE MORGUE? Speaking of Universal Grapevine… Sheriff Phil Wowak was my guest a few weeks ago. In researching for the show I realized our Sheriff is also our County coroner. So I asked him (I didn’t know) if we have a morgue? If so where is it? Since hearing his answer I’ve asked several friends….no one knew about any local morgue….do you know about any local morgue?

THE RED BALL OF MAH. You know that big Red Ball next to the huge M at the corner of Front and Cooper right by Octagon Lulu’s??? The logo for MAH??? I learned last Saturday that graphic artist Jim Faris designed it. Jim is the son of Jim and Paula Faris, they’ll be on Universal Grapevine next Tuesday talking about their film and early TV work at MGM, Paramount and assorted Hollywood institutions.

ABBOTT SQUARE , SAME OLD, SAME OLD. Whatever grant it was that MAH applied for to revivify Abbott Square isn’t happening. Plans to create a spouting play around fountain and to add a deck around the Octagon Lulu’s aren’t occurring either. Nor will plots to make Cooper Street a pedestrian walk-around space happen. Geez!!!

DOG LEASH LAWS. County Supervisor John Leopold reports that the reaction to our local dog-leash laws has been catastrophic ;-). He said that the letters and emails on just this one topic have been way more than the total responses on gun laws, homeless or pot stores combined.

POLICE AND PACIFIC AVENUE MOTORCYCLES. Considering all the complaints about how offensive panhandling is why doesn’t our City Council direct the Santa Cruz police to ticket those really offensive non-muffled motorcyclists that roar up Pacific…especially on weekends when the tourists are here. Why don’t they ticket that stand up tubbo on the 2 wheeled scooter with the phoney chromed twisted exhaust pipe? These deviants create far more pollutants and bad vibes than any panhandlers. Lets see some action here…this is a decades old problem. Out City Council has never addressed it.

ESPRESSO BOOK MACHINE LEAVING TOWN. Somebody’s plans changed and after printing over 6,000 books that Espresso Book Machine is leaving Bookshop Santa Cruz pretty soon. The Bookshop has already developed new publishing techniques and facilities for author patrons to replace even more than what the machine offered.

VETS BACK INTO HALL IN SEPTEMBER. Word on the streets has it that our local veterans will be moving back into the restored Vet’s hall in September. That may not qualify as a scoop, we’ll see.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary talks about celebrating the Carmel River. He gives details on a tour this Thursday of the Cemex property above Davenport. Then he talks about a Public Water meeting in Monterey where the water is owned by CalAm. Read all of above at Gary’s KUSP Land Use scripts

(Gary Patton is “Of Counsel” to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net)

VINTAGE DE CINZO. DeCinzo show dogged determination to arrive at the truth about our community….scroll below…

EAGANS DEEP COVER. Eagan goes deep to uncover the real you…or us. See below

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “What’s the deal with the Man of Steel? Read all about the good, the bad, and the ugly in the new Superman movie this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com)” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG.

County Supervisor Neal Coonerty’s 7^th annual Grapevine Birthday appearance occurs on June 25^th, then Jim and Paula Faris talk about their days at MGM creating Tom & Jerry Cartoons. Assemblyman Mark Stone will be on July 2 bringing us up to date on Sacramento. Anita Monga from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival follows Mark that night. On July 9 Ellen Primack talks about The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, then Carolyn Swift talks about the brand new Capitola Picture book by Arcadia.. Audrey Stanley talks about Shakespeare Santa Cruz season on July 16. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click herehttp://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Conpany. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

QUOTES. “Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face“, Dave Berry. “What a terrible round. I only hit two good balls all day and that was when I stepped on a rake in a bunker”, Lee Trevino.” Remember, it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose: what matters is whether I win or lose“, Darrin Weinberg

Lovely Downtown Santa Cruz 1894. Those mass transit trolley tracks were in stalled in 1891. Note the two direction buggy lanes. That tall white pole in front of where Jamba Juice is now was a “Victory Pole”. Way down the street you can just barely see the ODD Fellows tower, which is of course our Town Clock now. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection. Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

WATSONVILLE & MEASURE T. It was such great news about the people of Watsonville voting in favor of preserving their land for agriculture instead of copping out for development, by defeating MEASURE T. It’s no different than the people of Santa Cruz voting against a de-sal plant instead of allowing all the growth and development that would come with it here in North County. Three cheers for Watsonville.

TANNERY THEATRE TO OPEN & CABRILLO THEATRE STAYS CLOSED??? Any local theatre company and any actor in the vicinity will tell you that the City and County of Santa Cruz has a terrible shortage of available theatre stages. Yet the Cabrilho Community College stage has sat vacant for years now. Meanwhile our County is spending huge sums of money to build a new theater and stage at The Tannery. Answer me this one…why was our Community Television Station not able to move into The Tannery facilities, but yet they’ll probably be moving into Cabrilho’s deserted stage? Is anybody in charge here??

BILL KOCHER’S MILLIONS DOLLAR BUILDING. Otherwise normal people who work deep within the Santa Cruz City Hall system have asked and are still asking why did, and does Bill Kocher’s Water Department deserve not just the size of, but the millions of dollars spent on re-habbing the Water Department’s Locust Street building. How many other departments get the bucks and attention Kocher gets???

