0928_SantaCruzWeekly

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Down by I The River Life and death on the Pajaro levee

STORY BY JESSICA LUSSENHOP 0 PHOTOS BY CURTIS CARTIER

N WATSONVILLE, within certain circles, it is a well known fact that if your wife or parents kick you out, or if you’re down on your luck, or if you just don’t want to be found, you can go down to the river levee. There, hidden along the banks of the Pajaro River in the brush and high grass, out of sight from the apartment complex windows and the prefab homes with their Dish Network satellites,

July 15-22, 2009 Vol. 1, No. 11

you’ll find the casitas—little houses—built from tarps, bungee cords, tree limbs and blankets, constructed and tended to by a chronically homeless population of monolingual Spanish speakers. If you have nowhere to go, on the levee it’s possible to get a bite, maybe a beer and, if you get there early enough, even a bed. Most nights, that is, except for the night of March 25. That morning, a Wednesday, dawned bright and dewy ¨ $


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