OH SAY…CAN U.C. ??? Yes UC can do pretty much as they like…but according to the latest issue (June 6) of City On The Hill news 16.4 % of the 2013-14 students are from out of state or are from other countries. Also the Student Union Assembly voted not to divest from 5 companies that sell arms, machinery, building supplies and electricity to Israel. Lastly, of all campuses, UCSC had the largest decrease in freshmen admittance numbers.

LIVE OAK DAY WORKER CENTER. Mireya Gomez-Contreras the program director at The Day Worker Center at 2261 7^th Avenue in Live Oak writes to say the center is doing excellently, and they want more folks to contact them. One of the biggest surprises at the new Center was when so many women signed up offering services, and looking for work. She said, “We are registering more and more workers each week and we are also continuing to get calls from new and returning employers”. Go here… to get more information. Or call 831 475-9675. Let me know. This would be a great opportunity.

DIXIE RITUERFORD DIED. Dixie died in her sleep last Wednesday night. She was a long time advocate for World Peace and a long time member of WILPF. She was plagued by heart problems. She will be missed.

PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary talks about dog leash laws in both Live Oak and in Carmel. He discusses the city of Greenfield (just off highway 101) and their possible development and taking over valuable farmland. Then he talks about a….

DE-SAL Meeting…The City of Santa Cruz and the Soquel Creek Water District are proposing a desalination project that they sincerely believe is necessary to provide what might be called “water security.” The Soquel Creek Water District serves its customers from underground aquifers that are being over drafted. The City of Santa Cruz mainly uses surface sources, which are inadequate during sequential dry years. Having a “supplemental water supply” could help address these problems. The law firm with which I am associated represents the Community Water Coalition, a community group based in Santa Cruz, which is skeptical about desalination. Another group that is active in the discussion is called Santa Cruz Desal Alternatives. The Desal Alternatives group has identified a number of cost-effective alternatives that they think would meet water security needs at a lower cost, and with a lot fewer environmental impacts. The environmental review process now underway is supposed to provide a fair examination of the issues.

If you would like to start learning more, think about attending a meeting, Thursday, June 13^th, to be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Quaker Meetinghouse, located at 225 Rooney Street in Santa Cruz. That is where Morrissey Boulevard meets Highway One. James Bentley, retired City Superintendent of Water Production, will discuss alternatives to desalination. Read all of above at Gary’s KUSP Land Use scripts http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse (Gary Patton is “Of Counsel” to the Santa Cruz law firm of Wittwer & Parkin, which specializes in land use and environmental law. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. Gary has his own website, “Two Worlds / 365” – www.gapatton.net)

VINTAGE DE CINZO. DeCinzo shows us the real terrorists in our midst, scroll down a little.

EAGANS DEEP COVER. Tim reveals an honest politician.(snicker, snicker) see below.

LANDAU’S PROGRES. Saul Landau looks back at FDR in his article titled, “Fear Itself After 80 Years“. He writes, “My parents, like many millions more who voted for Franklin Roosevelt and ousted Republican Herbert Hoover, sat glued to their radios to hear FDR’s first Inaugural Address (March 3, 1933) hoping to understand how this witty and affable member of the elite was going to help them get over their depression, a product of the country’s economic depression. FDR had not said much of substance during the campaign, but that changed dramatically when he told the radio public “that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” And Saul ends by saying…”FDR affirmed his faith in “the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.” What could Obama’s speechwriters do with a new version of Fear Itself? Lay out a modified version of FDR’s promise to help the poor? Could we expect such a commitment from President Deeply Disappointing? It would be nice, but don’t hold your breath”. Read all of it here…

Saul Landau is an Institute for Policy Studies fellow whose films are on DVD from roundworldproductions@gmail.com

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Ever wonder where writers get their ideas? The answer may surprise you this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

“TOUCH” AT CENTER STAGE. Touch is a relatively unknown play by Toni Press Coffman. The Sidereal Theatre Company is producing it and Bill Peters from S.F. State is directing it. It plays June 14-23 at The Center Stage Theatre 1001 Center Street. Davis Banta and April Bennett are the leads. It’s about love, tragedy, the stars, and the human connection. It sounds really good. I’ll save you a seat.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer (live only, or sometimes old programs are archived…(see next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG.

On June 11^th The Winners of Bookshop Santa Cruz’s Short Story Contest read their stories. County Supervisor Neal Coonerty’s 7^th annual Grapevine Birthday appearance occurs on June 25^th. Assemblyman Mark Stone will be on July 2 bringing us up to date on Sacramento. Anita Monga from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival follows Mark that night. On July 9 Ellen Primack talks about The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, then Carolyn Swift talks about the brand new Capitola Picture book by Arcadia.. Audrey Stanley talks about Shakespeare Santa Cruz season on July 16. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click here’http://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Conpany. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!

QUOTES. “Chastity: the most unnatural of the sexual perversions”, Aldous Huxley. “The sexual revolution is killing us“, Mel Hocker (nudist camp owner), “There are many ways of proving you’re a man, and shifting your own gears is one of them“, Mort Sahl